What is Ambien?

Even after over a decade since it was released, Ambien is still one of the leading treatments for insomnia. However, one of the major issues with Ambien is that it has a short half-life of about 2 to 3 hours. A half-life is the amount of time it takes for half of a drug to be removed from your body system. A drug’s effects usually start to wear off around this time. Due to Ambien’s short half-life, the medicine is only effective in helping patients fall asleep but isn’t so effective in helping them stay asleep.

If you find that you wake up in the middle of the night, even after taking Ambien, then Ambien may not be the right insomnia treatment for you. Instead, you may need to take Ambien CR. This medicine contains the exact same active ingredient as Ambien (Zolpidem) but comes in an extended release form. Because of the medicine’s special coating, it takes a longer for the Ambien CR to get fully broken down into your body so you get the effects for a longer period of time.

There is a downside to Ambien CR though. Since the medicine stays in your body longer, you are more likely to experience “Ambien hangover” from this extended-release version. That means you could feel groggy throughout the day. To avoid hangover from Ambien CR, you will need to be sure you are getting enough sleep. Even though the instructions for Ambien CR say at least 7-8 hours (the same instructions as for regular Ambien), you may need a minimum of 9 hours. Or, you will need to wake up a bit earlier to give yourself time to fully wake up before rushing out the door.

It is important to realize that insomnia is NOT a condition. Rather, it is a symptom of an underlying condition which makes it hard for you to sleep. In many cases, the real problem is stress. People are so stressed that they find it difficult to sleep because of all the worries running through their minds. In these cases, most patients are able to stay asleep once they fall asleep with Ambien.

Often, doctors will immediately assume that stress or anxiety is causing your insomnia when there is actually another problem. If you are waking up in the middle of the night, it is important that you let your doctor know this. This is a sign that you have breathing problems such as sleep apnea. You could take Ambien CR to ensure you sleep throughout the night but this would overlook the actual problem.

Most doctors will first prescribe Ambien instead of Ambien CR. This way, they can see if you just have a problem falling asleep or if you also have a problem staying asleep. Once your doctor knows this, then it will be much easier to diagnose the cause of your insomnia and find a way to cure the problem – not just the symptom.