Ambien.....Is It Safe?

According to the Herald Sun.Com, "Heath Ledger was battling drug addiction and depression in the lead up to his tragic death yesterday."

"Ledger parents, Kim and Sally, and his sister Kate, said his death was a terrible accident."

"In November, the reclusive actor said he suffered from insomnia and was regularly taking Ambien sleeping pills. Ambien, marketed in Australia as Stillnox is not recommended for people with respiratory disease."

According to Drugs.com "Ambien is a sedative, also called a hypnotic. It affects chemicals in your brain that may become unbalanced and cause sleep problems (insomnia). "Ambien is used to treat insomnia. This medication causes relaxation to help you fall asleep and stay asleep."

According to the Web Md.com, "Insomnia is a sleep disorder that is characterized by difficulty falling or staying asleep. People with insomnia have one or more of the following symptoms: difficulty falling asleep, waking up often during the night and having trouble going back to sleep, waking up too early in the morning, feeling tired upon waking."

"There are two types of insomnia: primary insomnia and secondary insomnia." "Primary Insomnia means that a person is having sleep problems that are directly associated with other health condition or problem."

"Secondary insomnia means that a person is having sleep problems because of something else, such as health condition (Like asthma, depression, arthritis, cancer or heartburn): pain, medication they are taking, or a substance they are using (like alcohol).

Some causes of insomnia causes include significant life stress (job loss or change, death or a loved one, divorce, moving) illness, emotional or physical discomfort at night.

Causes of chronic insomnia include depression and or anxiety, chronic tiredness, irritability, problems with concentration or memory.

I started taking Ambien several years ago and I love it! I could not sleep because of my Lupus and I was in a lot of anxiety because of the mess my life was in. The only problem for me would be the next day, and my family would come up to me and tell me things that I would do or say and I would not remember it. I went as far as to drive my mother's car and not remember doing it the next day. The only proof that I had done it was that I had ran into a ditch in the yard and left tired marks, needless to say she took the car keys from me at night.

Alcohol should not be mixed with this medication because it only intensifies your mental state, it did mine.

If there were things I dread doing I would wait until bed time to accomplish this chore because I would take an Ambien before doing it and all this new energy would come over me. There are stories about people cooking and gaining weight and not realizing that after taking the medication they would go and cook meals and not remembering eating them.

As with everything I do I had to educate myself on Ambien and now I take it as prescribed and it works for me.

I have been on Ambien for several years now and I have tried to wean myself off the medication, but I cannot sleep without it. My nights are long and I don't even yawn without the medicine being in my system. So I guess I am addicted, NO! I take that back I am addicted to Ambien, I can't sleep without it. I've tried herbal remedies and over the counter drugs they do not work.

Ambien will give you a good nights sleep, 7 to 8 hours but you must talk to your doctor before taking this medication because of the side effects. Do not purchase this drug over the Internet because over the Internet it may or may not be distributed by a licensed pharmacy.