Everyone has endured a sleepless night at some point, but resorting to sleeping pills to finally catch some satisfying “zzz”s can be a slippery slope into addiction. What was once taken to treat insomnia becomes a crutch. Although the idea of swallowing one pill to sleep 8 hours a night may seem like the magic bullet to solve your insomnia woes, Ambien (sold under the generic “zolpidem”) is highly prone to abuse. For those who would rather not suffer with sleepless nights on end, there are other options available.

If you are a mid-life adult struggling with ambien addiction, contact Silver Ridge in Asheville today for the treatment you need. Our professionals can help you get on the road to recovery.

What Is Ambien?

Unlike other tranquilizers or anti-anxiety medications (“benzos”), Ambien is in another class of prescription medications. Ambien is sedative-hypnotic, and works by slowing down the brain’s functions to induce sleep. Many patients begin using Ambien as described, only to discover they need more pills to get to sleep and stay asleep, as their tolerance grows. They may not even feel sleepy when doubling or tripling their prescribed dose, and instead begin noticing they experience bizarre, yet pleasurable symptoms, such as visual or auditory hallucinations.

One alarming effect of chronic Ambien use is consistent memory loss. The fact is that many who take Ambien recreationally won’t fall asleep, but they will say or do things they do not remember whatsoever when they wake up. This could include anything as benign as texting every friend or family member in their contacts list at 3 a.m., to “sleep eating,” or most alarming of all, getting behind the wheel and driving. When mixed with other prescription drugs or alcohol, the effect is intensified and could cause a lethal overdose.