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Misc Is zolpidem (ambien) bad for your memory?

N

nyashin

Bluelighter
Joined
May 20, 2003
Messages
110
The main reason I don't like various sleeping pills is that they remain in the blood for too long so they affect my memory the day after I have taken one.

But a pill like zolpidem only stays in the blood for some hours so when I take them it FEELS like the memory is not affected THE DAY AFTER.

So am I right in assuming that zolpidem is not bad for my memory THE DAY AFTER?

(I am asking because some drugs seem to affect your memory in a bad way even after they have worn off)
 
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I think you're good as long as you don't take it in the daytime when you need to remember shit.
But even then, when i was prescribed it i would snort one during the middle of the day for a "buzz" and i wouldn't have memory problems.(that i can remember lol)
I guess it depends on the individual really.
 
When you've taken it, it impairs memory similar to benzodiazepines. Your memory the next day, though, will not be affected. Virtually all of the zolpidem will have been eliminated at that point.
 
Zolpidem is the longest lasting of the sleep onset drugs but still only has a half life of 2.5h and effectiveness of 8h. If you want something even shorter there is zaleplon which is even used if you wake up in the middle of the night and want to fall asleep again within 20min without morning grogginess.

I believe the safest with respect to cognitive impairment is ramelteon which hits the melatonin receptors instead of the GABA benzo receptor sites.
 
Zolpidem (ambien) is notorious for causing amnesia during the experience. If you stay awake after dosing, don't expect that you are going to remember anything you did that night. You may feel and seem coherent at the time, but your ability to form memories after dosing is significantly reduced.

There have been people who 'sleep walked' after taking ambien and gone driving, commited crimes, gotten themselves injured, cooked dinner, etc etc..

I highly suggest if you take ambien to avoid trying to stay up and 'enjoy' the experience. I have been prescribed it on and off and have experienced some wicked memory loss on it, worse than xanax. If you are going to take it, take it and just try and sleep. There is a big risk of doing something stupid and potentially hurting yourself, or others.
 
... and its not like the memory that you lose while you're on it comes back eventually. its gone forever, or at least in my case and in the cases of several people I know who use it regularly.

its gotten to the point where i've now done so much shit on ambien (caveat: i was definitely abusing the drug with 20mg-50mg dosages sublingually and staying awake on purpose for the euphoria) that I only found out about because other people told me - and in some cases photographed me cause they knew i wouldn't believe them - that that drug genuinely scares me.

not to say if you threw one at me i wouldn't take it, i'm self destructive that way. but i found out that in reality .5mg puts me to sleep if that's what i'm trying to accomplish.

if you're gonna fuck with ambien, you MUST secure your car keys. i have faint recall of driving once on ambien and weaving all over the road. Horrifying. I was definitely putting people's lives in danger. but you know, ambien makes you not care about that shit.

in a safe and controlled setting, though, its one of the most wonderful euphorias i've ever experienced. that said, i no longer do it, cause there's no setting that safe and controlled enough
 
Yes I am aware that you don't remember much WHEN you have it in your blood. I am talking about the day after. If it affects your memory after the "high" is gone. (Like cannabis and some other drugs seems to do)

Thanks for all the feedback though!

Zaleplon and ramelteon sounds interesting, I will check them out!
 
I have taken ambien for a couple years now, it only affects my memory from around the time i take it to when I wake up. Zolpidem has a really short half life so shouldn't give you any problems with your memory durring the waking hours
 
Fatkid paramedic said:
Taking in doses over 20mg I have noticed that zolpidem is very bad on the memory. Cannot recall any events clearly after dosing.
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I agree. Even at 20mg they're bad enough... :\

Probably why it's recommended to be taken only for a few weeks. After a few months of use the tolerance and side-effects are almost ridiculous
 
Another reason why zolpidem should only be taken for a short duration if at all, is because of the increased likelihood you will develop cancer if you have been on Z-drugs like zolpidem for at least 6 months (this has been studied in mice and humans).
 
Captain.Heroin said:
Another reason why zolpidem should only be taken for a short duration if at all, is because of the increased likelihood you will develop cancer if you have been on Z-drugs like zolpidem for at least 6 months (this has been studied in mice and humans).
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Whoa. Are you serious? I didn't know that.. That is crazy. I wonder if that had anything to do with me getting diagnosed with cancer in 2009.. Strange..
 
BrokedownPalace said:
Whoa. Are you serious? I didn't know that.. That is crazy. I wonder if that had anything to do with me getting diagnosed with cancer in 2009.. Strange..
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Wikipedia article about these studies findings
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zopiclone#Carcinogenicity
.

I believe from what this study seems to indicate, it is most associated with skin cancer, or ovarian cancer. This isn't to say it couldn't cause other cancers as well, it may just be less likely.
 
I could never get any help falling asleep taking any of Z-drugs. When I still responded like an average person to benzodiazepine derivatives, I praised estazolam because it hits fast and the instant anxiolytic effect is very helping although it fades away very quick but then its hypnotic properties take on and it was a good as a sleep aid for me. The other would be triazolam or midazolam but I took them when I had already developed tolerance to benzodiazepines so it's a different feeling.
 
It cant be good for your memory thats for sure. First handful of times i took it were superb both as a sleep aid & as a recreational drug. Then i became one of those train wrecks you read about on erowid.

I had a 'dream' that i left the box on top of a ladder & kept going back for more throughout the night. My first thought when i woke up was 'that was a weird dream' then i discovered i'd eaten 210 mg. I even suffered withdrawal. Couldn't keep still, sweating, anxiety. I must have kept forgetting how many i took as i never had gone past 20 mg before & had no intention of doing so. Nightmare.
 
I would say memory impairment is really down 2 the individual the tolerance and the dose. Its half life is short so the only real impairment would be in the immidiate time after use and if the dosage taken was over the theraputic range.
 
A single 10mg therapeutic dose of ambien can still easily wipe my memory clean. Oddly enough, it's the nights I don't really have much fun with it where I end up forgetting everything. If I stay up all night, I can rail these little guys and have a great time, go lay down and fall asleep at will, wake up in the AM remembering all of it with little to no amb-over. Funny drug...

However, I do find that taking ambien several nights in a row fogs up my head real bad and destroys my short term memory.

Also, fun little detail, next time you play with some ambien, check your pupils in the mirror. They get nearly MDMA-big. :)
 
Some of the oddest and scariest moments of my life have been caused by Ambien. I'm really shocked that it's still prescribed commonly.
 
Harrisment said:
Some of the oddest and scariest moments of my life have been caused by Ambien. I'm really shocked that it's still prescribed commonly.
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Me too. Doctors are happier to hand out 28 10mg zolpidem than they are 10 5mg diazepam. Valium never made me have a conversation with a water bottle or scream at the top of my lungs that i "just want the next fucking ticket out of this station" at 4am in a friends house.
 
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