Realize this thread is old, but just wanted to post my thoughts.
Im bipolar with insomnia anyway, and at the tail end of a bad heroin addiction (18mo heroin free). I take 200mg of Seroquel a night, 900mg of Neurontin daily, 150mg of Vistaril daily, and 100mg of Lamictal daily, so I dont know if these have any affect on how the Ambien works. Also I had a brief recreational stint with Subutex for about a month and have been coming off that. The WD and the Lamictal that I just started brought onset insomnia, so my doc prescribed the lowest dose (5mg) of Ambien a night.
I was wary when she suggested it, but was in dire need of sleep. The first few nights I took it-- perfect. Fell right asleep, like a baby. I had no idea there could be any recreational value, but being an addict, I decided to look into it. Also, I cant cope with even the tiniest WD symptoms, so I was looking for any relief. One night it wasn't kicking in, so I took 10mg over two hours and finally fell asleep. Keep in mind that after many idiotic ODs, I experiment in very low doses. Also, I live in a situation where I absolutely can not be visibly fucked up.
Decided to IV some one night when I really wanted comfort-- honestly, I just was hoping for it to put me to sleep faster. A 5mg TEVA broke down quite well in cold water, and after multiple filterings it was nearly clear solution. I did it, hoping for instant drowsiness. I was NOT expecting to feel what I felt.
It hit almost instantly. The way I can describe it, was like too many benzos and a little bit of shrooms. Once I took about 20mg of Ativan and too much NyQuil and Sub and hallucinated, believing there were people in my apartment watching me. And any time I ever took too many Xanax or Klonopin, I would lose coherent thought and just cry and yell. You know how you can never remember how many Xanax you took, but you know you want more? I felt nearly at that point. Also, my few trips with psychedelics were NOT pleasant.
So anyway, this IV Ambien flipped me out. At once I felt like I had to be very careful or I would lose all control of what I was doing. I remember cleaning up and putting my works away-- then checking every 5 min to make sure I had. Reminded me of getting a 2mg Ativan shot at the hospital. I made myself lay my head down and stay there. It did not make me sleepy at first-- almost hyper. And there was a definite dissociation. I've heard others call it "plastic" or "rubbery", and that actually fits. And I had the strange, scary sense of a presence in the room with me. It even made the TV seem too foreign and far away. Anyway, I eventually fell asleep and had wicked lucid dreams.
Whats odd is the next night, I took a 10mg dose orally for sleep, and it was like it had built up in my system. About 15 min in, I couldnt remember how many or when I took them, and I was definitely experiencing a hypnotic trip. I kept asking my boyfriend if I was asleep yet, if I was acting normal, and if he felt like the shadows were moving. I couldnt articulate what was happening at all, my thoughts just kept turning into smoke in my grasp. I had to turn the TV off because it was too plasticy and was making me feel really lonely and 'separate' somehow. I ended up tossing and turning all night, getting a few hours sleep in.
Mind you-- its not altogether a BAD feeling, IF you like that sort of thing. Reminiscent of A) high benzo doses, B) low psychedelic dose, and C) even how I felt injecting molly (stupid, I know, remember what I said about my experiments and ODs?) I just happen to hate those feelings. It makes me feel like the world is wrong and could shatter at any moment. But if youre the type who likes to eat fistfuls of Xanax or shrooms, you'll love it.
Please beware though-- I wont go into a tragedy that happened in my family with an uncle taking too much Ambien. SMALL DOSES!!!!!
UPDATE: Tried insufflating for the hell of it. Crushed, chopped, crushed, chopped, crushed, chopped into a very fine powder, it burned right at first and then stopped. I cant comprehend how a drug can be so fast acting nasally. The wobblyness hit me in a minute or two, and I must report that there is some opiate-esque euphoria. More euphoria, less dissociation than other routes. IMO for recreation, IV is far too intense
, oral requires higher doses8), insufflation is just right
.
10 min later: All tension is gone from my body, the world possesses the perfect amount of softness, and my mind is anchored in reality. Theres the comfort I was trying to attain.