My dr. was more than happy to RX it to me, as needed/requested, (provided I didn't exceed my supply/time frame) I found that if I took a pill and went immedietly to bed, it just put me to sleep, but if I took a pill and continued to watch TV, stuff just got wierd. Objects melting, melding, etc. Also, when I would lie in bed awake, and it would feel as if there were ppl all around me, all talking at once, like my bed was in the middle of a crowded bar. Also, I found that it gave me the munchies, but if I would eat up to at least a couple of hours after dosing, I would spontaneously projectile vomit, everywhere, with no warning. No nasuea, just puke. Never had this happen with a benzo. It's a wierd drug, that's for sure. The charts and official lit say that 20 mg ambien = `10 mg valium. I don't think that there is even a comparison.
I took it regularly for a while, but it started to hang me over really bad, even at the recommended dose, and I had the tendency to keep taking them, as I would forget that I had already taken one. Crazy shit, that Ambien is. My friend refers to the ambien experience as "cruising the Zolpidem Highway."