I'm not sure what you're taking Ambien for, and whether you are on other medications. You don't say.

As you probably know, Ambien, usually 10 mg, is a medicine for relatively long sleep (6-8 hours). It is fairly slowly cleared from your blood, that is it hangs around a while. It should not be taken for more than a few weeks generally. Eventually, your body becomes tolerant to it.

The important point is that it can act as a depressant. And, it sounds as though you are already suffering from fairly severe depression. Ambien might worsen it over time.

Depressed people can have considerable difficulty sleeping, which may be why you are taking Ambien.

Are you on prescribed antidepressants? If so, are they helping? By the way you have described things, it seems as though your medication requirements may need adjustment or further prescription needed (unless you've just gone on antidepressants which have not had time to work).

I strongly urge you to either see your MD for further evaluation, or consult with a psychologist or psychiatrist.

You need help.

You do not need anyone else right now. You need a competent psychiatrist to determine if you need anti-depressants. Taking a knockout pill for depression is like taking ex-lax for diarrhea!

You sound like you are clinically depressed and like many other people who have the condition are looking everywhere but where the solution lies.

Ambien is a band-aid for what you have. Until you are ready to deal with the condition and get proper treatment for it, you will be in a bad place for the 16 hours a day you are awake. Sleep is not a cure for depression. It is an escape from the reality that help is available and you are not yet using it.

Best of luck. From your writing, you sound like all you want is justification for continuing Ambien. Sorry, I can't give it to you. Ambien is for people who are leading otherwise healthy lives and have difficulty sleeping. You have a condition called Major Depressive Disorder and sleeping meds may be part of the treatment, they are the smallest part of the recovery.

I've been on zoloft 200 mg for a year. I started buspar 15mg 3 times a day about 3 weeks ago. I have ativan .5mg as needed. I'm also on 300mg nerotin 3 times a day. Cortef 10mg 3 times a day, relpax as needed, percocet as needed, vicodin as need, injections of torodal as needed. ambien cr 12.5 mg every night, prescription strenght vit d and i have no idea but i could be forgetting something. I've seen a md recently - every week - it's harder to see a psychiatrist they all have 1 year waits in my area. I have done lots of therapy though - cognitive behavior therapy, psychologist and licenses social worker - i'm think electric shock therapy might be good but i'm worried about memory loss.

I've been told i have severe recurrent depressive disorder - it recures when my husband is in town. I don't want justification that sleeping is a solution - just wondering if others are out there doing the same - if they had an ambien that worked for the entire day i'd take it too - i am careful not to overdose my medicines because i don't want the legacy of suicide in my kids lives.

Listen to what your depression is trying to tell you instead of trying to block or mask the depression.

This is probably too light of advice for you, as I've only had moderate depression and this time I didn't take any medications. But the things you describe--the exhaustion, the withdrawal, the feeling you need to act fake, the pointlessness, the loneliness...Listen. There is a book called Listening to Depression. It's communication from you, for you, about you.

I know, your point was about the Ambien...

Thanks Lisa

Please don't force yourself to smile when you don't feel like it. I'm not suggesting you go out there and let it all hang out but depression hurts ( I think I suffer from it but am not on medicaiton)and you don't owe anyone an entertaining time. If someone says to smile or cheer up, just say "later, please" and keep on going. Good luck.