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Thursday, January 20, 2011

Ambien Ups Risk of Falling in Elderly

The elderly are often unsteady on their feet – but it might not be anything to do with getting old.  One of the world’s most popular sleeping pills could be the unsuspected culprit, researchers have discovered this week.

Zolpidem – which is found in many prescription sleeping drugs, such as Ambiencauses a loss of balance and unsteadiness even several hours after waking up.


Zolpidem causes a “significant loss of balance” in around 58 per cent of elderly people.

5 comments:

John said...

I just started taking Zolpidem (generic for Ambien). I take a pill just prior to going to bed---maybe 20-30 minutes before. It does not seem to phase me in the least. I don't have trouble falling to sleep. I just can't seem to get more than 4 hours out of it. That is not much better than prior to taking it. I have not increased the dosage to more than one pill. I cannot believe that one pill will do what most have written in their reviews. Disappointed!

Unknown said...

John,
Sorry to hear you do not know about Passionflower extract.

Anonymous said...

Sleep-aid-pills are effective in helping you to gain peaceful sleep at night and sleeping pill such s Ambien. It is a popular sleep aide, As soon as this sleeping pill is administered, it starts affecting the central nervous system and decreases the activity of the brain. With the reduction of brain activity, your anxiety is lowered and this in turn helps you to enjoy sleep throughout the night.

Unknown said...

Unfortunately the previous comment goes not address the side effects and addictive problems associated with the drug.

Adam said...

I've taken Ambien as needed for several months. It works great, puts me to sleep quickly and keeps me asleep for 6 hours. You do need to take it when you are going to bed. If you take it an hour before bed, you'll feel like someone slipped rufees in your 5th margarita at the bar. It is not physically addictive. Once I stopped taking it, I could still fall asleep. It IS emotionally addictive (because it works like magic), so you have to watch yourself. I once took this 4 hours after having a 3 beers and the next day I felt very disoriented, had a terrible headache, and couldn't put words together to make a sentence. I thought I was going to have a stroke. It taught me to follow the directions on the label.