Zolpidem

Uses of Zolpidem

Zolpidem is a sleeping pill that can be taken for short-term treatment of severe insomnia.

It helps you fall asleep more quickly and makes you less likely to wake up during the night. It works by affecting a calming chemical in your brain called gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA).

Precautions and Warnings

Before taking zolpidem, tell your doctor and pharmacist if you are allergic to zolpidem, any other medications, or any of the ingredients in the zolpidem product you are using. Ask your pharmacist or check the Medication Guide for a list of the ingredients.

Tell your doctor and pharmacist what other prescription and nonprescription medications, vitamins, nutritional supplements, and herbal products you are taking or plan to take. Be sure to mention any of the following: antidepressants (‘mood elevators’) including imipramine (Tofranil) and sertraline (Zoloft); chlorpromazine; itraconazole (Onmel, Sporanox); ketoconazole (Nizoral); medications for anxiety, colds or allergies, mental illness, pain, or seizures; rifampin (Rifadin, Rimactane, in Rifamate, in Rifater); sedatives; sleeping pills; and tranquilizers. Your doctor may need to change the doses of your medications or monitor you carefully for side effects.

You should not take more than one sleeping pill on the same night. If you have taken a zolpidem product or a different type of sleeping pill at bedtime and you wake up in the middle of the night, you should not take a zolpidem sublingual tablet (Intermezzo) or any other sleeping pill.

Tell your doctor what herbal products you are taking, especially St. John’s wort.

Tell your doctor if you drink or have ever drunk large amounts of alcohol, use or have ever used street drugs, or have overused prescription medications. Also tell your doctor if you have or have ever had depression; mental illness; thoughts of harming or killing yourself or trying to do so; a problem with heavy snoring; sleep apnea (condition in which breathing briefly stops many times during the night); other breathing problems or lung diseases such as asthma, bronchitis, and emphysema; myasthenia gravis (condition that causes weakness of certain muscles); or kidney or liver disease.

Tell your doctor if you are pregnant, especially if you are in the last few months of your pregnancy, plan to become pregnant, or are breastfeeding. If you become pregnant while taking zolpidem, call your doctor.

Talk to your doctor about the risks and benefits of taking zolpidem if you are 65 years of age or older. Older adults should not usually take zolpidem because it is not as safe or effective as other medications that can be used to treat the same condition.

If you are having surgery, including dental surgery, tell the doctor or dentist that you are taking zolpidem.

You should know that zolpidem may cause drowsiness, decreased mental alertness, prolonged reaction time, problems with coordination the day after you take it, and may increase the risk that you could fall. Take extra care to be sure you do not fall, especially if you get out of bed in the middle of the night. Your ability to drive or operate machinery the day after you take zolpidem may be impaired even if you feel fully awake. Do not drive a car or operate machinery the day after you take an extended-release zolpidem product. Talk to your doctor about the risks of driving or operating machinery the day after you take any other zolpidem products.

Do not drink alcohol during your treatment with zolpidem. Alcohol can make the side effects of zolpidem worse.

You should know that your behavior and mental health may change in unexpected ways while you are taking this medication. It is hard to tell if these changes are caused by zolpidem or if they are caused by physical or mental illnesses that you may already have or suddenly develop. Tell your doctor right away if you experience any of the following symptoms: aggressiveness, strange or unusually outgoing behavior, hallucinations (seeing things or hearing voices that do not exist), feeling as if you are outside of your body, memory problems, difficulty concentrating, anxiety, becoming easily agitated, slowed speech or movements, new or worsening depression, thinking about killing yourself or trying to do so, confusion, and any other changes in your usual thoughts, mood, or behavior. Be sure that your family knows which symptoms may be serious so that they can call the doctor if you are unable to seek treatment on your own.

Dosage

The usual dose is one 10mg tablet, taken just before you go to bed. It takes around 30 minutes to work.

If you’re 65 years old or over, or if you have kidney or liver problems, your doctor may start you on a lower dose of 5mg.

Side Effects

Common side effects:

• daytime drowsiness, dizziness, feeling light-headed or “drugged”;
• headache;
• diarrhea; or
• feeling tired.