"i was prescribed 5mg ambien after 3 months of not getting more than 2-3 hours of sleep in each 24 hour period. i had tried benadryl, hydroxyzine, and valium previously, all of which kept me wide awake. i took the 5mg right before bed, as instructed, and laid there awake all night. the next night i decided to try 1 1/2 (7.5 mg) as i keep reading horror stories about 10mg. i took it, waited about 10 minutes, then went to bed. it took me over an hour to fall asleep, but once i did, i&#039;m thrilled to say i slept all night! unfortunately even after a full night of sleep it was very hard to wake up. i&#039;d wake up then doze back off. that happened several times for about an hour. once i was able to wake up enough to get up, i was fine"