"my dr. in nyc took me off of halcion (which worked great!) and put me on ambien when it came out being touted as a &quot;miracle sleep aid&quot;. doc told me that it was non-habit forming, if it worked for me i wouldn&#039;t ever need to use more than the 5 mg. tabs (sounded like she had just memorized company literature). anyway the .5 mg. ambien worked great for a while, especially helpful as my work schedule(s) varied so much. i&#039;d sleep and wake up refreshed. but after 7 or 8 yrs. of taking .5 mg several nights a week, i needed 10 mg. to get &amp; stay asleep. then it stopped working. fact is, you have to go off ambien for a while until your &quot;tolerance&quot; goes away &amp; i&#039;ll bet that&#039;s the case with all sleep aids - it&#039;s back to halcion for me!"