"started zolpidem for insomnia due to anxiety from a cancer diagnosis.  prior to this time, i had no sleep problems.  i started with 10mg, two nights in a row, but it had no effect. the next night, i tried one and a half pills (15mg), which worked great, but i could barely get out of bed after 8 hours of sleep.  i figured out that i could take 10mg about an hour before bedtime and a half pill at bedtime and get 9 hours of great sleep and no problems getting out of bed in the morning.  however, after about 1 week i discovered notable memory loss, particularly with occasionally searching for words. i once came home from work and saw a note i had apparently written to my wife that morning, but didn&#039;t remember writing. decided to switch medicines."