"i have taken ambien, on and off, for several years. i have bipolar disorder, resulting in a chronic sleep problem. 10 mg/day works well for a few months, then i become habituated. i have tried increasing to 20 mg/day, but i eventually become habituated to that dose as well, and neither i nor my doctor will go to a higher dose. nothing else works as well, so i usually struggle along for a couple of months, then go back to 10 mg/day of ambien. the other problem i&#039;ve seen is that i cannot  mix it with alcohol. i learned the hard way. i had &quot;waking blackouts&quot; after i&#039;d had a couple of drinks. people told me of things i&#039;d done, of which i had no memory of. "