"i&#039;ve been taking ambien (generic teva) brand for the past 5 years. it works best when you take it on an empty stomach, meaning no food for a couple hours( if you take it with food or after you eat it won&#039;t work as well). i prefer to break mine into pieces in my mouth. i feel it works faster that way. ambien has a very short half life so this medicine is good at getting you to sleep but not necessarily keeping you asleep for more than a few hours. when i was really depressed i would take 5mg to fall asleep then i&#039;d wake up 4-5 hours later being wide awake and i&#039;d take the other half."