"i have been taking ambien for about 6 months, and it does the job very well. i generally take half of my 5mg pill a few nights/week. i have to take it and go directly to bed, or i have zero memory of what happens between taking it and falling asleep. the reason that i rate it so low is that i&#039;ve started to notice that i have hours of the next day (after taking it the night before) that i have absolutely no memory of. i&#039;ve sideswiped the guardrails in my car on the way to work and had no idea that i had done so until my husband asked what happened to the car. i had a very faint &#039;did i dream that or did it really happen&#039; recollection of it. i take it fairly early in the evening. "