"i&#039;ve been taking ambien for about 8 years now due to chronic insomnia.  multiple medical issues have caused most of the problem with not sleeping.  i already have 3 fusions in my neck (one of which is falling apart and causing a compressed spinal cord that my ns is trying to avoid further surgery on so that i don&#039;t have to have rods in addition to the screws and plates that are already in there) plus i have laminectomy from l2 to s1 with bulging discs, fibromyalgia, bone on bone arthritis in both knees and i also need both hips replaced.  oh, there are also a couple of bulging discs and bone spurs in my cervical spine in addition to the problems already mentioned.  i have never had any side effects or trouble with the ambien at all."