Hi JoanB

I don't want to burst your bubble because everyone reacts to drugs differently but I can only share my experiences with you. I have had 2 family members and 1 close friend really struggle with long tern use of sleeping pills (2 were with Ambien). Your body can reach tolerance with these drugs and you may have to continue to increase the dose, much like benzos. My poor brother reached tolerance 3 months on Ambien and had to keep upping his dose until he started taking higher than recomended doses. He turned into a complete zombie. Unfortunetely, he had to slowly wean himself off with his doctor's help but it was quite rough. He was up for a total of 6 straight days at one point in his taper off.

Here is a quick review from the web:

Some studies show that AMBIEN may alter the sleep architecture in the same way that benzodiazepines do - by reducing the amounts of restorative Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep and increasing the non-restorative sleep patterns. This can result in daytime drowsiness and poor cognitive function. Therefore only short-term use of AMBIEN is recommended and discontinuation should be done in a gradual dose reduction.

I understand that lack of sleep can make pain so much worse. Both my brother and I have been using concentrated tart cherry juice for the past year and it has been a huge help. It took about 4 weeks to really start working. My borther also uses a light box every morning from 9:00 - 10:00 and he lives by it. Hope these help.