If you want to go to sleep, flat out, get in bed before you fall out, you need Ambien. I was having some sleeping difficulty (and here I am at 4:17 a.m. posting) and my doc gave some. I decided to take it about 30-45 mintues before I went to bed and thought I would be good and ready by then. I had a few more reports to type but as I typed I noticed my keyboard was bending in a teepee shape and then there was this bird that looked like a pheasant that my hands kept wanting to close over and hold instead of finishing my work. I looked at my husband and said "I am almost done working ...but there is this bird" LOL he jumped up and put me in the bed and I have not had any since! If you do ever take some you must sleep at least 7 to 8 hours. No playing around with this stuff and it is very addictive but I just use it to break that bad sleep cycle, if I am on the third night of not sleeping well, take one for two nights in a row to break that cycle and don't use it again until you really need it.