definetely , ambien has to be taken whileyou are ready to stay in bed for the night, i take one only if insomnia persisted for nights and i have no alternative/ but first i am in bed, put the tv on and in 20 minutes shut tv and sleeping, still feel weird in morning, and when i first tried it and took it earlier in the evening thinking it was going to take a n hour to kick in i was higher than a kite. i had cancer and my daughter never saw me bald, i went in herrooom and whi[[ed my wig off and i think i scared her half to death! she was 12! i will never forget that or her. i was high on ambien. i don't like it and like i said only take it when i am on a roll of insomnia. karen