Ambien never really did it for me- it was not the miracle drug it was supposed to be for me. Same with Sonata, I was rx'd both of them from my PCP and later given Restoril- worked a lot better.

The thing with Ambien is, I always found that it's possible to fight it coming on. If I take it and I'm not in bed with my eyes closed within 20 mins, I will just get disoriented. Not tired at all. If I am actively trying to go to sleep around normal bed time, I do find it helps- but if I need to fall asleep at a given time and I take an Ambien and then go about my business, I don't fall asleep. I get this weird heavy, spacy feeling and it makes me hungry- but if I eat the littlest thing, I get nausea. I'm not even sure if I enjoy the spaciness, I remember only bits and pieces the next day.

Restoril or a high enough dose of another benzo will knock me out when I want, without fail.

-yawkaw