This may be a stupid question but asking anyways

I was just curious about this.  I take ambien to help me sleep and they just switched it to the generic brand, which does not seem to work on me at all.  With pills and my pouch being so small, does it sit in there long enough to dissolve and give me the full benefits of the pills I take? 

I don't know the dynamics of how all of that works - some meds work differently than others. Have you asked your doc?

The other thing you can do is try crushing it. That does help stuff absorb better so that may help. Also, sometimes generic brands just don't work as well, even though they are not supposed to be any different from the patented version. For instance, I sometimes take Midrin for my migraines, and the generic version of that has never worked for me at all, where as the brand works like a charm.

Good luck getting it all figured out so it works for you!

The generic didn't work for me after surgery. 

I cut my Ambien in half per my doctor's advice (I only sleep 4 hours either way) and take the 2nd half when I wake up in the middle of the night - I get my full 8 hours in and haven't had adverse effects.

I will try that tonight, I really miss the full night sleeps  Thanks

I've also had situations where the generic of something didn't work for me like the brand name did and I asked my pharmacist why...she explained that generics have a larger percentage of variation allowed in the chemical makeup of each pill AND the vehicle they use to get the chemical into the body varies and so may not "deliver" as well in some people. Kind of interesting...

Also took ambien for awhile and my doc told me to take half like the other poster said. I also had to take the regular versus the extended release.

well I asked the pharmacist if i could go back to the other ones and they say they can't even get them anymore and this is all they have.  I am not sure if I should switch up pharmacies or if this will be the new norm for them all?

Most medicines (but not all) are NOT primarily absorbed in the stomach/pouch, but in the intestines... so the amount of time a non-time-release pill spends in the pouch vs the amount of time it spends in the stomach isn't really the issue.

Some generics simlpy do not work as well for some people as the name brand version.  this MAY be one of those for you.

FOOD, however, is known to slow the absorption of Ambien (zolpidem), so it should always be taken one hour before or two hours after food.  Also, be sure you were not accidentally given the Ambien CR version...

Lora

Thanks for letting me know that, I will wait a few hours after I eat to take it and see if that makes a difference.  Thanks

Hello
I take Ambien every night.I crush mine and take it with applesauce.It hits me alot sooner than it used to.It is the generic form.Maybe you can try it.Seems to be working for me