You are exceptional; most of us lack your skills and perseverence. I am glad that you have gathered an excellent support network. Like many of my friends, I feel fortunate when I find a keeper, someone who's not just a sawbones or pill-pusher but a humane doctor. The effort never ends, because doctors retire, new types of specialist are needed, and new health conditions emerge. Occasionally, a trusted doctor has someone to recommend; more commonly, not.
Your focus on pharmacy moves me to add another filip. A medical appointment concluded with a prescription being sent to my local pharmacy, or so I thought. When I went to pick it up, I was told they had two prescriptions for me. I paid, and collected them, and as I left the store, opened the package to see the details. The second prescription, I discovered, was not from the practice I had just visited, but from a PM&R doctor I'd seen at Johns Hopkins for knee damage, one I had not been in touch with for many months. Of course, having left the pharmacy counter, I was not allowed to return the unopened drugs. When I got home, I looked up the unexpected prescription: it was a muscle relaxant, not only irrelevant to my situation but a medication with warnings against prescription for patients in either of two categories I fit. I called the Hopkins doc's office to find out why this had appeared. A nurse asked the doctor, then reported, "If you don't need it, don't take it."
The lesson I took: when picking up a prescription, look at it right there, before leaving the pharmacy counter--even if there's a line.
A second lesson, though this I already knew: this doc is excellent at ultrasound-guided hyaluronic-acid injections. She also is a lousy communicator. Any message from her office, including prescriptions, warrants the hairiest of eyeballings. Everyone has their shortcomings.
Thank you for adding your experience, but I will add another way this doesn't work for the patients. It was a holiday Saturday in January, 2026 and I was fighting what I thought was a minor infection and needed antibiotics. My primary care doc (PCP) was not available so I decided that rather than go without treatment, I would see if my husband's local PCP could see me. She could not, but her Nurse Practitioner (NP) could see me. She was one of those medical people you never wanted to see. She was abrupt, rude, never listened to me, and it only got worse. She finally called in an antibiotic for me, which my husband picked up. There were two bottles in the bag. One was the antibiotic. The other one was for Prozac, a drug I do not take.
As soon as we realized what had happened, I called the NP and she would not speak with me. One of the medications I take could produce serious problems when taken with Prozac. I was livid and did the only action I could take. I filed a complaint with the California Board of Registered Nursing, and was told that my complaint would be given to the Enforcement Division and would promptly be investigated. If warranted, it would then go to to the Attorney General's Office. That was in January, 2026. Now it's six months later and nothing has happened. I have followed up three times and have been told that they are very busy. I bet they are. And the NP just keeps on seeing patients and prescribing possibly dangerous medications to other patients.
Ambien helps me sleep. I usually take 5 mg (1/2 my prescribed tab size) 4-5 x/wk., a total of about 20 mg a week. I've never had hallucinations, morning after mental issues, nothing. But I have heard for years, and read in Beers it should not be taken and may cause cognitive issues, and I read it hear today again in your article. If its never caused problems, and works well for me, should I nonetheless not take it. If it hasn't harmed me yet, at age 77, after 25 years of use, am I good to continue with it? It is manufactured, sold, prescribed by my doctor and dispensed by my pharmacist, and yet the ominous warnings are everywhere, including here. Why?
Very confusing, isn’t it, Greg? You do well on Ambien and I have also been on it and some of those side effects made me choose to discontinue it. I can’t give you medical or pharmaceutical advice, but I suggest you talk to other people who have or are taking it. I often get the best information from other people, not doctors, not pharmaceutical salespeople, and not pharmacists. Good luck!
Gregg, if your doctor and pharmacist are in agreement that your use seems to benefit you and is not outweighed by observable effects on your body and mind, you might ask this: do you trust your observations as augmented by their apparent agreement? Warnings don't speak to every case or even the majority of cases, but to risks that are common enough or severe enough to warrant alerts. I've been there. After unsuccessfully trying five or ten drugs for a stubborn condition, a specialist finally prescribed a drug that worked for me, off-label. It was identified as useful for teens, and I was middle-aged. I believe the drug 's listing subsequently has been expanded. Warnings included risk of metal aberration: suicidal or homicidal ideation. Didn't happen--for me. Increased irascibility, though; I got over it.
You are exceptional; most of us lack your skills and perseverence. I am glad that you have gathered an excellent support network. Like many of my friends, I feel fortunate when I find a keeper, someone who's not just a sawbones or pill-pusher but a humane doctor. The effort never ends, because doctors retire, new types of specialist are needed, and new health conditions emerge. Occasionally, a trusted doctor has someone to recommend; more commonly, not.
Your focus on pharmacy moves me to add another filip. A medical appointment concluded with a prescription being sent to my local pharmacy, or so I thought. When I went to pick it up, I was told they had two prescriptions for me. I paid, and collected them, and as I left the store, opened the package to see the details. The second prescription, I discovered, was not from the practice I had just visited, but from a PM&R doctor I'd seen at Johns Hopkins for knee damage, one I had not been in touch with for many months. Of course, having left the pharmacy counter, I was not allowed to return the unopened drugs. When I got home, I looked up the unexpected prescription: it was a muscle relaxant, not only irrelevant to my situation but a medication with warnings against prescription for patients in either of two categories I fit. I called the Hopkins doc's office to find out why this had appeared. A nurse asked the doctor, then reported, "If you don't need it, don't take it."
The lesson I took: when picking up a prescription, look at it right there, before leaving the pharmacy counter--even if there's a line.
A second lesson, though this I already knew: this doc is excellent at ultrasound-guided hyaluronic-acid injections. She also is a lousy communicator. Any message from her office, including prescriptions, warrants the hairiest of eyeballings. Everyone has their shortcomings.
Thank you for adding your experience, but I will add another way this doesn't work for the patients. It was a holiday Saturday in January, 2026 and I was fighting what I thought was a minor infection and needed antibiotics. My primary care doc (PCP) was not available so I decided that rather than go without treatment, I would see if my husband's local PCP could see me. She could not, but her Nurse Practitioner (NP) could see me. She was one of those medical people you never wanted to see. She was abrupt, rude, never listened to me, and it only got worse. She finally called in an antibiotic for me, which my husband picked up. There were two bottles in the bag. One was the antibiotic. The other one was for Prozac, a drug I do not take.
As soon as we realized what had happened, I called the NP and she would not speak with me. One of the medications I take could produce serious problems when taken with Prozac. I was livid and did the only action I could take. I filed a complaint with the California Board of Registered Nursing, and was told that my complaint would be given to the Enforcement Division and would promptly be investigated. If warranted, it would then go to to the Attorney General's Office. That was in January, 2026. Now it's six months later and nothing has happened. I have followed up three times and have been told that they are very busy. I bet they are. And the NP just keeps on seeing patients and prescribing possibly dangerous medications to other patients.
Ambien helps me sleep. I usually take 5 mg (1/2 my prescribed tab size) 4-5 x/wk., a total of about 20 mg a week. I've never had hallucinations, morning after mental issues, nothing. But I have heard for years, and read in Beers it should not be taken and may cause cognitive issues, and I read it hear today again in your article. If its never caused problems, and works well for me, should I nonetheless not take it. If it hasn't harmed me yet, at age 77, after 25 years of use, am I good to continue with it? It is manufactured, sold, prescribed by my doctor and dispensed by my pharmacist, and yet the ominous warnings are everywhere, including here. Why?
Very confusing, isn’t it, Greg? You do well on Ambien and I have also been on it and some of those side effects made me choose to discontinue it. I can’t give you medical or pharmaceutical advice, but I suggest you talk to other people who have or are taking it. I often get the best information from other people, not doctors, not pharmaceutical salespeople, and not pharmacists. Good luck!
Gregg, if your doctor and pharmacist are in agreement that your use seems to benefit you and is not outweighed by observable effects on your body and mind, you might ask this: do you trust your observations as augmented by their apparent agreement? Warnings don't speak to every case or even the majority of cases, but to risks that are common enough or severe enough to warrant alerts. I've been there. After unsuccessfully trying five or ten drugs for a stubborn condition, a specialist finally prescribed a drug that worked for me, off-label. It was identified as useful for teens, and I was middle-aged. I believe the drug 's listing subsequently has been expanded. Warnings included risk of metal aberration: suicidal or homicidal ideation. Didn't happen--for me. Increased irascibility, though; I got over it.