AMBIEN WARNING: I took Ambien CR for 2+ years before having a terrible reaction - sleepwalking which led to a fall down our stairs - face down - on April 17.
I was very lucky that I did not break anything. Initially, my forehead and nose were swollen - nose was blue, and I thought it was broken, but it wasn't. I am still black and blue nearly 2 weeks later. The next day, the swelling was gone, but I had black eyes and cheeks, and abrasions on scalp, and one elbow. They are nearly gone. I did hurt my back - but I've had disk problems for years, so that's not unexpected. I also jammed my cervical disks - and I'm lucky I didn't break my neck and die on the spot.
Sleep walking is not an uncommon side effect of Ambien. In my case, I woke up in my bed the next morning thinking I had a bad dream - until I looked in the mirror and realized it wasn't a dream. The only thing I remember is being at the bottom of the stairs.
Of course, I'm no longer taking Ambien, and I'm getting decent sleep only 1 night of 3. My oncologist (the doc who originally prescribed Ambien - with the warning that I probably wouldn't be able to take it 'forever') told me that all prescription sleep meds have the same side effect. My GP said the same thing. I'm going to try using melatonin tonight. I've had insomnia for 20 years - and the cancer 2 1/2 years ago just made it worse.