Brand Ambien vs Zolpidem

Well yes, that is a given. What I was asking was if it was better, i.e. more effective.

@kndaustin71 You are exactly correct which is why my neurogist and I routinely have to respond to unreasonable mountains of paperwork for my insurance company to pay for Brand name medications. I take Zolpidem for many years and now I'm only getting 6 hours of sleep, if I'm lucky.

@zilla the fillers are different and I can promise you that the pink rectangle version is virtually useless. The NDC# is 13668-0008-05. I think that an NIH website called The Daily Med will give you the various brands to choose from. I agree that the % content of the primary ingredient must vary from generic to generic. TEVA works, something that looks like Aurobind (written over by pharmacist) also works.

There is absolutely a difference. I take Zolpidem on and off. When I took ambien, (10mg) I would sleep like a log for 8 hours, I would wake up not even remembering going to bed. My insurance now will only pay for generic. Sometimes I don't fall asleep at all. Sometimes I take 20mg and sleep for 4 hours. I know others with the same complaint.

@zilla Not just Ambien, but several other drugs that I wont mention. I have a wide group of friends past the age of 50 who all have complaints about generics

I’ve read that many doctor & nurses will only take the brand version of a med if it’s not outrageously expensive (which it often is). Don’t know where I read that but I believe it. For one thing the brand is usually made in the US as opposed to the generics which are made in places like India with less strict controls. I also believe the primary ingredient is probably the same. It’s the cheaper fillers that cause the problems.