Compared to other sleep-aids I've tried, melatonin is much, much better. I took Ambien for a while (both 5mg and 10mg), and while the onset is much, much faster than melatonin (15 minutes vs. 1 hour), I grew a tolerance to it rather quickly. Eventually, it just wouldn't put me to sleep. Instead, I experienced wild hallucinations, amnesia, and hangovers. Wild and crazy dreams are nothing, really, compared to actually hallucinating.
My younger brother had a similar experience with Ambien. He would take it, not fall asleep, and then get really weird (the only word to describe it). One time he started listening to dance music after taking an Ambien to try to fall asleep, and whatever he experienced, his roommates said he was jumping and screaming at the top of his lungs. And then there were the online posts with capitalization and spelling that looked like they'd been boiled in radioactive green goo...
I've had a number of really weird experiences with Ambien. I know, from some things I've said to other people while on it, that there are a number of things that I experienced of which I have no recollection. The things I do remember are fairly crazy in their own right. I'm not sure if this is the place to discuss this, but I'll mention a few things that I've experienced. At the very least, this should serve as a warning to anyone considering taking Ambien.
I was once convinced I was on the set of the Goonies, because my comforter happened to look like a cave. I've only seen bits and pieces of that movie, so I have no idea why I hallucinated about it. I told someone "this lady needs to sell some chickens" because I saw a woman in the middle of my room selling chickens. I saw pixies dancing in the middle of my room. I saw a little girl, about the height of the toilet, that was sucked behind it as I approached. I also called or texted a number of people and told them a bunch of things that made absolutely no sense. Things like "I don't trust you. You might read my books." Or telling them I was flying and how much I loved them. I have a subtle recollection of the latter, absolutely none of the former. I never had a "bad trip", in that I never experienced anything that made me fearful or feel bad. It was all very euphoric, but, from my understanding, this isn't true for everyone.
If you're into the whole recreational drug thing, I can't say that Ambien is a bad choice as a hallucinogen. The hangovers were mild, and only came about from large doses (~30mg). I never took it for that purpose, but I realize there are people (not necessarily here) that might be interested. As far as using it as a sleep aid, I wouldn't suggest anyone go near the stuff. It's great the first few times you take it, but the tolerance sets on rather quickly. I ended up just hallucinating until the time I would normally fall asleep. I never became dependent, but it seems that addiction isn't necessarily uncommon for those that take it for long periods of time. If you are having trouble sleeping, try melatonin supplements and light therapy. Melatonin doesn't work for everyone, but, honestly, I'd rather have a few nights where I'm unable to sleep than the hangovers and hallucinations I got from Ambien.
TL;DR: Ambien makes for a really shitty sleep-aid.
