Q. I have suffered from acid reflux for about six months, and it kept getting worse and worse. Nothing that I tried was helping.
I read some comments on your Web site that Ambien might cause heartburn. The light bulb went off: seven months ago my mother died and my sister-in-law broke her hip. I was under great stress and couldn’t sleep, so my doctor prescribed Ambien. Soon after I started taking it, I had my first awful experience with acid reflux, but I didn’t make the connection.
The only way I could sleep was to take Ambien, but the reflux was unbelievable. As soon as I read about it, I made a doctor’s appointment, but I also skipped the Ambien that night. I didn’t sleep much, but the reflux wasn’t as bad. The next night I did not take Ambien, slept a bit better and had very little reflux. Last night I repeated the experiment and had NO reflux although I slept fairly well.
I am thrilled. I’d much rather cope with a sleepless night from time to time than the horrible pain. Is heartburn listed as a side effect?
A. The prescribing information lists “dyspepsia,” a general term for indigestion, as a side effect. Although there isn’t much research on this complication, dozens of visitors to our Web site have reported reflux linked to Ambien.
