I currently take Ambien CR but insurance wants me to take Ambien--the generic form. Its much cheaper, I was paying $147 for a 3 mo supply of Ambien cr, a 3 month supply of the generic is $50. Obviously, I don't take it every night, so it last more than 3 months.
But I've noticed the generic doesn't work as well. Unlike the CR, which has two layers, one to get you to sleep, the other to keep you asleep. My main problem isn't falling asleep, it waking up in the middle of the night. With the CR I slept through the night, I don't with the generic.
Well, when I can't sleep I count the money I'm saving and eventually get back to sleep?
But seriously, has anyone else experienced both drugs and noticed a difference? I think I should be able to get my insurance to allow me the ambien at generic prices if I can get my doctor to write a letter to the effect that the generic is not effective, I did that with another drug, naprosyn. I don't care what they say, its not the same drug. I was fine on naprosyn, then started feeling awful. Only then did I realize I'd been switched to naproxyn, which is the generic, so it wasn't a psychological effect, I didnt even know I'd been switched until I noticed the lack of effectiveness.
My doctor wrote a letter that naprosyn was to be brand name only, due to past reactions to the generic, it worked. Might as well give it a try with ambien.
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