Generic Name: Sonata (zaleplon)
Sonata Reviews
For Insomnia "After years of not being able to fall asleep or stay asleep, and after trying Lunesta and Ambien, I was tired. Sonata works great for me, and I don't wake up groggy or hungover. I feel great for the first time in my life. I have fibromyalgia/chronic fatigue syndrome, and it is essential to get sleep. I feel refreshed and ready to go in the mornings... love it. Thankful my doctor said to give it a try. Hope this helps."
For Insomnia "Taking Sonata was like taking a placebo. No matter when I took it - 5 minutes before bedtime, 1 hour, 2 hours, I would lie awake for hours! I even tried doubling up with no change. Once I did fall asleep, I would wake up 2 hours later, then 2 hours after that - never getting a restful night's sleep."
For Insomnia "I had an interesting experience on Sonata. I took it, but found myself unable to fall asleep. Instead, I spent several, say 7 hours, sitting in front of my vanity, having a conversation with my numerous reflections in my mirror. While there, in reality, there was probably only one reflection, I saw three. Sometimes more. They were all very active, doing different things at the same time! I decided that one of them should cut their hair, and after some persuasion, they did. Well, to my great dismay, when I awoke, I looked in the mirror, and yes, my reflection had indeed cut her hair, but so had I! I had to go to school that day, my friends were rather astonished. Well... I had a hell of a time explaining it to my mom. When I shared the account of these events with my cousin, however, I was rather stunned by the fact that she had had the same experience! She too had cut her hair and spent hours conversing and sharing anecdotes with her multiple reflection visitors. Although her conversation was interrupted by a vision of a dog-man, our stories were otherwise quite similar. After researching this medication thoroughly online, we thought that it could not just be a coincidence that we both had such similar nights on Sonata, and we think these things should be listed as side effects, including, but not limited to hair cutting and mirror parties."
For Insomnia "I have taken Sonata for over 15 years. It has been a miracle drug for me. I have no trouble falling asleep, but I wake up in the middle of the night and can't get back to sleep. But with Sonata, I am out within 15 minutes and wake up with no hangover. I do not know what I would do without it."
For Insomnia "I love Sonata, for the first time I can sleep. However, I think it works best if you wind yourself down and relax a bit first. Otherwise, I would find myself feeling the effects of the medication and still active and now impaired. So I learned early in once I stop what I am doing and just relax, watch T.V., read a book, etc. Right to sleep and I stayed there. Not groggy at all the next day."
For Insomnia "Insomnia sufferer for half of my 59 years on earth. The older I get, the worse the sleeplessness. Have tried every OTC sleep product available. Ambien, trazodone, benzos (stay far away from them), everything you can be prescribed. Two months ago, I was given Sonata. Helps me to quickly fall asleep, but I awaken between 3 or so hours. I finally figured out that two diphenhydramine (Benadryl) taken with the Sonata helps to finally get 7 or 8 hours of sleep at night. The Sonata puts me out within 15 minutes, while I am sleeping, the diphenhydramine slowly gets in my system and keeps me asleep. This took me a while to figure out, but it was heaven sent. No morning side effects, just a wonderful refreshing feeling. May the good Lord see fit to let me enjoy this for a long time."
For Insomnia "I am not sure why doctors don't tell their patients, when they prescribe Sonata, that it should be taken on an empty stomach. My doctor didn't even know. If it's not working for you and you've been eating within 2 hours of taking it, try it again at least 2 hours after eating. Also, it is short-acting, so it's great for those having trouble falling asleep. Because it's short-acting, though, you can take it in the middle of the night and it works quickly, and you can wake up without feeling groggy. Ambien kept me up all night, I took Lunesta for years and it was very helpful, but now I just want to make sure I have no lingering drowsy side effects. Make sure to take it in bed, ready to sleep, otherwise you will just feel loopy and miss the sleep window."
For Insomnia "I don't have trouble falling asleep, but if I happen to wake up between the hours of 2:00 am and 4:00 am, for some reason I have a hard time falling back asleep. I give myself about 10 minutes, and if I am still awake I take one capsule. Seems like it works within 15 minutes and there is ZERO morning grogginess. It is a short-acting medication so it really isn't designed to be taken right when you go to bed. Sometimes I will take Sonata and then check my email while waiting for it to work - big mistake, as I write some very loopy, misspelled things which I have only the vaguest memory of doing."
For Insomnia "My doctor recently informed me that I should only take Sonata when I wake up in the middle of the night. Just need to have a glass of water near my bed. I tried that last night and it did give me a few extra hours of sleep. When I was taking it before bed, I generally would get up in the middle of the night anyway and feel groggy the next day."
For Insomnia "I have been taking Sonata since 2017, and it's done wonders for my insomnia, which was really bad. I tried several before the doctor prescribed Sonata. I take one every night, and I will be asleep within an hour. I don't feel bad in the morning."
For Insomnia "After trying a number of different things without much success, the zaleplon/Sonata is helping me go to sleep and staying asleep for up to 7 hours. When I wake, I'm refreshed and have no hangover whatsoever."
For Insomnia "I have had an erratic sleep schedule since the end of January of this year. I had been taking trazodone, and it just wasn't working anymore. I talked to my doctor. She suggested Sonata. I was desperate for a good night's sleep. I took 1 last night. I believe it is a good idea to relax before you take it. I slept for 3 to 4 hours. But I still felt the calming effect of it and went right back to bed. Not a full night’s sleep, but hey, it was better. I think if we sit and wait for a pill to kick in, it makes us tense. I'm going to continue on. I believe in a week's time, I will have a pattern back. Don't give up so easily after 1 night. Give it a chance."
For Insomnia "My doctor prescribed me 10 mg Sonata for my insomnia. Sonata is great if you only want 3-4 hours of sleep on exam days because of its short duration and no drowsiness. However, if you want to get a full 7-8 hours of sleep, it sucks being woken up in the middle of the night every time (~2-4 a.m.), unable to fall back asleep. Have to take a second dose to fall back asleep, but takes a while to kick in since you're not drowsy when you woke up and you're writing this review awake in bed waiting for sleepiness to come..."
For Insomnia "Finally, I no longer have to choose between falling asleep at night or being productive during the day. With Sonata, I can do both. The only drawback is that on rare occasions, the medication takes a while to work."
For Insomnia "Have had trouble with insomnia off and on for 20 years. Bi-polar depressive. Started with Valium and overdosed. Used Lunesta successfully but temporarily. Used trazodone, but it made me throw up. Used Ambien but experienced severe amnesia and weirdness. Used Xanax and overdosed. Now using Sonata, and it's marvelous, but the doctor will only let me use it for a little while. I take one at bedtime, then wake up at 1:00 or so and take another. Wake up at 7:00. No grogginess."
For Insomnia "I asked the doctor about this medication. She hadn't even heard of it. I told her that I had some addictive past behavior and that I did not want anything that made me feel like I was sedated or loaded, just something that would help me go to sleep and stay asleep once laying down. This medication does exactly that. No grogginess in the morning, and no loaded, drugged feeling once taken. I have heard it is a hypnotic like Ambien. Sonata is amazing."
For Insomnia "I have severe chronic insomnia associated with FM/CFS. I have been unable to fall asleep or stay asleep for nearly 10 years. Tried many other medicines for sleep that didn't work or had unacceptable side effects. Sonata served me well for 5 years. Was taking 10 mg to get to sleep and then another 10 mg to get back to sleep during the night. Our health insurer changed and they will only pay for 1 pill per night. My health and quality of life have deteriorated."
For Insomnia "This medication is a miracle! I take 10 mg before bed, and I am sleepy within minutes. It is a very short-acting medication, so it can be taken in the middle of the night without hangover effects. My doctor used to prescribe 2 capsules per night since I would wake up around 1 AM, but now will only prescribe 1. It would be great if the manufacturer could develop a time-release capsule with 20 mg total."
For Insomnia "This usually helps me get to sleep really well. It says to take it while you're already in bed, but I don't find that it immediately knocks me out like Ambien did. The Sonata gets me to sleep and lets me wake up just fine in the morning. The only problem is if I wake up during the night and can't return to sleep, so sometimes I take an additional one to help get back to sleep."
For Insomnia "It didn't help me fall asleep at all. I tried it one night, and I didn't sleep the whole night, so I tried it again during the day since I hadn't slept at night, no bueno. Made me cough and hack really bad and sinus, had chest pain the next day. I tried again one more night, still no sleep."
For Insomnia "Amazing. Helps me fall asleep. I don't have a problem staying asleep, just getting in the mode to fall asleep. This medication is amazing. I do not feel loaded at all, I don't wake up groggy, I just lay my head on the pillow, and Sonata does the rest."
For Insomnia "I use Ambien CR 12.5mg (strongest), and I still wake up at 3am. Can't take another Ambien. To avoid any risk associated with driving to work and then dealing with the drowsiness while at work, my doctor put me on Sonata. Even if I wake up at 3 or 4, I am able to enjoy the rest of my night in restful sleep with no morning drowsiness at all."
For Insomnia "Dr. put me on 10 mg. I have had major sleep problems for years and suffer migraines with aura. For days, I don't sleep at all. 10 mg did nothing for me. Bumped it to 20 mg, and while I don't feel sleepy, I do eventually fall asleep if I lay there. Usually, 3 or 4 a.m. Since I never sleep, this was a good sign. Also, I woke about 7:30 a.m. feeling great. Wide awake, not drowsy or tired. No headache, which is also not my norm, as I always wake up with a headache if I sleep. This has gone on for 14 days now. While it's not perfect, I feel so good all day, it's the best thing to happen to me in 7 years. I hope it continues."
For Insomnia "I experienced no effects from 50mg of Sonata. My doctor switched me to Trazodone 50mg; which has had no effect, as well. I sleep for 3-5 hours a night and wake up 4-10 times during those hours. (yes, I've tried no sound, no light, no screen time, no exercise or food just before bed, etc.)"
For Insomnia "I was previously on Lunesta, didn’t work, Trazodone, made things worse, and Ambien 10mg which was the best, but my body got too used to it. I was prescribed 5mg of Sonata and instructed to take 1-2 a night as needed. I ended up taking them first night and it was basically like popping tic tacs. I didn’t even yawn. Worst medicine EVER!"
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