Took Ambien. No Good Sleep. Safe To Drink Alcohol?
Question: I took an ambien 10mg around 11 am. I normally don't take it during the day, but i have not slept good this week. Is it safe to drink alcohol at 7pm? When i say safe i am talking about respiratory distress.
Brief Answer:
it should be safe, most of the drug gone
Detailed Answer:
HI, thanks for using healthcare magic
The half life of a drug is the time it takes for the amount or concentration of the drug in the system to decrease by half.It normally takes 3 to 4 half lives for a medication to be eliminated completely.
The half life of ambien 10 mg is 2.6 hours. Eight hours would have passed between when you used it (11 am ) and the use of alcohol (7 pm). This means that about 3 half lives would have passed.
Since most of the medication would have been eliminated, it would have been considered safe to use the alcohol. There should be no side effects such as respiratory depression.
I hope this helps, feel free to ask any other questions
it should be safe, most of the drug gone
Detailed Answer:
HI, thanks for using healthcare magic
The half life of a drug is the time it takes for the amount or concentration of the drug in the system to decrease by half.It normally takes 3 to 4 half lives for a medication to be eliminated completely.
The half life of ambien 10 mg is 2.6 hours. Eight hours would have passed between when you used it (11 am ) and the use of alcohol (7 pm). This means that about 3 half lives would have passed.
Since most of the medication would have been eliminated, it would have been considered safe to use the alcohol. There should be no side effects such as respiratory depression.
I hope this helps, feel free to ask any other questions
Note: Do you have more questions on diagnosis or treatment of blood disorders? Ask An Expert/ Specialist Now
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar