Patient/caregiver was educated on contraindications for using zolpidem as follows:
- Do not take zolpidem on full stomach, immediately after a meal. The presence of food in the stomach reduces the absorption of zolpidem and thereby, delays the onset of action, thus compromising the therapeutic benefit of zolpidem intake.
- While you are taking zolpidem, plan to stay in bed for a full night sleep of 8 hours. Avoid having zolpidem dose, if you are planning to have a short sleep time, for 3 – 4 hour duration for the night. Taking zolpidem for a short duration sleep can result in problems with memory, reduced alertness and continued drowsiness after waking up, and compromised safety, especially with activities that mandate alertness, such as, dr
- Zolpidem intake can be habit-forming and carries an abuse potential. The risk for addiction and abuse can be even higher, especially in individuals with history of substance abuse. Zolpidem must be used with extreme caution or avoided in such individuals, to prevent any abuse and toxic side-effects with zolpidem use.
