If your sleep problems continue, consult your doctor, who will determine whether other measures are needed to overcome your sleep problems. Sleep medicines can cause dependence, especially when these medicines are used, regularly for longer than a few weeks or at high doses. Some people develop a need to continue taking their medicines. When people develop dependence, they may have difficulty stopping the sleep medicine. They may find they have to keep taking the medicine either at the prescribed dose or at increasing doses just to avoid withdrawal symptoms.
All people taking sleep medicines have some risk of becoming dependent on the medicine.
However, people who have been dependent on alcohol or other drugs in the past may have a higher chance of becoming addicted to sleep medicines. This possibility must be considered before using these medicines for more than a few weeks. If you have been addicted to alcohol or drugs in the past, it is important to tell your doctor before starting zolpidem tartrate or any sleep medicine. Withdrawal symptoms may occur when sleep medicines are stopped suddenly after being used daily for a long time. In some cases, these symptoms can occur even if the medicine has been used for only a week or two.