I started taking ambien when I was 18 & started on a low dosage of .5 mg. I immediately loved the high it gave me & in fact did become extremely addicted over the years. before I gave them up, I was taking between 40 & 60 mg just to enjoy my high before laying down to fall asleep... it even became so bad that I had to have my mom, boyfriend, & later my ex-husband moniter them for me & even hide them from me. I'm sure you know that temporary amnesia is a key side effect of ambien? I used to take my dosage, stay up to enjoy the high, then forget that I took them & take them again... which actually landed me in the hospital once because of an OD. that's an extremely scary experience to go through. I don't see you as an addict as of now, but I see you as heading down that path. I have far too many bad ambien experiences to list, but I guess my realization of my ambien addiction set in when people were having to tell me about all of the stupid, idiotic & embarrassing things I would do... oh, and mixing them with alcohol? definitely listen to your pill bottle lable on that one...