What happens if you crush an Ambien CR tablet before taking it?
Ambien CR is a bi-phasic tablet; depending on the strength, 6.25 or 12.5 mg, one half of the tablet is released immediately and the other half is released over 3-4 hours. The half life of Ambien in the body allows this slow rate of release to delivery a steady state level of drug, not only putting you to sleep, but keeping you asleep. If you crush either tablet, it will be like taking a slightly stronger 25% tablet of regular immediate release Ambien. It is not recommended as this disrupts the release mechanism and if you have trouble staying asleep this will not help you.
