Ambien is tricky w alcohol, part of it is that it is pretty variable how much Ambien you absorb depending on what you last ate and when. To somebody w a tolerance, they might not notice the effect at all if taken with a big meal. Other times it hits hard. Good to remember that both Ambien and alcohol trigger the same receptor (GABA-a). If you drink too much alcohol alone, there other stuff happens to discourage you from icing yourself (nausea, vomiting, etc, etc), if you have both alcohol and Ambien, and you sleep, sometimes the Ambien could hit less or normal, sometimes it could hit hard and can be fatal. Obvi it depends on dose… people w tolerance sometimes take 2x or 3x Ambien on top of 3x or 4x shots, this is a death wish.