Agree about the Ambien. For most people, 10 mg works fairly decently. Small people and people that are "sensitive" to medication may want to stick with the 5 mg. I would prefer Ambien to Valium - Valium is definitely a "heavier" drug than Ambien. The half life of Valium (diazepam) is approx. 20-50 hours. The half life of Ambien (zolpidem) is approx. 2-2.6 hours. Guess which one is more likely to leave you groggy in the morning? :)

Oh, and I also agree that technically mixing these medications and alcohol is probably not recommended officially. Having said that, I have in the past without problems (though it was only a glass of wine).

Masaki