So I did it again and tried both Ambien CR and Ambien before a few pressure cooker days where I needed to get sleep. Apparently, according to the brochure of both, Ambien CR and Ambien both release the same amount of its active ingredient in the first hour. So I thought the effects might be the same. But, still yet, Ambien CR took an hour longer (so roughly 1.5 hours) than Ambien regular to get me sleeping. I also experienced the side effects of nausea and elevated heartbeats with CR that I didn't with regular Ambien. The SO knows a few MDs. I guess I should ask. But it's nice to know (or I guess in this case, reaffirm) that CR doesn't work for me and regular Ambien does.