NYT: A New Sleeping Sickness Is Haunting Highways (Ambien sleep-driving)

[Pirate Smile]

With a tendency to stare zombie-like and run into stationary objects, a new species of impaired motorist is hitting the roads: the Ambien driver.

Ambien, the nation's best-selling prescription sleeping pill, is showing up with regularity as a factor in traffic arrests, sometimes involving drivers who later say they were sleep-driving and have no memory of taking the wheel after taking the drug.

In some state toxicology laboratories Ambien makes the top 10 list of drugs found in impaired drivers. Wisconsin officials identified Ambien in the bloodstreams of 187 arrested drivers from 1999 to 2004.

And as a more people are taking the drug — 26.5 million prescriptions in this country last year — there are signs that Ambien-related driving arrests are on the rise. In Washington State, for example, officials counted 78 impaired-driving arrests in which Ambien was a factor last year, up from 56 in 2004.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/08/business/08ambien.html?hp&ex=1141794000&en=007b513ad6cde706&ei=5094&partner=homepage

Sleep driving like zombies on the road ~ creepy.

[babylonsister]

1. Oh my sweet sensibilities! If you're taking Ambien, why

are you driving? My mind is on blank, because I don't get it.

[Atman]

3. I think that was the point...they don't know they're driving

"Sleep driving." Like sleep walking. The article says drivers are waking up not knowing how they got where they are.

[babylonsister]

10. I have never heard of that in my life. That's frightening! nt

[MADem]

21. I have heard it is a powerful drug, that if you are not in bed when you

take it, and well settled for the night, with no intentions of getting up for any reason, you could find yourself at a casino betting your paycheck in your pajamas!!

[katty]

44. I took it for 1-wk and never again-very strong, weird side effects

[smirkymonkey]

88. I took it for a few nights...

I got into bed, took the Ambien and started talking to a friend on the phone. After about 20 minutes, he said I just drifted off and he couldn't get me back. He said that one minute I was fine and speaking normally and then suddenly my words became slurred and I dropped off altogether.

The scary thing was that there was no lead time - I went from completely coherent to a drooling zombie in about 30 seconds. I have absolutely no recollection of even getting sleepy. Scary.

[Guaranteed]

95. A shrink told me that people wake up on their bathroom floor

after taking it at the sink.

[SoCalDem]

24. Here's why.. I almost ran into a train..not on Ambien, but

"sleep-driving" just the same..

My job required me to be at work at 4:45AM, and I had a 56 mile (one-way) commute on SoCalif freeways, along with 50 million other "earlybirds.. Often, I would find myself still wide awake at 2am. knowing that I had a 1hr + commute, and an 8 hr day ahead, and another 1 hr+ commute home..I did that schedule for almost 10 years, and was a zombie..

Know what went through my mind when the guy next to me at the crossing HONKED and made me stop before I plowed into the train?? "Damn...That would have really messed up my new car"..

Millions of people in California are seriously sleep-deprived, and yet they must work and drive to get to work..

The zombie-life I led ruined my sleep cycle forever..and I no longer work, mostly because of the dreary insomnia/depression I ended up with..

People are taking Ambien and other stuff to try and force themselves to sleep.. In my town the highways are bumper to bumper at 3AM..Ambien says you must allow at LEAST 8 hrs after you take one.. If you have to hit the road at 3AM, then you must take that pill very early the night before..and if you are a Mom, you know what that means...

[pitohui]

73. it is a side effect of the drug

not all people, but SOME people will start doing things in their sleep, unaware that their actions are not part of a dream world, one guy told me that he woke up the next day and had spent thousands of dollars on ebay without his own knowledge. this was his sample test of ambien, needless to say he threw away the script he was going to use for jet lag on an internat'l flight

lots of people have the wine with dinner and then take ambien on internat'l flights, obviously they don't all freak out, but a few don't know what they're doing

you're advised to be already dressed and ready for bed, or if on a plane, the plane is already in the air so you don't have to de-plane if the plane doesn't get off the ground, and for most people that's enough but a few apparently do have this reaction

i'm afraid to try it myself because i've heard enough from people to not consider this side effect all THAT rare, if there's even a 5 percent chance i would get up in my sleep and go driving then it's a chance i'm afraid to take

we need a better sleep aid

[Pirate Smile]

2. more

While alcohol and other drugs are sometimes also involved in the Ambien traffic cases, the drivers tend to stand out from other under-the-influence motorists. The behavior can include driving in the wrong direction or slamming into light poles or parked vehicles, as well as seeming oblivious to the arresting officers, according to a presentation last month at a meeting of forensic scientists.
"These cases are just extremely bizarre, with extreme impairment," said Laura J. Liddicoat, the forensic toxicology supervisor at a state-run lab in Wisconsin who made the presentation.

-snip-
Several of Ms. Liddicoat's cases involved drivers whose blood revealed evidence of Ambien overdoses. In one of them the driver, who was also taking the antidepressant citalopram, crashed into a parked car, was involved in another near collision, then drove over a curb. When confronted by police, he did not recall any of the recent events, according to the presentation.

-snip-
Doctors affiliated with the University of Minnesota Medical Center who have studied Ambien recently reported the cases of two users who told doctors they sleep-drove to the supermarket while under the drug's influence. Neither of the patients remembered the episode the next day, according to Dr. Carlos Schenck, an expert in sleep disorders who is the lead researcher in the study.

-snip-
The traffic cases around the country include that of Dwayne Cribb, a longtime probation and parole officer in Rock Hill, S.C. Mr. Cribb says he remembers nothing after taking Ambien before bed last Halloween — until he awoke in jail to learn he had left his bed and gone for a drive, smashed into a parked van and driven away before crashing into a tree. Mr. Cribb is still facing charges of leaving the scene of an accident.
A registered nurse who lives outside Denver took Ambien before going to sleep one night in January 2003. Sometime later — she says she remembers none of the episode — she got into her car wearing only a thin nightshirt in 20-degree weather, had a fender bender, urinated in the middle of an intersection, then became violent with police officers, according to her lawyer. "

[Kadie]

5. That is scary.

Sleepdriving instead of sleepwalking.

:scared:

[bbinacan]

11. I've taken Ambein and

my only problem was that I only slept 3 hrs. I just got the new version that is time released. Since I never take it after drinking, I will not have one tonight. As a child, I slept walk quite a bit. Really freaked out the babysitters. I never found the need to go for a drive. If you're interested about my new Ambien, PM me.

[katty]

55. what's the difference w/Ambien PM-the time release?

I slept but I had some side effects during the day like zoning out now and shaking

[bbinacan]

83. Thanks for the info and I'll

wait to the weekend to try it.

[mcscajun]

91. There regular Ambien, and there's Ambien CR -- Controlled Release

and yes, the CR formulation releases over time in the body.

[Moloch]

104. I just got Ambien CR...

totally worthless. Like you, I only slept for 3 hours. Now I hear about this...

[BlueIris]

4. Yikers. Normally, I never do this, but:

I had a terrific insomnia-beating experience with Sonata. Insomniacs of the world: consider Sonata before getting Ambien. Allegedly, Sonata is much less likely to cause you weird side-effects and is considered non-habit forming. I didn't experience any, er, weirdness, plus no hangover or residual SEs the next day.

(Note: neither doctor, nor lawyer, nor employee at pharmacuetical company that manufactures Sonata.)

[Pirate Smile]

7. Do you ever wake up and find new groceries in the frig?

" two users who told doctors they sleep-drove to the supermarket while under the drug's influence. Neither of the patients remembered the episode the next day, "

The entire article is freaky.

They say maybe the problem is drinking and then taking Ambien but:

"But misuse of the drug may not explain all the cases. The nurse near Denver took a single Ambien and went to bed, according to her lawyer, Mr. Boyer of Englewood, Colo. Mr. Boyer said that only when the woman returned home after her arrest did she discover a partly consumed bottle of wine on her counter — unopened when she went to bed, she said — leading her to suspect she had begun drinking after taking Ambien.

Research by Dr. Schenck and others elsewhere have found evidence that Ambien users engaged, unawares, in various middle-of-the-night behaviors. In a study published in 2001, researchers at the Mayo Clinic Sleep Disorders Center reported on five cases of unusual nighttime eating, sometimes while sleepwalking, in patients taking Ambien. The chief of physical medicine and rehabilitation for the VA North Texas Health System in Dallas, Dr. Weibin Yang, said he became aware of Ambien's potential side effects while at another hospital treating a 55-year-old patient after hip surgery.

The man, who had no history of sleepwalking, walked into a hospital corridor one night, where he urinated on the floor. On another night, he got out of bed and told nurses he was going to church. Dr. Yang said the patient was also taking other medications, but the sleepwalking stopped when Ambien was discontinued. The patient, he said, had no recollection of either event.
Dr. Yang said such experiences persuaded him that people could drive, without realizing it, after taking Ambien. "

[BlueIris]

18. No, Sonata was good for me in that regard.

No sleep eating/drinking/driving.

I'm hoping that more of DU's users who have taken Ambien to chime in. I've seen some scary stories posted about it on this site in the past.

[katty]

56. What about Lunesta? strong? mild?

[Mandate My Ass]

67. Lunesta is very mild

I was on it for a while but my doc said even though it was mild and non-habit forming, I shouldn't take it before bed because I'd get into the habit of thinking I needed it to fall asleep. He recommended taking it only if I woke up in the middle of the night and couldn't get back to sleep.

I took it as late as 3:30-4:00 AM and could still wake up when the alarm went off. And I am very sensitive to drugs and usually experience one or more of the side effects.

[katty]

84. thanks

[populistdriven]

93. Did refill their Ambien at the pharmacy while sleepwalking?

Now that would be something to brag about.

[fishnfla]

6. Let me guess: they advetise this drug heavily on TV

I dont watch, but I'd guess they dont talk about these side effects. Would it be like: "Ask your Doctor for the 14th time about another pill you dont need but saw on TV" Free samples and buckle up. Insurance and Tort waivers extry charge

[Tesha]

37. I think Ambien is the drug with the glowing butterfly.

It flits around from place to place in the night;
apparently, this is actually truth in advertising
as that seems to be what people taking Ambien also
do.

Tesha

[ldf]

40. no, that is not ambien

it starts with an L. lunesta, or something like that.

[Tesha]

42. Yes, you're right. Must be a glowing "Luna Moth" then. (NT)

[MadMaddie]

65. Ding...Ding...Ding..

You get the prize....

The advertisement doesn't specifically mention the sleep walking.....

[pitohui]

74. ambien does provide free samples

you need the free sample to see if you can tolerate it, test it home in a safe setting before you go on the holiday where you will need it to fight jet lag

however i did not use my free samples because of concerns raised by stories i've heard from others

many swear by it, others swear at it

i'm just not quite able to get up enough nerve to test this one

[greenman3610]

8. that ambien is one serious drug

I took one to experiment the other day, since I
am a night worker..
made me sleep, yes, but before that I was
completely high. different from
alchohol or pot, but very strong drug
action indeed..

[Jamison]

12. Yeah I had a crazy Ambien experience once.

I took one and sat down at the computer to play a game to kill time before I got tired. While playing this game I had very intense hallucinations, it screwed with my head pretty bad. Next thing I know, I woke up on my sofa the next morning (a place I normally would never sleep)not knowing how I had got there.

[Speed8098]

28. I've taken Ambien myself and never experienced a "high"

My wife is going through menopause so she takes it to sleep through the hot flashes. On a couple of occasions when I've had a hard time getting to sleep I've taken one of her pills and truthfully, I didn't get any of the effects you all are describing. In fact I stll slept like sh*t.

It must be my chemical make up.

[SOS]

48. My wife went to the ER

after taking Ambien.
She woke up at 6:30 AM hallucinating.
We later realized she had washed the windows (4 floors up) while in an Ambien induced blackout.
No alcohol, used as directed.
We won't take any of these expensive new drugs. We simply no longer trust the pharma companies or the FDA.
The old-fashioned stuff works better and is generic.
A generic valium will do the trick at one tenth the price and without a trip to the ER.

[AnneD]

78. I'd be careful with the valium....

Mom had some surgery and was taking it. She drove my brother and his friend to band practice AND DID NOT REMEMBER DOING IT. Scared the bejesus out of her. Stopped taking it on the spot.

Let me do my Nurse Public Service thing. All meds have side effects. These side effects will be different for diffrent people. Meds like Ambien etc can cause somnambulism (preforming motor acts like walking while sleeping). Follow the directions carefully, and if it is your first time to take the drug, maybe have someone moniter you if possible while you are sleeping.

In my family, several of us sleepwalk, so I would NEVER consider taking some of these drugs for fear I would be likely to do something like driving. In the past, I have washed dishes, did chores, and one time when I was young, I awoke to find myself out in the pasture in the middle of a herd of cattle that thankfully were bedded down and didn't seem to mind me walking into them. I was 6 at the time and staying with an aunt-who promptly put a series of slide bolts on the tops of all the doors.

[davsand]

108. Ambien made me hallucinate too.

First night I took it I slept all night and got up feeling great. By day three I was having hallucinations during the day along with wave after wave of panic attacks and crying jags.

I literally told my husband I thought I was losing my mind and begged him to not let me do anything to hurt myself or anyone else. We called the local ER and talked to a patient advisory nurse who promptly said, "Don't take any more of that stuff!"

The literature says the drug will clear your system very quickly, but I will tell you that it took three days before I stopped having panic attacks completely.

I went on Valium or Xanax after that if I was having trouble sleeping.

I do NOT recommend Ambien to anybody.


Laura

[Guaranteed]

96. LOL

I took it when I was 16 to come down off a bad LSD trip.

I tell you, lying there watching an old Seinfeld episode when that sucker kicked in is one of the best memories of my life, believe it or not. I was flying. Trip turned good really, really quickly.

Then, I fell asleep, and when I woke up my mother was sitting next to me, but she had a different face. I said "Oh, shit," and she asked me if her face looked weird (I'd told her what I'd done when the acid trip went bad). I said, "Yeah," rolled over, and went back to sleep.

[TreasonousBastard]

9. This can get ugly, because...

what else might "sleepwalkers" be doing?

I don't like the idea of criminalizing someone who is driving under this sort of "influence," but I suppose, unfortunately, there's not much else they can think of to do. (God forbid it become some liberal feel-good social services thing...)

But, what about someone who walks out the door and robs a deli, or worse, after taking Ambien? Or walks off a cliff?

Lawyers are now out pricing new boats.

[Lars39]

13. Or goes off to a high-level diplomatic meeting?

Remember Colin Powell stating that they were all on Ambien?

[aquart]

26. No. When?

[DoYouEverWonder]

27. In interview that was posted on the State Dept website

Powell was making small talk at the beginning of the interview and the questioner wanted to know if he had jet lag. Powell assured him he felt great because he takes Ambien. Doesn't everybody?


Unfortunately the article that was at the link below has been removed.

http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2003/26028.htm

[SpiralHawk]

45. Ambien: the drug of choice for BushCo & neoCONS

The Powell statement may well have been "disappeared" by the Ministry of Truthiness. But he really said it. And it is really true. You are not dreaming. All of BushCo is buzzed...

[Carni]

46. I remember that also

As soon as I saw the topic of this string I thought of Powell's comments regarding ambien!

[krkaufman]

58. Links to Powell Ambien reference...

Here's a couple links referencing the story, found via googling {powell ambien}...

http://www.unknownnews.net/031114ambien.html

http://www.thismodernworld.com/1169

http://www.ww4report.com/hallucinating.html

http://www.communitycurrency.org/9-11.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&node=&contentId=A19844-2003Nov9¬Found=true

[Hand]

60. Poppy Bush was hooked on Halcion for at least half his term.

That stuff was probably worse than Ambien; all sorts of reports of psychotic reactions, etc. It was most obvious when he was on his frenetic schedule of foreign travel in 1991-92 that culminated when he crashed and burned in Tokyo and puked on the Japanese prime minister. He was pretty much out of his kug that whole time. :scared:

[aquart]

107. Wow.

[converted_democrat]

34. The link may be gone, but it is the truth.. I remember it because

another DU'er sent it to me when I wrote a post something to the effect of -How do these monsters sleep at night? The link might be gone, but the story is true.. I remember reading it..

[wordpix2]

38. geez, maybe that's what happened when he believed the lying intel

on Iraq

[smirkymonkey]

89. That would explain a LOT.

Let's just hope they don't use it as a defense when they are all brought up on trial at The Hague.

[Gregorian]

14. So let me guess... These people are also sleep voting.

I'm trying to discover what the great sickness is in America that causes voters to vote for dead men and convicted criminals like DeLay.

This could explain it. Americans are on drugs. Not DRUGS. Drugs. Not pot. Alcohol, tobacco, Ambien, etc. It's all I can come up with. Maybe plain ignorance is more powerful than drugs. But you'd have to be really ignorant to even not know you were driving on Ambien. Out of touch.

[politicat]

15. Paradoxical reactions in the elderly, too....

My great-grandfather was a sundowner - he dozed most of the day then came totally awake around sunset. We let him stay up until he decided to go to bed, but he still tended to wander at night if someone didn't stay up and keep an eye on him.

Ambien made him hyper. A 92 year old hyperactive, deaf, semi-mobile guy with chronic heart failure....

That said, I am not sleep-walking (though I have a history of it) on Ambien. But I am going to make sure I never leave my keys in the same place two nights in a row.... just in case.

[BlueIris]

50. Woah. Good to know.

I don't know why Ambien hasn't been yanked yet.

[Sivafae]

16. I took one for the first time last night and dreamed that Dick Cheney

was a nice guy. I wasn't so sure about that drug after my dream. Now this? I'm really scared to take it now!

[Pirate Smile]

17. Did you dream he shot a guy in the face?

[wordpix2]

39. I had a recent dream about SAddam Hussein--without Ambien or anything else

[jbnow]

101. I had a dream about donald rumsfeld

a few years ago. He was helping me make a cake in my kitchen. No Ambien or anything either

[PSPS]

19. It happened to a friend of mine

She told me about how she would wake up and find a half-eaten takeout from a drive-thru somewhere sitting on her kitchen table. The climax came when she woke up at home when her car wasn't there. It turned out she was driving home from a take-out drive-thru and got in an accident (drove into the ditch.) The car was totaled, the cops gave her a ride home. She had no recollection of any of it happening.

[Lasher]

20. I took Ambien for years

My doctor prescribed Ambien because I had a stress-related sleeping disorder. The problem was, I would sleep but would not rest.

While taking Ambien I would often sleep 12 hours a day, and I didn't like that. I tried several times to stop taking it, but then I would be up all night and would be a zombie at work the next day. After more than a week of this with no improvement, I would go back on the Ambien. I had to work for a living.

Having retired a little over 2 years ago, I tried again to get off Ambien. In September last year I stopped taking it, as well as the Lexapro I had also been taking for years. This time I was successful, and have not since taken any prescription drugs. It was not easy. It's sort of like my body had to re-learn how to sleep. And six months later, here I am up at 2:30 AM, typing this message. So I still have some problems sleeping but nothing like before.

Maybe I'll get over this insomnia, but maybe not. Know how Grandpa would be sitting around with the family and would doze off? If you don't have a Grandpa of your own, you might have seen this occur on The Simpsons. The reason Grandpa dozes off like that is he has problems sleeping at night. As we get older, it becomes more likely that we will have trouble sleeping. I'm 57, and I'm wondering if I'm starting to get the Grandpa syndrome. So I might at some point start taking something again to help me sleep, but I would do so with great reluctance.

I noticed in this thread that there were reports of finding Ambien in peoples' blood. While it is possible to determine if someone has taken Ambien recently, I can assure you from personal experience that this stuff stays in your system for a very long time. I have never had any sleep walking problems, and nothing like this occurred while I was taking Ambien.

[zalinda]

30. I've taken Ambien, but I don't like taking drugs period

so I would take it only when I "really" needed it. The problem was stress and anxiety, coupled with ADD/ADHD, which probably causes the stress and anxiety. The solution, Clonazepam, I take one .5 mg at night and I have a pretty good night. It also helps with my tension headaches. I started on Adderall for the ADD/ADHD and I'm amazed on what a difference it makes. I can focus on a project and even complete it, without going into a stress mode. I was always the "at the last moment" person, even if I started the project months earlier. Now, it a slow and steady pace, which has made life much, much better.

zalinda

[Lasher]

31. My wife takes Clonazepam, 1MG

I think she started on that when she was having some stress problems. Boy, was she cranky. I told our doctor to either prescribe something for her, or for me.

I'm glad the Clonazepam is working for you.

Lasher

[catmother]

109. i've been taking clonazepam for about 14 years. i take 1- 1/2

pills at 8 pm (so that 1-1/2 mgs) then at 8:30 pm i take a flexeril. i leave one clonazapan and 1 flexeril out so when i wake up at about 1 am i take the 2 of them. oh and before i get into bed i take a fast acting melatonin. even with all this sometimes i can't fall asleep or wake up in the middle of the night and can't get back to sleep. i have chronic fatigue syndrome and this seems to work for me.

i tried ambien about 10 years ago. took 1. i didn't work. took another one. i remember having the tv on, but the next day my mom told me that i called her and we had a conversation. she was surprised that i called that late. jay leno was on and i'm usually asleep by then. i have no recollection of dialing the phone or talking to her.

i just got a prescription for lumesta. my doc says they been having some success with it for chronic fatigue people.

on edit: i used to take 2 at 8 pm but slowly weaned myself down to a lower dose. it is addicting.

[pitohui]

76. do what's right for you, lasher

many folks do tolerate ambien well and, you know, prolonged sleep deprivation is also a cause of accidents

we all have a different body chemistry, if you can tolerate it, better to get the good night's sleep

[Lasher]

106. Sound advice, pitohui

I appreciate your taking time to share your thoughts. You might be interested in the reply I offered below to Sirveri.

Cool handle, BTW.

[Sirveri]

86. Are you a insomniac or just have a different sleep pattern?

For me it seems like my body is pretty much designed to stay up until around 4 or 6 AM and then go to sleep. Now I have a job where I can't do that because I have to wake up at 6AM every day, but back in the days of unemployment when it didn't matter I would commonly find myself going to bed at completly random times.

[Lasher]

105. I don't know, maybe just different patterns

I'm glad you have found employment now. I hope it's a good job.

I think sometimes I sleep too much, then the next night I'm up. Like I said, I feel like I'm re-learning how to sleep. Night before last I didn't sleep much, so last night I was tired and slept well for 9 hours. Feelin' sassy this morning! I just now decided to start limiting my sleep to no more than 8 hours each night and see how that works. Maybe all that remains of my sleeping problem is a 'feast and famine' thing, ya think?

While taking Ambien it was common to sleep 12 hours in one night. I didn't like that, I was sleeping my life away. I also didn't like the ritual of calling my doctor to get my prescription renewed, calling my refills in to the pharmacy, and going to pick up my pills. My prescription copay was over $800 just for the first 9 months of last year, and my insurance company was telling me they were going to stop covering long term Ambien prescriptions. Getting pills for stress can stress you out.

Also, while taking Ambien and Lexapro, my behavior was being altered by those drugs and I wanted to be 100% myself again. I don't want to get all crazy about this, however. In the final analysis, if my life is better overall taking prescription drugs, I will take them. But right now things are better without them.

Thanks for your thoughts. It's good to have friends here at DU to 'talk' to - especially when I can't sleep at night.

[Dogmudgeon]

22. I hate benzodiazepines

And Ambien is the worst.

I took Ambien once. Two days later, I "snapped out of it", the trance I had been in since taking the stuff. I had just about no memory of the previous two days. Quite a frightening effect. Never again.

I'm not one to tell people to dump all their meds into the toilet and stick to herbs and incense, but Ambien is NOT a benign medication. It may be helpful for some people with severe sleep disorders, but most insurance companies won't even pay for polysomnography, the clinical test that is required to properly disgnose most sleep disorders. The way Ambien is prescribed, no wonder it's showing up in car accident and crime reports.

Bring on the Commissars -- Capitalist Medicine is killing us!

--p!

[Withywindle]

23. OK, that's FREAKY!

My mom takes it when she travels because she hates to fly and sometimes has trouble sleeping in strange places...the last long trip I took with her, she gave me some.

It does make you totally high. It's kind of a narcotic feeling, really. I don't think either of us did anything in our sleep, but...definitely something to keep an eye on. We probably shouldn't BOTH be on it if we're in a hotel in a different country!

[BrightKnight]

25. I took one in New York once and woke up in London.

Ambien is the best way to fly in a cheap seat. It knocked me out in less than 10 minutes.

I drove on the left side of the road, shifted with my left hand, dealt with roundabouts and London rush hour traffic. I took Ambien for about a week. I was always very alert and I had no problems. I did not have ANY alcohol. I always got at least 8 hours of sleep.

[Guaranteed]

97. Ambien was originally developed for French fighter pilots.

They needed to sleep in their jets on the way back from missions. It was developed to supposedly have a very short, strong effect (like five hours), without drowsiness upon waking.

[KayLaw]

29. That happened to my husband

We were on vacation and my husband had trouble sleeping. Without my knowledge he decided to try an Ambien and watched TV downstairs waiting for it to work. A bit later I heard the sliding glass door slam and went down to see what was going on. My husband seemed very weird and said he'd taken the golf cart out for a ride down the beach. I got him to bed and the next day asked him what the hell was up with his strange behavior.

He had no idea what I was talking about and was freaked out. Needless to say, he never tried it again. I'd tried it the week before and had an odd experience. First of all, it seemed to work very quickly. I took it and watched TV for a very short time then stood up to use the bathroom. Whoa! I had to hold onto the furniture. Then, an hour or two later, I woke up in the dining room.

Needless to say, my husband and I are unable to tolerate this drug so it's no longer welcome in our home. Seriously, didn't I read somewhere Colin Powell and other Bushies took this med

[superconnected]

36. Ah HAH! Thats how they sleep at night.

They just don't. They do acts without conscience.

[Carni]

47. I am LOL'ing but it's really not funny

I have never taken Ambien and certainly won't try it after reading this thread!

I am sorry but I had to laugh about your husband and his golf cart adventure.

[BrightKnight]

62. It works very quickly.

I took one while sitting on the edge of a bed with a TV on. I had intended to immediately turn it off and climb into bed. I had absolutely no interest in the program. I woke up 9 hours later fully dressed with my feet on the floor and the TV on. I think that you should only take it when you are in bed and ready to turn out the light.

I was always very alert the next day. I was able to perform very complex physical and mental tasks. I did have a weird trance like feeling for a week or two while I was taking it.

I cut the dosage in half and found that it put me to sleep. With the half dose I woke up a few hours later a couple of times. I did not have any trouble getting back to sleep.

-------------

It is a serious drug I would not take it as an everyday sleep aid. I asked for a very strong sleeping pill and that is exactly what I got. It put me to sleep quickly in some very difficult circumstances.

Perhaps I should send my beta test report to the drug company.

[Carni]

66. Good God I would be afraid I wouldn't wake up!

It sounds like being put under for surgery :(

[Guaranteed]

99. It sounds like doctors need to study dosage better. nt

[YellowRubberDuckie]

94. After reading this thread...I WANT to take it...

It sounds like something I want to do at least once. I'm a hoot in my sleep.
Duckie

[Javaman]

32. The new SOMA...

I bet the gov't is hard at work to figure out a way for people to take Ambien, so they can get them back to work for free, all the while the person thinks they are sleeping.

I don't weep for our future. I hide under my bed with a shot gun worried to death.

[AngryAmish]

33. I sleepwalk

Mark ambien off my list.

[drm604]

35. This sounds like something that should be taken off the market.

Seriously, this sounds very dangerous.

[Whoa_Nelly]

41. Read this message site: Sleepwalk/drive on Ambien SCARY stuff

What's really scary is that this board was started in 2001 :scared: Someone will be filing a class action lawsuit if it hasn't already happened.

http://www.sleephomepages.org/discussions/basic/messages/msgs08802.html

Intro Message:

Ambien blackouts, sleepwalking, memory loss
Message posted by kevin williams ([e-mail]) on 5:1:51 1/7/2001
Message:

i need to hear from anyone that has taken ambien to help them sleep and afterward had bizarre experiences including sleepwalking, blackouts, and memory loss and any other strange behavior after taking the med. i particulary want to hear from those that did anything distructive including auto accidents etc that you have no recall of. i totalled my vehicle 3 nights ago at 130am and was told of several bizarre behaviors leading up to the accident. i have absolutely no recall of any of these events. please advise with your experiences. thanks.


Couple of responses (and there are a lot!)

I just started taking Ambien recently b/c I have had trouble sleeping. Last Friday I got up in the middle of the night, spilled a bunch of tostitos on the floor, put toothpaste on my shaving razor (thankfully I didn't brush with it), ripped my towel holder off the wall, and then proceeded to tell my fiance how I slept with a girl named Beth (I don't even know a girl named Beth). Crazy stuff.

Another:

I had a car accident also--with HORRIBLE repercussions--I remember nothing after taking Ambien that night while undressed and in bed--plus other bizarre incidents I can't remembe but heard about later from others--Did you do anything about this?? Like sue ?? Do you know of a class action around this drug??Would you be interested in joining in trying to get one if none exists??

[Carni]

49. Just read these sounds similar to brain tumor symptoms!

My father had a brain tumor and he did many of these bizarre things that these ambien takers say they are experiencing!

He didn't drive in a zombie state (that I know of) but he would hold nonsensical conversations with people /cook bizarre food combos at odd hours and then try to serve them to us etc (????) then the next day he would claim that he had no recollection of doing these things and look at us like we were nuts.

While he exhibited this behavior we had no idea he had a brain tumor--just basic sleepwalking didn't seem to cover it because it didn't always happen at night but we didn't know what to think.

I guess my point is...as a lay man given my experience with my father it sounds like this drug is shutting down portions of the brain?

And they say LSD and the like are bad? This sounds way worse!

[Whoa_Nelly]

52. Maybe shutting down certain functions of the brain, and activating

or overstimulating other "daily living" experience to function responses.

Whatever tha case may be, the message board site I posted was started in 2001. Sounds like Ambien is one of those wonder drugs released by the FDA without the completed test trials.

Hope somebaody sues the shit out of the company that makes it. Sure wish there were a class action suit against the FDA :evilgrin:

[Carni]

53. Yeah that's what I am thinking

I also hope these people sue the hell out of them...if this drug is that heavy duty then it should at the very least carry every warning known to man!

[The_Casual_Observer]

43. It is very unsafe to be on the road at night.

[SOS]

51. A testament to FDA competence

The article states that the FDA has received 48 complaints about Ambien.
48!
Hell, there are about 15 serious adverse reactions on this thread.
I am going to the FDA site to register my wife's hellish experince with Ambien.
Report your bad experiences with Ambien here:
https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/medwatch/

[Megahurtz]

54. Lol! Talk about asleep at the wheel!

Wow, what are they putting in that stuff?

[msanthrope]

57. My Ambien Experience Was Frightening.....

Took it a few times, it seemed okay although it would take a few cups of strong coffee to get me up in the morning. One night, took it, and a few hours later I was up raving, urinating on myself, and eating all the Easter candy I had hoarded away to put in my nephew's Easter basket.

So, my husband thinks I'm sleepwalking, and puts me to bed. Next day, I am a raving, screaming maniac. He takes me to the doctor who prescribed this crap. She doesn't know what the heck is going on, and tells my husband to take me home and "watch me." I leave the doctor's office, and throw a fit on the street, screaming like a toddler for cookies. He takes me into a store, and I proceed to shoplift hemp lipgloss.

It took another day for me to come out of that trance.

[BlueIris]

63. Yikes. That does sound terrifying.

Did you get in trouble for the lip gloss?

[msanthrope]

87. No--and it tasted terrible. n/t

[geniph]

59. You know, that makes me wonder

about the guy who rear-ended me a few years ago. I was stopped at a red light, and the guy came zooming down the street at about 45, and just plowed right into me, pushing me all the way through a busy intersection. It's astonishing neither of us was t-boned. Now, I was too shocky and flaked-out myself to ever go talk to him (I got out of my car and wandered into traffic to pick up the stuff that'd been in my destroyed trunk), but he was sitting there with eyes wide-open, totally non-responsive to other people who tried to talk to him, including the cop who responded to the call. Lights were on, but nobody was home - and his insurance company was very strange in the settlement, very reluctant to ever discuss what had happened.

Fucker totaled my car, too. I liked that car.

[LisaLynne]

70. You know, I almost got smashed into by a woman just yesterday ...

who then pulled into a parking lot and really seemed to have no idea what was going on. I know some people can't drive, but now I'm wondering ...

I'm glad you weren't killed, even if your car was totalled. :)

[Mandate My Ass]

61. Scary--but for a variety of reasons

I believe Ambien is a serious drug, I've never taken it but I know people who have and they concur with the article, but some of the newer, tougher DUI laws allow police at the scene of an accident to unilaterally demand drug testing of both drivers, regardless of fault or absence of evidence of intoxication in either driver. DUI brings in lots of money.

So say I took ambien a day or two ago (don't know how long it stays in the bloodstream)and someone rams into me at a red light. The officer hears two conflicting stories and orders two blood tests. Or what if I smoked a joint a week earlier? It's still in my bloodstream, although I'm certainly not high anymore. DUI, regardless. :shrug:

[RedOnce]

71. Ambien has a short half-life.

Unlike the benzodiazepines, Zolpidem (Ambien) has a very short half-life (the amount of time that it takes for one-half of the dose to be metabolized and cleared from the body) of only 2.2 hours.

http://remedyfind.com/rem.asp?ID=355

[AnneD]

79. That is what they say....

but every one's system is different and even what you eat or drink can affect absorption. Elderly metabolise slower, men and women are different and heck, we are just now begining to look at how children commonly given meds. I don't beleve that for a minute. I've had too much experience observing people and drug interactions. You migh get an average at best.

[Joanne98]

64. deleted

[tonka023]

68. WorstPills.org on Ambien

This site is awesome. The book is awesome too. I've heard interviews with
this guy, Sidney Wolfe. He's a doctor who got so pissed off at the FDA not
testing new drugs adequately, and being in the pockets of the phamaceutical
industry that he started testing them himself and publishing the results. He
says about Ambien, do not take under any circumstances. Dangerous and
habit forming, and a real danger to the elderly. My mother in law lives in
Florida and is on a ton of meds, and she's prescribed ambien for every
night. That is totally insane. First of all, it's meant to be prescribed for
short term use only. And secondly, as a senior, she shouldn't be given it at
all. She has a myriad of health problems, heart problems, blacking out,
convulsions ..... and I've told them SO many times that they're all side
effects of Ambien. I don't live down there and they don't listen to me.
It's heart breaking.

The pharmaceutical companies are murdering us. In my books, it's a
pretty good rule that if they advertise a medication, it isn't safe. They're
just trying to cash in all they can before it's yanked from the market.

[AnneD]

81. or the ...

patent expires and it can be made generic. Thanks for the site!

[jeffrey_X]

69. Wow...imagine that...

Americans taking medication that most of them don't need?!?!

[RedOnce]

72. K&R!

[file83]

75. I think the Senate & Congress are taking Ambien....

...because they seem to be ASLEEP at the WHEEL!

[Pachamama]

103. Maybe most Americans are taking Ambien - this explains why they all seem

to be asleep as their country is being taken over and destroyed by Neo-con fascists!

:grr:

[glitch]

77. Ah Ambien, the sleep drug Colin Powell says everyone in DC uses.

Driving the country right into the ground.

[hedgehog]

80. When my daughter had a little trouble sleeping, her doctor

suggested she try Benydryl first!

[AnneD]

82. Tylenol or

other fever reducer is worth a try. Mocks the bodies natural temp drop before the deep stage of sleep. Meletonin is suppose to be good too (never got past Benedryl and tylenol for that occasional slepless night).

[soulcore]

85. I've been an insomniac for years, but have never taken ambien

I have taken soma, and had a similar experience of blacking out and not remembering anything I did the next day. Thankfully I didn't do anything drastic or dangerous.

I've found 5mg of melatonin to be a wonderful sleep aid. About 20 minutes after taking it I get somewhat drowsy and dopey, if you lay down at that point, you'll sleep like a baby. It also has the interesting side effect of making me dream more vividly, and I remember them better as well. If you try to fight it though, you will eventually break through and be "sober" again, instead of sleep driving off a cliff.

If that doesn't work Tylenol PM does the trick, although a little dirtier, and it leaves you somewhat drowsy in the mornings from the benadryl. Anything with benadryl will help you sleep as well.

[KansDem]

90. I wonder how these statistics compare with cell-phone accidents?

I've read that accidents involving cell-phone use are on the rise. I wonder how they compare with Ambien-related accidents.

[mcscajun]

92. Someone I know, 75 years and still driving, was taking Ambien

at night to sleep.

One morning she was on her way to work when she fell asleep at the wheel and ran her car into a light pole. She only sustained minor injuries; her car was totaled. She was lucky. SO, it's not just middle-of-the-night sleepwalkers we need be concerned about.

If you're taking Ambien, you have to be sure that you've allowed sufficient time (8 hours) for sleep, else you'll still be under the influence when it's time to get up in the AM...and stuff can happen.

Plus, drugs like Ambien and Lunesta can produce much stronger effects in the elderly, and/or it may interact badly with other medications they may be taking.

26,500,000 prescriptions in this country last year, representing 84 percent of the sleep aids dispensed?
:wtf:
With nearly 300 Million people in the country, we've got nearly 10 Percent of our population on one sleep drug alone? Then let's factor in how many are abusing or addicted to sleep medications. Ugh. It's not a pretty picture. Especially when you consider how many sleep-deprived people are walking around in this country, due to long commutes, job pressures, multiple jobs, family responsibilities, etc., NONE of it getting any better any time soon.

[Blue_Tires]

98. ttt n/t

[WCGreen]

100. It happened to me.....

It reminded me of a qualude, not that I remember, personally, just from what some friends told me....

Well, not really freinds, but people who knew other people that I knew.....

[LosinIt]

102. I work nights so I take 1/2 a tab to get to sleep

does the job just fine. I take it after I get in bed. If not I wander around the house, call people I don't remember, feed the dogs waaayy too many biscuits, stupid shit like that. A whole tablet is just total overkill for me.

If I can't get right to sleep when I work nights then I panic and lay there and panic even worse with each passing minute. It's a vicious cycle.