abric1

I am sure you have all seen ads that speak about the risks of Ambien induced amnesia as well as sleepwalking, sleep-eating and similar related behaviors. I want to share a somewhat abbreviated version of the experience I had with my D a couple weeks ago so you can carefully weigh the risks of Ambien and similar sleep meds.

Two weeks ago, my H and I were visiting our D (a freshman) at college, 2500 miles from our home. We were all staying at the home of friends (actually my H's ex-wife and her husband). My D, who has suffered insomnia for three years (since a junior in High School) had gone upstairs to go to sleep. A short while later, she came downstairs to the kitchen and got something to eat. She returned upstairs without speaking to us. About 15 minutes later, she asked me to come upstairs and identify for her the two cups next to her bed. One was the tea she had taken upstairs initially; the other was a cup with some mini-chocolate chips that she had apparently gotten on her trip to the kitchen. She had no recollection of either. I thought this a bit strange but was not too alarmed. I went back downstairs but returned to her a few minutes later when I noticed her going from one room to another. When I tried to speak to her at this point, she was making no sense. My H came upstairs and checked her meds, which I had brought from home. She takes Attivan from time to time when she has panic attacks as well as Ambien when she cannot sleep. Based on the missing pills, it appeared she had taken about 30 Attivan. (He did not check the Ambien bottle since it appeared full.) We called 911 and were told to get her to an ER immediatey as she could stop breathing. We went to the ER, which, of course, was its own nightmare. Fortunately, my D had been in a great mood and was very excited about an event the following days (which was why we were there) so I did not believe she took the meds intentionally. We later figured out that she had mistaken the Attivan for the similarly sized and shaped mini-chocolate chips. About 4 days later, I decided to count the Ambien to see how many were missing. She had taken 7.5 ten mg Ambien. I am just as glad I did not know that at the time. As best we can figure, she had taken one Ambien, did not fall asleep, forgot she had taken one and took another, etc. Needless to say, no more Ambien for her. The only possible "silver lining" is that my D realizes that drugs are not the answer and that she needs to find healthier ways to deal with her stress and insomnia. Fortunately, she is now home for summer and will work on finding alternatives. I shudder to think about the possible consequences had we not been with her when this happened.

SouthJerseyChessMom

abric-what a horrific experience and thank you for sharing.
I know someone who suffered from the bizarre nighttime eating rituals, and would awaken the next morning, without any knowledge of what she had eaten. The empty bowls were the evidence that something occured.

AMBIEN is a BAD medication- do not let your children or parents be the victims of these v "sledgehammers" to the brain, as one respected dr. called these sleeping meds.

Thank you for sharing .............

mafool

Wow.

(ten char).

mstee

Thank you for sharing that. I am glad you were there when this happened with your daughter!

cangel

Don't keep sleeping meds or pain meds or anything that affects your thinking, on a bedside table, even when you are in a hotel room or on a short visit.

People have even had car wrecks on Ambien - think about that for a moment - so putting meds in the cabinet won't eliminate the possiblity of an overdose after taking it (it is a sledgehammer), but makes it less likely.

In defense of Ambien, it is an excellent drug used in the right setting or context, I use it rarely, maybe once or twice a year, but never when I am alone. It is great for overseas trips if you are the type person who cannot sleep on a plane.

PrimetimeMom

A close friend of ours was arrested for drunk driving at 4am. He had been taking Ambian and did not remember drinking a bottle of Tequila in the middle of the night and going for a drive. Scary stuff!

sunnyflorida

Ativan and Ambien can be a deadly combination and their simultaneous use (I do not mean just taking them at once, I include in this having a prescription for both at any one time) can be dangerous. And leaving these pills at a bedside table is what sends patients to the ER (or the morgue) for accidental overdose. A college freshman should flush these down the toilet and get a new doctor. Never, ever keep either one or any similar meds at the bedside. Ever.

SouthJerseyChessMom

^^^^ this is advice from a physician........thanks sunnyflorida

abric1

Thanks, sunnyflorida. We learned this the hard way but fortunately without dire consequences.

mafool

regarding Ambien for travel:

A friend who frequently travels to Asia for business took Ambien, as usual, for one of his flights. The catch? He made a connection in NY and had absolutely no recollection of doing so.

SBmom

This may be common sense advice but one of the best things for regulating sleep is to get up with the sun and get outside. Also, don't use computers etc in the evening hours. Blue light "wakes" us while red light (firelight, sunset) is soporific.

notre dame AL

Spouse and brother have both used ambien for years with absolutely no side effects. It is the regular ambien and not ambien cr--if that makes a difference. I do know that both visit physicians on regular basis for monitoring of the prescription and spouse can usually take 1/2 of the prescribed ambien pill for sleep instead of the whole pill. Maybe that makes a difference as well. I tried 1/2 once and did not find sleep to be peaceful. But, I do not function well with any type of sleeping pill, anesthesia, or gas at the dentist, even. Something about being in control, maybe? But, spouse and brother both swear by ambien and as I mentioned, have used it for years. Medicine can affect people in many ways, you just never know!

cangel

Wow, SunnyFla, great minds think alike. I agree that this 19 year old needs a different doctor. The bedside table advice, though, maybe that's because we've seen accidental overdoses - think Heath Ledger.

mkm56

Ambien really scares me. Personally I think it should be taken off the market. My personal experience was with youngest son. A Dr. at school gave him Ambien as he was having a terrible time with insomnia (had for years, but worsened at school). One night when he was home for a break, I found him standing over my bed in the middle of the night. He told me there was something wrong in his room and I needed to come see. He walked upstairs with me, but refused to go into the room. He looked kinda wild and panicked. I finally got him into room and asked what was wrong--his response was that he had never seen that room before--someone had taken his bedroom and replaced it with that one. He spent the rest of the night on the living room sofa--and had no memory of night before. I threw out his remaining pills.

I called and talked to his roommate who told me that my son would get up many nights after only sleeping an hour and wander the dorm halls and most commonly clean---he would take Clorox wipes and do all the individual tiles in their room and even the hall bath. Sometimes he came back to room with other people's jackets, towels and things--then the next day he would have to search around for the owners. All these times he would swear that he never got out of bed--until roommate got video of him doing his cleaning thing and he had to accept it.

Another friend of ours takes Ambien most nights and makes middle of the night phone calls to her friends. She will call at midnight or 1am and go into a long involved story about some issue--and deny it up and down the next day that she made the call.

A local physician went on a conference trip to London (luckily with other Drs). He arrived and went to his room--took an Ambien to try and readjust sleep schedule. An hour later, he left his room in his boxers and was in lobby demanding a phone--he was frantic and crying. His travel companions were called and succeeded in getting him to his room--though he still insisted on calling home. They let him call, thinking it would calm him--he got his kids on the phone and told them he loved them, and was sorry he would never see them again, he was going to die that day. Needless to say it caused much emotional grief back home. The next morning he had no memory at all.

Like I said---scary stuff!

Nova10

Night eating is a rare side effect of Ambien.
Ambien should never be used with a benzodiazepine like Xanax, Ativan, etc because they are very similar drugs, and could cause death if you take too much of them.
If you want to stay away from the benzodiazepine-like sleep aids, there is Remeron.
Ambien, if used properly, is a good drug. However, most don't use it properly. It should not be used for more than about 14 days in a row. Many times you see people get monthly prescriptions for it, and you know, they are dependent on it to sleep. Technically, though no one does it, a pharmacist can refuse to fill because it is controlled medication which is being used improperly.