Prescription sleeping pills can cause unusual behavior like driving and eating while asleep, the Food and Drug Administration warned today.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/15/business/14sleep.web.html?hp

Quote :

"F.D.A. Issues Warning on Sleeping Pills By STEPHANIE SAUL Published: March 15, 2007 Prescription sleeping pills can cause unusual behavior like driving and eating while asleep, the Food and Drug Administration warned today. The F.D.A. ordered the makers of Ambien, Lunesta and 11 other commonly used sleep medications to issue strong new label warnings about those risks, and to produce brochures about safe use of the drugs. Pharmacies would give the brochures to patients when prescriptions are dispensed. The agency will also require label warnings to note the possibility of severe allergic reactions and facial swelling associated with the use of such sleep medications. The agency had been reviewing the side effects of sleeping pills since last year, after some users of the widely prescribed drug Ambien complained that they sleepwalked and gorged themselves on food or were arrested while driving in their sleep. In each case the consumers had no recollection of the events, which occurred after they took Ambien and headed for bed. The agency said that it had reviewed its database of reports of problems with the 13 commonly used sleep medications and concluded that labeling changes were needed. In a news release today, the F.D.A. warned patients of the potential for “complex sleep-related behaviors” which may include “sleep-driving, making phone calls and preparing and eating food (while asleep).” The release defined “sleep driving” as “driving while not fully awake after ingestion of a sedative hypnotic, with no memory of the event.” The F.D.A. also said it was taking the added step of asking manufacturers to conduct additional clinical studies involving sleep driving and other complex behaviors associated with taking the medications. Besides Ambien and Lunesta, the drugs include Sonata and Rozerem, and a number of older medications. The F.D.A.’s move follows a warning last month by authorities in Australia, where Ambien is marketed as Stillnox. The Australian drug agency said it had uncovered a variety of unusual activities by consumers using the product, including sleep-driving, sleep-eating, and, in one case, a woman who painted the front door of her home while asleep. Here are the 13 sleep drugs, and their makers, as listed by the F.D.A.: • Ambien/AmbienCR (Sanofi-Aventis) • Butisol Sodium (MedPointe Pharmaceuticals HLC) • Carbrital (Parke-Davis) • Dalmane (Valeant Pharmaceuticals) • Doral (Questcor Pharmaceuticals) • Halcion (Pharmacia & Upjohn) • Lunesta (Sepracor) • Placidyl (Abbott) • Prosom (Abbott) • Restoril (Tyco Healthcare) • Rozerem (Takeda) • Seconal (Lilly) • Sonata (King Pharmaceuticals)"

3/14/2007 1:09:17 PM

ok, what i want to know is:

if you are sleep-eating or sleep-DRIVING, are your eyes open or closed.

cuz i can't see how one can get in a car and drive (or prepare food) with eyes closed.

damn.

3/14/2007 1:29:08 PM

[old]

3/14/2007 1:40:25 PM

The newer sleep drugs are pretty crazy. Many aren't depressants like tranditional sleep pills. They're more like off switches for the brain because they fiddle with various neurotransmitters. I had a friend who used to take either Ambien or Lunestra to help him sleep. About 10 min. before he would fall asleep after taking them, he would start forgetting where he was. For instance, he would know who was in the room, he would know he was chilling on the couch watching [Adult Swim], but he would lose all concept of the room and its location. We'd tell him to go to bed and he'd give us this funny look. A lot of times we would have to physically guide him to his room before whatever part of his brain he needed to use to understand the situation would kick in for a few moments.

To sum up, I'm not suprised these drugs make people do wierd stuff.

3/14/2007 1:47:10 PM

Quote :

"if you are sleep-eating or sleep-DRIVING, are your eyes open or closed."

Open. When I was a kid I used to sleep walk a lot. It was not uncommon for me to get out of my bed, go downstairs, talk to my parents, and have them take me back up to bed without me ever remembering it. I once rode my bike to a friend's house that lived two doors down. They woke me up and I was standing there in my Dukes of Hazzard pajamas wondering what was going on, lol.

3/14/2007 2:14:35 PM

I was on Ambien for a while. If you don't go to sleep immediatly after you take it, you do some crazy shit. I was guided to my room several times and I think I made food once. Oh and one time I decided to burn plastic wrap with negative consequences.

3/14/2007 2:25:43 PM

when I was on ambien I never did anything in my sleep like that, I did have some mild hallucinations from staying up after taking it however

3/14/2007 2:45:29 PM

Quote :

"if you are sleep-eating or sleep-DRIVING, are your eyes open or closed. cuz i can't see how one can get in a car and drive (or prepare food) with eyes closed. "

it can be either. I used to sleep walk around one of my older apartments, eyes closed, because my subconscience was familiar enough with the layout of the apartment to guide me in my sleep. Diphenhydramine makes you do crazy things when it doesn't completely put you to sleep.

3/14/2007 2:45:53 PM

Diphenhydramine

is that the stuff found in sleeping pills?

cuz that's found in an OTC pain killer that i sometimes take before going to bed, like once a week, and it gives me the most vivid and intense dreams ever.

3/14/2007 2:54:11 PM

it's also in motion sickness pills, and it's structurally similar to the hallucinogen found in belladonna, datura, and jimson weed. it is a very strong hallucinogen in it's own right, and a lot of companies have since switched to using doxylamine instead.

3/14/2007 3:09:04 PM

Quote :

"Published: March 15, 2007"

3/14/2007 3:59:35 PM

Diphenhydramine = benadryl, and yes it will fuck your shit up if you take a handful. In low doses it's probably the safest OTC sleeping pill.

3/14/2007 3:59:46 PM

Cocaine's a hell of a drug.

3/14/2007 5:01:47 PM

"Tylenol Simply Sleep" is the cheapest form of Diphenhydramine that I've found. Most OTC sleep aids are more expensive than just buying Benadryl so people will normally tell you just to buy the Benadryl instead.

It's never really messed with me, but I take the recommended dosage and I only take it once or twice a month.

[Edited on March 14, 2007 at 5:20 PM. Reason : s]

3/14/2007 5:03:01 PM

diphenhydramine just puts me in a zombie state, but I'll still take it if I'm completely restless at night.

3/14/2007 5:13:21 PM

Quote :

"I was standing there in my Dukes of Hazzard pajamas wondering what was going on, lol."

Oh if I had a nickel....

3/14/2007 5:17:17 PM

ive got some of that simply sleep stuff, its never put me in a zombie like sleep unless I get less than 7 hours of sleep

3/14/2007 5:19:16 PM

I don't know how long that stuff takes to wear off, but if I take it at two or three a.m. because I can't sleep it is guaranteed that I won't hear my alarm clock at 7:00 a.m. I use three alarm clocks and I just lay there fast asleep until they go off on their own (30 minutes or so.) I won't take it if I need to be up early at all.

3/14/2007 5:23:38 PM

duh dude, you should never take any pharmaceutical sleep aids unless you have AT LEAST 7 hours of sleep ahead of you.

that's just common sense. or read the enclosed literature that comes with medicines.

3/14/2007 5:49:58 PM

i've been on ambien for a couple months now because i've been having trouble sleeping due to pain from a recent accident/surgeries. i take two 10mg tablets, one doesn't really do anything.

it has made me do some wierd stuff. mainly get up real early (5-6am) and start wandering around the house. i think i've got something to do, but then realize i don't and i'll go back to bed. later in the day i'll remember what i did and it's like "wtf, did i really do that this morning?". so i guess it's not totally sleep walking, but close. i've blacked out and busted my ass during it a couple of times also. what makes it even funnier is i'm on going around on crutches for all of this.

i'm sure being on percocet and ultram also just amplifies things.

3/14/2007 7:08:05 PM

just took some Diphenhydramine now

3/14/2007 7:27:41 PM

I recommend violently waking up a sleep walker if you want to fuck them up

3/14/2007 8:02:31 PM

yeh as someone said diphenhydramine is just benadryl so tylenol pm is just tylenol and diphenhydramine. So if you're not in pain and just want to sleep...benadryl/diphenhydramine is the best sleeping aid over the counter

3/14/2007 9:41:01 PM

if youre on ambien or the like, you should take the tablet and a glass of water to bed with you. sit on the bed, take the tab, and drink some of the water. set the glass on the nightstand and lay down.

you should never take that shit outside of the bed, ever. you're just asking for it.

3/14/2007 9:43:54 PM

Ambien is one of the strangest drugs I've ever taken because it was so subtle.

It made me feel odd.

3/14/2007 10:32:44 PM

this particular article may be new

but what it says isn't...it's been discussed before

3/14/2007 10:49:40 PM

^^^true. i took mine about an hour ago, it's starting to get interesting...

3/15/2007 2:29:57 AM

^^
Agreed, nothing new. Stronger warning labels will most likely assist with informing people. Look at how beneficial strong labels on cigarettes have done. Oh wait...

3/15/2007 4:25:06 AM

hmm... this means i could take a sleeping pill, then go out driving. i could speed and shit. when i get pulled, i would act the the officer had woken me up, and i'd be like "oh shit, officer, it's these sleeping pills i took earlier. they made me sleep-drive. my bad, yo."

yeah...

3/15/2007 5:02:18 AM

I would think percocet+ambien would be bad, but im not a doctor.

and why do they have you on percocet and ultram? seems kind of redundant

3/15/2007 11:09:32 AM

i would love me some of this: (just sex with a partner... not the cheating or murder!)

Quote :

"Sleepwalkers who have 'sex sleep' Imagine finding unexplained condoms around your house and then waking up one night to find your partner having sex with a stranger. It might sound like an affair, but what if your "cheating" partner was fast asleep during the act? The phenomenon, called sleep sex, was described to doctors at a meeting in Australia. Sleep physician Peter Buchanan, from Sydney's Royal Alfred Hospital, described this real life case. Sleeping partner Mr Buchanan told the Australasian Sleep Association how a patient of his, who was a respectable middle-aged woman with a steady partner, would leave the house while sleepwalking and have sex with strangers. The woman was totally unaware of her double life until her partner became suspicious and found her engaged in the act. "He was aware of some sleepwalking and there was circumstantial evidence, including the unexplained presence of condoms around the house," Mr Buchanan told the conference. Mr Buchanan ran a series of tests on the woman and diagnosed her problem - sleep sex. Whatever they are dreaming about, which at that time is their reality, they actually do Sleep expert Neil Stanley This is a condition completely distinct from sleepwalking and is a form of sleep disorder called REM behavioural disorder. Normally, when a person enters a phase of sleep called the REM (rapid eye movement) phase, in which we can often dream, our bodies are immobilised. In the case of sleep sex, this doesn't happen and the person can act out their dreams. UK sleep expert Neil Stanley from the Human Psychopharmacology Research Unit at Surrey University explained. Reality check "In some people, it can be genetic or in others it is triggered by alcohol or stress, they do not lose the muscle tone. "So that means whatever they are dreaming about, which at that time is their reality, they actually do." He said if what the person was acting out fitted with the dream they might not wake up. THE STAGES OF SLEEP Stage 1 - passed through briefly when falling to sleep Stage 2 - most of the sleeping time is spent in this stage Stages 3 and 4 - deep sleep, when people can sleepwalk Stage 5 - REM sleep, when people can sex sleep "If you are lying there dreaming about having sex with your wife and you just happen to be having sex with your wife then there's nothing there to stop the dream. You don't perceive that as wrong." He said there were documented cases where people had committed murders in their sleep. "There is a case in English law where a guy was beating his girlfriend over the head with a video recorder and she was screaming at him." He said the man only woke up when the girlfriend said "I love you". "Probably that was such a stupid thing in his dream that did not fit that it woke him up. "It's like when you hear the phone in the middle of your dream and you wake up." He said people would not necessarily remember what they had done while they were dreaming. "You only remember your dreams if you wake up during them. "But even then, it can be very difficult to comprehend that you have done what you dreamed about." He said finding out what was the trigger of the REM behavioural disorder and eliminating it could help. Other treatments include medications to induce sleep or reduce muscle tone. Mr Buchanan said almost half of all sleep sex cases were associated with psychological problems and, in the case of the woman he described, psychotherapy helped. "

[Edited on March 22, 2007 at 11:11 AM. Reason : http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/3744226.stm]

check out this also:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/essex/3625952.stm

Quote :

"Sex attacker 'feigned sleepwalk' A charity worker pretended he was sleep walking when he indecently assaulted a woman, Snaresbrook Crown Court heard. "

[Edited on March 22, 2007 at 11:14 AM. Reason : ]

3/22/2007 11:11:09 AM

^guy stole my sleepwalking molest technique

3/22/2007 7:52:49 PM

Quote :

"I would think percocet+ambien would be bad, but im not a doctor. and why do they have you on percocet and ultram? seems kind of redundant"

i dunno. i just told my surgeon/doctor i was having alot of trouble sleeping since the accident, and he prescribed it. i usually sleep like a log.

as for the ultram, it's MUCH less addictive than percocet. the idea is to help keep the amount of percocet i need down. it also helps as an anti inflamatory supposedly.

3/22/2007 11:16:29 PM

Quote :

"If you are lying there dreaming about having sex with your wife and you just happen to be having sex with your wife then there's nothing there to stop the dream. You don't perceive that as wrong.""

i've actually had this happen to me before. the girl in bed was talking about us fucking in the middle of the night and until then i thought it was just a dream.

3/23/2007 12:12:46 AM

ok, this is some seriously WEIRD stuff now that i'm getting into taking it more regularly. if i stay up, i get all sorts of hallucinations, random images/shadows, etc. i will start talking to these things also. walking around is pretty much a lost cause too, you are going to fall. balance is gone. memories of what happens after i take the pills are vague. i know what i'm doing that night, but the next is just bit and pieces.

i have to say i kinda enjoy it. much like acid. not that i've ever done acid, of course. so, i just stay up a while, have some fun, then have some great sleep for 6-8 hours.

[Edited on April 30, 2007 at 2:05 AM. Reason : .]

4/30/2007 2:03:45 AM

I said this in March:

Quote :

"Diphenhydramine is that the stuff found in sleeping pills? cuz that's found in an OTC pain killer that i sometimes take before going to bed, like once a week, and it gives me the most vivid and intense dreams ever. "

(just for reference)


I took some last night before going to bed, and I had the most horrific and violent dream I have EVER had.

It was terrible. Synopsis: Mass slaughter and executions of all my friends and family in broad day light in public streets outside their houses (all friends and family lived in one area), by the GOVERNMENT!!!



And it felt SO REAL. I was speechless after I got up.

7/19/2007 7:42:54 PM

oh Munster.

7/19/2007 8:22:31 PM

Quote :

"cuz that's found in an OTC pain killer that i sometimes take before going to bed, like once a week, and it gives me the most vivid and intense dreams ever."

Coincidental that this topic was "bttt" today b.c I've been having some VERY distressing sleeping issues lately that seems similar to what some of you all have been talking about. I started taking OTC sleeping aids at night b.c sometimes have trouble falling asleep at night. I used to take advil PM but i switched to tylenol PM b.c food lion was out the last time i went in. I am almost certain the sleep aid is the same so I do not understand why the tylenol PM would be causing this new issue since i've been doing this since April.

Over the last two weeks though I have been plagued by sleep paralysis.

Quote :

"Sleep paralysis is a condition characterized by temporary paralysis of the body shortly after waking up (known as hypnopompic paralysis) or, less often, shortly before falling asleep (known as hypnagogic paralysis)."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep_paralysis often accompanied by some sort of nightmare waking up in fear or even a panic. Many times even if it is not a nightmare I have a dream of blacking out/becoming paralyzed then waking up in distressed. Monday night was the worst; getting only 4 hours of sleep b.c of this. I came home after class Tuesday; tried to take a nap and awoke nearly every 30 mins experiencing the same thing. I am not really sure what to do about it. Over the years i have occasionally experience sleep paralysis but what has been happening lately has been more frequent and more extreme.

[Edited on July 19, 2007 at 8:27 PM. Reason : l]

[Edited on July 19, 2007 at 8:52 PM. Reason : ;]

7/19/2007 8:23:59 PM

Cmon man, ya had to edit it twice?!?

7/19/2007 9:31:34 PM

that shit used to happen to me..got so bad i was almost scared to go to sleep cause i didnt feel like having the crazy ass nightmares.. i eventually learned to tell the difference and would bite myself in my dream to wake me up before shit got too crazy. not much help but i quit taking them and it helped a lot

7/19/2007 10:48:54 PM

Diphenhydramine==benadryl all of the otc sleep aids are just benadryl they say PM or sleep aid b/c the side effects of benadryl is drowsiness.

7/19/2007 10:57:53 PM

Quote :

"Quote : "If you are lying there dreaming about having sex with your wife and you just happen to be having sex with your wife then there's nothing there to stop the dream. You don't perceive that as wrong."" i've actually had this happen to me before. the girl in bed was talking about us fucking in the middle of the night and until then i thought it was just a dream."

I used to do this all the time. My girlfriend would tell me about some weird sex we had in the middle of the night and I had no clue. My wife tells me that I still occasionally start this (will start rubbing on her and grinding on her). She simply has to say something and I roll back over but never wake up. Its freaky as hell and I'm just glad it never happened with anyone other than someone I was dating or married to. Usually happened after sleep deprivation or if I take something like benadryhl.

[Edited on July 19, 2007 at 11:01 PM. Reason : .]

7/19/2007 11:00:32 PM

yah

they make me tell me random shit i normally wouldn't

7/19/2007 11:04:51 PM

anybody else had like dreams of dreaming in your dreams and dreaming in those too... so you feel like you wake up like 3 different times before you really do... try doing that a few times and you'll be all fucked up and not sure what reality is for a while

7/19/2007 11:07:14 PM

like every other week

but i dream alot, or at least more then i think is normal, if that makes any sense

7/19/2007 11:12:05 PM

you dont remember them usually unless you wake up at the end of it.. sounds like you're waking up more often than you should

7/19/2007 11:23:16 PM

some of this is really familiar - usually i just get really whack dreams. Today, I was convinced that I recently met a girl that was 4'1" most of the day, until I realized I took sleeping aids lastnight.

7/19/2007 11:33:40 PM

i take tylenol pm 2 or 3 nights a week

7/19/2007 11:50:44 PM

I don't think it's been mentioned yet but Nortryptalene literally either keeps me up all night, or if I can get to sleep, gives me aweful nightmares. I might jolt awake five times a night. Never taking that again.

7/20/2007 1:53:11 AM

WTF happened to just taking a few shots of whiskey

7/20/2007 11:36:31 AM