Anybody sleepwalk while taking Ambien?

[Bake]

OK, I had a strange experience about a week ago. I had taken Ambien CR because I'd been having some restless nights. I had what I **thought** was a dream, that I got up to let the dogs out. The next morning, Mrs. B asked me what the hell I was doing on the deck in nothing but my boxers at 3:00 in the morning. Further, I had locked myself out and was apparently softly tapping on the door for someone to let me back in.

I have never sleepwalked in my life before this. Now I'm a little hesitant to take Ambien again, at least not unless I'm handcuffed to the bed ...

But it could have been worse. I could have gone out the FRONT door. Nekkid.

Bake

[Taverner]

1. oooooh fuck

That stuff is not good

I only take Ambien regular - the CR stuff makes me CWAAAAAAZEEEEEE!!!

[XemaSab]

2. That's where my sleepwalking thread is coming from....

:P

[Bake]

5. I almost posted it in your thread, but thought Ambien deserved its own thread

Bake

[pitohui]

3. a lot of people do, it's a known side effect, some people sleep DRIVE under the influence

for me it's a personal decision that i will never use ambien, the CR product may for some people be higher risk if it clears your system more slowly

if you have an accident while driving under the influence, you're still responsible for the DUI, so i just wouldn't risk it, not saying you would progress to sleep driving but it has happened

[Bake]

4. It was bad enough that I locked myself out of the house!

In my boxers. But DRIVING???? That'd be too weird.

Bake

[havocmom]

22. There have been reports of people going for Chinese take-out

finding cartons in the morning with NO memory of any trips to get food.

Other reports of people waking to find a lot of dirty dishes - they were up cooking in their sleep, also might be dangerous

People had complained of weight gain. Then the reports of going out for food or cooking, all while under the influence.

Bad shit

[ThomCat]

6. I only got the visual halucinations.

No sleepwalking. That's pretty damned scary. I'd stop taking it immediately.

[Bake]

7. No hallucinations, but I haven't taken it since this episode.

Bake

[likesmountains 52]

8. I had a kind of scary Ambien experience too...I always lock up my house at

night, but one morning this summer when I got up I saw that my back door to the deck was wide open..only the screen door was closed. I couldn't figure out if I had just forgotten to lock up or if I had been wandering around outside during the night..then I went outside and saw my gate open which never happens b/c I leave my dog in the back yard..so I went out the gate and noticed some strange looking mud streaks on the side of my house next to the gate. I could not figure out what had gone on and wondered if I had gotten up and worked in my garden during the night, and had put my muddy hands on the side of the house. A few days later my next door neighbor asked me if I had heard the bear climbing over my gate a few nights ago..the muddy streaks were the bear's paw prints..he could have easily come in my house ( happens around here frequently) while I was asleep. Now, I'll never know why the back door was open but the whole thing kind of freaks me out about Ambien. The thing is that it's so hard to sleep sometimes I just have to resort to taking it!

[MilesColtrane]

9. I have a friend who started taking it.

His wife woke up to find him at 4AM, in the bathroom, whizzing everywhere but the toilet. He was sound asleep.

Needless to say, he stopped taking that shit.

I'd stay away from taking drugs that alter your brain chemistry for problems like insomnia, or nicotine addiction.

That Chantix™ is another scary drug.

Prospective Chantix or Champix users reading the physician's Prescribing sheet are not only told the actual odds of experiencing the five most common side effects: <1> nausea (seen in 30% of users); <2> sleep disturbance (insomnia in 18% of users, abnormal dreams 13%, sleep disorder 5% and nightmare 1%), <3> constipation (8%), <4> gas (6%) and <5> vomiting (5%) but view a frightening list of "Frequent" potential side effects which include but are not limited to aggression, agitation, disorientation, dissociation, libido decreased, mood swings, abnormal thinking, anxiety, depression, emotional disorder, irritability, restlessness, disturbance in attention, sensory disturbance, dizziness, muscle pain, joint pain, back pain, muscle cramp and musculoskeletal pain. "Infrequent" side effects include but are not limited to irregular heart beat, arthritis, osteoporosis, asthma, thyroid disorders, blurred vision, eye pain, intestinal hemorrhage, chills, fever, gall bladder disorder and diabetes mellitus.

"Rare" side effects may include but are not limited to suicidal ideation, hallucination, psychotic disorder, slowed thought processes, kidney failure, pleurisy, pulmonary embolism, sexual dysfunction, balance disorder, cerebrovascular accident, convulsion, dysarthria, facial palsy, mental impairment, multiple sclerosis, nystagmus, psychomotor skills impaired, transient ischemic attack, visual field defect, gastric ulcer, intestinal obstruction, acute pancreatitis, deafness, Meniere's disease, leukocytosis, thrombocytopenia, splenomegaly, acquired night blindness, blindness transient, cataract subcapsular, ocular vascular disorder, photophobia and vitreous floaters.



All for a small chance at stopping smoking.

[Sequoia]

10. Wh...WHAT !!!?

That's a drug to stop you from wanting to smoke cigs?!! Brother, I'd rather smoke than take a chance on that stuff. And I'll stay away from that other drug too.

[MilesColtrane]

15. Yeah.

There was a great local musician who was killed recently.

He had always been a gentle and sane soul.

He started taking Chantix to try and stop smoking.

One night, soon after, for no reason, he attacked his girlfriend then tried to break down a neighbor's door.
Fearing for his life, the neighbor fired through the door killing him instantly.

[mitchum]

11. Ambien made me go crazy on a flight to England a few years ago...

I went absolutely berserk, interfered with the flight attendants, tried to insert a CD into the drink cart, and proclaimed, "So what? I'm REM!"...wait a minute...that wasn't me...THAT was Peter Buck of REM. He was charged with air piracy and all kind of stuff. His defense was that the rampage was a result of taking Ambien...and the 14 glasses of wine had nothing to do with it. He was later found not guilty. Rock stars do have the best lawyers.

[Redstone]

12. Happened to me to, and was even worse; I walked downstairs and started

yelling at Mrs R, for no reason. It wasn't like I was angry with her when I went to bed.

My doctor immediately changed me over to Lunesta. No problems yet, but I take it only ocasionally, so your experience may not match mine.

Redstone

[Sequoia]

13. I fainted once after taking Mellentine.

I was on the bathroom floor wondering why I was lying on my back. I just crumpled like I didn't have a skeleton.

[SPKrazy]

14. no but i apparently have posted on du and not remembered

while taking both ambien and lunesta

it didn't make me sleepy, it just made me kinda loopy and then i guess i posted things i didn't remember posting :P

[Redstone]

16. Who of us HASN'T "posted on Ambien?"

Redstone

[SPKrazy]

19. apparently we are the ambien target market

:P

[havocmom]

23. Me! I'm just naturally stupid. No additives required

;)

[Connonym]

17. yes, it is some scary shit

I've been known to talk about weird stuff, walk around, eat, embarrassing emails, IMs and so forth. Not only do I not remember what I do when I've taken it, I've found that it also affects my overall memory, most notably, I mangle words or say sentences in the wrong order. Plus I don't even sleep all the way through the night. All these effects are really intensified if you drink even a little bit of alcohol.

[trof]

18. A neighbor did. Similar experience.

'Dreamed' she had gotten up to take the dog out.
Next morning her feet were muddy and there were wet leaves in the bed.
Be careful.

[SoxFan]

20. Sleep Paralysis

The first time I took Ambien, I had sleep paralysis the next morning. I awoke, to a point. I was conscious, but I couldn't speak, move or open my eyes. If I hadn't known what was going on, it would have scared the hell out of me. As it was, I said "huh, weird", dozed back off for a few minutes, and woke up just fine.

[Bake]

21. UPDATE: Took it last night and stayed indoors!

I was a total insomniac last night so I tried the Ambien CR one more time. Warned Mrs. B that if she heard me get out of bed, to please get up and make sure I didn't leave the house in my underwear (or otherwise, for that matter!). Turns out I slept like a log, no weird dreams, no sleepwalking, but boy am I hungover this morning!

Bake