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FDA: Sleep pills can cause 'sleep driving" - 3/15/2007 3:25:00 AM

Vendaval

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FDA: Sleeping pills can cause 'sleep-driving'
POSTED: 3:54 a.m. EDT, March 15, 2007

"Given the millions of prescriptions for insomnia drugs, Katz called the problem rare, and said he was unaware of any deaths. But because sleep-driving is so dangerous -- and there are precautions that patients can take -- the FDA ordered a series of strict new steps Wednesday.

First, the makers of 13 sleep drugs must put warnings on their labels about two rare but serious side effects:

• sleep-driving, along with other less dangerous "complex sleep-related behaviors" -- like making phone calls, fixing and eating food, and having sex while still asleep.

• and life-threatening allergic reactions, as well as severe facial swelling, both of which can occur either the first time the pills are taken or anytime thereafter."

http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/03/14/sleep.drug.warning.ap/index.html

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RE: FDA: Sleep pills can cause 'sleep driving" - 3/15/2007 4:25:40 AM

wandersalone

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I wonder if people will start using the 'sleep driving' defence more in the future? It does sound a little far-fetched however I have definitely experienced a type of amnesia related to using some sedatives. It generally kicks in about 30 minutes after taking the tablets and I have forgotten things such as ringing people, making plans to see people, total conversations - friend told me all about her new job and a few days later I asked her how the job hunting was going, reading books (I will start re-reading them the next day and find I have to go back 50 pages). My friends know if they hear from me at night to ask if I have taken my tablets, to make sure I write down any plans in my diary and if I have called them on my mobile they have been ordered to hang up! I do not get the memories back later on.

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RE: FDA: Sleep pills can cause 'sleep driving" - 3/15/2007 4:51:02 AM

cjenny

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Wow there are facts to back up what has been going on with me heh. It is scary...not funny when it happens. Granted I am probably on more medication than the average person but it has definitely happened to me.
Yesterday I was reading some posts from a couple of weeks ago and I don't remember writing them. Not only that but the posts don't 'fit' me very well, it is really unsettling & yet another part of why I'm posting less n less.

Last year I was on one sleep medication that put me in a weird fugue state, I would arrive at work with no memory of driving. I don't drive much now!

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RE: FDA: Sleep pills can cause 'sleep driving" - 3/21/2007 12:03:07 PM

habibi

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i've been on ambien since summer of '04 due to insomnia from MS....lemme tell ya, this can get to be a problem. the really hard part is, you really do not seem to be asleep in the least, you're fully functioning to the average person who may witness what's going on....but you absolutely do not remember what happens the next morning...occasionally, if you don't allow yourself enough time for the drug to get out of your system, you may not remember the start of your day even, not to mention anything that may have happened in the night.
the sleep eating is a pain in the ass, i've found i simply can not have snacks in the house or i'll eat them at night. that's easy enough to fix. the bigger problem is conversations or phone calls that happen within half an hour of me taking my pill....and sex. yeah..it's strange...but sex. i can't count the times that i've woken up in the morning to find my husband smiling and whistling and in a waaaaaaaaay too happy mood, smirking at me. "that was some night last night, honey....i can't believe you asked me to do that to you, not to mention i can't believe it was possible..." uhmmm...what dear?? he's so crushed when he realizes that i have zero memory of our crazy, freaky night....none. sometimes i wake up feeling...well....very well sexed and it gives me a clue and i have to ask leading questions like "what part of last night did you like the best??" just to get answers. and, sometimes i wake up hurt...i mean actually bleeding. apparently some nights i make him go much farther with things than i normally can take and get hurt but don't care. this leaves me a little frightened that some night i'm going to do harm to my body. *sigh* hubby has enstated a "no sex after meds have been taken" policy....even if i insist i'm okay since i can fool anyone that i'm completely awake and alert when i'm drugged and still not remember what i'm doing.
this is all startling enough now that i have someone to "baby sit" me every night...it was much worse when i was single and had nooooo idea what i'd done the night before and had to sift through the crumbs and emails and phone calls to find out what had happened.

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