Sleeping, driving, and eating...
There is a sleeping drug called Ambien that has been in the news a lot recently because of certain side effects. I recall reading an article a few months ago about several cases of sleep walking and 'sleep driving' while taking ambien. Apparently, there have been multiple cases of people getting up and driving and having no recollection of it the next morning. It is something that was usually noticed by a spouse or another household member witnessing this, or simply by the person noticing abnormal mileage or gas usage in their car.
Although this is obviously a dangerous side effect, it seemed to me something that might just be brought out by the drug. Some people are prone to sleep walking, and perhaps the drug just made those sleep walkers more active in their nightlives. However, I was surprised to read a more recent article about Ambien's side effects.
There are some people who have been having a similar sleep walking side effect, but instead of driving, they are 'sleep eating'. The article mentions a few absolutely disgusting things that people have eaten in their sleep (including cigarette butts and raw bacon). I can't imagine that these kinds of things are okay for people to eat. In fact, I would think that this would cause people to have some serious problems.
For some reason, even though driving is probably the more dangerous of the two to do while you're sleeping, eating seems like the more horrendous side effect. Especially with the items that they mentioned people having eaten while asleep. The article also mentions a woman who says she's gained over 100 pounds while on the drug. That would have quite an effect on your daily life.
Thinking about a drug causing such specific behaviors while sleeping makes me wonder just what it is that causes sleep walking. From my own experience, I know that I personally have been more prone to sleep walking when I was sick and had a high fever. (I don't know of any times outside these circumstances that I have sleep walked since I was a child.) It makes me wonder if it is just a case of people who are prone to sleep walking being more active sleep walkers while on the drug, or if there is something about the drug that triggers specific behaviors. It's all very interesting though, in my opinion.
Although this is obviously a dangerous side effect, it seemed to me something that might just be brought out by the drug. Some people are prone to sleep walking, and perhaps the drug just made those sleep walkers more active in their nightlives. However, I was surprised to read a more recent article about Ambien's side effects.
There are some people who have been having a similar sleep walking side effect, but instead of driving, they are 'sleep eating'. The article mentions a few absolutely disgusting things that people have eaten in their sleep (including cigarette butts and raw bacon). I can't imagine that these kinds of things are okay for people to eat. In fact, I would think that this would cause people to have some serious problems.
For some reason, even though driving is probably the more dangerous of the two to do while you're sleeping, eating seems like the more horrendous side effect. Especially with the items that they mentioned people having eaten while asleep. The article also mentions a woman who says she's gained over 100 pounds while on the drug. That would have quite an effect on your daily life.
Thinking about a drug causing such specific behaviors while sleeping makes me wonder just what it is that causes sleep walking. From my own experience, I know that I personally have been more prone to sleep walking when I was sick and had a high fever. (I don't know of any times outside these circumstances that I have sleep walked since I was a child.) It makes me wonder if it is just a case of people who are prone to sleep walking being more active sleep walkers while on the drug, or if there is something about the drug that triggers specific behaviors. It's all very interesting though, in my opinion.
posted by Vanessa Clark @ 10:54 AM
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