Posted on 07/03/2012 4:53:30 PM PDT by opentalk
Former Commerce Secretary John Bryson tested positive for the sleeping aid Ambien, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office.
Prosecutors announced Tuesday that they have decided not to file criminal charges against Bryson in connection with two alleged hit-and-run crashes in the San Gabriel Valley last month.(snip)His tests showed “low end of therapeutic levels” and a criminalist could not say if it was a factor in the collisions. Both treating doctors agree he was suffering confusion following a seizure and crashed as a result, according to the memo.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimesblogs.latimes.com ...
The only close-call traffic accidents I ever nearly caused (no actual accident) were after very poor or non-existent sleep. Judgment and possibly reflexes were affected. Sleep deprivation is nothing to dismiss. To me, it would be better to stay up one night and be active than to “fake sleep” like you are doing. Lying in bed anxious about not sleeping is very bad. No, I don’t take prescription sleep medicine, but melatonin seems to work very well for me.
It won't, after you've been around a bit.
same here, love my ambien. You think I'm dangerous taking them, you should see me drive after 3 nights of no sleep !
I make it three. Love my ambien. Does make dreams seem quite real though. But.. the dreams are always pleasant.
Interesting, I never dream when on ambien. (that I remember) I have had some not so pleasent dreams while dozing for the 15 mins I can when not taking ambien.
Who does he think his is, Patches Kennedy?
Ambien is a drug that can alter one’s mental functioning and can cause seizures. Listen to some of the side effects of drugs advertised on television. You will be surprised at what people are willing to have a side effects to get to sleep, to have clear skin, or to “fix” another ailment. Every prescription in the USA comes with a pamphlet that lists the KNOWN side effects of the medication. Most people simply toss those pamphlets away as if they were parsley on a burger. They expect nothing bad can happen because “after all, the medication was prescribed by my doctor”. A good doctor will tell a person the side effects before prescribing a medication and will follow up by asking questions because good doctors know most patients are either illiterate or choose to be no more informed than the person who cannot read.
Here is a simple example of the known side effects of Ambien. http://www.drugs.com/sfx/ambien-side-effects.html
Two drugs frequently prescribed to control blood pressure can cause VERTIGO in some people. The manufacturers say so. So does FDA.
So, what to do when you take both ~ easy ~ keep cutting the dose on each until you no longer sense VERTIGO.
Here's what's really weird ~ the people susceptible to VERTIGO can tell within minutes that the dose they're using is causing it.
Watching a Court TV segment the other day and they were talking about this Peterson guy who may have killed several of his wives. One wife, who left a letter about it, was treated for all sorts of conditions including hypertension. She developed Vertigo so they treated her for that ~ and named the drug.
Looked it up and it deals with Vertigo ~ except it has its own miserable side effects. Where was the doctor ~ he should have changed doses on some of the other stuff first.
Peterson may well have had a perfectly nice wife but it sounded like she'd ran into the 'KIller Docs" ~ he probably ought to sue!
These drugs end up used in homemade teenage idiot dope ~ they'll take coughsyrup and dose it with these prescription drugs to the level where they develop VERTIGO.
One Freeper really went off on "Lean" when I realized I knew that one ~ and if you are an older ausfahrt you don't need to get lubed with the coughsyrup ~ the pills do it.
NO DRIVING NO DRIVING NO DRIVING ~ the hips don't fly.
I took sleeping pills after my daughter had a grand mal seizure at night. For the next year, I barely slept, and I was stressed the whole I was totally falling apart. Finally, had my husband listen for her and I took sleeping pill.
My husband started taking them after he was diagnosed with cancer.
How many times will that excuse work? ;-)
Ambien seems to be one of the most dangerous drugs in existence, it AMAZES me that ANYONE would take it, for ANY reason.
I used to feel exactly that same way as you do until I went through menopause a few years ago. I used to be the sort of person who could drink a whole pot of black coffee at 10PM and go to bed at 11PM and go right to sleep and soundly sleep through the night feeling fresh and awake when I got up at 5AM for work.
Now every night like clockwork, I wake up somewhere between 1 and 3 AM, sometimes even earlier. I cut out caffeine to no avail. I tried exercising more, to no avail. Exercising only in the morning to no avail. Light exercise in the evening to no avail. Not eating or drinking anything after 6PM to no avail. Eating a light meal before going to bed to no avail. Drinking warm milk before going to bed to no avail. Reading before going to bed to no avail. Not reading before going to bed to no avail. Not watching TV for at least an hour or two before going to bed to no avail. Sleeping with a fan on, an ambient noise machine to no avail. Getting a new mattress and pillows and bed sheets to no avail. I even tried taking hormone therapy and taking “natural sleep remedies” to no avail. Going to bed earlier, later, getting up earlier, later, you name it, I’ve tried it and nothing has worked. I sometimes think I would give almost anything to get a good night’s uninterrupted sleep. This is not an occasional thing, BTW, an occasional sleepless night that I can catch up on the next night. This is night after night, week after week month after month of not getting a full and restful night’s sleep and feeling tired and zombie like all the time, not to mention the really strange and sometimes very disturbing dreams.
The next step for me is getting a sleep study done to determine if I have sleep apnea and if I do, consigning myself to having to wear a C-Pap machine for the rest of my life and or taking a med to help me sleep. Chronic insomnia does not always have a simple solution for everyone.
exactly.
“The only close-call traffic accidents I ever nearly caused (no actual accident) were after very poor or non-existent sleep. Judgment and possibly reflexes were affected. Sleep deprivation is nothing to dismiss. To me, it would be better to stay up one night and be active than to “fake sleep” like you are doing. Lying in bed anxious about not sleeping is very bad.”
I guess a couple of comments. First, I agree that driving after not sleeping, or after working a night shift can be challenging - I’ve scared the heck out of myself on some 40 minute drives after working all night...so I won’t argue there. But I’ve also worked many night shifts and yes, I found that fake sleep was much more effective than no sleep. I didn’t consider drugging myself simply because I’d be impaired for my next shift, and, like you, I’m not into drugs (I agree, melatonin doesn’t count as a drug).
“It won’t, after you’ve been around a bit.”
I’ve been around - but Ambien is FREAKY in what it can do. It amazes me that it hasn’t been pulled yet.
“I took sleeping pills after my daughter had a grand mal seizure at night...My husband started taking them after he was diagnosed with cancer.”
Ouch, sorry to hear of your troubles, best wishes to your family. Obviously I wasn’t referring to you or people in your situation.
I’m more thinking of people with First-World problems, such as the interior decorator being half an hour late - so you might miss appetizers at the Women’s Auxiliary that week. The stress would be too much for a first-world type, and one would have to drug herself to get to sleep in that situation.
I'm not sure which one is more dangerous: Ambien.....or trying to wash a cat.
“Now every night like clockwork, I wake up somewhere between 1 and 3 AM...”
Wow, that’s a long list. I can’t really comment on that, other than saying you might want to look at some of the times that I’m on this site posting. I have plenty of nights with 4 to 5 hours of sleep. Usually I don’t even notice during the day (unless I start on something monotonous) - but then maybe that’s me.
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