Ambien Hallucinations

[watersnowdirt]

So I've taken some Ambien recently because I've had some trouble sleeping. It's worked well (about 5 mg), but I've had some crazy dreams on it.

Last night was a bit different - I took it at about 10 pm or so, and instead of getting into bed, I was watching "This American Life" and got caught up in a story on there, and then stayed awake to research the story on line.

Before I knew, the words on the page seemed to come off the page, and it seemed like the photos were moving. I was pretty much tripping.

This was weird and not all together "OK" feeling. When I finally got up to go to bed after staring at my computer in a tripped out stupor, I was literally bumping into walls on my way to bed.

I googled "ambien hallucinations" earlier and sure enough, it's not uncommon. In fact, there's crazy stories about people driving in the middle of the night withough knowing it. One woman thought her husband's face was melting.

So...WTF? As much as I can say "hey - free trip! woohoo!" It was actually quite weird and disturbing. Just curious if anyone else has any weird Ambien experiences.

And whatever company makes it can thank me for boosting their sales after this post. I know half of you are going to run out and try to find it.

[Blurred]

I tripped that I was dead on acid one time. That's all I've got.

[Phall]

one of my best friends did that, drew his version of the "world" which involved dogs, cats, houses and cars in a tornado like swirl, and proceeded to call a pair of pants hanging off his bike the pants man, and that there were 10 ppl in the room when it was him, me and his roomate

[kidwoo]

Can I have some?

[watersnowdirt]

Can I have some?

Sure - what's the street value of 5 mg Ambien?

[GheePup]

There is a 7 day free trial offer here https://www.ambiencr.com/default.asp...Code=ASPL00905 So yeah, Kid you can have some.

[good4nothing]

3.3.12 Psychiatric Effects

3.3.12.A Zolpidem Tartrate

3.3.12.A.1 Delirium
a) Zolpidem induced delirium with mania in a 67-year-old teacher with no significant psychiatric history who presented to the emergency room after 2 weeks of progressively worsening confusion, agitation, rapid speech, poor sleep, limited appetite, increased disorganization, and paranoid thoughts. Four days prior to hospitalization, she began to talk of the FBI following her and trying to harm her. Her affect was labile, agitated, and frightened and thoughts were tangential and a flight of ideas. The patient was taking zolpidem 10 milligrams (mg) at bedtime for the past 6 weeks since being discharged from the hospital after knee replacement surgery (Hill, Oberstar & Dunn, 2004).
b) Two and a half hours after receiving zolpidem 5 milligrams (mg), an 86-year-old woman, who had sustained a head trauma 1 month prior to admission, became restless and would not follow directions of the nursing staff. She climbed over the bed rails and walked with an unsteady gait. She was oriented to person but not to time or place. She was given haloperidol 5 mg intramuscularly and restrained. With haloperidol 0.5 mg every 12 hours for 2 days, her symptoms resolved. This patient, in addition to being elderly and female, had hypoalbuminemia. All 3 factors can contribute to unusually high serum concentrations of zolpidem (Brodeur & Stirling, 2001).

3.3.12.A.2 Depression, worsening
a) Worsening of depression, including suicidal ideation, has been observed in association with sedative or hypnotic use. This effect has occurred primarily in depressed patients; the onset of any new behavioral sign or symptom that is of concern should be immediately evaluated (Prod Info AMBIEN CR(TM) oral tablets , 2005).

3.3.12.A.3 Hallucinations
a) During a three-week clinical trial, hallucinations were reported in 4% of patients who received extended-release zolpidem (12.5 milligrams); the incidence was 0% in the placebo group (Prod Info AMBIEN CR(TM) oral tablets , 2005).
b) Three separate occurrences of visual HALLUCINATIONS are described in a 23- year-old healthy female patient who was prescribed zolpidem for insomnia. On each occasion, visual hallucinations occurred after a short course of drug (zolpidem 10 milligrams (mg) nightly for 3 weeks, 5 days, and 4 days). This was followed by approximately a 50-hour free period, after which a 10- milligram (mg) dose of zolpidem was taken for insomnia. Hallucinations described as objects in the room appearing different and larger than normal, appeared 10 to 30 minutes later. The patient decreased her dose to 5 mg and experienced no complications (Tsai et al, 2003).
c) Zolpidem-associated visual hallucinations were reported in 5 patients receiving zolpidem 5 to 20 milligrams (4 patients) and zolpidem 60 mg in the other (Elko et al, 1998j). Most had been taking the zolpidem for less than 1 week and all 5 were concomitantly using an antidepressant: sertraline, desipramine, fluoxetine, bupropion, or venlafaxine. Hallucinations lasted from 1 to 7 hours. The authors suggest that the hallucinations may have been due to an interaction between serotonin reuptake inhibition and zolpidem.
d) A psychotic reaction following a single dose of zolpidem 10 milligrams was reported (Iruela et al, 1993). The patient was a 20-year-old female with anorexia nervosa who experienced visual hallucinations and macropsia 20 minutes after taking the drug. She then slept for 7 hours and woke up complaining of a "hangover." Her level of consciousness was normal during the period of hallucinations and had a full recall of the events. Rechallenge with 5-milligram dose one week later produced a similar episode with less intensity. The validity of this case-report is in question since possible hypnagogic visual illusions and/or hallucinations may also occur in a dream state, not only in psychosis (Morselli, 1993).

3.3.12.A.4 Memory impairment
a) Incidence: 3%
b) During a three-week clinical trial, memory disorders, including amnesia, anterograde amnesia, and memory impairment, were reported in 3% of patients who received extended-release zolpidem (12.5 milligrams); the incidence was 0% in the placebo group (Prod Info AMBIEN CR(TM) oral tablets , 2005).

3.3.12.A.5 Psychotic disorder
a) A psychotic reaction following a single dose of zolpidem 10 milligrams was reported (Iruela et al, 1993). The patient was a 20-year-old female with anorexia nervosa who experienced visual hallucinations and macropsia 20 minutes after taking the drug. She then slept for 7 hours and woke up complaining of a "hangover." Her level of consciousness was normal during the period of hallucinations and had a full recall of the events. Rechallenge with 5-milligram dose one week later produced a similar episode with less intensity. The validity of this case-report is in question since possible hypnagogic visual illusions and/or hallucinations may also occur in a dream state, not only in psychosis (Morselli, 1993).
b) Two cases of zolpidem-induced psychosis have been reported in elderly women. The first was a 71-year-old woman who took zolpidem 20 mg on 2 occasions (Markowitz et al, 1997). Afterwards her husband reported that she saw people outside of the window and began talking nonsensically. She could not recall these events. The second was a 74-year-old woman who was given zolpidem 20 mg prior to a magnetic resonance imaging test (Pitner et al, 1997). Within 1 hour she began babbling incoherently and was confused. After 2 hours, she developed AUDITORY-VISUAL HALLUCINATIONS, DELUSIONS, and PSYCHOMOTOR AGITATION. This lasted for 3 hours.

3.3.12.A.6 Suicidal thoughts
a) Worsening of depression, including suicidal ideation, has been observed in association with sedative or hypnotic use. This effect has occurred primarily in depressed patients; the onset of any new behavioral sign or symptom that is of concern should be immediately evaluated (Prod Info AMBIEN CR(TM) oral tablets , 2005).

[kidwoo]

^yeah that pretty much sounds like most of the stuff I've gone to great lenghts to acquire

gimme

[truth]

Ask your doc if you can try Sonata instead of Ambien. Much easier on the brain.

[Particle]

Yeah - my wife gets way tripped out by Ambien. It's kinda funny to watch her, but she doesn't take it any more b/c of it.

[Dobish]

i have a friend who's mom takes ambien at nights, but for some reason thought she was taking some other drug in the morning, but it was ambien. she ended up crashing into the guard rail on I-70 a couple of weeks ago and getting arrested. lucky for her, the cops were following her because she was swerving. she woke up in the ambulance and didn't know what had happened. fortunately everyone was ok.

[MacDaddy]

this sounds like I should start stockpiling some of this "A"

[watersnowdirt]

this sounds like I should start stockpiling some of this "A"

heh - that's funny. I hope I can say I was in on the ground floor when "A" became household slang.

Seriously - crazy experience last night. I think I'm doing Tylenol PM tonight instead. Or I'll try to read War and Peace.

[Superstar Punani]

When I was in Sydney a few weeks ago a friend of my bud died while using Stilnox, which is pretty much another brand name for Ambien.

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/...html?from=top5

It wasn't mentioned in any media outlets, but word is that he was half asleep and mumbling about "jumping over the garden fence to pick up some eggs" shortly before he climbed the balcony of his high-rise apt and fell to his death. Unfortunately the witnesses weren't able to stop/save him in time.

I tried it once and had no adverse effects. After that, I'd stay away from it.

[BenWA]

I'm surprised that you remembered watching TV after taking it. Whenever I take it and don't go to bed immediately I have amnesia and don't recall anything that happened a half hour or so after I pop one. For example, if I take it and then sit on the sofa watching TV, I wake up in bed the next morning having no recollection of getting into bed.

But yeah, sometimes after taking it and going to bed, I'll get up in the middle of the night to piss and can hardly walk to the bathroom without falling over and knocking shit on the floor.

I take it once every couple of weeks, on average, when I really need to catch up on my sleep. I try not to take it more than that because it loses its effect and I'm not so sure how good for you it is on the long term.

I have to say that s3x on Ambien is fucking amazing.

[dk_alaskan]

Whenever I take it and don't go to bed immediately I have amnesia and don't recall anything.

But yeah, sometimes after taking it and going to bed, I'll get up in the middle of the night to piss and can hardly walk to the bathroom without falling over and knocking shit on the floor.


I have to say that s3x on Ambien is fucking amazing.

How can the s3x be amazing while ambien when you can't remember and you can barely move w/o hurting someone let alone your self?

[Arty50]

Hmmm...lph's party could get pretty interesting...

[hop]

How can the s3x be amazing while ambien when you can't remember and you can barely move w/o hurting someone let alone your self?

His asshole really hurt the next day.



Sorry Ben, slow pitch.


yes, I look forward to the lph party. Bottled Radness + Ambien =

[Egg Beater]

My Girlfriend freaked out on Ambien while travelling on an overnight bus between Argentina and Brazil. Any light source held her FULL and undivided attention. Apparently lot's of little green men running around the bus. I finally got her to put on eyeshades and she immediately fell asleep.

[Ripzalot]

Ask your doc if you can try Sonata instead of Ambien. Much easier on the brain.

i will NEVER EVER take sonata again. one of the side effects is "ringing in the ears".

i took it once and woke up in the middle of the night hearing the most incredibly loud high pitched sonic blast imaginable. i literally thought for a moment that the windows were going to shatter from the sound. it was that loud! then i found that any other noise (like myself talking or rather shouting at my wife) would break the noise for a second, then with the subsequent silence it would build back up to full pitch blast in about 3 seconds. this lasted for a good 10-20 minutes after waking up. pretty weird and pretty unnerving!

ambien on the otherhand, makes me sleep like a log and when i wake up there is absolutely no hangover at all. i have experienced the amnesia effect of not remembering much after taking it but hey, that's better than sonic blasts in the middle of the night.

[dk_alaskan]

i will NEVER EVER take sonata again. one of the side effects is "ringing in the ears".

i took it once and woke up in the middle of the night hearing the most incredibly loud high pitched sonic blast imaginable. i literally thought for a moment that the windows were going to shatter from the sound. it was that loud! then i found that any other noise (like myself talking or rather shouting at my wife) would break the noise for a second, then with the subsequent silence it would build back up to full pitch blast in about 3 seconds. this lasted for a good 10-20 minutes after waking up. pretty weird and pretty unnerving!

The ringing in the ears is a side effect of sonata i haven't heard about. you are lucky though, you can control the ringing in your ears. I have it constantly. Sometimes it is better than others. But, talking does help w/the ringing.

Has anyone on here tried the ambien and driving thing? go driving and not know you were driving until either you get pulled over or you "wake up"?

[Ripzalot]

The ringing in the ears is a side effect of sonata i haven't heard about. you are lucky though, you can control the ringing in your ears. I have it constantly. Sometimes it is better than others. But, talking does help w/the ringing.

i have a little ringing in the ears all the time tho - too many rock concerts. sometimes i consider suing ozzy and deep purple for two of the most damaging concerts ever.

also, too much pepto bismal also makes my ears ring! nothing like shitting your brains out with a loud siren wailing.

[rideit]

I recieved my one and only DUI with the help of ambien.
Apparently, the idea of improving a singletrack trail adjacent to HWY 33 using my F250 as a trail tool at 2:00 am did not amuse the local constabulary.

They were remarkably cool about it, and the incident remains completely off of my record.

Weird shit. (they realized that I was sober, but all fucked up at the same time).
Maybe I should sue.....

[dk_alaskan]

how were you able to keep it off your record? if it is off your record, i sure as HELL wouldn't sue...

[dk_alaskan]

i have a little ringing in the ears all the time tho - too many rock concerts. sometimes i consider suing ozzy and deep purple for two of the most damaging concerts ever.

also, too much pepto bismal also makes my ears ring! nothing like shitting your brains out with a loud siren wailing.

Mine is partly genetic and also from bouncing/doing security w/o ear plugs (was TOO "cool" to wear the plugs--no one else was either at the time). Also have it from using power tools, mowers, etc. w/o hearing protection. Now i wear ear plugs when ever i go out for the most part (unless i forget to bring a pair). NOTHING worse than trying to sleep when you hear the damned ringing in your head (like what is going on right now, DOH).