See 3/27 issue of Newsweek.

I disagree, and I think most people would who have personal experience with the medication.

My mother is currently taking it and not long ago, she got up in the middle of the night and cut herself up with a knife so badly that she had to be taken to the ER. It was the second time she had done it.

And I know she's not the only one. I was driving to work the other day and was listening to a radio show that was focusing on the topic of Ambien itself and I couldn't have even counted the number of people that called in to share the absolutely frightening stories of what Ambien has personally done to them or one of their loved ones.

It's a horrific drug and it needs to be taken off of the "market" until it's not causing problems like these anymore. It's not a rare side effect... It's a side effect that's afecting a vast number of people on the drug. I don't even want to know what some may eventually end up doing while on it.

Alison's "Horrific" is the word. Besides those who have people witnessing their episodes, how many more people there must be who have episodes but don't happen to have them in front of anyone else? They'd never know to report them because they'd not even know about them, themselves. My dad also had Ambien reactions, first time, every time. In a hospital - very controlled environment, no overdose, no liquor involved. We couldn't believe the behavior the night nurses reported and stayed overnight with him from that point forward and saw it for ourselves, beginning to end. He had agreed to go into the hospital to balance his blood with a thinner after a mild stroke that had fully resolved within 3 hours after it was evidenced. For some time prior to all this he always had to get up in the night to use the bathroom (hit your 80's, it can happen). The hospital was noisy and on his 3rd night he had asked for a sleep aid. They gave him Ambien. They told us the next day he was a difficult night patient, many seniors are, it happens with dementia. Incredulous we stayed with him the next night. He was fine, had his Ambien, went to bed, got up in the night as usual BUT was absolutely out of his head. We were not able to convince him not to try to walk to the bathroom with the i.v. Though he was VERY unsteady on his feet he was too strong for us to begin to try to keep him in the bed and we could not rouse him enough to get him to remember he had a urinal and didn't need to get up at all. If he heard us or understood us we couldn't tell. We could tell he would have fought to get to that bathroom and was oblivious that his i.v. was pulling loose. So all night two of us stood 2-hr. watches. When he woke, one of us would wake the other and we'd both hustle to him, one to steady him walking and the other to trail along rolling the i.v. pole. He had no memory of any of it the next day. After a few nights of this we asked the nurse to stop the pill so we could see if the sleeping pill was causing this or the stroke. She maintained it was dementia but agreed to give him Benadryl instead of Ambien because Benadryl would make him drowsy but if he couldn't get to sleep she could still give him his Ambien later. On Benadryl he slept, awoke as usual, but instead of the uncomprehending struggle to walk to the bathroom, he reached for the urinal, took care of business, rolled over and went back to sleep. Twice. It was as if, on the "Ambien" nights, his body sent a signal to wake but medication blocked his brain from fully waking and it was trying as best it could to make sense of the signals all his now-awake senses were sending in. He'd stay up a while, sometimes walk around the room, for what reason we could not know, before getting back into bed, sometimes watch t.v. awhile, sometimes talk with us awhile, but in some other reality that sort of connected with his surroundings and sort of did not. I could see how, if at home, he might get up and snack, maybe fix a drink of milk, maybe a scotch, maybe drive off on some Ambien-confused errand. Without Ambien he never had another episode. As for dementia, he remained sharp as a tack from that day through the many years we were blessed with him until we lost him to heart failure. Ambien is only safe if you can keep yourself from waking but who can do that? Any loud noise or lumpy pillow can wake you in the night. Or an 84-yer old bladder. (Gee, an attack of gastritis in the night is probably going to wake a Congressman, too, y'think?). Ambien alters a person's perceptions the way LSD appears to do in the movies. I believe it is as unsafe as LSD. Ambien can only be safely used if users can guarantee that NOTHING is going to wake them until Ambien is out of their systems, and that is a not a thing that any human can do.

I've been searching for all of the people speaking of these reactions to Ambien and I just have to tell my little, short story. I was prescribed Ambien the friday before Easter this year to help me with my insomnia I've had with all the things I've immersed myself in school with. I took it the first night with little problem other than feeling like I passed out. I took it, walked to my bedroom and don't remember hitting the bed. The second night was my night of hell though. I took it and apparently before I went to bed I turned around and went back on the computer where I'd been doing school work. I found a friend of mine on (thank goodness because I live alone, I wouldn't have known I did this!) and started talking to her, telling her how the words on the screen were dancing around and were 3D. I don't remember a minute of this! Anyway, she ended up calling me, worried I wouldn't make it to bed or I'd go out and do something dangerous. I only remember a little of the conversation, telling her I was fine, but I don't remember anything else, not even going into bed and to sleep. When I stopped the medicine, I almost immediately went through withdrawl symptoms, like I had taken drugs or something. I had the shakes, panic attacks, uncontrolled crying, heavy breathing, stomach pains...everything. I have NEVER felt as crazy and insane as I did on this medicine. It multiplied my anxiety over moving after Katrina, away from my parents, and the stress from school. This drug is dangerous! I'm currently doing a report on it, and found that it is the 15th most prescribed drug in the US alone...that is out of ALL medications. It's rediculous!

please listen to this one...I have been taking Ambien for a little over a year now. Once before I had an amnesia episode and wound up in my car in my drive with the bumper hanging off the car. How did it happen I can't tell you. Last friday I came home from work did my routine after dinner...took my meds..( I take a regimine of HIV meds) the ambiem use was as a result of the HIV med's (insomnia) and went to bed around 10. When I woke up I was in front of a police car..apparently I had left the scene of an earlier accident and rear ended another vehicle. I was given a breathilizer and was arrested for DUI! I later discover I had earlier went out to buy a fifth of Jack Daniels...drank the entire bottle and went out for a joy ride. I returned home..around 2:30...went back out for another ride and had my accidents!

I DO NOT REMEMBER ANYTHING AFTER GOING TO BED! I don't even drink! I slept walked, slept drank and slept drove....I wish I was dreaming now...I'm faced with it all...thanks to AMBIEN!

I sleepwalked to the kitchen, and I fell and broke my hip. I am not happy with the resulta this medication gave me, people need to know the effects this can have on a person! thank you for your time.


Violet
Sheperd

As a person who is lucky enough to never have experienced sleep trouble or insomnia, I've always struggled to understand why someone needs a sleep medication. Until I met my now fiance. I am more sympathetic because insomnia is real. To get to the point, my fiance avoided having to take Ambien until about a year ago, after experiencing the stress of how to go about buying me a ring to ask me to be his wife. From the very first time he took it, I questioned its safety. He'd take his Ambien, get ready for bed, and then POW! Next thing I knew, he was fixated on some object, making himself cereal (staring at it forever before consuming it) or talking absolute nonsense to the air. I would tell him of this strange behavior and he had absolutely no recall. We chalked it up to normal side effects of the drug. After the behavior continued after taking Ambien, I pleaded he quit taking it, so we compromised and he reduced the frequency of taking Ambien to maybe once or twice a month, relying on over-the-counter in its place. His sleep was still sporatic and life stress has only increased as the wedding date is now only 3 months away AND we have come to find that his step-dad's lung cancer has moved into his brain. We're hoping he can hang on until after the wedding. So, while I'm away on business and his stress and sleepnessness is at an all time high, my fiance fills a prescription for Ambien to get a good night's rest. I spoke to him on the phone at 10pm this past Friday night to find him doing laundry and looking forward to putting his nose in his book before going to bed. The next thing I know, I get a phone call at 10am the next morning (Saturday) to hear my fiance's desperate voice of disbelief that he's just returned from the police station and detox. He has no idea how he got there, but returned back to our apartment to find out that he drove his car into five parked cars and the carport support beams. He doesn't remember a thing, only that he went to bed with his National Geographic magazine in hand. To top off shock with insult, the apartment manager served us an eviction notice less than an hour later, citing that my fiance is a reckless being and is dangerous to the community. Great, 3 months before the wedding. Two absolutely perfect tenants who pay rent on time, don't drink, don't do drugs, don't have parties, but would rather read their favorite books at night, have just been evicted from their apartment of nearly 2 years. Thanks, Ambien. You see, the thing is, we've done all sorts of research these past couple of days to understand what happened. We had no idea that Ambien and its side effects made the national news (I swear we don't live in a cave). We see all sorts of comments like, "the side effects disclaimer on the drug is sufficient". Okay, so it lists the side effects. How many of you think you're going to be the one to suffer those side effects? Not to mention, the rare side effects. How do you know you are more likely to suffer them than say, your neighbor? Ibuprofen has side effects, aspirin has side effects. How many people take those medications? No one thinks they're going to suffer the side effects, so please, get over the whole "the disclaimer is enough". It's not enough. This drug is a hallucinogen. It is dangerous. It's hard to say what should be done. We can all speculate as much as we want. The fact remains, something has to be done to prevent more harm before it's too late. Ambien is reckless and a danger to the communities we all live in. We're ever grateful that no one was walking in the parking lot that night. Their life would have been taken from them. Imagine. Tomorrow, we begin the fight of eviction, public intox charges, and paying for lots of damage... May our guardian angel be watching over us (and quite possibly a lawyer).

I am an attorney in Little Rock, Arkansas, and only recently was confronted with the horribly tragic situation involving a young lady who took Ambien, walked in her sleep and in the course of doing so, fell down several flights of stairs. The fall crushed her spinal cord and she is now a quadraplegic. Please, if anyone has information that you can share concerning the dangerous effects of this drug, contact me. Proving similar events happened to other people will go far toward proving that Ambien was responsible for this young lady's injuries. I do not have a class action lawsuit, and I am a solo practitioner working in Arkansas and across the nation for people who suffer injuries from bad drugs, negligent medical care providers and defective products. Write to me at BLC4law@aol.com Thank you very much for your help.

I am a self employed electrician and that I took my meds and ended sleep driving. It has cost me and my family more than any amount if money that I can count. I wouldlike to get a lawyer to make a case in frederal court. This caused me to become a multable offernder foe dui. I was 2 days shourt of the ten year limit for it to be my first offence. Original law was seven years and I would have been fine. Ambien could have me kill a person or kill me . I woke up i warminster police station with no recolation of this insident. I am so angered that i HAVE 3 MOUNTHS OF HOSE ARREST and one year of parole, i hope that someone is out there to read this and can advise me what i can do.... yhanks

if people were overeating and gorging themselves with food; wouldn't they have tummy aches or nausea from all the overeating? how could you gorge yourself with food for years (as some claim) and not feel sick and see a doctor. these stories are lies.

I am in the middle of finishing up a film. I need all who anything to say, whether good or bad, regarding the sleep medication AMBIEN. Please reach by email. mohombre@yahoo.com

dears sirs,I KNOW FOR A FACT AMBIEN DOES CAUSE ONE TO SLEEP WALK,THIS MORNING I AWOKE AND THE FIRST THING I NOTICED WERE MY SLEEPING CLOTHES ON THE FLOOR,I DON'T REMEMBR REMOVING THEM,ON MY WAY TO GET MY MORNING CUP OF COFFE.TO MY AMAZMENT..MY PAINTING,(I;M A ARTIST) MY PAINTING WAS RUINED! LOOKED LIKE SOME CHILD HAD PAINTED STICK PEOPLE ALL OVER THE PAINTING! I COULDNT BELIEVE IT..I QUICKLY ASKED MY WIFE WHAT HAD HAPPENED TO MY PAINTING.. SHE SAID SHE DIDNT KNOW,BUT MY WIFE LINDA SAID I WAS ACTING STRANGE LAST NIGHT.LINDA SAID I WAS WALKING AROUND THE HOUSE ...NAKED... AND KEPT ASKING HER IF SHE HAD MY PIPE! I DO NOT REMEMBER ANY OF THIS AT ALL! LATER I CHECKED MY TUBES OF PAINT.THEY WERE REALLY MESSED UP.I NEVER PAINT RIGHT FROM THE TUBE.. THE WHITE PAINT I HAD TO CLEAN OUT BECAUSE IT HAD BLUE SMEARED INTO THE CAP..THIS IS SOMETHING I WOULD NEVER DO,I AM SO PETICULAR ABOUY MY CRAFT..I FEEL REALY EMPTY AND SOMEWHAT AFRAID..I TOLD A NEIGHBOR ABOUT THIS AND SHE TOLD ME SEVERAL WEEKS AGO I WAS DOWNSTAIRS IN THE LOBBY OF MY APARTMENT BLDG ASLEEP..I DO NOT REMEMBER AT ALL. I GUESS I WAS SLEEP WALKING .GOT ON THE ELEVATOR AND WENT DOWN 10 FLOORS TO SLEEP IN THE LOBBY/ PLEASE RESPOND// I'M THRU TAKING MY AMBIEN!!