Business meetings symptoms and conditions

Because of a couple tragedies that ocurred in my life, I was unable to sleep. Ambien was prescribed and with it, I woke up completely rested! BUT there were several dangerous events to share with you.

I drove several times & have no recollection! If it weren't for receipts, checks, etc. I wouldn't know anything about it! I'm a married woman and I took a male acquaintance to a liquor store 1/2 hour away once!
I drove to a city an hour from my home at least once!

Additionally, I've had phone conversations, conducted business meetings, taught a religion class...ALL with no knowledge or memory of these acts.

Yes, I would find dirty dishes in the sink in the morning too! I ate so much food! I didn't gain weight though...probably because the Ambien also removed ALL inhibitions in my life. My husband selfishly took complete advantage of this...if you know what I mean. This was not right! I'm still angry about this. It wasn't until he realized that I was driving in my sleep that he encouraged me not to take the Ambien anymore...I haven't taken it for two years. I do miss it because it really left me rested. Now I only take over-the-counter products and they leave me groggy.

I was on 1000mg per day 500 in the morning and 500 at night. I had one or two episodes of flushing and if it was not for this site I would have gone to the Emergency Room because the burning of my skin was so severe that I was in a panic. I found this site and it calmed me a bit. After the flushing comes the itching. For me it is on the inside of the legs starting on the ankles and then the toes and then it moves slowly up the legs and sometimes hits the thighs. Sometimes it hits the underside of my upper arm. This was mild and tolerable and went away in a couple of days.

Now I have been moved to 2000mg per day and the flushing is under control, but the itching has gone out of control. I cannot deal with the itching. I sit in business meetings and want to scream. I find myself at my desk with my shoes and socks off rubbing my feet and ankles because it is intolerable. I have broken the skin many times and bleed from the scratching. I am intelligent enough to know not to scratch, but sometimes it just gets the better of me.

I have no idea what triggers this because I can count on it lasting three to four days and then it goes away again.

I too have been on Lisinopril for about 9 months. Over that time I have had the dreaded dry cough which usually kicks in out of nowhere lasting a few minutes. This usually happens when in business meetings. I will usually cough a while and then I sneeze. This seems to end the cough. At night the cough is usually triggered by the dry forced hot air my house produces. I stopped taking it on the advise of an Internal Medicine Doctor not the Endocronologist that origionally prescribed it. I am waiting for the cough to go away. After a few weeks he plans to switch me over to Avapro.
I have been a serious cigar smoker for the past 30 years, but over the past few months I have not been able to partake in my favorite passtime. Too painful. Maybe this is a good thing?