Ambien CR and recollection

I've been an Ambien (short-acting) user for many years with no real problems unless I drank any alcohol with it and then stayed up for any time at all after taking. (Two major no-no's!!). Besides the oft-reported binge eating and frenzied cleaning, etc., the strangest thing I ever did was what I call "sleep-emailing." I did this twice--I composed bizarre emails on two separate occasions to two different individuals and sent them. The emails didn't just not make sense, but were as if I was typing a dream out loud--I suppose like sleep talking in print. The first time it happened, one of my friends emailed me the next day and said she had received my "cryptic" email. I told her I hadn't emailed her and didn't know what she was talking about. She copied and pasted the content and sent it to me--I told her I didn't know who wrote that, but it wasn't me! She then forwarded the entire email to me and I saw that it had indeed come from me. That was frightening. I had zero recollection of writing it. The second time it happened, once I was made aware of the email I did have a very vague memory of writing it, and incidentally the email itself was not quite as bizarre as the first one was. I've learned that as long as I don't consume alcohol with Ambien and go straight to bed after taking, I have no problems with it whatsoever, and have found it to be very helpful for my insomnia. I have recently begun trying the extended release version, Ambien CR, as I'm having more problems with periodic awakening throughout the night. Thus far the only side effect I seem to be having is the daily onset of a headache on awakening that I can will develop into a migraine without intervention (I've suffered from migraines for many yrs). If it continues it may be enough for me to have to discontinue the medication.

I took Ambien CR for about 2 years and have experienced not only memory loss of the time while on the medication, but also longer term memory loss as well. Even now I find it hard to remember significant things from years ago that I would normally be able to remember easily, and I am only 24. No reason for memory loss and it all started with the Ambien CR. I have done the drive and not remember thing, the cleaning with no recollection of it the next day, the wondering who ate all the food, etc. At one point I actually called my employer at 3AM to explain what I was still doing awake. I worked day shift and had off the next day anyway! I woke up to a voice mail from the supervisor and found out I was fired. I had zero memory of the incident and thought I was being set up by someone until I checked my cell phone records and found it to be true. Friends have also questioned me about late night calls and visits, some I somewhat remember after being "reminded," some I did not. When I was first prescribed this medication I was having these crazy nightmares before I actually fell asleep and would act them out or run from them. One was a young girl playing ball in the road and my boyfriend said I actually ran out in the street at to save her and fought him when he tried to bring me back inside. Obviously no one was actually playing in the road. Even towards the end of using the drug at times I will go through the first few hours of the day with the same forgetful effect that I would have had the night before. I have also gained 20 pounds, not sure if it's from the excessive night eating or the sluggish feeling I got the next day. Once the pill kicked in for me at night I would feel a sudden urge to finish up household chores, or get what some people call "the creative phase" of Ambien CR. I would write poetry (illegibly), cook (usually starting small fires), draw (not well), redecorate, and talk philosophically, none of which I remember. The pill works wonderfully as long as you go straight to bed. After using it awhile you may recognize the energized feeling as actually being the reverse, the pill taking effect, and I could go to bed and fall right to sleep. But I had quite a few dangerous situations and I wouldn’t be able to take it when I was home alone, just in case I missed that "deadline." I agree it is a very risky drug, but then again most drugs are. I do not suggest taking this if you are alone at least until you experience the way you react to it. If these symptoms are an issue for you as well you can always try Lunesta. That worked quite well for me, with none of these weird side effects. The worst I got was a weird taste in the morning, which subsided with breakfast.

I was an occasional user of Ambien CR, took it if I couldn't sleep. Well a few weeks ago I couldn't sleep took an Ambien and woke up in bed the next morning with a crushed wrist, cheekbone, temporal bone, bruises etc. Apparently, I walked in my sleep had a serious fall (and concussion) then got myself back in bed???? I don't remember anything--including much of the next day, emergency room, operations etc. It was a nightmare. I seriously think this drug should be taken off the market. It made me wonder if I walked in my sleep after taking this before and had no recollection.
I have missed weeks of work, gone through several extensive operations and have been through a lot of pain. I have since read that I am one of many ambien sleepwalkers with all kinds of results---why are they still allowing this drug to be on the market????

Hey. Just a disclaimer, before I list my experience. Keep in mind that everybody is going to react to a new drug differently. All drugs, especially drugs like Ambien CR, come with warnings in bold print and all caps saying that if you experience ANYTHING...ANYTHING abnormal after you start a new medication, to immediately call your doctor or pharmacist. Don't let it get to the point where your loved ones are driving. If you notice things have happened and you have no recollection...CALL YOUR DOCTOR! It takes maybe ten minutes to call your doctor or pharmacist. This ten minutes could potentially save your life and others. This goes for ALL medications, even ones like Tylenol PM.

Okay. Here is my observations of my mother (55 yrs. old) while on Ambien CR.

Ever since she’s been on the medication, I’ve encountered strange behavior on her part. These are the most common:

1. Phone calls, with no particular purpose or intent. She sounds like she is very lonely and just wants to chat, but her speech is slurred and her thoughts impaired. Most of what she says is not in coherent sentences, just mixed up phrases. Sometimes she starts off sounding somewhat normal and then fades into the slurred speech. I usually terminate the conversation once she starts repeating herself, asking questions she had either asked earlier that day or even just minutes before in the same conversation.

2. Eccentric “projects.” She recently said, “I’ve found that after I take my medicine, I get very creative.” This particular comment was after I found her in the kitchen putting Hot Tamales (the candy) in her ice water, after she had taken her medicine. Another time, she was standing on a trunk, trying to put up shades in her window.

3. Binge Eating. Just the other night she baked an entire batch of cookies...and ate them ALL within 30 minutes of them coming out of the oven. This is just one of the many times I've seen her eat like this after taking her medicine.

Overall, she seemingly "stays up" until she either crashes from exhaustion or only after repeated commands to turn off everything and go to sleep. I recently, after researching further, have found out that she actually is asleep, but medications such as Ambien CR can induce a complex form of sleep-walking and talking, as well as sleep-driving (though my mother has never done this.) It looks, to an observer, like the person is aware of their surroundings because they can carry on complex conversations, or complete a complex task, even though, they are really asleep.

The most concerning thing to me is that she walks up and down the stairs (or gets up on things, like the trunk in her bedroom) even though she is consciously aware that she gets dizzy and has little control over her balance. Most of the time she is living alone, so if she happened to trip and fall, it could turn into a very dangerous situation very quickly.

Another note: She only seems to remember her strange actions once she is reminded of them. Sometimes she will remember them accurately, and sometimes she has a distorted memory of the events, but almost always must be reminded of her actions before she has any memory of doing it.

Since me and our family have taken time to talk to my mother about this, she (an RN for over 30 years) is calling her doctor tomorrow to talk about alternative solutions to her insomnia.