omg....yes...thats a side affect...eating,cooking,driving your car...all in your sleep!!!...since it happened once it can happen again..i would stop using it and get another type!!!!!/...glad your ok..i take it but ive never had that happen..
hugs
amy

That is a really conceerning side effect. This happens to some people when you take Ambien. Remember a few years back Patrick Kennedy was pulled over by the police for a driving offense or something. He had taken Ambien and had no idea of what he was doing.

I took Ambien with no problem but I think you should stop it , call your doctor and discuss what else you can take.

Take care,

Melanie

I have had bad side effects with Ambien also but not quite the same as you. when you mix Ambien with narcotics as I do, you have really weird dreams that seem extremely real.You can become addicted to
these pills really fast. I would get off of this pale as soon as I can. Another bad sleeping pill is Lunesta. Hope you have a better experience than I did.

I have some side affects from Ambien, not as bad as yours. I wake to find myself standing in a room and I don't know how or why I'm there. I'm told I also wake to talking to my husband about crazy things that make no sense to him. Never have I gone outside or drove my car or anything drastic like you and others have described. I still take Ambien, and know that I wouldn't sleep without it.

Definately call your prescribing doctor. I'm sorry you are experiencing the hug or maybe that you fell in your sleep. My hugs usually hurt to touch my diaphram, so maybe it is the hug. I'd be giving up the Ambien.

Have you tried OTC melatonin? Works for many. It is available at most pharmacies and don't need an Rx. You can look online as to the dose and experiment a bit. Our bodies produce this to make us sleepy.

Dependency develops with just about all the prescription sleep aids if used more than a few weeks. I had to start taking Ambien when pain became a problem. Sometimes a persons gotta do what they gotta do.

I found out the best way is to do all your bedtime ritual, take the pill and go straight to bed. Keeps me out of the refrigerator. Some put up a kiddie gate or the like at the door so you have to be relatively alert to get out. Knowing how you react helps to make a difference in what you do as a person gets scared into waking up.

Ambien has been used as a date/rape drug which can make it dangerous as well, especially if mixed with alcohol.

I am with Easy M, Sometimes my hubby and I take Melatonin and 5-HTP. Talk to your doc to find out what maybe some alternatives for the long term.

Best wishes on a good night sleep...in BED
EP

A friend of mine crashed his car twice because he was asleep driving under Ambien. Luckily he didn't hurt anyone, only the vehicle. But he crashed into a telephone pole and it costs him a lot of money, lawyer fees, etc. Plus he totaled his car on the second drive.

So apparently he walked in his sleep when he was little and now he has learned that he drove while under the influence of Ambien.

I take Ambien every night and I never do anything under the influence of it. I have such a hard time getting up that it would be a production for me to get up. But apparently some people must be very careful on Ambien.

One other thing my friend who drove while on Ambien also took narcotics for pain, so perhaps it was the combination.

Thanks for the warning. We must be aware of this side effect.

Wow, I take narcotic pain pills and Ambien on a regular basis. Well, I'm not feeling too secure about that anymore. So, I looked up Melatonin and then 5-HTP. Melatonin touted some very positive benefits related to sleep. 5-HTP is natural help for weight gain, insomnia, anxiety and depression. I think some other things too. I think Daveand the rest of us using Ambien aught to consider what EasyM and EPagain suggest, and do some research on the internet ourselves. It could very well be the solution to your problem. And mine too.

I did not mention it in my post but I also take Narcotic pain relievers and it does look like thier is a good connection there.
Thanks for the input everyone and EP and Easym I will definately do some research into those things before something bad happens.

Dave

Your side effects are very common with Ambien. Google common side effects. I bet they are listed on the sheet the pharmacy hands out.

I had someone email on this post asking why I only use melatonin or melatonin + 5-HTP sometimes. I responded but I figured others might have that same question so I am posting my response below.
-----------------------------

Sometimes I sleep just fine. However, if I have had 2-3 nights of crappy sleep ie wake up at 2-3am and can't get back to sleep. Then I will take this for a few nights in a row. The thing with it is that if you take if for 3-4 weeks at a time it is less effective. If you take it maybe a week or 2 then go off and then go back on it seems to keep its effectiveness.

I would definitely do a drug interaction look-up and ask your doc about it. The bad thing with 5-HTP is that you only get a small dose of what you take because it is broken down in your system. HCL in stomach, etc breaks it down. So if you take it 1 hr before bedtime AFTER a full glass of water you dilute the HCL, therefore getting more of this chemical. Then in an hour you can urinate the water so you can get some sleep. The GOOD thing with 5-HTP is this its what your body uses to breakdown into serotonin(most anti-depressents are trying to increase the use of this neurotransmitter to make you "feel good"). This is how it has natural anti-depression effects. Then the serotonin is broken down to make melatonin aka sleep hormone. Most with MS have less of these 2 compounds in their brain.

Hope you find something that helps you.
EP

When I started Ambien, my wife hid my car keys.

I just got this in an email. Might help some of us with our sleep problems:

Should you let yourself have that midnight snack if youre having
trouble sleeping and you think hunger might be part of the problem? Here are five foods that can actually help you drift off:
>
> 1. Cherries. Fresh and dried cherries are one of the only natural food sources of melatonin, the chemical that controls the bodys internal clock to regulate sleep. Researchers who tested tart cherries and found high levels of melatonin recommend eating them an hour before bedtime or before a trip when you want to sleep on the plane.
>
> 2. Bananas. Potassium and magnesium are natural muscle relaxants, and bananas are a good source of both. They also contain the amino acid L-tryptophan, which gets converted to 5-HTP in the brain. The 5-HTP in turn is converted to serotonin (a relaxing neurotransmitter) and melatonin.
>
> 3. Toast. Carbohydrate-rich foods trigger insulin production, which induces sleep by speeding up the release of tryptophan and serotonin, two brain chemicals that relax you and send you to sleep..
>
> 4. Oatmeal. Like toast, a bowl of oatmeal triggers a rise in blood
> sugar, which in turn triggers insulin production and the release of sleep-inducing brain chemicals. Oats are also rich in melatonin, which many people take as a sleep aid.
>
> 5. Warm milk. Like bananas, milk contains the amino acid L-tryptophan, which turns to 5-HTP and releases relaxing serotonin. Its also high in calcium, which promotes sleep.
>

Dave I'm not trying to freak you out. But my brother in law tried to kill my sister on that stuff. I'm NOT kidding! It was all over the news. He was NEVER violent. NEVER hit her. They had just built their dream house, had a baby. He went through a period about a year and a half ago where he wasn't sleeping. He NEVER took meds for anything. Typical male, never sick. Big guy, worked out, ate great. Went to his doc because not sleeping was driving him nuts. Was given ambien. Couldn't sleep one night. That morning sis was eating breakfast getting ready for work. He was pacing. They hadn't argued. Nothing. He did a lot of side jobs when he wasn't at his reg job. ( Heating and Plumbing during the week) There was a framing hammer on the kitchen counter. He walked over and grabbed it, and beat her with it while my 2 year old neice watched! She remembers all of it. Said he looked like someone else. She mentioned the children before she was knocked out and he stopped. Called her mom, and called 911 to say he had just beat his wife real bad. It was a blood bath in that house. He went to the mental hospital in ypsi. She went into ICU for weeks. Had to relearn EVERYTHING! Busted jaw, metal plate in her head, first 3 days she almost died! Judge didn't blame him one bit. Blamed the med. So did we. They are together to this day. They are doing great! HE is doing great! Ambien is a HYPNOTIC used for sleep. He was in a HYPNOTIC state according to each and every Dr. that evaluated him!! Just like me taking Topamax ( an anti seizure med) for my migraines. Pretty freaky stuff!! I take 5mg every night ( ambien) for sleep with no problem. HOWEVER this ordeal that my sis went through is always in the back of my mind :(