New attention today on the side effects of sleep aids after a car crash involving Kerry Kennedy Cuomo, the daughter of Robert Kennedy. Police are awaiting blood tests to see if the sleeping pill Ambien was a factor in the hit-and-run crash. For quite some time we've heard about bizarre side effects with the use of Ambien.
Judie Evans says she had no idea she was getting up in the middle of the night until her son stayed the night after she had back surgery.
"Got home from the hospital my son came with me and found me up in the middle of the night, frying eggs and bacon," she says.
Another bizarre story from former Ambien user Carrie Paps: "I was at work fully dressed sitting at my computer, but I don't remember driving, I don't remember getting up."
ProMedica emergency physician Dr. Joseph Perkins says he hasn't seen any patients come into the emergency room after crashes caused by Ambien use. But, reports of these bizarre possible side effects, including driving and even cooking while sleeping are well documented. Here's something else: Ambien is only supposed to be taken for less that two weeks. Many people take it for much longer than that.
"There's a large dependency issue with Ambien," says the doctor. "Once you actually start to take the medication people become dependent on it... Ambien should only be used really for a short-acting agent but people that are on the medication chronically there's large signs of addiction and dependency."
The doctor says that people wind up in addiction and rehab centers for Ambien addiction. He says it's important to try to look at the bigger picture and find out what's causing the sleeplessness in the first place.
"There's a lot of different psychological conditions, whether it's depression, post-traumatic stress, whatever the patient's encountering. Ambien is definitely used medically as a band-aid sometimes, especially if it's used chronically and we're not really getting to the root of the issue."
A word of caution from the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute as you look for help getting a good night's sleep: be careful of over-the-counter products that claim to help with insomnia. The organization says they often contain things like melatonin, L-tryptophan and valerian teas. The FDA doesn't regulate such natural products, so their purity can vary.
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