Kinda like Ambien.

I'm too lazy to look it up, but Ambien was originally developed as an anti-psychotic. The drug companies behind it though, found out that in lower dosages, it made you sleepy. So it was re-marketed for it's new use.

Funnily enough, I just saw an episode of the Simpsons where Homer is a human test study person. The doctors gave him a pill that was for appetite supression. When a conveyor belt of food scuttled past with food, Homer just sat there.

Doc1: 'Homer, aren't you feeling hungry for any of the food in front of you?'

Homer: 'There's food!!! Where? Oh no! I'm blind!!!!! Wahhh'

Doc 2: 'Who's going to want to take a pill that makes you go blind?'

Doc 1: 'Let marketing figure that out.'

Tests quash new insomnia drug

'Trenton, N.J. - Merck & Co. and its Danish partner, pharmaceutical company H. Lundbeck A/S, are putting to rest development of an insomnia drug that was in the final human testing stage after studies found safety problems, including hallucinations.

The companies said Wednesday they have stopped testing the drug, known by the chemical name gaboxadol, after a three-year partnership. Whitehouse Station, N.J.-based Merck and Copenhagen-based Lund beck had planned this summer to apply for U.S. approval to sell the drug, which likely would have been the first of a new class of sleeping pills.

Anders Gersel Pedersen, Lundbeck's head of drug development, told The Associated Press about a half-dozen tests had shown gaboxadol met goals of inducing deep sleep and leaving patients rested in the morning. Recent tests found problems, though.

Pedersen said one study found limited effectiveness at low doses; another found it waned over time. A third, conducted on drug addicts taking high doses of gaboxadol - required by the Food and Drug Administration because of the risk of addiction with sleeping pills - found more, and more severe, side effects than in a comparison drug.

Those effects included hallucinations, agitation and dissociation from reality, he said.'

It's possible.

Ambien is some scary shite. I did a bunch of random things I never remembered in the morning, while on it. I even OD'd on it because I took the whole bottle, while I was 'asleep'. [Check other articles I have posted about it, on here under the Ambien tag].

School board president using Ambien as defense

'BENNETT – A school board president accused of attacking his estranged wife claims he was on Ambien and doesn't remember the incident.

Brent Walden was arrested on February 19, one day after Bennett Police say he broke into his estranged wife's home.

Police say he attacked both her and a male friend who was there.

When entering his defense in Thursday's preliminary hearing, Walden said he had taken Ambien that night and does not remember going to his wife's home.

Walden says he and his wife separated on December 15 and he had been taking Ambien since then to help him sleep.

Walden does not deny the incident happened, but says he has no recollection of it.

"The scary part about Ambien is, you don't know. I didn't even know that was a side effect or a possibility," said Walden.

According to Walden, there have been times where he had woken up after taking Ambien where his keys and shoes had moved, and he even found himself sleeping in another location.

He is no longer taking Ambien, but says he is on a different medication.

During the encounter at his wife's home, Walden was injured and suffered a black eye.

In the police report, it says just before Walden left his wife's home, he apologized and shook hands with her male friend.

Walden says he was called by his father-in-law the day after the incident to tell him police were looking for him.

His wife says since she left him in December, he has been harassing her. She also claims he was harassing her earlier in the evening on February 18 before the incident.

Walden faces charges of second-degree burglary, third-degree assault and first-degree criminal trespass.

He is the Bennett School Board president and says he hopes he can stay in the position.

"I do believe that everything I've ever done on the school board has been honorable and respectable," said Walden.

Walden's attorney says they may join a class-action lawsuit involving Ambien.'

Just Say 'No' To Ambien

Believe me, I know.

Woman who hit teens had combination of drugs in system

Denver Police say Sandra Maul drove her SUV onto the sidewalk on South Federal Boulevard on November 17, killing 14-year-old friends, Jessie Aguirre and Nhan Nguyen.

The boys were walking home from Lincoln High School when they were hit.

According to a search warrant affidavit, Maul told police she took the sleeping medication Ambien, the day before the accident, but could not remember whether she took it the day of.

Preliminary partial results from a urine sample taken the day of the crash show that Maul did have three different prescription drugs in her system.

They included Meprobamate, a central nervous system depressant, Fluoxetine, an anti-depressant commonly known as Prozac, and Tramadel, a pain medication.

The toxicology program manager told police the combination of the three would likely impair a driver's ability to safely operate a car.

Maul is currently in fair condition at Denver Health Medical Center.

Connection?

I can't believe they still haven't identified how Gomez died.

CU student arrested in Rx dealing

James Michael Lea, a 19-year- old from St. Louis, was arrested early Sunday in his room after police discovered numerous bottles and boxes containing a variety of prescription drugs, plus an electronic scale, dozens of plastic bags and tools used to measure pills, according to a police report.

Officers also confiscated packets of suspected LSD, several marijuana pipes and a small amount of marijuana.

Lea was booked into the Boulder County Jail early Sunday on suspicion of 11 counts of drug possession with the intent to distribute 10 kinds of drugs. Those drugs included painkillers such as OxyContin, Vicodin and Percocet and sleep aids such as Ambien and Lunesta.

Lea lives in Willard Hall, the same dorm in which Jesse Gomez, a CU freshman found dead in his room last month, lived. Officials have not determined how Gomez died, nor have they determined whether drugs or alcohol were involved.

Maybe he was on Ambien?

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - A Muslim couple in India has been told by local Islamic leaders they must separate after the husband "divorced" his wife in his sleep, the Press Trust of India reported.

Sohela Ansari told friends that her husband Aftab had uttered the word "talaq," or divorce, three times in his sleep, according to the report published in newspapers Monday.

When local Islamic leaders got to hear, they said Aftab's words constituted a divorce under an Islamic procedure known as "triple talaq." The couple, married for 11 years with three children, were told they had to split.

The religious leaders ruled that if the couple wanted to remarry they would have to wait at least 100 days. Sohela would also have to spend a night with another man and be divorced by him in turn.

CNN

Finally read the article everyone is posting about

This is crazy:

"Among sleep-eaters, the desire for food can be tremendously powerful. One woman in the Minneapolis area whom Dr. Schenck treated, Judie Evans, said she began taking Ambien while recovering from back surgery. At the time, she was in a full body cast and needed assistance to get out of bed.

During this time, Ms. Evans, who is 59 and lives alone, began to notice that food was missing from her refrigerator. She accused two nursing aides who were caring for her of stealing food. It was not until her son came to spend several nights that Ms. Evans said she realized that despite the body cast, she was getting up to eat while she was asleep. "During the day, I couldn't even make it to the bathroom by myself," Ms. Evans said.

The first night her son was there, he found her standing in the kitchen, body cast and all, frying bacon and eggs. The next night he found her eating a sandwich, Ms. Evans said, and sent her back to bed. Later that same night, her son arose to find her standing in the kitchen again. "I had turned the oven on," she recalled. "I store pots and pans in the oven and I had turned it to 500 degrees.""

NYTimes

Ambien is messed up

It made me sleepwalk and call people and stuff as well. Read a while ago it was originally developed as an anti-psychotic drug for the treatment of Schizophrenia, but they found in lower doses it makes people sleep. I accidentally OD'd because of it. I will NEVER take Ambien again.

Asleep at the wheel

NEW YORK - Twenty-six million Americans used the sleep medication Ambien, but officials are concerned the fast-acting drug is becoming a menace on the road.

Ambien is being used so widely that police across the nation say it is beginning to show up in the bloodstreams of people arrested for impaired driving.

The American Academy of Forensic Sciences says a key ingredient in the drug is among the top ten impairing chemicals.

Some drivers admit to getting behind the wheel after taking Ambien, but others claim they have no memory at tall. Some people "sleep drive" only to wake up after being involved in an accident.

"We've had people eat their meals in their sleep; prepare meals in their sleep," says sleep disorder expert Mark Mahowald. "We've had people have phone conversations in their sleep. We've had people drive long distances in their sleep."

The maker of Ambien tells NBC News, "Although sleepwalking may occur during treatment with Ambien, it may not necessarily be caused by it."

Doctors say patients taking Ambien should follow the warning labels and the drug and should get eight hours of sleep when taking it.