Sleeping Pills Can Have Dangerous Side Effects

Okay, so if I thought vivid dreams could be a disrupting side effect, imagine what some people taking Ambien CR feel... I was watching TV yesterday while I was folding clothes and I saw this commercial for Ambien come on. It was your basic pharmaceutical commercial where some voice over is telling you about the amazing benefits of the drug while the background plays pictures showing how much happier your life will suddenly be if you take it. This particular drug is for people who have trouble sleeping or who wake up in the middle of the night and can't get back to sleep.

Ambien CR supposedly helps you get to sleep and stay asleep for the full night. What alarmed me, though, was the diclaimer at the end. It said something along the lines of, "Driving while not yet sufficiently awake and getting in an accident, followed by amnesia of the event has been reported." WHAT THE HELL?? So you're telling me some people who have taken this drug have gotten up, gone out to their car, drove around half asleep, caused an accident, and then later had absolutely no recollection of doing so?? Can you imagine how terrifying it would be to go to sleep in your bed and then suddenly wake up on the side of the road in your pajamas with a policeman's lights going off behind you? And this is a legal drug that is being advertised as a wonderful way to get better sleep? Nice.

I guess what gets me is that they will legalize and actually even advertise drugs that have all of these terrible side effects, and yet pot is completely illegal. Go figure. Among the other terrible side effects reported with sleeping pills like lunesta and ambien? Sleepwalking, nocturnal binge eating (yes, people actually wake up with discarded candy wrappers and empty bags of potato chips in their beds), having sex with no recollection afterword, and having violent outbursts.