“How in the hell can a guy walk out in 20-below zero and not wake up?”
The answer may be Ambien (via Schwitzer), where there have been previous reports of patients sleep-walking or sleep-driving while on the medication.
The deadly episode wasn’t the first time for this particular patient, who previously “drove into the side of his own garage, knocked a neighbor’s hanging plant off the eave of their house, and came to rest against a tree.”
Discussing this uncommon, but disturbing, side effect should be mandatory prior to starting Ambien in any patient.
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{ 2 comments }
The real question is why in the hell did he keep taking Ambien if he’d done all these wonky things on it in the past?
When I took ambien, I used to eat things I didn’t remember eating, and sent emails I had no idea I’d sent until people started responding to them.
I hadn’t combined it with anything. It was scary.
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