Zeno's Bar & Grill

The sleeping medication Ambien has been in the news so much lately. Apparently there’s a small population of Ambien users who sleep walk, sleep eat, and even sleep drive. I first started following the stories a couple of weeks ago when the New York Times published a story that included the tale of one man who ripped out a towel bar in his bathroom while “sleeping” under the influence of Ambien. Whoa, gnarly, I thought. I’m never taking that stuff no matter how bad my insomnia gets. This was about the time I decided to maybe just quit caffeine.

Then, subsequently there have been articles about sleep-driving; including the tale of an off-duty nurse who crashed her car, resisted arrest and peed all over the intersection.

And, this week, an article about sleep-eaters, including the lady who managed to struggle into her kitchen wearing a full body cast to cook bacon and eggs. This same lady turned on her oven to 500 degrees without first removing the pots and pans stored there. Luckily her son was there to avert disaster.

Now, clearly these crazy side effects occur in only a tiny percentage of people taking Ambien, and alternatives like Lunesta do not seem to cause this kind of wacky behavior in any users. Still, I’m not signing up anytime soon.

--Melanie