Ambien and Lunesta - a few more side effects
Posted on Mon, Dec 01, 2008
Ambien DUI? The other day, I fell upon an interesting topic. Apparently, people can receive tickets for driving under the influence of sleeping pills. Just Google for Ambien or Lunesta and DUI and you'll see lots of stories about it. Even more amazing are the stories about whether you really can be guilty if you were "sleep driving," a reported side effect of the drugs; the theory is that if you were asleep, you couldn't have intentionally decided to drive.
Another interesting side effect I fell upon is "rebound insomnia." Actually, rebound reactions to drugs are well known. For example, a decongestant that really dries up your runny nose can cause the body to treat that as a signal to produce more mucus. In the case of sleeping pills it means you can experience insomnia, possibly worse than before you started, when you stop taking the pills. Although the reaction is reported as typically lasting only a few days, I wonder how many people go back to taking the drugs before they find that out?