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Sunday, Nov 8, 2009
"We talked until the sun rose in the sky."
See, that's where I know he lied. Ambien does shunt you into a dream state, ready or not, but there's a window of effect. The reason why they're now marketing an "extended release" is that after a few hours, it's pretty much out of your system. Even mixed with drink, after the initial spike (during which you're supposed to fake sleep until it's true), the effect fades... as does the memory-fog.
At least for the marathon session, he remembered what he said, Sam just didn't want to follow through.
Over the past 10 years I have had various experiences with Ambien. All my life sleep has been illusive. Post Dalmane; Ambien arrived.
I related to the sleepwalking incidents in the NY Times. In 1999 in an Ambien fugue state I attempted to clean my bathtub. I threw a gallon of white peroxide (for dying hair) in the tub. Seems I then lost interest and went back to bed. Another time I telephoned friends with no subsequent memory of these calls. Most disturbing. however is that over a short period of daily Ambien I became suicidally depressed. I suspect these two factors are problematic: Ambien and alcohol; continued use).
Currently, if I need a sleeping pill I take Lunestra. Leaves an unpleasant taste in your mouth the following day however you won't hit the road with lost memory.
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alcohol, marijuana, Ambien, whatever. chemical dependancy is chemical dependancy. poor tess. she fell in love with a junkie. her and the other 2/3rds of the western world. does the brand of the drug make a difference?
I think this was a really interesting story. I have no abusive or judgmental remarks to make about the writer or the guy she's writing about.
But now I'm wondering what prompted Eminem to go into rehab for Ambien. What embarassing or weird or scary thing did he do when he was sleepwalking? Oh well, maybe it's better not to go there...
I think Ambien is a scary drug. It's also (yet) another easy source of irony for anyone in the medical marijuana movement, because the most frequently listed side effect reported by medical marijuana users is "improved quality and quantity of sleep."
Endocannabinoids seem to be involved in regulating the delta phase of sleep. Rodents given endocannabinoid blockers suffer impaired deep sleep.
Ambien gets approved by the FDA, but the American taxpayers are stuck with the bill for the Bush administration's expensive political and law enforcement campaigns against medical marijuana.
Yech, there's too much irony going around.
alcohol, marijuana, Ambien, whatever. chemical dependancy is chemical dependancy. poor tess. she fell in love with a junkie. her and the other 2/3rds of the western world. does the brand of the drug make a difference?
Well, if your only purpose in the world is to judge and accuse other people, then of course none of it makes any difference, because you have the ammunition you need to satisfy yourself.
As for me, I'm curious and alarmed about these particular side effects that seem to be unique to Ambien. There's a lot of people using this stuff now and I think there should be more awareness of these particular side effects because obviously they are going to impact more than just the people using the drug.
But we're both winners here. You got somebody to judge and accuse, and I got to learn about yet another dangerous side effect of yet another drug that is supposed to be superior to medical marijuana but in fact -- as usual -- is far from it.
It says right on the bottle: NOT to be taken with alcohol. The pamphlet included carries significant warnings about possible side effects, especially when mixed with alcohol. If you're too stupid to follow simple directions you have no business taking pharmaceuticals. You can't blame the drug when you knowingly, willingly, deliberately disregard the facts.
"Maybe readers here ought to consider the value of Tessa's honesty, rather than attack her social status. After all, better for the wealthy to be open about their foibles; it reminds us that we all share the same problems, no matter what strata we (troll) in. -- joshstrike"
No, we ALL don't, Josh. We all don't blithely admit we encourage and prefer our partners abuse drugs and alcohol to make them more fun and buy us classy presents and make the sex better. Tessa doesn't get points for honesty when she doesn't mea culpa, when she chooses to write about this phase as some cute little anecdote from her past she wants to share with us. Where's the introspection? Where's the lessons learned about self-respect, about what it's like to be in a truly committed relationship, about taking responsibility for her behavior...instead of blaming the boyfriend and the drug and the alcohol (all of which she encouraged)?
Follow the themes of many Salon articles and writers as well as the letters to the editor supporting them: "I want the freedom to behave as I choose without consequence for my actions." Well, that is just wrong. And pointing that out isn't class warfare, isn't sexism, isn't even politics. It's just speaking truth to power. Salon used to do that on a regular basis, and used to do it well. But now Tessa Blake joins Farhaoo Manjoo, Ayalet Waldman, and the cast of Broadsheet--all under Joan Walsh's 'guidance'--to print this shit and call it fertilizer.
I'm not buying it.
"It is embarrassing to remember now (as a happily married mother) the soul-crushing agony of trying to salvage a doomed romance."
"Until the next day, when he would suggest I wear lower heels and we would have angry, argument-fueled sex." (Does this mean he was really short?)
"We were like heated teenage lovers, whispering dangerous promises to each other in the dark of night."
Can anyone read this without laughing?
As for me, I'm curious and alarmed about these particular side effects that seem to be unique to Ambien.
-- Patricia Schwarz
They're not. Stop choosing to get all your information from what the major news organizations decide to tell you. And fer chrissakes, read past the headlines. Virtually all cases involve the abuse of the drug (multiple doses) or the abuse of the drug with alcohol. (Again, if you're too fucking stupid to read the bottle and heed your doctor's warnings, you need more than a mild sedative.)
Abusing alcohol and/or pharmaceuticals has always been a bad choice. Didn't you people learn anything from the 60's?
The backlash, anger, call it what you will directed at Tessa Blake is righteous indignation at her and Salon for publishing yet one more "I had my fun fucking up and now I've moved on; haven't learned a damn thing and proud of it" article and expecting us to hail it as the next great JT Leroy/ain't it great to be a duped starfucker trend. This writer is a hack and stupid to boot, that she waves her freak flag proudly is not cause for celebration, it's cause for alarm.
Perhaps, Patricia, you should get a full night's sleep before you rant without thinking. I know a good sedative, but I encourage you to heed the warnings on the label before you try it.
Much of the initial coverage about Fort Hood turned out to be wrong. Is there anything wrong with that?
The accountability imposed by another country for the CIA's kidnapping and torture reveals much about our own.
Fox News' morning show plays to type, talking about whether Muslims in the Army should face "special debriefings"
219 Democrats and one Republican join in favor of the legislation, which passed by a narrow margin
The survivor and author is upset about comparisons some on the right are making to genocide
Salon headlines in your mailbox
