oh, ambien.
Ambien is a prescription sleeping pill which is infamous for the strange behavior it incites in its users. There are tons of hilarious stories online about the crazy things people have done while under the influence of the drug. The pill makes you hallucinate like crazy, but also affects your brain in a way that you briefly can't form memories... meaning its a total blackout tripfest.
I took ambien for about a year, and had a great laugh over the antique bird cage I didn't remember ordering, my apparent obsession with muting Daria and playing Flynt Flossy songs over it, ("it syncs!") the video I shot of myself talking to a camera and inexplicably barking at random intervals, amongst others. What wasn't so funny was the time I drove to the gas station, bought Cracker Jacks and proceeded to crash my car. Or the time I got a little too up close and personal with one of my best friends and didn't remember a thing... awkward. I didn't mean to get so high, I just would keep taking them on the pursuit of sleepiness because your tolerance for the pills just skyrockets. And please don't judge, sleep driving, walking, eating, and sexual activity are all way common side effects of the drug. I stopped taking it after I realized that being able to sleep on command was just not worth the consequences. I got wondering, if this drug is so strong, why did my doctor prescribe it to me? I mean, people are really causing a lot of damage out there on Ambien. I wanted to look at an advertisement for the sleep aid to see how exactly they justify such a strong drug for something as natural as sleep. This is the one I picked:
Right from the first few seconds, the disconnect became clear to me. It starts "there is a rhythm to life, we sleep at night and wake in the morning. It helps keep us at a healthy balance." This just does not apply to me. I hate having to sleep by a "normal" schedule. To me, it feels more natural to stay up for 36 hours and sleep for 12. Does that mean that there's something wrong with me for not naturally adhering to a typical sleep schedule? Am I not balanced? To be honest, I always thought there was something the matter with me. My circadian rhythm has just always been different from everyone elses. I can't help it, its just the way my body functions.
The ad goes on to say "for millions of Americans, sleep doesn't always come easy." What. Millions? That's a lot of people. The ad then comes in with its charge. "Fortunately, there's Ambien." It just seems to me that if millions of Americans are dealing with this, then maybe there's not something wrong with them. Maybe its the fact that society forces people to sleep within an eight hour parameter, and if they can't do that, then they can't really exist in the professional world. The only reason we think we are supposed to sleep during the normal window is because we are trained that's the only way to be. It seems to me that we should listen more to what our bodies tell us is natural over living uncomfortably so that people don't think you're weird.
And hello, the advertisement gave viewers absolutely no warning of the crazy mind excursion that comes with taking the pill. "Side effects may include drowsiness, dizziness, and diarrhea" Usually I'm down for alliteration, but how are they going to downplay straight up hallucinations as "dizziness?" For some reason when you're on Ambien, you have the feeling that someone else is with you. I would seriously have conversations with this other entity. Hence, the "Ambien Walrus" comic up top. But I mean, this is prescribed. Why is this legal but marijuana isn't? Inexplicable.
So, now that you've heard my spiel, what do you think?
Should we really be giving out such a potentially dangerous drug to people when there isn't necessarily something wrong with them?
Or, do you think that insomnia is a real medical problem? What's your justification?
Is there a way that we could restructure society for people who just can't do the 9-5 day?
Get back to me.
I think this potentially dangerous drug's prescription process should be heavily, and carefully monitored. If there is not something wrong with someone, there is no reason they should be prescribed this drug. I find it very odd that the ad doesn't give any explanation as to why people who take the drug have such wandering thoughts. Then again, if people knew about that possible 'mind trip' in the first place they probably wouldn't agree to take the drug.
ReplyDeleteIs insomnia a real medical problem? Maybe. Couldn't tell you for sure. I can, however, say I know people that have some pretty irregular sleep schedules. It could be stress, anxiety or maybe some other unknown medical problem that prohibits some individuals from exhibiting a normal sleep schedule.
Nonetheless, I don't think this drug is the answer. There's nothing natural about it.
I agree with Ethan, I think that this drug should be heavily regulated if it is prescribed at all. I wonder if there is a lower dosage that could be administered to make the side effects less potent, because it seems crazy to me to prescribe a drug that is known to cause sleep driving or other side effects that can significantly harm others. In the event that it is prescribed to a patient, they should definitely be informed of the side effects.
ReplyDeleteAs for insomnia being a real medical problem, I think it depends on the person. Some people would rather regulate their abnormal sleeping patterns to fit into the real world and others would rather go the awake 36 hours/asleep 12 route. However, I feel that trying to restructure society to better suit people who do not exhibit regular sleeping patterns is an extreme solution. There are personal steps that these individuals could take to stay free from medication and make irregular sleep work. For example, they could seek a career path that allows them to work from home.
I agree with them as well. Ambien seems to do more harm than good for a person and I feel that they should not be prescribing it until they find a way to fix these side effects. Doctors have a moral responsibility to help patients, or at least they should, and if people are getting in car accidents and blacking out from a drug they prescribe, there's a problem. It's one thing to take a drug and harm yourself, but it's completely different when you have the potential to harm others.
ReplyDeleteNow is insomnia a real medical issue? To some extent I would say yes. I have friends who claim to have insomnia who cannot fall asleep multiple nights a week. None of them have tried taking Ambien and none of them have been diagnosed so I can't guarantee they have any problem. It could be a number of things not allowing them to sleep. Either way this drug is not the answer.
As for changing society, really there isn't a way to do that. However, this person with abnormal sleep habits could choose a profession or job that works for him. As Laura said, working at home is a solution. There are also jobs that one can work all night long and sleep during the day. Jobs as a security officer, night shifts at Waffle House, or police shifts at night just to name a few. It's a hard life for sure, but it sounds worse on Ambien.
Like Ethan, Laura, and Kristen all said, I believe that ambien is definitely not the answer to this problem if it is a real medical problem or not. Doctors should be held accountable for who they prescribe this potent drug to, especially if the patients doesn't really need it. Also, I don't think it is right for the drug company who put this commerical out to play down the side effects just to make more money. People could seriously hurt themselves, as well as others while hallucinating, so they should be fully informed of what they're taking. Should this be all of the doctors and drug companies responsiblity? Maybe not, because you are putting it in your body after all, so you should do your share of research as well. However, I think the doctors and drug companies should not be so misleading and do a much better job of explaining the side effects.
ReplyDeleteIs insomnia a real disease? I don't know because I believe that some people really do have trouble falling asleep and staying asleep, however I think this could be attributed to other factors such as stress, or your living habits. I definitely dont think it's something that people are born with. I do think not getting enough sleep every night could lead to potential problems in your everyday life, but at the same time I do not think it's a disease. Especially not one that needs to be treated with such a drastic drug as ambien.
After reading your story I felt very uncomfortable with the whole industry of prescription drugs and the amount of damage they can do to one’s total life for one purpose, to sleep. Yes I believe sleep is very important but prescriptions with side affects like this shouldn’t even be able to be advertised. Not only is it dangerous but I couldn’t imagine not remembering something that I was involved in. I’m sorry that you had to be one of the recipients of this drug with all of these side affects because I am sure if they explained them to you in more depth while you were being prescribed them, you would have declined. It’s sad that the doctors aren’t looking out for their patients and are only trying to push drugs on the market.
ReplyDeleteI do believe that insomnia is a real thing, but there are different ways to handle that other than taking sleep pills.
I agree with all those who have commented above in the fact that Ambien needs to be very carefully prescribed. It's mind boggling to me that Ambien can be so easily prescribed, when it is such a strong drug with serious side effects. There are plenty of other sleep-aids that should absolutely be prescribed or tried before Ambien is even considered. I understand that many people do have problematic sleeping patterns, but I think there are plenty of other answers that come before Ambien.
ReplyDeleteIt's hard to say if Insomnia is a real disorder because so many people claim to have it at different extents. I do believe that there are certain people who have issues with sleeping through the night and so on, but this issue doesn't exist for their entire life. It comes up at a certain point, making me think it can be concluded that it's from an external factor, like stress, eating habits, and so on. I believe there should be medications to help people who suffer from sleep loss, but Ambien should absolutely not be the go-to solution to these problems.
Should we really be giving out such a potentially dangerous drug to people when there isn't necessarily something wrong with them?
ReplyDeleteOr, do you think that insomnia is a real medical problem? What's your justification?
Is there a way that we could restructure society for people who just can't do the 9-5 day?
No, I don't think Ambien should be so easily prescribed to people. It is clearly a dangerous drug whose side effects are not made clear, especially in the ad you chose to analyze. Whether or not insomnia is real is an interesting question. I believe trouble sleeping is definitely a real issue, but as people have pointed out, it can usually be the result of stress, diet, etc, which are things that should be addressed before resorting to a drug like Ambien. I don't think our society could be restructured very easily, especially if it's the minority of people that cannot deal with a 9-5 schedule, but there are alternatives like others have said. And again, the issues causing a severe lack of sleep need to be individually addressed to really deal with the issue.