Ambien Induced Amnesia?

First let me say I do believe I can talk freely about this and with a little knowledge on the subject. I am an insomniac. I have been now since 2004. I was prescribed Prednisone for an "eye allergy". My eyes were swelling up overnight for some odd reason. (I think it was caused by the tumor strangling the veins in my neck but hey you can read about that on my other blog.)

Anyway, it did reduce the swelling and also gave me insane amounts of energy. I had no desire to sleep. I was never tired. I figured after I was off the meds sleep would come right back to me. After all I had always fallen asleep pretty fast. I would doze off 10 minutes into a movie. Not so anymore. No, I would lie in bed and stare at the ceiling. I tried over the counter sleeping pills. They were a joke. I tried tea, warm milk, vitamins that had melatonin. I mean EVERYTHING. I bought CD's on eBay that were supposed to help me. I tried anything that promised help in sleeping. I went days with no sleep. I felt as though I were walking around in a dream. I couldn't even take a nap. I never slept. So my doctor prescribed Ambien. That started it all.

Ambien works wonders. I love it. If I take one pill I get a great night's rest. I learned to take it on an empty stomach though, otherwise it will not work at all. Regardless the amnesia part is absolutely correct. This is where my post starts talking about sex....so if you are offended by sex talk do not read any further.

The first time I realized ambien caused amnesia was long before there were any news reports on it. There was nothing out there yet about people shopping on eBay or anything out there like that yet. I woke up one morning and my pants were off. Hubby was lying next to me and he woke up and said "Wow, last night was great." I asked him quite confused "Why are my pants off and what are you talking about?" Yes. I forgot having sex with my husband. I had ZERO memory of it. NADA. NOTHING. I am not kidding. I hadn't any idea we had sex and I could not remember it at all. He was extremely offended as you can imagine. I was at a loss because I didn't realize Ambien could cause me to forget what I did while I was on it. Let's just say it also increases my sex drive by like 100 and makes me wild and crazy. Hubby loves it...so it's a trade. In his mind, should I go ahead and get wild when she won't remember it anyway? haha You can imagine his decision. LOL

I have learned how to recognize when Ambien is making me loopy. I know now when I might forget some things. I know the signs and I try to store my thoughts so I will not forget later and it works. I can make myself remember things by concentrating on them while on Ambien. My hubby may feel insulted that I forgot a night of passion, but seriously I was only jealous that he had such a great time and I had no memory of the amazing time I had!! That sucks folks. Seriously...so I often try to wait on taking the pill but sometimes it's kind of nice. As I said, it's almost like a female Viagra. I have NO doubt at all that it increases my drive. It makes me throw caution to the wind and just be wild which brings me to my next point.

I recently read a Dear Prudie letter by a man who had some issues with sleep and took some Ambien. He accidentally took two somehow. He claims that evening his wife thanked him for mowing the lawn and cleaning up the yard and stuff but wondered why he came home from the grocery store with nothing. He remembered nothing of his entire day supposedly. He had no recollection of any of the events and later some woman called him calling him lover and thanking him for their hot time together. Yes, he claims he cheated on his wife while on Ambien and had ZERO memory. I am going to say right now I could never drive a car, go to someones house, have sex, drive home, mow the yard, clean the yard, and not have ANY memories. There would be SOME memories...some sketchy memories but they would be there. I am not a sleepwalker. I am pretty safe because once I am out I am out. I am not getting back up. I do not recommend Abmien to anyone who sleep walks. BIG mistake. Don't do it. I wonder though...how truthful the guy is being. It's a great excuse isn't it? It's possible that he took it and it made him throw caution to the wind. I absolutely think it affects your judgment but how could you drive a car and not crash? How could you find your destination? I mean, technically you are asleep? This story has made me wonder since I read it. Supposedly his wife doesn't know and he wants NO relationship with this other woman...but it happened. Now he doesn't know if he should tell his wife what he does not remember.

So that's my personal Ambien story along with a very crazy Ambien story. I can nap these days...and there are nights I can go without it. I am diagnosed a Chronic Insomniac. I think perhaps my past cancer could have something to do with causing it all and my internal clock has never quite fixed itself. I am thankful that I have something to help me sleep and also very thankful that I do not sleepwalk. :)