Imagine waking up in your car. You’ve been in an accident. Your last memory is taking an Ambien before going to bed. You have no idea where you are and how you got there.
According to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA), Ambien is one of the 10 drugs most commonly found in impaired drivers. However, many of these drivers did not consciously intend to get behind the wheel. A side effect of Ambien is parasomnia, unusual behavior that occurs during deep sleep. Examples include sleepwalking, sleep eating, and sleep driving.
Ambien (zolpidem tartrate) is the most commonly prescribed sleep medication in the United States, and parasomnia is not the only side effect of the medication.
Side Effects of Ambien
- Parasomnia: Parasomnia occurs when the patient engages in waking activities while in deep sleep. There have been instances of sleep eating, sleepwalking, sleep driving, and even sleep shopping in patients taking Ambien. There have been several reports of sleep sex. One man became violent and attacked his roommate. These behaviors can affect the safety of the patient and the safety of others. The patient has no memory of the behavior when he wakes up.
- Hallucinations: Patients taking Ambien have reported vivid hallucinations. These hallucinations are both visual (seeing things that aren’t there) and auditory (hearing voices or sounds that don’t exist). As with parasomnia, there is a possibility that patients experiencing hallucinations could endanger themselves or others.
- Dissociation: Patients taking Ambien have reported feeling a sense of physical dissociation or emotional detachment from everyday life.
- Depression: Ambien is also linked to depression. Patients with no history of depression have suffered from severe depression after taking Ambien. Ambien may have been a factor in several suicide attempts.
- Temporary insomnia: Although Ambien is a sleep medicine, patients have reported increased levels of insomnia when taking Ambien.
- Ambien car accidents: In January, the US Food and Drug Administration warned that certain doses of Ambien may increase the risk of next-day car crashes, especially for women. Ambien is also linked to sleep driving crashes.
- Addiction: Ambien can be addictive when taken on a regular basis.
These Ambien side effects have the potential to cause serious injury or death, especially in patients who are unaware of the risks associated with the drug.
If you have suffered an injury or accident as the result of taking Ambien, you may have a Utah dangerous drug claim against Sanofi-Aventis, the maker of Ambien. We urge anyone who has suffered serious Ambien side effects to contact a Salt Lake City pharmaceutical injury lawyer. To learn more about Utah Ambien lawsuits contact the James Esparza Law Firm at 800-745-4050.