stilnox, the new crazy glue

[faustus]

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/sleep-...0524002080.html

Sleep crazy: Stilnox stories grow

Sleep driving, suicidal phone calls, binge eating, bizarre postcards people don't remember writing, even incidences of self-harm and suicidal phone calls are just some of the side effects blamed by readers on the sleeping pill Stilnox. The Therapeutic Goods Administration said it had received 184 reports of sleepwalking, hallucination and amnesia related to Stilnox, which is used by 250,000 people in Australia.

Since smh.com.au reported the story on Friday, we have had more than 20 reports of people going through bizarre, inexplicable and dangerous experiences while using the drug.

A 55-year-old solicitor, who asked that his name be withheld, described some of his worst incidents to smh.com.au.

Despite saying he had no pre-existing sleepwalking condition, he said he had twice driven his car the morning after taking Stilnox, though having little recollection of it afterwards.

On one occasion his young daughter was in the car.

She dived out when her half-conscious father stopped at a stop sign, after he had driven in gutters, into sides of cars and other objects.

The solicitor also said he had been making chilling phone calls.

"I've got mates who've said I've rung them up at 4.30 in the morning sounding suicidal, talked to them for two hours, and I've not got a single memory of it," he said, adding that he had no history of suicidal thoughts or depression.

On Friday the Herald published a front page story linking Stilnox to a range of side-effects.

It came after the Adverse Drug Reactions Committee published an article about the "bizarre sleep-related effects" of the drug.

It described side effects very similar to the ones described in the correspondence sent to smh.com.au.

Ann described the strange behaviour of one of her family members after he had taken Stilnox.

"We were woken up at 3am to find that he had shaven all his hair and eyebrows off, also shaved off all his body hair," she stated in an email.

"In addition, he had piled all the contents of the kitchen and bathroom in the hallway, and had poured two containers of Jiffy over all wall and floor surfaces, proudly explaining that he was cleaning - this was from someone who never does household cleaning chores.

"A few hours later he was mortified when he realised what he had done, especially shaving all his hair off."

Another woman, who also wished to remain anonymous, said her experience on Stilnox while camping in the Arizona desert had left her fearing she was going crazy.

"I took my tablet, then started to write in postcards to friends at home, before falling asleep."

The next day she was shocked to discover her postcards covered in gibberish, with half-completed sentences and nonsensical phrases.

"I hadn't drunk any alcohol the night before and I have never, in my life, taken drugs of any sort.

"[but] what I read on the postcards was absolute garbage. Absolute nonsense. Nothing made sense.

"Words and sentences were started and not finished. I had to dispose of all the postcards and privately, I have been worried sick ever since."

Stilnox has a chequered past, both here and overseas.

In November last year, champion kickboxer Adam Watt was found asleep on his upstairs' neighbour's lounge room sofa, wearing a white dress and mumbling incoherently.

Watt was charged with resisting arrest, intimidation and two counts of trespass.

He said in his defence that he had taken two Stilnox tablets before going to bed, after which he remembered nothing until he was in custody.

The charges were eventually dropped.

In the US, Stilnox, marketed under the name Ambien, is a blockbuster seller for parent company Sanofi-Aventis, with 26.6 million prescriptions in 2005.

On March 6 last year, 300 users of Ambien filed a class-action lawsuit against the company.

The plaintiffs included one woman who said she had been sexually assaulted after opening the door to an attacker in her sleep.

The New York Times also reported last year that Ambien was becoming responsible for numerous car accidents, saying in some state toxicology laboratories Ambien made the top 10 list of drugs found in the systems of impaired drivers.

Wisconsin officials identified Ambien in the bloodstreams of 187 arrested drivers from 1999 to 2004, the newspaper stated.

The Therapeutic Goods Administration said there were no plans to restrict the sale of the drug.

A health department spokeswoman told the Herald on Friday the side-effects were already known, and warnings on the packet reflected this.

The drug was intended for short-term insomnia and should not be taken for more than four weeks, the spokeswoman said.

The company has previously said it could not be proven that Stilnox was causing disturbed sleep behaviour.

Other emails from users:

■ "The side effect that I have is that I get up during the night and prepare the same dinner that I prepared only a few hours earlier. People can speak to me and I answer them; then go back to bed without having any recollection of anything at all."

■ "My boyfriend ... may have caught a taxi from his home at Double Bay to Kings Cross to buy more Stilnox after he had taken around four. The upshot is he lost his wallet and phone and is not sure how or where he was - he remembers nothing. I fear one day he will be seriously hurt. The awful thing is when he doesn't take it he is a lovely person just someone coping with life who has decided he needs a drug to sleep. He has acknowledged the problem and is taking steps to treat it.

"Another story is about my boyfriend's flatmate who works in TV and starts work at 11pm therefore needing to sleep during the day. To do so he takes Stilnox. Recently he was taken to hospital at St Vincent's when he tried to cut his own hands after taking the drug. Lucky for him my boyfriend was home and took quick action to call an ambulance. When he woke up in hospital he was confused about where he was and why."

■ "[My wife has] had incidences of binge eating, complete with cooking etcetera. The behavior is erratic and quite dangerous as she will often walk away from things once started and return to bed. I often find that the house has that "just robbed" look about it on mornings when the Stilnox has been used and worse still it has such a total effect that "waking" her can be very difficult. To the point of her sitting up, having a conversation and then falling back to sleep, yet there will be no memory of the event."

■ "I had taken one. I awoke the following morning to discover vomit on the kitchen floor. I thought someone must have entered my home during the night. Later went to the fridge to discover a bottle of white wine three quarters empty, even though the previous evening I'd only had one glass from it. Had no recollection of waking or getting out of bed during the night."

■ "I was prescribed Stilnox for sleeping problems and was concerned to find there were no instructions inside the packet. After about two months I began to have dreadful nightmares, palpations and hallucinations in which I was being chased around the house by someone with a knife."

■ "Under its effect I have been sleepwalking (getting dressed and walking through Surry Hills park at 3am), binge eating and worst of all sending crazy emails, phone calls and SMS to friends and not having any memory of what I had written."

■ "I have found the drug very useful, the only real risk being addiction to Stilnox. On that point, I really question how many people can take it for only four week as advised. The only problem that is not publicised, but should be, is how addictive this drug really is."

Anyone who has experienced problems while taking Stilnox can go to <a href="http://www.tga.gov.au/">www.tga.gov.au or ring the consumer adverse medication events line on 1300 134 237.

[obtuse]

Gee,

Don't they test this stuff before they release it.

Talk about irresponsible.

Some of the drugs they release onto unsuspecticting public are totally bizarre and you wonder what on earth they were thinking when they did.

It just goes to show what happens then you turn some of those switches on or off in the brain. We just don't know enough to go stuffing around.

I had FOAF's who loved rhohypnol and did wierd stuff. That was bad enough.

any way my 2c's

cheers, Obtuse

[Ace]

I find it absurdly irritating that the government can happily let this shite enter the public for general use, probably only tested a couple times and by time they find out that it is incredibly dangerous its too late. They are happy to let this stuff hit the shelves and yet they ban plants that have been used by humans and other animals for millenia because they are 'worried about our safety'....

What a flaming crock of frogshit.

Seriously. If they can only make f*cked up decisions, why the hell cant we make our own? At least that way we can only blame ourselves if we make a mistake. I know for a fact most people will learn much faster that way than listening to the bunch of tossers in Parliament and their individual areas. I am so strongly against the government (namely the department of health) deciding whats 'good for us' when they cant even get this shit right... Bunch of tossers.

Sorry for anyone ho disagrees with this point of view, but you clearly need to reassess the situation I think...

[PD.]

WOW,

A very good friend has just been prescribed this stuff.

I think he better take a look at this and have a better talk to his GP.

doesnt sound nice at all.

[MORG]

If these side-effects were the result of an obscure underground ethnobotanical you can bet your sweet arse there'd be less bureaucratic inertia in getting it out of circulation.

[nil]

i took this under the brand name ambien in the usa for insomnia. i was given the drug to supposedly 're-regulate' my sleep patterns (it never worked, the only thing that worked for my insomnia was moving to australia). i was never given more than five tablets at a time in any prescription. i never had adverse effects, to my knowledge, but then again i lived alone with nobody to tell me if i'd been weird through the night.

[apothecary]

i took this under the brand name ambien in the usa for insomnia. i was given the drug to supposedly 're-regulate' my sleep patterns (it never worked, the only thing that worked for my insomnia was moving to australia). i was never given more than five tablets at a time in any prescription. i never had adverse effects, to my knowledge, but then again i lived alone with nobody to tell me if i'd been weird through the night.

Not speaking from experience as I've never tried but supposedly the weird effects come into play if you ingest them and stay awake.

[nil]

Not speaking from experience as I've never tried but supposedly the weird effects come into play if you ingest them and stay awake.

i never had that experience. i did stay awake on them a few times as well, not out of choice but out of not being able to sleep.

[faustus]

as fucked as they are, 184 (officially recorded) adverse reactions from 250,000 users in australia makes stilnox a reasonably safe drug to take... all drugs have adverse reactions, i doubt it'll be pulled off the market until someone does some serious damage to themselves.

that said, stilnox have been linked with date rape cases and this may also be the reason why they'll be pulled off the shelves or restricted (a la rohypnol).

[oxydiser]

IMO these are all well known side effects of stilnox, the drug has been out for some while in the US. If it really was "incredibly dangerous" it would be pulled from the market.

I'm not tring to stick up for this drug, I'm just acutely aware of scare-mongering. The problem with stilnox (zolpidem) is that it's halflife is only 3-4 hours so you are liable to wake up in the middle of the night and wig out.

I struggle to see why it is used in place of short acting benzos (temazepam esp.) which have favourable side effect profile and similar dependence liability.

FYI, no hypnotic drug should be used for longer than ~2 weeks for insomnia, due to aforementioned dependence and tolerance

EDIT: beat me to it twix, hear hear.

Edited February 5, 2007 by oxydiser

[shruman]

that said, stilnox have been linked with date rape cases and this may also be the reason why they'll be pulled off the shelves or restricted (a la rohypnol).

rohypnol has always been restricted as far as i know, they did add that blue colour to it so u know if ur drinks been spiked but i dont think it was rescheduled or anything. Although docs are less likely to prescribe now days.

[nabraxas]

i have taken stilnox for a week or so on 2 separate occasions. i found it worked very well, w/no side effects apart from feeling abit groggy on waking.

i've also used temazepam & found that not to be anywhere near as effective for sleeping.

when the stilnox kicked in all i could do was sleep, w/the temazepam there was that incredibly relaxed, carefree feeling that was worth staying awake for & i'd end up taking way more temazepam & mixing it w/alcohol.

so for me anyway stilnox is a very useful drug for sleeping whereas temazepam & other benzos are hugely recreational.

[FungalFractoids]

Ha, i know people that I.V this shit, apparently the only way to get recreational value out of them.

However, i think Stilnox has it's uses, if you can't sleep the shit works like a charm.

Edited February 6, 2007 by Chronik Fatigue

[FungalFractoids]

*edit*

double post.

is there any way of just doing a clean delete on posts? i haven't been able to find a function to do it.

Edited February 6, 2007 by Chronik Fatigue

[indigo264nm]

I started taking that shit for bad insomnia at 13 and had switched to temazepam by 15 because that zolpidem sent me loopy... I remember when I first took it, I'd lay awake for hours thinking there was a party under my bedsheets and deleriously talking to friends in some half wake and half dream state. I also took to punching myself in the head some times (I woke up once with brusing) and sometimes it would affect my memory the next day (pages of work at school I didn't remember doing two days later).

Towards the end I started vomiting from the stuff and gave it the flick.

Doctors hand those out like lollies just because it's not supposed to be addictive but I don't think they even really knew what the potential effects that a drug like that could have - the way that it changes your brainwaves to induce sleep.

Edited February 6, 2007 by -=IndigoSunrise=-

[FungalFractoids]

Doctors hand those out like lollies just because it's not supposed to be addictive but I don't think they even really knew what the potential effects that a drug like that could have - the way that it changes your brainwaves to induce sleep.

I wish dr.'s could prescribe GHB, it is one of the few substances that induces sleep with out interfering with the brains natural rhythems.

[Auntyjack]

I've used it once...that std dose only produced a small window of oportunity, soo i doubled it..and WHAM oooh sleeeeeep.

I blame a 16 year smoking habit I have....kinda still looking for the reset button for my normal patterns...

So in short...I stopped it as I figured I'd just be replacing one with the other.

AJ

EDIT ---> at tleast the other has ceremony!!

Edited February 6, 2007 by Auntyjack

[foolsbreath]

Yeah I took it to sleep when doing permanant night shift

I never had any adverse reactions to it, I sometimes stayed up and I sometimes woke up 1-2 hours after taking it with no effect, so it doesn't affect everyone in that way (although I won't take it any more in the light of all this)

What I want to know is what part of the psyche is switched on when people wake up in the middle of the night crazy, who or what is coming out?

And with these stories of people waking up from persisrant vegetative states while under the influence of stilnox, who is the person that the relatives are talking to? A strange new person animated by the sudden switching on of unused neural pathways? Kind of creepy if you ask me

[stonewolf]

I know full well that people react differently, but i tried to exploit the recreational value of stillnox some time ago...i had insomnia, was prescribed it, took it got back into a regular sleep pattern, leaving me with 4 tiny little bricks to do with as i pleased. The only effect taking 4 times the recommended dose and staying awake had was becoming very vague, a little disorientated and smoking too many cigarettes. This was delibrate and far above a standard dose...yet resulted in little to nothing. Certainly safe for me.

[indigo264nm]

Apparantly I've read that your stomach contents affect the way zolpidem works dramatically... a full stomach can reduce the effects by up to 70% or something around that mark. The problem with this is most people would be inclined to take a sleeping pill after dinner and supper and go to bed. I remember when I used to take it that with a quick 14 year old male metabolism that sometimes after 15 minutes from when I swallowed it I would be fucked out from it already, and then other nights 30 mins later and I wasn't feeling much out of it.

My guess is that it's one of those things where it needs to be absorbed quickly to have effects and any redose after the initial one wouldn't increase the effects too dramatically, somewhat similar to the way codeine is absorbed perhaps.

[Alice]

I really, really hope they don't take this off the market.

apart from being the only thing that can knock me out after i've been awake way too long, this is the most wickedly fun prescription drug i have had the pleasure of ingesting.

the most amazingly vivid hallucination i have ever experienced was had one night, thankyou stillnox

one time i honestly thought i may tapped into some microcosmic other-reality, so convincing and real were the things i saw with my eyes. and i'm never usually one to get carried away trippin and believe that what i see might actually be real.

however, i have found that these extreme effects are only reached if you are already severly sleep deprived. eg it seems that if you take it afetr a bender in an attempt to sleep your way through the comedown, it takes the normal visual disturbances and semi-crazyiness you get after say 3 or 4 days without sleep, and boosts this to a whole new level.

more often than not you wont start seeing cool stuff and will just fall asleep, unless you are already sleep deprived. but sometimes even then it wont work, there seems to be some other factor that i can't quite pinpoint that will ensure a fun time.

yes, stillnox can get you very fucked up, but IME an incredibly enjoyable experience.

i hope the media stop fussing so its not pulled off the market because of the VERY small percentage of people who are making a big deal over this and scaring people. be in a safe place, dont drive etc, take all the normal precautions one would take when ingesting a mind altering substance and you'll be fine.

its a sleeping tablet! its prescribed so that wide awake and alert people can put themselves into a state of unconsciousness. of course its going to have some weird effects

i'm not trying to encourage people to go out and be silly, but merely adding to this thread by relating my own experiences. it should obviously only be taken if was prescribed for you, and should not be given to others or handed out as a party drug etc. stillnox can be somewhat unpredictable in effects, and may have dangerous interactions with other drugs people might be on that you don't know about. be safe people.

[indigo264nm]

^^^ I don't suggest they take it off the market but I think there needs to be more awareness regarding suprisingly common strange reactions to the drug.

I'm just glad there was a SMH article about it telling people if they have experienced adverse reactions to report it because hopefully doctors will be more aware and notified in order to alert patients that they may have strange side effects from it and shouldn't take it if they do.

The problem with it is that the amnesia can be so strong at times that you can't remember doing stupid things.

[Jesus On Peyote]

SWIM also hopes they dont take it off the market, its pretty usefull, and fun when you want it to be.All the people complaining are turds. its not that bad. And i dont think IV is the only way to get any rec use from it, Swim has a jihad on needles, so hes never had it IV but hes had it normal n its cool.

[Jesus On Peyote]

Foolsbreath,I think the psych thats out is you,but the thing that happens is coz it kinda tried to force your brain to sleep,so for the people that do sleepwalk or whatever, its them being normal but the med makes ur brain asleep. plus it has ammnisia affects so again,the people might have been wide awake and just not have mentally known it.

-I Think-

[Conan Troutman]

NEWS: The Age - 21/01/08 'Stilnox maker to fight morphine-level rating'

Stilnox maker to fight morphine-level rating

January 21, 2008 - 4:10PM

The manufacturer of a sleeping tablet that triggered bizarre side-effects in Australians says it will fight moves to have the controversial drug moved to a tougher class.

A federal government committee will meet next month to decide whether Stilnox should be changed to schedule 8 status to strictly monitor who is accessing it.

This change would bring the popular medication into line with controlled drugs like morphine, narcotics and amphetamines, which are deemed vulnerable to addiction or abuse.

It would require doctors to fill out extra paperwork and pharmacists to keep comprehensive records of who they dispense to.

The call comes in the wake of a spate of reports from a national hotline of Stilnox users crashing cars, having sex, fighting and binge-eating from the fridge while apparently asleep.

The manufacturer Sanofi-Aventis today said the change being considered by the National Drugs and Poisons Schedule Committee (NDPSC) was unwarranted and would be strongly opposed.

"Sanofi-Aventis has not been notified as to the grounds upon which such an application has been made," a company spokesman said.

"However, we are of the view that any change to the scheduling is unwarranted and not in the best interests of patients and prescribers, and a submission will be made to the NDPSC accordingly."

The proposal is the latest to limit scope of the drug. Changes instigated by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) last November limited pack size to a maximum of 14 pills.

Stilnox packs now also carry extra warnings of possible side-effects "including rage reactions, worsened insomnia, confusion, agitation, hallucinations and other forms of unwanted behaviour", the TGA said.

A spokeswoman for the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia, Dr Geraldine Moses, said up-scheduling of Stilnox was seen as a good move.

"Rescheduling is an effective way of getting people to take this drug seriously," said Dr Moses, who also heads the Adverse Medicine Events Line, which fielded more than 500 calls reporting Stilnox side-effects last year.

"It instantly changes the way the drug is handled and therefore instantly tells people this drug has safety issues rather than hoping and praying that they will read the product information."

The change will be considered at the February 19 meeting of the NDPSC.

SOURCE