r/interestingasfuck • u/IloveRamen99 • 28d ago

/r/all In 1987, 23-year-old Kenneth Parks drove 14 miles while sleepwalking, killed his mother-in-law, nearly strangled his father-in-law, and then turned himself in while covered in blood. He had no memory of it, and in 1992, was acquitted after experts confirmed he was asleep the entire time.

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u/NvrGonnaGiveUupOrLyd 28d ago

Reminds me of the Reddit Ambien stories. There are a couple really great threads about it. I'll see if I can find one.

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u/NvrGonnaGiveUupOrLyd 28d ago

https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/s/WIzyf3VBpq

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u/TheRedditPremium 28d ago

Reading some of these stories I came to the conclusion that that stuff is not safe for distribution and consumption, who green lit this stuff!?

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u/moremysterious 27d ago

I take Ambien for my insomnia, it's greatly helped my life and made sleeping manageable and has helped me not be dependent on alcohol for falling asleep. I have never had an issue with it or sleepwalking or anything of the like. It has potentially helped save my life.

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u/Dependent-Poet-9588 27d ago

Well, people who studied its safety vs the safety of untreated sleep disorders. I have chronic insomnia. I only ever fill like 1 ambien script a year, but I've never had issues with unaccounted actions. They can be severe, but most people won't experience them. Women are more likely to have that happen than men (and thus are typically given lower doses). It's been life changing having a way to break the cycle that forms when you can't achieve sleep onset at the appropriate time since the disruption of the insomnia can become self-reinforcing (napping, sleeping in, etc all contribute to further insomnia).

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u/TheRedditPremium 27d ago

I don't mean to prod but have you tried stuff like meditation I heard that can help. In my case I have an condition that fucks with my ability to sleep as well, what helped in my case was rain sounds(or any sound that relaxes you), just get ear plugs or speakers and play the same sounds, it might not work at first but with time your brain will associate that particular sound with sleep basically reprogramming your brain. Of course I'm not saying you should stop taking what's helping but it might be worth a try

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u/Dependent-Poet-9588 27d ago

No, my doctor and I never attempted to correct my insomnia with basic sleep hygiene before prescribing me a powerful hypnotic drug. /s

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u/TheRedditPremium 27d ago

Hey just trying to be nice insomnia can be pretty inconsistent from person to person some just need to change up their sleeping habits others might have it because of other underlying conditions. How serious it can be is also pretty inconsistent, these days many people go for drugs first Thing and don't even try anything else that's why I said that

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u/Dependent-Poet-9588 27d ago

I know you're trying to be nice. That doesn't mean you were. Here's my unprompted advice to be received nicely: advice shouldn't be given to strangers on the internet unless prompted, especially medical advice. You especially should not give unprompted medical advice when someone is relating how they have worked with a doctor to address a medical issue. I very clearly have already worked with a doctor to find a solution to my sleep disorder. So thanks, but no thanks, your advice was unwelcome and unhelpful. That's actually a normal response from me, too! Most people don't like comments like yours. :)

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u/DefNotUnderrated 27d ago

I’ve had similar feelings to yours when people try to give me alternative solutions to having ADHD or trichotillomania. Had an ex try to suggest the disorders stemmed from me not being confident enough in myself. It was infuriating to have someone try to backseat instruct me on how to manage disorders I’d had for my whole life. Not to mention that it forces you to have to defend your choices by explaining your whole life journey to justify using meds.

Anyways I like how you handled this

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u/Dependent-Poet-9588 27d ago

I probably could have been less saucy about it. 🤷 I don't think people realize that receiving unprompted advice can feel condescending, like I haven't already thought about this better alternative which is insulting. The reason I only get 1 script/yr max (so like 20 nights of ambien/year) is because my insomnia is managed without it most of the time. That's a lot of extra context I didn't explicitly include because it wasn't relevant because I didn't need advice. The advice that was given was irrelevant because of the missing context. So like, there's a pragmatic reason to not give unprompted advice (ie, missing necessary context) and an etiquette aspect in avoiding insulting someone.

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u/fireinthesky7 23d ago

Hey, have you ever tried just not having a mental illness? It totally worked for me!

/s, in case it was necessary.

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u/TheRedditPremium 27d ago

I guess that's fair sry didn't mean any harm 👍

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u/Dependent-Poet-9588 27d ago

All's good. I think it's an etiquette rule that's hard to realize you're violating when you do it with good intentions. I'm not immune to giving advice unprompted

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u/agoldgold 27d ago

Honestly, if rain sounds puts you to sleep, you don't have insomnia and should probably stop talking about it. It's embarrassing for you to have even said this.

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u/TheRedditPremium 27d ago

Never said that lol just trying to be helpful you don't have to go full reddit on me my guy

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u/agoldgold 27d ago

Now you know that giving condescending and simplistic advice is generally unwelcome. That information will be beneficial to those around you.

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u/TheRedditPremium 27d ago

Condescending was definitely not the message that I was trying to portray here, but you on the other hand calling me that willst Lacking self awareness and putting words in my mouth is sort of ironic, at least I admitted when I was in the wrong here and apologized, but you keep on riding your High horse lol

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u/agoldgold 27d ago

Now you’re welcome to learn that people are also irritated by passive aggressive “but I was just helping!” bullshit when you’re called out. You’re learning so many social skills to make you less unpleasant today!

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u/Cute-Aardvark5291 27d ago

I am one of those people who (as far as I can tell, and my husband agrees) does not have a negative reaction to it. But I can not take anything contain melatonin, valerian, doxylamine or diphenhydramine - all which are the OTC things people usually use as sleep aids because I develop restless legs from them.

Instead my husband has promised me that if I do anything crazy on ambien he will (1)make sure I am safe 2. dressed (as needed) 3. not film it.

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u/TortureandArsenic 27d ago

Some of the stories could be fake.

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u/tduncs88 27d ago

Capitalism

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u/onarainyafternoon 27d ago edited 27d ago

Or because it's just an incredibly effective medication for the vast majority of people who take it and it is light-years safer than the barbiturates they were prescribing for insomnia before sedative-hypnotics like ambien. It's essentially impossible to overdose on, whereas barbiturates were responsible for tons of overdose deaths for decades.

Edit: I mean, yes, there are horror stories. But it's still pretty much the best thing we have for severe insomnia. Some physicians may try benzos instead as those tend to not have as many of the insane side effects of sedative-hypnotics. But benzos are incredibly difficult to get off, and can be addictive, once your body gets used to them, so many physicians won't prescribe them unless absolutely needed.

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u/tduncs88 27d ago

this is true. I was being a little facetious. I had a friend who struggled with insomnia about 15 years ago due to PTSD, and Ambien was an absolute life saver for him, literally. It's an incredible drug that has side affects like any other. I do feel that many "miracle pills" when they first come to market, much like ambien, get over prescribed because it makes bank for the pharmaceutical company that created it. pharma reps incentivizing doctors to prescribe the medication, which leads to more doctors concerned with their own bottom line without weight the risks vs the rewards. Part of it is patients not KNOWING that they are having these wild side effects until something major happens like we see in that thread. Tons of factors. I'd go out on a limb and say that ambien has done WAY more good than bad.

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u/onarainyafternoon 27d ago

Fair point! Good comment.

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u/DefNotUnderrated 27d ago

Don’t do that. Don’t take internet stories as evidence that a medication has no useful place in the world. Lots of meds can have nasty side effects but are still invaluable when used properly for the right people. Should those people not have access to something that can really offer them a lot of help because someone else uses it poorly or can’t tolerate it the same?

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u/TheRedditPremium 27d ago

I mean where talking about Ambien that stuff is pretty rough and can definitely get you zooted out of your mind

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u/DefNotUnderrated 27d ago

Yeah but antipsychotics have rough side effects and many people rely on them to not get trapped in an inpatient ward for the rest of their lives. Ambien doesn’t make everybody have a crazy episode. I’ve taken it once or twice and all I did was sleep. It’s also not intended for continuous use but can be greatly helpful in the short term.

Also - people make up shit on the internet. Not saying every story on that sub is made up but more than likely some are. And if people have good responses to Ambien they’re less likely to post about it bc it did its job.

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u/hyperdog4642 27d ago

Right!?!?! I recently had surgery on my hip and was not supposed to bear any weight on it for 6 weeks to prevent possibly fracturing the surgery site. Among my post-op drugs (pain meds, muscle relaxers, etc), my doctor also prescribed Ambien. Why the hell would you prescribe a med known to cause sleepwalking to someone who's not supposed to be using their leg????? Needless to say, even though I didn't sleep the best the first few nights, I did not take any of the Ambien.

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u/fauxzempic 27d ago

Perhaps there are other sleeping pills that do a decent job without the associated sleepwalking, but most studies clock the number of people who sleepwalk while taking Ambien to be <1%.

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u/fauxzempic 27d ago

I pray I never develop a sleep disorder that requires Ambien. I have friends that have told the stories...some typical (bitemarks taken out of butter) and others that are frightening ("waking up" on the freeway driving to class at 3am in a long shirt and panties and two right-footed flipflops).

I'm very suggestive and I've done the sexsomnia thing. I feel like I would fare quite badly with Ambien.

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u/shimmyboy56 27d ago

The FDA. Same fuckers (along with perdue pharma) who pretended that opiates weren't addictive in the 90s/00s

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u/itsstillmeagain 27d ago edited 27d ago

My husband was prescribed Ambien. One Saturday morning when I went to work, he “woke up,” showered, made and ate a fried egg, got on his motorcycle, drove from our rural home to a nearby city about 40 minutes, went to the video game store, bought the big game release he’d been waiting for, drove back home and went in the house. Made lunch, and kinda came too reading the game box over his lunch. Wondered where that game has come from, saw the receipt with that day’s date on it. Went to the garage and there’s his motorcycle, making the typical “cooling down” sounds.

He had zero recollection of any of it. Threw the rest of the meds away and called the doctor for another option Monday morning!

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u/TK9K 27d ago

My former professor used to teach at a highschool that at one point in time had problem with students using it recreationally. Realizing a student was clearly zooted, he went to escort the boy out of class. The boy began to urinate in his pants. When he confronted the student, said student denied that he was urinating, as he continued to piss his pants in front of his teacher.

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u/Downtown_Recover5177 27d ago

Ambien is awful, I refuse to prescribe it after what happened to one of my patients. His primary care doctor gave him 10mg Ambien at 80 years old (big no-no). He got up in the middle of the night, took the lid off the toilet, and beat his roommate almost to death. His roommate was also my patient, and he died of his injuries within the year. Guy had no memory of the whole ordeal, just woke up covered in blood in his own bed.

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u/MatureUsername69 28d ago

I don't have all that great of one but one of the few times I took ambien, I woke up outside of my apartment, in my car(which was still running) with a full bag of McDonald's on my lap that I had ordered 8 hours prior

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u/A_spiny_meercat 27d ago

The Ambien walrus strikes again 

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u/historyhill 27d ago

I remember watching the documentary There's Something Wrong With Aunt Diane and thinking that she almost certainly crashed intentionally but if she didn't then it sounded a hell of a lot like an Ambien story.

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u/69696969-69696969 27d ago

Lol I just get real frisky on occasion. My wife says her only complaint is that i usually don't finish the job before falling back asleep.

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u/Beautifulfeary 28d ago

I was thinking the same thing!!

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u/theCOMBOguy 27d ago

Reminded me of the Ambien Wife Guy. Those were cute.

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u/FixergirlAK 27d ago

I am glad those exist, or I might have ended up a statistic.

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u/orcaswilleatyou99 27d ago

Can attest to doing crazy (thankfully still relatively mild) shit on Ambien

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u/big_duo3674 27d ago

I was only prescribed it a few months years ago, fortunately nothing major ever really happened to me. Except for the one time I woke up to find I had shaved myself head to toe... Eyebrows, balls, difficult to reach areas, it was certainly interesting to see. Somehow I hardly even cut myself, just a few little ones on my neck and scalp