DOSE:

10 mg

oral

Pharms - Zolpidem

(pill / tablet)

BODY WEIGHT:

182 lb

[Erowid Note: Driving while intoxicated, tripping, or extremely sleep deprived is dangerous and irresponsible because it endangers other people. Don't do it!]
Due to pressures at work and recent lack of sleep, I presented to my Doctor to figure out what could be done about my anxiety and sleep problems. I reported that I usually sleep about every other day, getting a nights sleep and then missing the next. This pattern had been going on for about the last six months.

If I really needed sleep, I would drink a half bottle of Nyquil. This form of self-medication would work some of the time, so I would honestly get about five nights sleep a week. This wasn't bad, but I really started becoming fatigued at work.

So upon presenting to my Doctor, I was prescribed 10 mg of Ambien... prn (as needed at night for sleep). Interestingly I got some sleep the next couple nights without the Ambien, but on a Friday night, I waited in my bed, as usual, to fall asleep, but could not.

I decided to try one of those powder blue pills my Doctor gave me that was in the medicine cabinet (believing I would get a nice nights sleep). I looked up at the ceiling for about thirty minutes after taking the Ambien, AND THEN...

'AND THEN' best describes a series of events which obviously occurred that could only be explained to me by other people, since I have no recollection of anything.

I was told by my Wife and Son that I awoke and appeared to be in a 'zombie like state'. Apparently, I began to 'roam around the house'. I fed the dog and filled up the water dish (which was nice, since I forgot to do that before I went to bed). I continued on in this state while my Wife read a pharmacy description of the Ambien that was attached to my prescription bag. Apparently sleepwalking was not listed as one of the side effects of taking Ambien, so no one knew what the hell was going on.

I walked out the front door of my home and was not respondent to my family's efforts to 'wake me up', despite yelling and shaking my arm. I somehow managed to get my wallet and the keys to my car, so I walked down the driveway and got in my car, started the engine and locked the doors. I was told that the commotion and yelling got my neighbors out of bed and outside and talking to my Wife as I drove off.

At this time, the wife was confused if I was mad, upset, on drugs, or just being 'crazy'. She knows what sleepwalking is, since her Sister talks and walks to the bathroom in her sleep, 'But This One Was Off The Charts!' (She would later get a call that would explain it all.)

To make a long story short, I ended up driving to Albertsons, which was about a block away. I have been going there to get groceries practically every day for the last ten years, so when I walked in at 2 AM (Albertsons stays open 24 hours a day in Las Vegas) I was recognized by some of the cashiers and the liquor aisle guy. I must have appeared like I looked on drugs, because they called the police.

As the police report read, I was apparently walking down the pet food aisle (aisle 8) looking for dog food, where I engaged in a conversation with the liquor aisle guy about which dog food is best for my dog. (I'm glad he knows who I am, or they might not have been so nice as to calm the situation down and talk to me while waiting for the police). Of course, they thought I was on drugs, or so the police were told when they got to Albertsons. (But hey!... I'm on the Store Manager's VIP List, since they keep track of the money we spend there like every day on our preferred card, so they better take care of me...right!)

Albertsons did not know what to do, and since I am kind of a favorite there, they told the police that they were not pressing any charges, but thought that an ambulance should come and get me. The ambulance was already on the way (called in by the police) so I was then put on the ambulance, and I was taken to the Hospital.

I awoke in the E.R. to the bright light the Doctor at the hospital was shining in my eyes. He said 'Hi There !' as I guess I began to respond in some way to what was happening. There was already a drip line in my arm and some medicine had been administered. I looked to my left and my Wife was standing there. She had been called and raced to the Hospital. She told the Hospital what I had taken, so they knew what they were dealing with. (I guess I had fallen back to sleep for a while at the Hospital before the Wife showed up and gave them the information they needed to bring me out of my state.)

I was confused and disoriented when they woke me up. I had no idea how I got from my bed to their E.R. bed. I was kept for a twelve hour watch at the Hospital, and drifted in and out of sleep while the wife told me what had happened. The police made a report and gave her a copy. We joked a bit about how I probably would not be on the Albertsons Manager's VIP list anymore. I told the wife 'nah...we spend too much money in that store, and they would still have to love me anyway.' I finally said that they can just call it a 'Clean Up On Aisle 8!'

Exp Year: 2010	ExpID: 83960
Gender: Male
Age at time of experience: 37
Published: Aug 13, 2021	Views: 1,008
[ View PDF (to print) ] [ View LaTeX (for geeks) ] [ Swap Dark/Light ]
Pharms - Zolpidem (143) : First Times (2), Train Wrecks & Trip Disasters (7), Medical Use (47), Various (28)