First, my status - the doc was able to get a scrip for Ambien (Zolpidem - i got a generic version) so I could take that last night. Where I feel like I slept it still wasn't straight through. I reminded myself, everytime I woke up, to remember what time it was. Sort of like meeting a new person, say their name three times and you'll never forget it. Yeah....try that when you're supremely intoxicated and see if it works - that's what last night was like. Putting on Olbas Oil and Cocoa Butter before bed, to assist with the peripheral neuropathy actually does help, unfortunately not for the entire night. the one thing it DOES do, is allow you to skate across any hardwood floor, in bare feet! Now try and do that while on Ambien - keeping your balance on the way to the bathroom, walking slowly so as not to enhance the skating effect! I was able to make it to the potty with no accidents. At the end of the day, I still woke up three or four times and at the end of my eight hours I had been up for an hour beforehand. I'm hoping that this just takes time. I feel more rested but still don't feel like I got a full night's rest. But let's talk about the Fine Print.
As those of you have been reading for awhile, I started Promoting Global Hair Loss to raise money for The MMRF. But the reason I chose to do that is because the Fine Print on the Cytoxan was INCORRECT! The Fine Print (or maybe it was the doctors) said I could lose my hair in 8-10 days. I think it happened to me after day 13 or 15 - bottom line, it was not something I was expecting. I had thought it was past and it wasn't and that's a demotivating factor. As you can tell, it was simply a speed bump in the road of life and I've gotten over it and raised around $55,000 in the process. So now, I've taken to making sure I read the fine print and ask relevant questions so I can understand what may occur, when and set my expectations appropriately. Everyone sees the Viagra commercials, or any other AstraZeneca/Pfizer make your life better drug commercials where they are required to state all the side effects. I'll send a MMRF bracelet to the first person that can list 3 of the side effects mentioned in the viagra commercial (except for the erection lasting longer than 4 hours which is the only one EVERYONE seems to remember) but you can't go youtube or look it up on google - this has to be from memory and I WILL KNOW!
Which brings me to the Ambien - have YOU read the potential side effects? I'm not sure if I can appropriately set my expectations for this one. And I quote,
"Rarely, after taking this drug, people have gotten out of bed and driven vehicles while not fully awake ("sleep-driving). People have also sleepwalked, prepared/eaten food, made phone calls, or had sex while not fully awake. Often, these people do not remember these events. This problem can be dangerous to you and others." END QUOTE
"Uhm, honey, I apologize, I really wasn't aware of what was going on, it was the drugs, honest....I'll never make you a peanut butter and mayonnaise sandwich again!" :)
I was going to end it there but saw this in Wikipedia:
Some users have reported unexplained sleepwalking[14][original research?] while using zolpidem, as well as sleep driving, binge eating while asleep, and performing other daily tasks while sleeping. Research by Australia's National Prescribing Service found these events occur mostly after the first dose taken, or within a few days of starting therapy.[15] Rare reports of sexual parasomnia episodes related to zolpidem intake have also been reported.[16] Sleepwalkers can sometimes perform these tasks as normally as they might if they were awake. They can sometimes carry on complex conversations and respond appropriately to questions or statements, so much so that observers may believe them to be awake. This is in contrast to "typical" sleep talking, which can usually be identified easily and is characterised by incoherent speech that often has no relevance to the situation or that is so disorganised as to be completely unintelligible.
Figures the Australian's were the first to document the 'sexual parasomnia' effect. I can see myself carrying on complex conversations and responding appropriately without any knowledge or foresight of doing so. Heck, that happens all the time with me - and I can't always blame the chemo (thought I'm doing so now!)
Enjoy the read and enjoy the Fine Print!
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