How can a person eat anything by accident? AMBIEN!

I've been taking it 7 or 8 years with no crazy behavior since the very beginning. Now, since surgery, it's hitting me hard again. I am confused since my absorption should not not have changed.

After my first grey-out (black outs that I semi remember) two nights after coming home, I have been cutting my Ambien in half and taking them after I go to bed. Well, last night, I got up and ate a bowl of potato chips. I kind of remember doing it. I have no idea if I chewed them thoroughly or not.

I don't want to give up Ambien because it's the only way I have ever had a nights' sleep. Even so, I can't let it cause damage to my new sleeve. I'm worried now that I have caused a leak or some other permanent problem.

I would say you're ok in the leak department, because chips crunch down to a smaller bulk and get mushy in the stomach. My worry is that if this is a common behavior, you could easily overeat your sleeve and make yourself very physically ill.... and if you were sleeping when your sleeve dumps the excess food... omg. I mean this in the most concerned and kind way possible...I might try a different sleep aid if this is a common side effect to the Ambien for you. I had a roommate who would sleepwalk and eat on Ambien. It was a basis for her whole weight problem, because sometimes she would eat a whole cake in a night. When she changed meds, she lost much of her excess weight naturally.

How are you sleeping on half an Ambien? If well, maybe you can take it down to a quarter?

You may not have been sleeping well because of your weight, so I wouldn't be surprised if you find that you can sleep okay without the "help" of sleep aids when you've lost some weight. Something to keep in mind as the weight comes off.

My worry is that if this is a common behavior, you could easily overeat your sleeve and make yourself very physically ill.... and if you were sleeping when your sleeve dumps the excess food... omg.

This is something I had not even thought about. It's scary. It's also scary that I could sabotage my own weight loss in a semi comatose state.

I am going to only take a quarter of a pill tonight. I also told my husband what happened and he will go after me if I leave the bedroom.

Just wondering if anyone else takes Ambien and has had this experience? I mean after taking it for years with no problems and now suddenly acting up? I guess I am hopes of hearing that it's temporary.

It is kinds scary! I know if I eat even a bite too much, I puke. Instantly. It's bad. I'm 3 weeks out, and I'm assuming its going to be like that for awhile. Hopefully your sleeve won't be as touchy as mine, but I would still try to prevent this from happening again. There are too many possibly bad scenarios attached to that.

I haven't puked at all yet, not even in the hospital. I'd love to keep it that way. My paperwork says to never put more than 3-4 tablespoons of anything in your sleeve and keep it down to under 1 tablespoon out of paranoia and fullness.

Thankfully chips are a slider food for most so unless you ate the whole bag the likelyhood of dumping in your sleep is probably pretty slim. The down side is that chips are LOADED with fat, calories, and carbs so you're basically liquid for the entire next day to make up for it. I'd talk to your doc to see if there are any alternatives.

Wow, scary stuff. Be glad it was chips and not something like carrots or dense bread, I guess.

BTW, hubby? Sorry, you look about 8 in your avatar pic.

I'm not sleeved, but I can speak from experience with the Ambien. I have the lapband currently. At the beginning of my weight loss, I was taking Ambien. I had an experience that made me throw them all out. I took one before bed as I normally would. I remember telling my husband goodnight. The next morning, my husband explained that I fell (collapsed really), and fought him while he tried to get me back into bed. I "sort of" remember the fighting (arguing really) in a hazy way. Can you imagine if I decided to drive or anything else during that haze? I have read about people cooking and doing other similar things and not remembering it while taking Ambien. If you still have issues taking a quarter of a pill, you really want to speak with your doctor about possibly taking something else.

I don't take it but my mom has for years. She almost burned her house down turning on the stove to "cook" in her sleeve & has sleep eaten entire bags of food. She also woke up one morning w/ a bottle of sake that had been sealed shut still open w/ some gone.....which we thought was quite funny actually because she isn't much of q drinker so who knows what she was doing lol. But it can be scary. I also have a friend who quit taking it because she gained 30 lbs over a year of sleep eating & she was a tiny girl so it really showed. She gave it up for good when she woke up to multuple bags from Walgreens where she'd driven & bought over $200 worth of junk. Scary!!

I have a horrible time sleeping & I take alprazalam. I took ambien for my sleep study & it didn't even work!! Alprazolam knocks me out in about 15min. OUT. I take 2 of them. They are meant to stop anxiety but I only take them to sleep. Maybe look onto that.or another option. I tried seroquel which is pretty hardcore, but it is another option. Good luck!! Not sleeping is the worst!!

sleep eating??? Too freaky!!!! Sleep shopping?????

I used to get annoyed that I fell asleep before my head hit the pillow, but after talking with insomniacs I find that I am blessed.

BTW, hubby? Sorry, you look about 8 in your avatar pic.

Haha, thanks! I am 48!! I just took that pic a few weeks ago, kind of as a joke for facebook. I was making fun of all the young people because they all have "bathroom mirror" profile pictures.

All four of my kids are grown and now I have 4 grandchildren so far.

How can a person eat anything by accident? AMBIEN!

I've been taking it 7 or 8 years with no crazy behavior since the very beginning. Now, since surgery, it's hitting me hard again. I am confused since my absorption should not not have changed.

After my first grey-out (black outs that I semi remember) two nights after coming home, I have been cutting my Ambien in half and taking them after I go to bed. Well, last night, I got up and ate a bowl of potato chips. I kind of remember doing it. I have no idea if I chewed them thoroughly or not.

I don't want to give up Ambien because it's the only way I have ever had a nights' sleep. Even so, I can't let it cause damage to my new sleeve. I'm worried now that I have caused a leak or some other permanent problem.

Is there any way you can at least give up Ambien for a few weeks until your sutures have a chance to heal? The reasoning behind full liquids for a few weeks is that little food particles can get stuck in the suture areas.

Hugs!! I hope you can get this figured out. That's quite an ordeal... It might be a good idea to consult both your surgeon and the Dr who prescribed the Ambien to you for guidance.

maybe no more chips or bad foods in the house would be a good thing too.

maybe no more chips or bad foods in the house would be a good thing too.

If I lived by myself, that would be the case. I live with my husband two grown sons who buy whatever they please. It really doesn't matter anyway since, when on Ambien, people are not too choosy about what they eat. I would have eaten anything that was there.

My biggest concern was injuring my sleeve with solid food when I am supposed to be on liquids still.

I'm still confused about my apparent change in absorption with the sleeve. I'm going to talk to my PCP about other sleep aids that have been mentioned above.