admin — April 1, 2007, 1:21 am

Ambien Finally to Get Warning Label About Sleep Driving

The Food and Drug Administration finally is getting around to labeling the sleep driving risks for those ingesting sleeping pills:

We have heard from others who have also reported “sleep driving” while under the influence of Ambien. This has finally gotten the attention of the Food and Drug Administration. The agency will require new warnings on prescription sleeping pills like Ambien, Lunesta, Restoril and Rozerem.

But, of course, we are trained that the stuff in small print is unimportant (or at the very least will not happen to us). Sorta scary to think what might happen to someone who gets behind the wheel while sleepy. They may hurt themselves, or they may hurt someone else. It seems to me there has got to be a better way to balance sleep without taking these pills.

admin — , 1:09 am

Forgetting Mother’s Day = Guilt + Bad Sleep!

Last year I forgot to send my mom flowers for Mother’s Day. My step dad called and told me my mother was crying. I was unable to sleep for a few days, and have been trying to make up for it this year by planning for Mother’s Day 2007 in advance.

So far flowers and chocolates are obvious gifts, but I also want to get her a few things that are unique / special. I am thinking about a cool sleeping CD by Dean Raskin, and if I have enough time maybe I will go see her too.

admin — , 12:43 am

Yoga Helps You Sleep Better than Sleeping Pills?

The Telegraph reports about an upcoming research project which aims to show Yoga helps people reach stage IV sleep sooner.

Cutting-edge science is trying to explain how the traditional Indian system of meditation and exercises calms the mind — by mapping changes in the brain during sleep and while awake.

The study will begin soon at Swami Vivekananda Yoga Research Foundation, a deemed university near Bangalore, with support from the Indian Council of Medical Research. It is expected to help treat insomnia among the aged and infirm.

In the US I think we are a bit quick to treat symptoms instead of looking at the issue.

Away from the web I am a bit introverted, and despite being a young male I do not even think of sexual attraction or personal appearance all that much. When I exercise a bunch there is a noticable difference in my appetite (I tend to eat less and healthier) and sexual desire (in a word, more…), etc.

Much of my life is rather sedentary, so I can say that I don’t normally desire sex much unless I am physically inactive

admin — March 15, 2006, 7:37 am

Ambien Sleep Eating & Sleep Driving

Ambien, the popular sleeping drug, has recently been questioned because some users have been sleep driving or binge eating in their sleep.

“Half a loaf of bread would be gone,” Evans says. “I didn’t realize I was doing it.”

She discovered her strange habits after her son was visiting for the weekend.

“He heard something in the kitchen during the night and found me frying eggs and bacon,” she says.

Doctors say this side effect is not uncommon.

“We’ve had people eat buttered cigarettes, and people make salt sandwiches and we’ve had people eat raw bacon,” says Dr. Mark Mahowald of HCMC. Mahowald has spent two years studying the drug.

Evan’s case is even more bizarre because she was in a full body cast, and unable to walk after back surgery. She says her overnight binges caused her to gain about 30 pounds in six weeks.

When we use drugs to make certain aspects of life easier we often unknowingly change other aspects. Life is sorta woven together and when you affect one piece you are going to change other social or psychological bits.

admin — July 9, 2005, 11:34 pm

Sleeping & Ford: a Recurring Issue?

So recently I posted about a crazy kid going without sleep for a stinking Ford, but as you probably know, when you miss out on sleep it eventually catches up with you.

Another Ford fan recently thought he would catch a few winks in his truck, and some random gangsters decided to beat him:

Francisco Galeana, 44, was in a white, 1994 Ford Explorer – with his window rolled down – when he was dragged out and beaten with a beer bottle and a brick, police said.

Moral of the story: Ford is bad for sleeping. Surely that eventually has to weigh heavily on their brand.

admin — , 11:23 pm

Sleep Walking Boring, When Compared to Sleep Climbing

Look, its a bird, its a plane… no, it’s a sleep climber!

Imagine this…One minute you’re fast asleep in bed, deep in dream world, the next you’re curled up on a narrow concrete beam atop a 40 metre high crane with a firefighter on his way up to rescue you!

This was where a 15 year old British girl found herself the other night after one sleep walking venture nearly cost her her life!

the article offers more background on sleep walking:

Sleep walking affects 18% of the population and appears to be more prevalent in children and teenagers.

It affects around 3% of adults and some of the more famous people to suffer with it include Jennifer Aniston who set off her house alarm once while sleep walking.

A legal debate also ensued in the early 90’s after a Queensland man was charged with murder for a crime he claimed was committed in his sleep. A Canadian man was acquitted of murder in 1987 after he drove to his mother-in-laws house and stabbed her to death, in his sleep!

I only remember one sleep walking event in my life. I was in bootcamp in the military and I swore somebody shook me to wake me. I, while sleepwalking, got up in a rage looking for who it was that woke me.

I couldn’t find them and so I went back to what I thought was my bed, but somebody was already in it. So then I went down to what I thought was my bed, but somebody was in it. Finally the watch noticed I was causing problems and lead me back to my bed.

Nobody ever told me about it, and I didn’t know what was going on at that time, but for some reason to this day I vividly remember the sleep walking incident. Usually when you sleep walk you don’t remember.

admin — , 11:15 pm

Trucks Overrated…100 Hours without Sleep for a Stinking FORD

YUCK. Some twit went without sleep for 100 hours to win a Ford:

Student Mark Pious, 20, from Johor, has two reasons to smile — he won a brand-new Ford Ranger XLT 4X2 automatic and a place in Malaysia’s Book of Records for placing his palm on the truck for 100 hours, without sleep!

admin — July 4, 2005, 11:05 am

Bed Bugs? Well Bugs Need Their Sleep Too!

A recent article in Newsday states they believe flies sleep, react to caffiene by sleeping less, and make up for restless periods by sleeping more the following day. They also talk about how mammals die when deprived of REM:

In humans (or our dogs), an EEG (electroencephalogram) can trace the distinctive electrical waves of a sleeping brain. But scientists still don’t know exactly what sleep is for. They do know sleep is essential for life in mammals and birds, all of which sleep and apparently dream. Reptiles sleep, too, though scientists aren’t sure if they dream. Sleep is so important that an animal deprived of it for long enough will eventually die. In fact, animals will also die when deprived of just the dreaming part of sleep, also known as REM (rapid eye movement) sleep.

Until recently they were unsure if reptiles even slept, but isn’t it hard to imagine going without a good night sleep and the occassional siesta?

Sleep is better than sliced bread, as noted in the article:

Sleep clearly recharges the body, but it may exist mainly for the benefit of the brain and nervous system. Scientists say that while we sleep, the brain does its daily cleaning and organizing, erasing inessential memories and consolidating and storing others. After a good night’s sleep, we wake up with a relatively clean slate.

admin — , 10:49 am

Is Your Baby Crying at Night Keeping you Awake? Feel for the Dolphins…

An article about bottlenose dolphins and killer whales states that new mothers go with little sleep for months at a time:

Scientists have discovered that baby bottlenose dolphins do not sleep at all during their first month of life. Their mothers hardly get a moment’s rest, either. They begin to sleep normally again only after several months, as their calves become less active.

The findings surprised scientists because sleep had been thought to be vital both to growing offspring and adults.

The article questions if there is an untapped parallel where more productivity can be gained from the plebian class:

“Their bodies have found a way to cope, offering evidence that sleep isn’t necessary for development, and raising the question of whether humans and other mammals have untapped physiological potential for coping without sleep.”

Surely the US military will pay for some research / testing soon.

admin — , 8:22 am

While You Were Sleeping…

Brutal news related to sleepers worldwide:

What the hell is up with all of that?