I went through a year of being unable to sleep, and my doctor prescribed Ambien. I hated the idea of taking sleeping pills, and so I cut each pill in half so I’d only take a half-dose at a time. As a result I was able to get some sleep occasionally. My year of taking Ambien was an eye-opener - which is paradoxical since it’s supposed to be an eye-closer. (Sorry - weak attempt at humor). The sleep carried a price, though.
I remember clearly one day attending a  meeting at another school. I pulled into the parking lot and gently brought my car to rest against the car parked facing me. It was like watching a movie in slow motion. I turned to the student teacher who was riding with me, and said something like “Did I hit that car?” She nodded in the affirmative - most likely thinking I’d been hitting the sauce a little early in the day. That night - horrified that I’d been so foggy and certainly hadn’t set a professional example for my student teacher - I took each half-pill and cut it in half. I was down to taking 1/4 pill each night. I was still a walking zombie often during the day.  After a few days, I stopped taking them altogether. It wasn’t worth the risk.
My sleeping problem was solved shortly afterwards when the snorer and I parted ways, and I’ve slept wonderfully chemical-free ever since.
My point is that if Patrick Kennedy was taking Ambien - especially if he’d been taking it long term and in full or increased doses - he most likely DID have no recollection of what happened that night. It’s powerful stuff.
Others posting on this topic: My Vast Right Wing Conspiracy,  Michelle Malkin, The Liberal Wrong Wing, Scared Monkeys, RightWinged, Wonkette, The Radio Equalizer, Stuck on Stupid, Wiz Bang, Sister Toldjah
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May 6th, 2006 at 11:47 am
lmao wow nice try. you do know his daddy murderd a woman years ago. so like daddy like son all liars.
May 6th, 2006 at 1:32 pm
Ah Wally - I would NEVER be on the side of Ted Kennedy or one of his offspring. Ted Kennedy is a liar and an idiot. I was just making a comment about my personal experience with the effects of Ambien. It seems that Ambien is the least of Patrick Kennedy’s problems.
May 6th, 2006 at 3:10 pm
Let us not blame Patrick for Ted’s mistakes.
May 6th, 2006 at 3:11 pm
I took Ambien for over a year…and oh yeah it would cause the type of blackouts reported. Without a doubt.
May 6th, 2006 at 3:14 pm
While I agree that Ambien has apparent side effects, Mr. Kennedy (Patrick, not Fat Teddy) issued a statement the next morning (before his rehab speech) that went into great detail about the accident before his attorneys received a copy of the official police report.
I do not doubt that Ambien probably had some effect on his accident, but it had nothing to do with his selective memory of the incident.
May 6th, 2006 at 3:28 pm
Interesting that Ambien is having such similar side effects to Halcion. This post of mine from a while back reflects on my adventures with Halcion — at least, those I remember. http://bannedbreed.blogspot.com/2006/02/are-prescription-drugs-only-answer-i.html
May 6th, 2006 at 5:21 pm
“It seems that Ambien is the least of Patrick Kennedy’s problems.”
Ambien had nothing to do with this accident… It was part of his second statement, after the face saving Kennedy’s had decided what angle to go with. Also notice how he said:
“and Ambien, which was also prescribed by the Attending Physician some time ago and I occasionally take to fall asleep. Some time around 2:45am, I drove the few blocks”
He knows that he can’t say “prescribed…..some time back”. This is obviously because it wasn’t prescribed recently, and he was probably not supposed to be taking it, but he needed some kind of excuse, so he made up this lie. Ambien had nothing to do with anything, but it all owed him tan excuse. Sounds to me like he had been drinking, but this was supposed to be his “legit” excuse for his behavior. As I mention in my most recent post, notice the gap in the statement…. I took some pills (gap), some time around 2:45 am I drove…” Wait, what happened in between? Did you try to sleep, what was going on? Oh yeah, you don’t say because you were out drinking and you would be totally busted in a huge cooked ukp lie if you were to actually say that… alright, I’m bored
May 6th, 2006 at 7:12 pm
Kennedys and car accidents…a family tradition.
May 6th, 2006 at 8:16 pm
Ambien is ADDICTIVE; you’re not supposed to take it more than 10 days. With proper use, it’s not supposed to have any of these grim side effects… if it does, then, just like any other med, the doctor is supposed to take you off of it. Any doctor who prescribes for longer than that, or fails to follow up to check for bad side effects of this powerful drug, should be sued.
Omni
May 6th, 2006 at 9:24 pm
I’m not getting into the whole deal because I have no idea, but I just wanted to say I usually just read blogs for kicks. I subscribed to your’s for the intellectual content, and will look forward to reading more.
May 6th, 2006 at 10:21 pm
Omni, there would sure be a lot of doctors who should be sued then. I’ve talked to many people who have taken prescription sleeping pills (Ambien and others) for a year or more.
May 7th, 2006 at 12:23 am
Our friend Lana totalled her car while on ambien - and didn’t remember leaving the house. And she wasn’t supposed to be driving. She doesn’t remember the accident, either.
May 7th, 2006 at 8:30 pm
I had no idea just how bad the side effects of Ambion could be, Carol. I’ve read some reports in the newspaper–but I guess I just didn’t realize how bad it could affect behavior. I’m glad your parking lot accident was minor. It’s scary to think of what could have happened!
May 7th, 2006 at 9:29 pm
To Whom it May Concern…
I have just returned from the Great Southwestern United States.
After 12 hours of driving, flying, shuttling, turning in rented cars, checking out of hotels, sitting crammed in a seat between two other people on a full plane, lugging luggage around, et…
May 8th, 2006 at 3:32 pm
Disclaimer: I cannot think of a Kennedy (of the famous political clan) alive today (well, if one can count the brain-and-morally-dead Teddy as “alive”) that the world would not be better off without. A garden on the moon is the best place I can think of for the whole clan. Well that or a tanning parlor on the sun.
BUT, as Jerry Pournelle’s wife, Roberta, pointed out, Patrick K’s health/behavioral signs may well (likely do) point to a wider array of health issues than just drug problems. She mentioned the striking similarity of some of his issues to celiac disease, for one.
(N.B.–the Pournelles’ genuine conservative credentials exceed those of Ronald reagan, IMO, so she certainly has no axe to grind FOR Kennedy.)
My take? I’ll wait until more information is in before slamming the guy, no matter how wrongheaded or even evil I believe his politics or personal morality may be. Of course, he does, in his public statements, exhibit all the classice signs of a druggie who’s been exposed hiding from his true responsibilities, verbally dodging, weaving and ducking, and alla that. But drugs may not be the whole story at all.
more data, please.
:-)
August 22nd, 2008 at 7:34 pm
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