first, i had a lady who was begging for a sleeping pill. she said she wasn’t able to sleep for three days and if only she can have  something to help her sleep, she will call me an angel and give me half of her properties in three different countries. just kidding about the properties, but not about being called an angel.

being the good nurse that i am trying to be, i called the doctor. he willingly ordered 5 mg of Ambien after i explained what the patient wanted. i gave the tiny pill, and a few minutes later the patient went to a place i have never been before. she had that little smile on her face that almost melted my heart, so i closed the door and gave her peace.

a few hours later, she was still zonked. and i mean zonked. too zonked, she didn’t even feel that she was now literally swimming in a pool of urine. the supposed rough linen and gown change did not even make her open her eyes. i tried all kinds of stimulation to wake her up, but i failed. aside from the fact that her vitals were within normal limits, she practically looked dead.

i called the doctor. he got a little concerned too and came down to see the patient. when he saw her, he wanted to order a reversing agent. i knew then that it was some serious deep sleep. he called his resident to verify the dose, and the resident, curious about what’s going on, came down as well. the whole time, my heart was just beating so much faster.

the resident, bless his heart, said that he has seen a lot of patients do the exact same thing that my patient did when given the smallest dose of Ambien. he wanted to wait for the effect to wear off and just monitor the patient’s vitals.

after more than 16 hours of sleeping, she finally woke up, unaware of what happened. no one was harmed, but for a minute there, i was terrified she will never see the light of day. the worst part of that fact is: i would totally blame my sorry self for giving her the med.

second, i had a really reasonable patient who was only in for nausea and vomitting. she was only admitted for a work up the next day, but she begged for the mighty Ambien.

about an hour after she took the pill, she was all over the place. literally. i mean, the woman was trying to break the window, saying “the fire is too close, i have to get out of here before i get burned!” she paced restlessly around the room, walked on top of her bed, and just didn’t have even the tiniest sense of reality to keep still. she was not only a handful, but she scared me off like crazy, i almost joined her in trying to break the window.

third, a lot of similar reactions were witnessed by other nurses with their own patients who took Ambien for the first timne.

now, when a doctor orders the little pill, i will try every suggestion i can think of to influence the doctor to change the order. i am pretty sure i get pretty annoying, but i can’t stand being THAT scared anymore. it requires too much adrenaline, and seriously, i want to save whatever amount of adrenaline i have left for other scary situations.

i hope it is clear that i am not trying to discourage anybody from taking Ambien. if it was prescribed by your doctor, or if you have been taking it for a while without any problem, go ahead and keep taking it. what i am suggesting is that if you have NEVER taken Ambien before,  make sure you are not alone the very first time you do take it. nothing major really, but just to stay on the safe side, until you know how you react to it.

take my word for it because i am  telling you, i have seen with my own eyes how some people just get scarily creepy or sleepy just after a very small dose. it is best to have somebody around when you take your first dose. think of it as a friendly nurse advise form me.

as for my patients who never had a sleeping pill and are specifically asking for Ambien, please accept my apologies if your nurse is taking too looonnng. chances are, i am still on the phone trying to change your good doctor’s mind.

as i said, i am just trying to make sure you don’t get crazy or half dead on me at night. honestly, i am too old to be terrified like that.