Oh boy. Looks like the widely advertised and popular sleep drug Ambien has a strange side effect that makes people eat while they’re asleep. Unfortunately it also makes them eat in appropriate things, attempt to drive to the fast food place sleeping, and even try to cook and prepare food all while sound asleep. Oddly enough, the manufacturer admits they knew about it.
CBS News: As sleep disorders go, it’s one of the more bizarre, observes CBS News Correspondent John Blackstone.
He says Dr. Mark Mahowald and other sleep researchers have discovered that nocturnal eating may be a side effect of the popular sleep medication, Ambien.
That comes on the heels of reports that some Ambien users may drive while sleeping.
Mahowald, who’s medical director of the Minnesota Regional Sleep Disorders Center in Minneapolis, tells Blackstone, “We’ve had people eat very inappropriate things that they would never eat while awake. Some example would be buttered cigarettes, salt sandwiches, raw bacon.”