I feel like ******bag of the year

[rbohm]

while i havent taken any sleep meds, i do know someone who has, and she would be out of it for hours. she has been known to come to work in the middle of the night. i also say get to your doctor and see if there is a less aggressive sleep med you can take.

as for your actions, i think they were predicate don the fact that you were woken up too early by your wife and kid in panic. since you were medicated, you didnt take stock of what was going on, rather you did what you needed to do to make sure your family was safe, and i commend that. i see nothing wrong with your actions.

 

[DAVIDSDIVAD]

You've that you had a pretty serious negative reaction to that medication.


Healthcare and Medication is not about side probabilities and satistics, but what you the patient are and are not comfortable with.



I'm a little biased, but I can confidently tell you that you should discuss alternative sleep meds with a pharmacist.
Tell them why (leave out the guns if you want) the side effects ruin any positive health outcomes these meds give you.

 

[Gadzooks Mike]

I'm not equipped to make a determination for you at all. Looks like a lot of good advice has already been given. My opinion though, is this: had it been me being screamed at to wake up with explosions going off outside my front window, I'm not sure I would have reacted any differently. Belay that. I'm not sure I would WANT to react any differently. I'm afraid I'll sleep through something important and wake up dead. But like I said, it's my opinion, not a professional anything. Please do what YOU think you should do. As for me, the worst thing that happened to me in a 20 year AF career was having to put up with a broken typewriter.

You've got lots of friends here. Use them if you need them.

 

[si vis pacem]

I cannot stress enough that Ambien, Lunesta, and sundry sleep aid prescriptions are a recipe for disaster when combined with firearms. I had to take Ambien for about month due to an extremely stressful period of my life, and I have had conversations with family that I do not remember, I have gone shopping and I do not remember the errands, and I have cooked without remembering what happened while on Ambien. Additionally, when something woke me up, I suddenly thought I was in Italy, and I started describing how to navigate through Rome to my wife. Only reason I know of this is because my wife mentioned the next morning about how strangely I was acting earlier.

 

[riverdog]

Where did OneLiveRound say he was on meds/drugs? How did the topic move in that direction?

 

[bigfatdave]

riverdog, in the first post.

 

[CornCod]

Hmmm... My impression is that you were driven along with the panic of your wife and child and you "caught it." A very understandable and human reaction. Humans can get "stampeded" by being spooked just like animals do. I would maybe talk about the medication issues with your doctor, but otherwise I would chauk it up as a learning experience and not worry about it.

 

[JMusic]

This may seem corny but I have learned to control my dreams to know its time to force yourself awake. My first experience was 1 year out of the force diviorce and trying to advance at work. One night I woke up in my new apartment with new noises and watched soomone walk across my room. WAtched it.! I was reaching for a firearm when i reasoned this was a dream.


Jim

 

[riverdog]

Thanks BFD, totally missed the "I take lunesta". I imagine it can effect the normal sleep cycle, but would lunesta have that effect if he just fell asleep on the couch? hmm, don't know anything about Lunesta.

OLR -- Go with the recommendations of those that counseled talks with a professional, such as the Doc who prescribed the drug/hypnotic agent.

 

[Shadow 7D]

I took umbrage with everybody making the PTSD comments, yeah, he was under with meds and woke up to his wife and kid screaming and loud explosions.

I would react without meds, the part that made me think, was his description of the disassociation and difficulty stopping, that could definitely be part of the meds

If you wake up like that, you will have a reflex reaction and execute, so building in a stop, in emergency medicine it's known as "take your own pulse first" is something that I now have to work on.

Other wise, congratulations OneLiveRound, your plan works, and you just learned how well.

 

[Gary K]

Some thoughts from another BTDT kinda guy...

1. Discuss sleep meds with your doc. Long term use is generally not a good idea, they can become addictive (not saying you are... just beware).
2. Call your Military Family Life Coordinator (MFLC). You should be able to get the number from your commander or first sergeant, or militay onesource (or, pm me, and I'll find the number for your local one). MFLCs are trained therapists (with all the requisite papers) who can talk to you one on one, with complete privacy and no trail of having seen a mental health provider if you're worried about that stigma. You can have up to 6 free anonymous sessions, and more if the clinician deems it necessary.
3. Talk with your wife about your trauma. She's your wife, she needs to be involved and know what's going through your head, regardless of whether either of you two like it or not. She can probably help avert issues in the future before they arise if she understands your triggers. This will speed the recovery process, so both of you will be happier sooner too.
4. Consider calling your base's mental health providers or family advocacy office for a PTSD referral and evaluation. It's a medical condition and can be treated (even without using meds). Ignoring it won't necessarily solve it. Broken bones heal on their own over time, but would you seriously consider not getting medical attention to ensure proper and faster bone healing? Same applies with the brain, it's an organ just like other body parts.

BTW, I'm an AF officer, currently in command of a 200 person squadron, and I understand the hesitancy of people to reach out for help (I got schwacked by a rocket back in '07 during the surge). Some folks are afraid of losing clearances, others of potential impacts to carrying weapons. Don't be afraid to get help if you need it. Once the docs get you past the PTSD problem they'll likely close the file and your life will continue like nothing ever happened. As a commander I don't take any negative actions for PTSD unless the member, family, or docs are seriously afraid of something bad happening. Most often my response is "great, I'm glad you self-ID'd so you can solve this... now go work on it and let me know how it goes... in the meantime I'm not doing anything to hinder you or your career so don't worry about it." Please take care of yourself. You've laid your life on the line for us, and we owe it to you to help you get past this. Good luck, brother!

Gary

 

[Spirit 1]

Wow, OneLiveRound, you have many VERY good friends here! Several excellent suggestions. I'd holler at Bikerdoc first, off the record, get a game plan. I don't think your reactions to that crazy situation were really that wrong under the circumstances. I do see that you have some other concerns so it's real good to follow through on that and get things straightened out. You're doing the right thing by getting a second opinion here and being ready to proceed based on the [excellent] answers.

I'm behind you 100% too!

S1

 

[Dravur]

I fall asleep at 11 pm, like clockwork... I sleep like I have been shot, dead to the world. I wake up at 6 am, no alarm clock.

I have the most precise circadian rhythm I have ever seen.

The only problem is, nothing wakes me up. Well, almost nothing. Someone can whisper my name 3 blocks away and I am up and alert. Someone could bomb the house next to me and I woudl sleep through it.

 

[Kingcreek]

the reaction is not surprising with the use of a drug like lunesta. If it were me, I would rather focus on finding the CAUSE of my poor sleep and work on correcting that, vs just drugging the symptom and compounding the problem. the reason for your poor sleep is probably not a lunesta deficiency. I suffered terribly in years past from poor sleep. when I cleaned up my life my sleep problems went away. ie diet, lifestyle, and some emotional baggage.

 

[DAVIDSDIVAD]

, such as the Doc who prescribed the drug/hypnotic agent.

I think talking to a pharmacist first would be more beneficial

 

[llanite]

I have to echo everyone's statements about the lunesta/ambien and other sleep aids classified as hypnotics. My own personal experience was talking my wife through a frankly terrifiying set of auditory hallucinations. She used to work a very high-stress job in a drug rehab clinic and was struggling to leave work at work. She had taken one and then received an emergency phone call from work - she decided to stay awake to respond to the issue on email, but after an hour of writing she had to stop because the bookcases in the office were talking to her... and this is a trained psychologist...

My advice (worth what you paid for it!) is that you consider some way to ween yourself off the sleep aids. If that takes counciling, diet, excercise, or counting sheep - those drugs have some serious side effects to take into consideration. Good luck-

 

[Grey_Mana]

If you would, drop a quick email to the FDA letting them know what happened - [email protected]
Let them know the dose, and how long you've been taking it.

Your doctor might or might not get around to reporting the incident. But either the company (Sepracor) or the FDA need to hear about that type of thing, to be able to track it. Tracking events is the first step toward intelligent policy decisions.

 

[riverdog]

Yeah, let the Federal Drug Administration know you went over the edge with weapons and scared your wife and kids, due to a bad mix of Lunesta and fireworks.

The maker of Lunesta is Sepracor, a pharmaceutical company (BigPharma) and their answer will be to take away your firearms. Lunesta is safe (FDA testing says so, except for those darn side effects they warned you about), but you aren't safe, so you lose your guns. I'd let patient confidentiality protect me and have my doctor file the report, if he feels it necessary.

I don't do drugs, recreational, pharmaceutical or otherwise. YMMV

 

[tobyjones]

The situation described would scare the hell out of me (and my family) No offence is intended to anyone by this statement but medication safety is a little like gun safety. The individual taking the medication has a responsibility to understand the drug that they are taking (kinda like knowing how to safely operate a firearm. This failure to educate is just another problem in our healthcare system. In our nanny state personal responsibility kinda takes a back seat to blaming someone else but I think this is a fundamental issue. Medications are neither good nor bad (some are more effective than others but consider .25 cal vs 45)

When ever you are prescribed a medication read that little sheet that comes with the bottle when you pick it up at the pharmacy. Look the drug up on the internet and see what other people say about it. Side effect are rare but should be watched for. Sleeping pills have helped millions of people with real problems. But you need to understand that the power they have is nothing to be trifled with. (a 22 isn't a very powerful round and Advil isn't the most powerful painkiller but they can both destroy a kidney)

Reporting side effects isn't a bad idea but I think we should all make sure we are doing our part when it comes to safety.

p.s. I am a big fan of Ambien. The big side effect that my wife and I seem to have from it is crazy uninhibited sex.

 

[Shadow 7D]

No the reporting is mostly anonymous, and when has big pharma been to your house to get your guns?

 

[smokey262]

Didn't Bush sign some law a few years ago about vets, mental counseling, and loss of gun rights?

 

[conw]

I know this guy mentioned being a vet, but it seems like people are really playing shrink by diagnosing him with PTSD, etc.

I see lots of people saying "you should NEVER discharge a firearm in an autopilot state"...well, no joking there, but I don't see any real indication that he did so or was going to do so.

Yes, he kinda scared himself/wife, yes, he needs to do some introspection and maybe get counseling if he feels out of control (or maybe the Lunesta caused a drugged reaction and he should think more carefully about drugs+guns).

This story doesn't really make that much sense. Why was the OP's wife yelling at him to get up, if she didn't think anything was wrong? Why was she scared when he responded as if something was wrong? In my life yelling to wake up at night means something is wrong...

 

[Gadzooks Mike]

I'm still trying to find the so-called problem and why the OP feels so bad. He woke up to screaming women and explosions outside his window. What's he supposed to do, drop into the lotus position and meditate? He didn't shoot anyone, didn't threaten anyone, and handled it like the professional he is.

I agree with conwict -

This story doesn't really make that much sense. Why was the OP's wife yelling at him to get up, if she didn't think anything was wrong? Why was she scared when he responded as if something was wrong? In my life yelling to wake up at night means something is wrong...

No kidding!

 

[Pweller]

I am not an expert. Most of what has been said makes sense to me.

I can only add that maybe some exercise would do you good. I find that my sleep is usually bad if I have not exercised in a few days. I believe that without exercise, "your brain is tired but your body isn't".

I know this may sound overly simplistic, in the era of multiple sleeping pills, PTSD, and a variety of other clinical explanations. But the most important thing is that exercise can only help you - there are only good side-effects, and no negative ones. And, exercise is known to help depression.

I think exercise would be a good thing to add to your other treatments and investigations into what happened.

 

[Grey Morel]

Loops can be a good thing. The less you think, the quicker your reaction. You did what you have been trained to do.

The simple fact is that this is how the brain works. As humans, we do what you have described countless times a day. Do you stop and give conscious thought to door knobs every time you are about to enter or exit a room? NO, you already know how to open a door and you do it on "autopilot". We do this for so many things its almost silly.

The REASON we do this is two fold. #1) It frees up a ton of time for us. If we had to think about everything every time we did it, we would never get anything done. #2) it actually helps us stay sane. Thinking about so many things so frequently would likely result in some form of psychosis. its a coping mechanism.

you my friend, when you were living in a combat environment, became so accustom to combat that your brain now views it as a tedious every-day behavior, and has added it to the list of "autopilot" behaviors. That may or may not be a bad thing. Go talk to someone about it, and see what others in your position think.