When you are two-timing your wife and the number of women involved hits double digits, you're on your own, Jack. Unfortunately salacious material is like catnip for the media and one important detail got overlooked in the frenzy. Consequently, there is a bombshell the media has missed.
When I say "bombshell", I'm not talking about bimbos. I'm talking about billions. I'm not interested in stories about people I will never meet, but I am interested in stories that could affect people near and dear to me. So should you.
UPDATE:
Guess what? RIGHT HERE in the comments, with a limited sample of readers, we have at least THREE adverse reaction reports of similar behavior. Here's one. Here's another. And yet, another.
I was never comfortable with the original story because it didn't make sense. Something was missing. Once I show you what that was, it will make perfect sense. Then you will see why the media is reluctant to chase it.
Here's a summary of the original story:
About 2 AM, Tiger Woods crashes his car into a fire hydrant then a tree. His wife breaks the window with a gulf club to extricate him from the car. Neighbors report Woods was snoring on the lawn when police arrived. The police inspect the scene. Tiger Woods declines to talk with them so they leave.
Then we start finding about all the women... people start chasing skirt like nobody's business and that's where all the attention goes.
But back up a second. What the hell happened that caused the police to come out, in the first place? The official report was the accident was not alcohol related. The guy was clearly impaired by something. In spite of that, the cops just let it go? Fame gets you only so far.
The original story was the wife used the golf club to smash the window to "extricate" Woods from the car? That's bizarre. But once you hear about his extra-marital dalliances, this starts to sounds more like a domestic disupte issue than anything else. Why would the police ignore that? Fame gets you only so far.
Amidst all the noise, we learn Woods was admitted to the hospital for a drug overdose. One symptom, trouble breathing. What did he overdose on? Good question. However, he had legitimate prescriptions for Vicodin and Ambien. Ambien? Oh dear. Now everything makes perfect sense.
As it turns out there are two forms of Ambien. Ambien and Ambien CR. Ambien puts you to sleep quickly. Ambien CR keeps you asleep. Here's what the manufacturer says about Ambien CR in their own TV commercial:
When taking Ambien CR don't drive or operate machinery.
(makes sense)
Sleepwalking, eating or driving while not fully awake with memory loss
for the event,
(did they driving?)
as well as abnormal behavior such as being more outgoing, or aggressive than normal, confusion, agitation, and hallucinations may occur.
(hallucinations?)
Don't take it with alcohol as it may increase these behaviors.
(what about Vicodin?)
Allergic reactions such as shortness of breath, swelling of your tongue or throat, may occur and in rare cases may be fatal.
(would that lead to difficulty breathing?)
Side effects may include next day drowsiness, dizziness, and headache.
In patients with depression, worsening of depression including risk of suicide may occur.
(that's not a good night's sleep, that's the Big Sleep.)
A quick Google shows there are lots of stories about bizarre behavior by people taking Ambien. One woman painted her door while she was asleep. One woman drove herself and her child to get ice cream while she was asleep. One person set her kitchen on fire because she was cooking while she was asleep. A guy in Australia sleepwalked to his death when he walked off the balcony of his high-rise apartment. The list goes on and on. These aren't isolated incidences. A common problem for the elderly (who take a lot of these drugs for insomnia) is people on Ambien get up and take more while they are sleeping. Elderly sleepwalkers have gotten seriously injured as a result. Broken arms and broken hips commonly occur when elderly patients go sleepwalking.
There is an emerging pattern of adverse reaction reporting that looks every bit as bad as what is seen for benzodiazapines and opiates. Those are the types of drugs Ambien was designed to replace. The difference here is the bizarre behavior that occurs while people are asleep.
It turns out there is at least one strange quality to the sleepwalking seen in people under the influence of Ambien. They can carry on conversations. People on Ambien have made cell phone calls and carried on completely lucid conversations in their sleep.
Ambien is very addictive. That is why the original form is meant for short-term use. However, Ambien CR, which is also highly addictive gets used for longer periods of time. You can't just stop taking Ambien if you are addicted because you risk triggering seizures. You have to taper off the drug. To make matters worse, Ambien's activity is potentiated by Vicodin, another addictive drug.
Sleep aids are big business. The total market in 2007 was about $23 billion in the US. Prescription drugs accounted for about 10 to 15 percent of that market. About 25 million prescriptions were filled for Ambien last year. It's what pharmaceuticals call a "blockbuster" drug. It dominates the market. We are looking at billions of dollars in sales just in the US. What do drug companies do with all that money? They advertise. The manufacturers of the hot selling prescription sleep aids Lunesta, Ambien and Rozerem spent about $600 million in advertising last year.
When I saw the Ambien CR ad on my TV, it was during the Colbert Report. Listening to the voice over describe the side effects while pretty images of happy people played across the screen, I thought it was part of the show. It wasn't.
If you know anyone -- especially an elderly person -- who is taking Ambien, they need to know about these serious side effects.