Tiger Woods and the Ambien bombshell they aren't chasing. (1 of 3 in a series)

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.