The Rock Star Drug Steve Tyler of Aeorosmith took it to sooth an aching foot. He fell off the stage. One Calgary man claimed it made him take a bottle of vodka out of the fridge, down it and drive directly into other cars – all while he was asleep! My patients have woken with […]
Who’s Using All Those Sleeping Pills? (10/3/12)
So Who Is Using Sleeping Pills? Lots of people – especially people not prescribed them. According to the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (reported in the BBC), a full third of adult Britons complain of insomnia. Fully half of these insomniacs take prescription sleeping pills their doctors don’t know about. Thirty percent take them for at least […]
Sleepwalking stops vegetarianism (4/2/12)
Eating in Your Sleep Some people do not eat meat; they will not eat meat. The reasons are many. They range from concern for their own health to concern for the health of the planet, as eight pounds of grain is usually needed to create one pound of meat. Yet even vegetarians of 40 years […]
Is Intermezzo the right kind of sleep medicine? (11/29/11)
Music for the Sleepless, or Disharmony? It’s not every day the FDA approves a new drug – especially a new sleeping pill. Intermezzo is a term that refers to a separate piece that plays in between acts – especially in a musical performance like opera. And now it’s being repositioned to name a “new” kind […]
Booze and sleeping pills – the wrong combination (11/16/11)
Alcohol and Pills for Sleep “Beer and valium, that’s how I sleep. Works every time, a perfect night’s sleep.” So said an actor friend of mine, who often had trouble “coming down” after a play and used this cocktail three or four times a week. Yet often alcohol plus sleeping pills do not “work.” Thirty […]