I don't know about you, but when I first heard about Patrick Kennedy's prescription drug excuse for crashing into that barrier, I thought it was highly suspicious to say the least.

But yesterday I learned that almost the same thing happened to my sister last week. She was taking Lunesta, and one night she inexplicably got into her car in the wee hours of the morning and wound up hitting a curb. She wasn't hurt.

She said all she can remember is looking at a clock and seeing that it was 4 a.m., and then seeing an orange traffic cone and then hitting the curb. There was no reason for her to be driving anywhere at the time and she has no idea why she was in the car. In any event it was definitely not for a vote at the capitol.

She was never a big drinker and I don't believe she's had anything to drink in years due to medication she takes.

She will not be taking Lunesta anymore and she said she'll put her keys in a hard-to-get-to place if she uses other sleep-aids.

So the moral of the story is that if you are using one of these sleep-aids, take appropriate precautions.

__________________
Ralph

1985 300D Turbo, CA model
248,650 miles and counting...

Funny that the same people trying to justify his preferential treatment are the very same people arguing that Rush Limbaugh should have gone to jail.

Abd Kennedy almost ran over a cop while Rush didn't.

__________________
Proud owner of ....
1971 280SE W108
1979 300SD W116
1983 300D W123
1975 Ironhead Sportster chopper
1987 GMC 3/4 ton 4X4 Diesel
1989 Honda Civic (Heavily modified)
---------------------
Section 609 MVAC Certified
---------------------
"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." - Friedrich Nietzsche

Ralph,

Sorry to hear about your sister.
I did a (very) little research just now into Lunesta.
It has been on the market since last April or May. Speracor received FDA approval principally on the basis of a 6 month "landmark" study. Then they followed up with another six month study. ( Don't know if it was the same or different group).
Perhaps the long term use of this med.and/or or reaction with other meds. will cause these side effects in certain people.
Scary thought!
Best wishes to your sister.

Are you referring to Rush himself? He's his own worst enemy in this little scandal of his own maing.

But I suppose that he didn't say much about hauling drug users off to jail after he was charged. Just before.

I was hospitalized back in January and one night, I had taken Ambien and had a shot of Phenergan. I slept really well for a bit, then for no reason got up out of bed, started to walk and promptly fell down. The two drugs at the same time will definitely send you reeling....

__________________
TXBill



Former owner of a few diesel MB cars
1998 Lexus ES 300 In Chicago We Trust

Didn't kennedy admit to abuse? I think were a bit beyond adverse drug reaction.

Well I think he said he was checking himself in due to a problem with painkillers. I don't know if they were prescribed or not.

For my sister it seems that it was just an adverse reaction, and what she did is strikingly similar to what Kennedy did. It's quite possible that in the case of my sister it had something to do with the sleep aid in addition to other prescription meds she was taking.

Really I just posted this because I thought it might be helpful to someone someday. I know if it were me, I would not have taken the sleepwalking risk very seriously just based on the Kennedy story.

__________________
Ralph

1985 300D Turbo, CA model
248,650 miles and counting...

I'm tellin' ya -- I'm going to have as limited a relationship with modern pharma drugs as possible. Some of it is way good -- anesthesia, anti-biotics, etc.

But stuff to help me sleep, control anxiety, or get my cholesterol down?

If'n I can't manage those things on my own, might be time to check out anyway.

__________________
1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

Prescribed or whatever abuse is abuse.

Ambien and alcohol cause serious problems. This is starting to come up very frequently in DUI cases in my jurisdiction.

I didn't think the issue was whether he has a substance abuse problem, he's admitted that. The issue is whether he lied about drinking before driving and that sort of thing.

Guess we'll neve know, because the cop didn't perform a field sobriety test or administer a breathalyzer.

THAT FROSTS ME, because the Police WERE going to do it, but calls were made, pressure applied, and the Commanding officer was told not to allow it, and he (Kennedy) was spirited away, safely by the Police, to go home

That isn't the first time this happened with poliiticians, and won't be the last.

This kind of professional courtesy usually extends to LOEs, also, unless the violation is so egregious, like a death, that it can't be covered up

The "Us v Them mentality" is alive and well in LOE community (See officer.com etc.)

I have seen it time and again.

__________________
1991 560 SEC AMG, 199k <---- 300 hp 10:1 ECE euro HV ...

1995 E 420, 170k "The Red Plum" (sold)

2015 BMW 535i xdrive awd Stage 1 DINAN, 6k, <----364 hp

1967 Mercury Cougar, 49k

2013 Jaguar XF, 20k <----340 hp Supercharged, All Wheel Drive (sold)

No argument here--you are exactly right. What I don't get is that is he was so f'up he blacked out and doesn't remember how he got there, but had the wherewithall to pull rank to get him out of going to the tank

well Rush never hurt anyone else or even came close to it....unlike Kennedy who almost ran over a cop and crashed into a barrier , an act that would have gotten ANYONE else a night in jail at least, not a ride home....but not a Kennedy, they are special...the Democrats worship the Kennedy clan like they are some sort of diaty or something. Look what Ted did...murdered a woman drunk driving and what nothing....the other nephew in FL...what happened there, NOTHING, thsi guy CLEARLY DUI (alcohol isn't the only prohibited drug) and he gets a ride home and a whitewash by higherups by refusing to do the legally required toxicology tests.

If that was be I would be spending the night in jail with my back to the corner the entire time with enough blood taken to cause anemia.

__________________
Proud owner of ....
1971 280SE W108
1979 300SD W116
1983 300D W123
1975 Ironhead Sportster chopper
1987 GMC 3/4 ton 4X4 Diesel
1989 Honda Civic (Heavily modified)
---------------------
Section 609 MVAC Certified
---------------------
"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." - Friedrich Nietzsche