Record prescription levels for a common sleeping pill could be due to misuse by Brits wanting wild sex, experts warned today.
Zolpidem prescriptions this year hit the highest level since records began in 2018 — with 58,000 doses dished out in March.
For years Z-drugs like zolpidem, better known by its brand name Ambien, have been touted as a user-friendly alternative to older and notoriously addictive tranquillisers.
But up to one in 100 users of the drug will experience strange ‘sleep-related behaviours’ like sleepwalking or having sex without being fully aware, it is estimated.
Thousands of Ambien users have also shared their experiences of drug-induced sex on online forums labelling it the ‘best sex they’ve ever had’ and crediting the sleeping pill with allowing them to ‘do things I would be too scared to do normally’.
Despite calls for a crackdown NHS data shows the number of prescriptions for powerful hypnotics have barely shifted over the past five years
For years Z-drugs like Zolpidem, better known as Ambien, have been touted as a user-friendly alternative to older and notoriously addictive tranquillisers. But up to one in 100 users of the drug will experience strange ‘sleep-related behaviours’ like sleepwalking or having sex without being fully aware while taking the drug, it is estimated
Experts however have warned the drug is ‘strong medication’ and must only be used by those experiencing ‘distressing sleep behaviours’.
Nuno Albuquerque, Head of Treatment for the UK Addiction Treatment Group told MailOnline: ‘It is absolutely plausible that the rise in prescriptions of zolpidem could be related to the outcome that for some, its use enhances a person’s sex drive and/or sexual experiences.
‘This of course won’t be the case for everyone, but it is, anecdotally, something we have discussed with zolpidem clients during their treatment programmes.
‘Our advice to anyone with regards to prescription drugs is to only take them when prescribed and only as prescribed.
‘Zolpidem is a strong medication and should only be used in the short term and only by those who are experiencing distressing sleep behaviours.’
The side effect is famous for its association with celebrity fiascos.
Golfing icon Tiger Woods was reported to have taken the same drug to spice up his sex life with one of his alleged mistresses, Rachel Uchitel, in 2009.
A source close to her claimed Ms Uchitel reportedly told friends: ‘You know you have crazier sex on Ambien, you get into that Ambien haze.’
She added: ‘We have crazy Ambien sex.’
And the phenomenon has become so common that forum users are sharing their experiences of using Ambien specifically for sex in online chatrooms.
In a Reddit group with over 147,000 members, one user wrote: ‘Every time I get my Ambien prescription my partner and I set a dose or two aside for us to use recreationally.’
Each occasion is the ‘best sex we’ve ever had’, they added.
‘Anyone else get this on Ambien? It’s just interesting to me I don’t think I expected Ambien to make me so horny like that.’
In a separate thread titled ‘I can only have sex on Ambien’, a user said: ‘I’ll take my Ambien and my brain is quiet and lucid.’
They added: ‘We have messy but good sex that costs us sleep cause we should sleep. Ambien sex is good. I love it.
‘But I also want to have normal sex again. I can’t get out of my head or make my body respond.’
On another group, a Reddit member asked: ‘Sex on Ambien? Anyone has tried and has thoughts or tips? Considering trying it soon with both me and my partner taking 20mg and alcohol.’
One user responded: ‘Omg, I love sex on Ambien, it let’s me do things I would be too scared to do normally.’
A second said: ‘My husband said it was great, but I only vaguely remember it.’
But a third cautioned: ‘Watch out with the alcohol also makes you hallucinate hard.’
Another also warned: ‘Don’t do alcohol with that dose.’
This map shows the number of hypnotic prescriptions dished out by England’s GPs in England by NHS area, red shaded regions indicate the highest level of sleeping pills being dished out
The NHS advises anyone taking the drug: ‘Do not drink alcohol while you’re on zolpidem.’
It adds: ‘Having them together can make you go into a deep sleep where you find it difficult to wake up.’
Studies have also shown when mixing both drugs together, they can drastically slow the central nervous system and impacting how it functions.
Staying up and experiencing such side effects has become known on internet forums as the ‘Ambien Walrus.’
Sleep blog Van Winkles said: ‘When [Ambien] works as intended, the user is like a lump, but when it exhibits its adverse effects, the user is driven to sleepwalk, shuffling around awkwardly as a walrus would flipper across an ice floe.’
Van Winkles added: ‘If Walrus happens to share a bed with someone, it may get amorous with that person.’
An increase in arousal is not listed as a side effect of Ambien, but ‘lack or loss of self-control’ is.
The health service also warns anyone experiencing symptoms including memory loss or seeing or hearing things that are not real, however, to stop taking zolpidem and call a doctor or call 111 as soon as possible.
Zolpidem enters the gut, passes into the bloodstream and interacts with the benzodiazepine binding site on the gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) receptor complex.
In doing so, it increases GABA activity. GABA is a neurotransmitter — a chemical — that inhibits certain types of brain activity.
Through its actions on the GABA system, zolpidem increases brain inhibition and calms nerve excitability in the brain to help induce sleep.
If the action of GABA in the brain is boosted, then sleep is improved.
But the risks of the medication have long been known by medical bodies.
In 2014, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), which polices the safety of medicines in the UK, issued a drug safety update warning of the risk of drowsiness and reduced driving ability when taking zolpidem.
To reduce this risk, it advised patients not to drive, operate machinery, or work at heights until at least 8 hours after taking zolpidem.
It also warned patients not to take zolpidem with alcohol, illicit drugs, or other central nervous system suppressants and not to drive, operate machinery or work at heights if they are still drowsy after taking Zolpidem.
It came just a year after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which polices the safety of drugs in the US, ordered Sanofi-Aventis, the manufacturers of Ambien and Ambien CR, and all other manufacturers of zolpidem to change their dosage recommendations.
This was in response to over 700 reports of zolpidem-related driving accidents, including drowsy driving and sleep driving — patients getting out of bed while not fully awake and driving.
The side effect is famous for its association with celebrity fiascos. Golfing icon Tiger Woods’ was claimed to have taken the same drug to spice up his sex life with one of his alleged mistresses, Rachel Uchitel, in 2009. Speaking to a US website, she reportedly told friends: ‘You know you have crazier sex on Ambien, you get into that Ambien haze’
People also reported eating, walking, making phone calls, or having sex after taking Ambien and having no memory of doing so.
The drug’s label now refers to the risk of ‘preparing and eating food, making phone calls, or having sex.’
It also marked the first and only time a drug was put under an FDA-mandated sex-specific dosing regime in the United States.
Under its updated 2013 guidance, the FDA recommended that women take half the dose of men, citing new data on women’s higher risk for next-day cognitive impairment that posed dangers for activities like driving.
At the time, Jean Pierre Kaplan, who co-invented the drug that became known as Ambien, described zolpidem as a ‘professional disaster.’
He added: ‘It’s not lifesaving, it does not treat cancer, it does not treat malaria, it does not treat Alzheimer’s—the most difficult illnesses to treat. Therefore, I call it a comfort drug.’
Dr Hugh Selsick, of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, told MailOnline: ‘Unusual sleep related behaviours are a known side effect of Zolpidem but the majority of patients will not experience them.
‘They can emerge as sleepwalking while at other times a person might engage in the behaviour prior to falling asleep and have no memory of it due to the amnesic effects of the medication.’
He added: ‘We’re not aware of any patients having reported that the drug had a positive effect on their libido but it’s not uncommon for insomnia to reduce sex drive and therefore treating it may lead to a normalisation of a person’s libido.’
Others however have also warned of its dangers as a date rape drug.
In a 2008 review of case reports on complex sleep behaviors associated with Ambien in the medical journal CNS Drugs, the single case of ‘sleep sex’ involved an Ambien taker being raped.
Reports of Ambien-related crimes even include homicide/manslaughter, according to a 2019 review of sleep-related violence, published in Contemporary Reviews in Sleep Medicine.
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