not now ambien walrus
December 30, 2010 6:30 AM Subscribe
I accidentally took Ambien this morning rather than a thyroid pill. What do I do?
I have a doctor-prescribed PRN ambien script. I have 10 mg pills. I take it 1-2x a week. I took it last night for the first time in a while; no problems.
In the mornings, I take birth control, thyriod medication, and zyrtec. I must have switched either the thyroid pills or thezyrtec with the ambien on accident. I don't usually ahve the ambien out, which means I might not have thought about what bottls i was using.
I took the pills baout an hour ago. I am currently at work. I noticed that something was weird when I couldn't figure out hwo to put mone on my metrocard. Things seem very blurry, and Im confused by things. I can't type very well right now though I usually can; to do so involvse considerable effort. My head feels like it's wwrapped in cotton wool.
-Will this go away? It's 10mg, straight release. If so, where?
-Can I adjuct how I'm feeling - coffee? exercise? food?
-Should I go home? (We are done today at 2 anyway but I have some money management to do before i leave, and I will need my sick leave later in hthe month. But I am not sure if I can do my job like this.)
I have a doctor-prescribed PRN ambien script. I have 10 mg pills. I take it 1-2x a week. I took it last night for the first time in a while; no problems.
In the mornings, I take birth control, thyriod medication, and zyrtec. I must have switched either the thyroid pills or thezyrtec with the ambien on accident. I don't usually ahve the ambien out, which means I might not have thought about what bottls i was using.
I took the pills baout an hour ago. I am currently at work. I noticed that something was weird when I couldn't figure out hwo to put mone on my metrocard. Things seem very blurry, and Im confused by things. I can't type very well right now though I usually can; to do so involvse considerable effort. My head feels like it's wwrapped in cotton wool.
-Will this go away? It's 10mg, straight release. If so, where?
-Can I adjuct how I'm feeling - coffee? exercise? food?
-Should I go home? (We are done today at 2 anyway but I have some money management to do before i leave, and I will need my sick leave later in hthe month. But I am not sure if I can do my job like this.)
Best answer: Go home. Go directly home. Do not pass GO. Do not collect $200.
posted by overeducated_alligator at 6:33 AM on December 30, 2010 [20 favorites]
posted by overeducated_alligator at 6:33 AM on December 30, 2010 [20 favorites]
You need to go home, and you should find someone to take you there.
posted by punchtothehead at 6:33 AM on December 30, 2010 [10 favorites]
posted by punchtothehead at 6:33 AM on December 30, 2010 [10 favorites]
I took am Ambien accidentally once. Coffee and a brisk walk seemed to ameliorate the effects. But don't do anything like drive.
posted by dfriedman at 6:34 AM on December 30, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by dfriedman at 6:34 AM on December 30, 2010 [1 favorite]
For me, Ambien stops making me woozy in about an hour or two. You might just put your head down for a while.
I'd say just take leave. Skip the metro and get a ride if you can.
posted by anti social order at 6:35 AM on December 30, 2010
I'd say just take leave. Skip the metro and get a ride if you can.
posted by anti social order at 6:35 AM on December 30, 2010
How isolated are you at your job? My experience with these sorts of medications = you are basically slightly drunk. You may say things that are a bit off; you'll be a bit louche. Be careful when you have to talk to people.
Your post is...
bottls
ahve
baout
hwo to put mone
hthe
...messy; your work will be about that sloppy, too. You are probably looking at at least a couple of hours of being slightly "drunk."
posted by kmennie at 6:35 AM on December 30, 2010 [3 favorites]
Your post is...
bottls
ahve
baout
hwo to put mone
hthe
...messy; your work will be about that sloppy, too. You are probably looking at at least a couple of hours of being slightly "drunk."
posted by kmennie at 6:35 AM on December 30, 2010 [3 favorites]
I think you should go home, but have someone meet you and help you navigate. Also, if you are at all worried, call your pharmacist or doctor and ask them when the symptoms will wear off or if you need to do anything.
posted by bluefly at 6:36 AM on December 30, 2010
posted by bluefly at 6:36 AM on December 30, 2010
Yeah, don't drive. Get someone to take you home or sleep it off -- Ambien moves out of your system quickly so if you can sleep on someone's office sofa for a couple of hours you should be okay.
Don't do anything of any importance or involving heavy machinery or small machinery or electricity or toxic chemicals or basically thinking of any sort.
posted by A Terrible Llama at 6:37 AM on December 30, 2010
Don't do anything of any importance or involving heavy machinery or small machinery or electricity or toxic chemicals or basically thinking of any sort.
posted by A Terrible Llama at 6:37 AM on December 30, 2010
I will need my sick leave later in hthe month.
The only day left in the month is tomorrow. Have you lost track of what month it is?
If you do go home, you probably shouldn't drive.
posted by Jahaza at 6:37 AM on December 30, 2010 [4 favorites]
The only day left in the month is tomorrow. Have you lost track of what month it is?
If you do go home, you probably shouldn't drive.
posted by Jahaza at 6:37 AM on December 30, 2010 [4 favorites]
And tomorrow, go to the pharmacy and get a pill organizer.
posted by griphus at 6:38 AM on December 30, 2010 [4 favorites]
posted by griphus at 6:38 AM on December 30, 2010 [4 favorites]
If it is relatively easy for you to go home by yourself, go home now. If not, wait it out. (It's slippery outside and you seem disoriented.) I think Ambien's half-life is only 4 hours.
posted by chelseagirl at 6:39 AM on December 30, 2010
posted by chelseagirl at 6:39 AM on December 30, 2010
Best answer: Please, go home. I don't want you messing with anyone's money in this state.
posted by SMPA at 6:39 AM on December 30, 2010
posted by SMPA at 6:39 AM on December 30, 2010
Oh, please go home. One of the last times I took Ambien 10 I fell asleep on the toilet. Another time I had to crawl up the stairs to go to bed. I do not even know how you're typing right now.
Since then I've switched to Ambien 5. One day I took it in the morning by mistake. I had to go home.
posted by Evangeline at 7:30 AM on December 30, 2010
Since then I've switched to Ambien 5. One day I took it in the morning by mistake. I had to go home.
posted by Evangeline at 7:30 AM on December 30, 2010
Response by poster: AAfter throwing up in the gardbage can under my desk, I sent an emial to my department heads (all working from home) and left. Made it okay through the subway and cabbed back to my house. I'm going to sleep now. Thanks, everyone!
posted by quadrilaterals at 8:04 AM on December 30, 2010 [6 favorites]
posted by quadrilaterals at 8:04 AM on December 30, 2010 [6 favorites]
Response by poster: Oh, and for anyone in this situation - coffee + some breakfast made me vomit; a walk did nothing.
posted by quadrilaterals at 8:04 AM on December 30, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by quadrilaterals at 8:04 AM on December 30, 2010 [1 favorite]
I have gotten my thyroid taken out 5 years ago .
All your symptoms are due to the sleep pill. Its ok to miss 1 day of your thyroid pill as long as its only 1 day. Just go home and sleep off the sleep pill .
Just remember to take your thyroid pill tomorrow and you will be ok .
PS I would not suggest taking your thyroid pill today. In my experience taking anything to close to my thyroid pill can make me jittery and forgetfull .
So sleep off the ambien and take thyroid pill tomorrow.
posted by majortom1981 at 8:24 AM on December 30, 2010
All your symptoms are due to the sleep pill. Its ok to miss 1 day of your thyroid pill as long as its only 1 day. Just go home and sleep off the sleep pill .
Just remember to take your thyroid pill tomorrow and you will be ok .
PS I would not suggest taking your thyroid pill today. In my experience taking anything to close to my thyroid pill can make me jittery and forgetfull .
So sleep off the ambien and take thyroid pill tomorrow.
posted by majortom1981 at 8:24 AM on December 30, 2010
I've done this before (Ambien instead of my hypertension pill.) I was fine all day after about three cups of coffee and a lunchtime nap in my car. I don't think it affected me the way you seem to be affected. Go home.
posted by notjustfoxybrown at 9:38 AM on December 30, 2010
posted by notjustfoxybrown at 9:38 AM on December 30, 2010
Best answer: Hope you're feeling better now. For reference, you probably looked visibly high at work this morning, even if you thought you were covering. All the walrus stuff happening inside your head was probably visible on the outside as slurred speech, not walking in straight lines, pinpoint pupils, clumsiness, etc... Obviously the drug has different effects on different people, but this is especially likely based on the state of your typing. Ambien can also induce a degree of amnesia, so you might not have a good memory of this morning (not that you probably want one). See my prior tip on this subject. You might want to send a quick email to any colleagues you saw this morning explaining that you had a medication mixup (no need for any more details) and letting them know you're all fine now.
Also, I'm glad you're alright, but taking the subway home probably wasn't a great move. If this happens to anyone else, try a co-worker or, failing that, at least a taxi. You'd make a pretty easy target for a robbery that out of it, or you could zonk out and wind up someplace far away at a time when you don't have the mental faculties to get yourself back. Or you could collapse somewhere and find yourself on an unnecessary trip to the hospital. Much better to have a direct ride home.
posted by zachlipton at 9:46 AM on December 30, 2010 [3 favorites]
Also, I'm glad you're alright, but taking the subway home probably wasn't a great move. If this happens to anyone else, try a co-worker or, failing that, at least a taxi. You'd make a pretty easy target for a robbery that out of it, or you could zonk out and wind up someplace far away at a time when you don't have the mental faculties to get yourself back. Or you could collapse somewhere and find yourself on an unnecessary trip to the hospital. Much better to have a direct ride home.
posted by zachlipton at 9:46 AM on December 30, 2010 [3 favorites]
A friend of mine used to take Ambien, and it made them solidly drunk before sleep hit. You shouldn't drive, be alone and out, or in a situation where an uninhibited decision could be bad. You also may not remember what you've done while on it.
posted by zippy at 11:05 AM on December 30, 2010
posted by zippy at 11:05 AM on December 30, 2010
(oh, and pointing something out for the benefit of others, the op took an Ambien last night as normal, then a second one in the am, so it's a double-whammy)
posted by zippy at 11:07 AM on December 30, 2010
posted by zippy at 11:07 AM on December 30, 2010
Looks dealt with, but Ambien is a weird drug. It does wildly different things to different people.
The time I tried it (at the recommend dose and at night) the last thing I remember is typing on IM and seeing jungle foliage creeping around my computer screen. It was ater reported that I was typing semi-coherently (much like OP's question) about gorillas and started saying I needed to go to WalMart and got offline. I probably drove to WalMart like that.
Now this might have been fun if I'd had any control, idea what was going on, or memory after the fact, but I didn't. Who knows how I even managed to drive, let alone avoid hurting someone or myself. Good thing it was a WalMart in the middle of the night or else a hallucinating, incoherent teenager might have raised an alarm. No more Ambien for me.
posted by cmoj at 12:00 PM on December 30, 2010
The time I tried it (at the recommend dose and at night) the last thing I remember is typing on IM and seeing jungle foliage creeping around my computer screen. It was ater reported that I was typing semi-coherently (much like OP's question) about gorillas and started saying I needed to go to WalMart and got offline. I probably drove to WalMart like that.
Now this might have been fun if I'd had any control, idea what was going on, or memory after the fact, but I didn't. Who knows how I even managed to drive, let alone avoid hurting someone or myself. Good thing it was a WalMart in the middle of the night or else a hallucinating, incoherent teenager might have raised an alarm. No more Ambien for me.
posted by cmoj at 12:00 PM on December 30, 2010
Response by poster: 7 or so hours post-dosage and a long nap behind me, I am back to normal, if a bit groggy. Now I've learned my lesson about not double-checking the pill bottles before I open them.
posted by quadrilaterals at 12:27 PM on December 30, 2010
posted by quadrilaterals at 12:27 PM on December 30, 2010
cmoj: At least you're not Patrick Kennedy and you didn't crash into the US Capitol...
posted by zachlipton at 5:30 PM on December 30, 2010
posted by zachlipton at 5:30 PM on December 30, 2010
Glad this is resolved, but in retrospect I'd like to give you bonus points for the clever title of your post despite your obviously altered state.
posted by citywolf at 4:23 PM on January 3, 2011
posted by citywolf at 4:23 PM on January 3, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by griphus at 6:33 AM on December 30, 2010 [24 favorites]