Funny Sleeping Pills

pop a pill:
and hope it will
calm you down
and make you still.

soon comes slumber!
swift descending!
the brain blacks out--
the mind still thinking.

sleeping, dreaming
waking, doing
which is which?
how came the switch?

your eyelids open
to see the sunrise
and along with it
a small surprise

whilst sleeping well
the night before
you wreaked all hell
with a mighty snore.

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Comment:

1. Ambien, Lunesta -- Heard of them?
   If your answer is no, then you should start paying attention. These are sleeping pills normally prescribed by pharmacists. The US Food and Drug Administration has identified 13 sleeping pills that cause strange behavior.
   



2. Strange? How strange?
   Pretty strange, in fact. You might be curious. So, read this quote:
   
   

   The agency's review was prompted, in part, by queries to it from The New York Times last year, after some users of the most widely prescribed drug, Ambien, started complaining online and to their doctors about unusual reactions ranging from fairly benign sleepwalking episodes to hallucinations, violent outbursts, nocturnal binge eating and — most troubling of all — driving while asleep.
   
   Night eaters said they woke up to find Tostitos and Snickers wrappers in their beds, missing food, kitchen counters covered with flour from baking sprees, and even lighted stoves. Sleep-drivers reported frightening episodes in which they recalled going to bed, but woke up to find they had been arrested roadside in their underwear or nightclothes.
   
   ^{Source: IHT}




3. Sex while sleeping?
   Some people have reported having sex while sleeping. Strange, but it's true, and if you wish to wake up having had sex with certain furniture, go ahead. [link]



4. Further reading
   Here is a list, with entries in no particular order:
   
   
   
   • Dark Side of Sleeping Pills, an online e-book [link]
   
   
   • Consciousness and Sleep -- Lecture notes [link]
   
   
   • Sound and Relaxation Discussion [link]
   
   
   • Sleep @ Wikipedia [link]