By: Eric Dunbar
Submitted: 2010-09-08 20:22:38 | Word Count: 1017
It is not just illegal drugs that cause a prospective danger to one’s life; prescription drugs can sometimes be just as deadly. Today I had an encounter that I will by no means forget, and I must say that I am fortunate to be alive.
Saturday, March 27, 2010 started out as smooth as any other morning. I started my morning with a cup of coffee while I checked my email, a custom that I do just about each and every morning. Everything was normal that is until I'd driven about 20 miles from my house. What occurred next is a real testament to the angel or angels that watch over me.
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It all began at 5:30 that calm Saturday morning as I was driving to Dallas. To get to Dallas from Fort Worth I have to traverse three serious highways—Interstate 830, Texas State Highway 121 and Interstate 635. On Highway 121 there is road construction for about the last four miles before my exit to merge on to I-635. I was traveling in the left lane when I began to merge over three lanes of traffic to my exit. I had successfully merged two lanes and somehow I failed to continue merging and I missed the exit altogether.
A few minutes afterward I noted that I was on DFW Airport Property, bewildered and delirious, I had no idea of how I got there. I was in front of a guard shed where two people, one standing and one sitting, were looking at me as though they were puzzled at what they saw. Not to mention there were cars behind me, all blowing their horns. It was like a dream and I didn’t know what I was doing there. I reached for my wallet as if to pay the person sitting in the guard shack, but he stopped me short of pulling out my wallet and said, “Just take the receipt man.”
I do not recollect if I took the ticket or not. The next thing I recall was sitting on the shoulder of the Interstate, fumbling through my cell phone looking for my wife’s cell phone number to call her. My first notion was that I had a stroke.
Finally I got through to my wife and I told her that I was bewildered and that I thought I had a stroke. Just then, I looked up and in plain view in front of me was a sign that read, “Fort Worth exit 1 mile”.
“I’m not lost any more”, I said to my wife, “I’m coming home,” and then I hung the phone up.
I do not remember driving home, nor do I remember even turning into my subdivision. I only recall seeing my wife standing on the lawn next to the driveway as I backed my car in. I do remember the worried look on her face as she assisted me out of the car; I slowly walked upstairs and got in the bed.
I do not recollect anything of what occurred after that, I only have my wife’s version of the account; this is what she said:
After seeing that there was something else wrong with me besides sleepiness my wife awakened me. I asked, “Where are we going?” “To the hospital,” she answered. She put my shoes on, I took them off; she buttoned my shirt, I unbuttoned it and lay back down on the bed and went to sleep.
Her perseverance paid off and she rushed me over to the hospital where I was without delay admitted under the pretense that I’d had a stroke. I underwent an EKG, MRI CAT scan and I was given a heart monitor to monitor my heart activity.
After pre-examination, it was first believed that I had a Transient Ischemic Attack (TIA) or a mini stroke. TIA may be a warning signal before a stroke occurs. A stroke is like a TIA but, a stroke may cause lasting damage to the body. TIA takes place when blood flow to the brain is decreased. When this happens, oxygen going to the brain is also decreased. TIA may lead to loss of certain body functions controlled by the part of the brain affected by the TIA. The effects of a TIA last for a few minutes to an hour. All effects are gone in less than 24 hours and do not cause lasting injury to the brain or body. TIS is brought on by high blood pressure or diabetes. Other causes may be high amounts of cholesterol (fat) in the blood or smoking.
When the results of my MRI CAT scan were studied it was determined that I did not have TIA or a stroke. What I had experienced was one of the side effects of a medicine called Zolpidem which is another form of Ambien. Zolpidem is approved for sleeplessness.
The Medicine Data Sheet states that someone taking Zolpidem can experience sleep walking if a full eight or more hours of sleep are not achieved when taking Zolpidem. The doctors all agreed that I had experienced a serious case of sleep walking, or sleep driving even though I had been awake for more than one and a half hours prior to this episode .
My brain was still performing normal bodily functions but the part of the brain responsible for recollection was disabled, therefore I do not remember a thing. For me, it was one of the scariest experiences of my life.
Before taking medication, be sure to meticulously read the Medicine Data Sheet, and get to know your prescription drugs. It may save your life.
Author Resource:-
Eric Dunbar is the owner and editor of Golden Entrepreneur, where you will find outstanding resources to help the online entrepreneur excel in business. Eric Dunbar is also the author of THE FACE OF A DEMON, referred to by many as “The Recovering Addict’s Handbook”, and editor of X-JOURNAL Blog
