I don't really care about the sensationalism of the story as much as..."do you believe what he claims is possible?". My bullshit detector says "fuck no" but....

Because of the sleep issues I have I've wanted to try Ambien, but I've read too many stories of things going wrong. My step-dad used to be on it and he'd get up in the middle of the night and cook. A meal. No memory of it in the morning.

Once he woke up with a very black eye that he did not have when he went to bed. My mom is nearly deaf without her hearing aids and we've always wondered if maybe he went out and got into a bar fight over night. Crazy.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new...dream-wife-dead.html

- Matthew Phelps, 28, was arrested and charged with murder on Friday in Raleigh
- Police say he called 911 and told the operator he woke up from a dream and found his wife stabbed to death in their bedroom
- His wife, Lauren Ashley-Nicole Phelps, 29, was found dead from stab wounds
- During 911 call, he told operator he took more cold medicine then he should have and woke up to find blood all over him and knife on the bed
- He said: 'I can't believe I did this. Oh God. She didn't deserve this. Why?'

I would have to think 'technically' it is possible.

But I highly doubt it.

Wonder if there is any research in this area??

Like you mentioned - some people are known to do crazy stuff while technically asleep.

------------------------------------

I can barely get anything done when I'm awake.
.

There will be more to this story than cough medicine.

The manufacturer of the medicine already came forward stating their testing/studies showed no results of impulsive or violent behavior while taking the medicine.

About as innocent as the likelihood of the cough medicine putting the knife in his hands.

Possible? Yes.

Probable? No.

Stories of Sleep Walking crimes are as old as the notion of sleep walking itself, I bet.

I don't know what the history of such cases are, but this surely isn't the first, or hundredth.

Sort of similarly, I once instinctively punched a friend who woke me abruptly and rudely, back during Desert Storm. He was kidding around, in "my space", touching me, and I was jolted out of a deep sleep and came up swinging. We laughed later. No knives involved.

Prison time awaits this murderer.

quote:

The manufacturer of the medicine already came forward stating their testing/studies showed no results of impulsive or violent behavior while taking the medicine.

Although many of the articles are older, this manufacturer is apparently one of the ones sought out by kids wanting to abuse cold medicines.

Sure sounds unlikely, but I wouldn't completely rule it out. Seems that you have to take more than "a little more than you're supposed to" for there to be problems:


https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3977765/

quote:

Case report. Mr A, a 40-year-old white man, was hospitalized in the intensive care unit for the management of acute psychosis and irritable mood. He was found at a supermarket exhibiting bizarre behavior after he had purchased and rapidly ingested about 30 tablets of CoricidinHBP. On arrival to the emergency department, he was tremulous and diaphoretic and demonstrated a clouded sensorium, euphoric mood, and circumstantial thought process. He stated that he could “look at people and know exactly what they were thinking” and displayed paranoid behavior.

http://www.news-leader.com/sto...old-remedy/29173649/

quote:

Police said that teens call the drug combination, which involves over-the-counter medication Coricidin HBP Cough & Cold, "Triple C."

"Triple C" contains dextromethorphan (DXM) that, when taken in large doses, produces hallucinations and a sense of dissociation similar to those experienced with PCP or ketamine, according to police.

"They take pills by the handful, sometimes three to six, sometimes more," Davis Police School Resource Officer Keirith Briesenick said. "It's like being drunk; it's a dissociate hallucinogenic state where they kind of stop feeling."

Once upon a time I had an out patient hospital visit where I was given morphine. While at home it caused me to hallucinate, believe my mother was an alien, and draw a gun on her. I remember it clear as day.

quote:

Originally posted by Some Shot:
I can barely get anything done when I'm awake.
.

I LOL'd

I bet they will check his PC and find that he was researching things similar to this.

HK Ag

quote:

Originally posted by Ronin1069:
My step-dad used to be on it and he'd get up in the middle of the night and cook. A meal. No memory of it in the morning.

I shit you not, when I was taking ambein, my wife would wake up in the morning and I'd have made full blown meals... Pasta with sauce, homemade garlic bread, fresh mozzarella, Or nachos with beans, chicken (i'd cook that night), cheese, jalapenos (i'd pick from the garden that night) then broil it... not even microwave it. That was a little strange, but whatever. The night I stopped taking it forever, my wife woke up and I was detail stripping a glock... in my sleep. Scared the shit out of her. I haven't taken it since.

Sounds like BS to me.
That said, I would from time to time on patrol in residential areas find people of all ages walking down the street in night clothes.
They were sleepwalking. They had no memory of getting up and leaving their homes.
I often wondered if they were capable of doing other things while asleep. Like driving.

Is sleepwalking a misnomer? Seems like these kinds of activities are not possible while asleep.

Perhaps there is another state of conscious between sleep and awake that needs a more applicable name? No conscious awareness yet capable of activities not possible while asleep?

quote:

Originally posted by konata88:
Is sleepwalking a misnomer? Seems like these kinds of activities are not possible while asleep.

Perhaps there is another state of conscious between sleep and awake that needs a more applicable name? No conscious awareness yet capable of activities not possible while asleep?

Sleepwalking seems like the wrong term to me too. What he is claiming and others in this thread say happened to them or loved ones is more of a drug induced trance or something.

FWIW I knew a guy who took some Ambien with a glass of wine one night while at a trade show. He ended up in the bar in his PJs dancing for hours. I even had a long conversation with him about work and the show and he seemed completely normal, except for the pajamas of course. The next day he had zero recollection of anything past going to sleep. The dude might be lying but I think it's possible. Although I'd wager that anyone who would kill his wife while on Ambien had at least considered it while sober.

quote:

Originally posted by cmr076:

quote:

Originally posted by Ronin1069:
My step-dad used to be on it and he'd get up in the middle of the night and cook. A meal. No memory of it in the morning.

I shit you not, when I was taking ambein, my wife would wake up in the morning and I'd have made full blown meals... Pasta with sauce, homemade garlic bread, fresh mozzarella, Or nachos with beans, chicken (i'd cook that night), cheese, jalapenos (i'd pick from the garden that night) then broil it... not even microwave it. That was a little strange, but whatever. The night I stopped taking it forever, my wife woke up and I was detail stripping a glock... in my sleep. Scared the shit out of her. I haven't taken it since.

That's incredible! I mean, could I cook like that in my sleep? If I took that stuff?

I might even play the piano, or knit a quilt, or something.

I can't do any of these things while I'm awake, mind.

tac

I would be tempted to say this is BS, however, I once had a dream and I did something physical that I was doing in the dream and woke up in the middle of doing it.

It was mortifying and very fortunate I woke up before it went any further. Thank god it was nothing as serious as murdering someone. Lucky for me I was the only one aware that this had happened or I would have been very embarrassed and had a hard time explaining myself. It was nothing illegal or harmful but really had me concerned that this happened in my sleep.

Since my incident I've always worried about this and avoided putting myself in a situation where something like it could happen again.

Only for that reason do I feel the guys story may be possible.

quote:

Originally posted by konata88:
Is sleepwalking a misnomer?

The term is just the layman's term for somnambulism...a sleep disorder

quote:

Seems like these kinds of activities are not possible while asleep.

There are 4 stages of "sleep", I think you are thinking of the REM stage. Sleep walking, at least the ones I have dealt with, occurs pre-REM

He's in deep doo doo. Whether he did it intentionally or is telling the truth, being under the influence is not a defense.

Much like vehicular manslaughter, you don't get to claim, "I drank too much, I don't remember getting in my car or trying to drive home. The alcohol made me do it."

He made the conscious choice to take that dose of medicine, just as a drunk driver made the conscious choice to drink the drinks; that's all the law cares about.

If a jury buys it, he will at least avoid premeditated murder and thus a life sentence.