Blacking Out-Stilnox

The first night I blacked out was sometime late last year. I had been on Stilnox for some time but had not taken them that night. I had taken them the previous night though. What I had taken on this night was a lot of alcohol which made me think that was what had caused the blackout. I woke up in the morning with a feeling that I had done something…something I could not remember. A glance on my phone and talks with my friends answered most of the blanks. Though I had no recollection about anything they all told me happened, I embraced it as the consequence of mixing different alcoholic drinks and taking too much alcohol. It all made sense then.

The next incident happened many weeks later. I had been off Stilnox for some time, maybe just over two months, and had not had much trouble sleeping during that time. That night after a discussion with my brother who is staying with me, I opted to take half a tablet to try and get a restful night. I woke up the next morning and all seemed OK to me, until I saw the bottle of Johnny Walker on the kitchen counter. Initially, I thought my brother had bought it. It turned out that I was the buyer. The previous night I had managed to get the number for a local liquor store, sent for the bottle, and came out of my room to give my brother the money to pay for it.

The last memory I have of the night was that of me getting into bed, and waking up the next day. I don’t even have a tiny memory of the other parts of that night. Considering the money I used on the whisky was actually money I had set aside for something important, I was pretty annoyed at myself. My brother said I looked normal, talked normally but my eyes looked a bit glazed over. The best I could do was ask him not to take me too seriously if I made weird requests late at night as I was probably not myself. I did get a good night sleep though. So good I forgot every waking moment of it.

The next one came a few weeks later. This time it was crazier. For starters, I claimed there was someone in my room and needed my brother to come and kick him out. Turned out I was talking about Ronan Keating whose song was playing on the laptop next to my bed. Then I followed this up with a complete breakdown full of loads of tears. My brother had to walk me to my neighbour’s house who proceeded to calm me down after a fair bit of trying. After some time, we walked back to my house and I got into bed. I don’t remember any of this. Again, the last memory I had was of me going to bed. So this was my last straw.

Since I am currently not seeing any doctor, I basically just stopped taking any of the meds. Nowadays I get myself to sleep by exhausting myself by working out if I feel a sleepless night is in store for me. Other times, I just embrace it and stay up for most parts of the night. I have not had any more blackouts.

I should point out that I did stop/start the meds before the blackouts started, so it could be that was why it had these adverse effects. Also, considering I did OD on Stillnox a few months prior, maybe that may have had an effect as well.

Either way, I am off it now. And so far, all seems OK.

X

Deb