Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Severe brain injury and paralysis temporarily reversed with a sleeping pill

sciencedirect.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

61–70 of 187 posts

Re: Severe brain injury and paralysis temporarily reversed with a sleeping pill

#61

Post by nineparts »

nitrogen wrote: post #51
agency wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Zolpidem is Ambien, which is notorious for its interesting side-effects https://www.healthline.com/health/side-effects-of-taking-amb...

I would never take Ambien myself after someone I know was prescribed it, and instead of sleeping they would black out, blast techno/dance music in their apartment, and scream at the top of their lungs while stomping up and down ("dancing"). Then post about it on social media. All without remembering it, or with only hazy memories.

Sounds like it's a gateway drug to demon possession (or at least descriptions of it -- in case of an atheist reading).

Re: Severe brain injury and paralysis temporarily reversed with a sleeping pill

#62

Post by Pfhreak »

grecy wrote: post #60
bxtt wrote: post #44

I’ve been taking Zolpidem for about 13 years now and suffer from addiction. I’ve sought treatment for this but it doesn’t work as now I cannot sleep without taking something. If you haven’t taken Z-type sleeping aids, I would definitely suggest not to start, as from experience the consequences outweigh the benefits. I’ve lost a considerable amount of friends/reputation/etc. from the abuse. Every experience that you h…

(Genuinely curious and not trying to downplay the seriousness at all) What would happen if you took a month off work and all your obligations and stayed home and didn't take anything for a whole month? My understanding is the human body can't go more than about 10 days without sleep [1]. So I assume at that point you would fall asleep, and then over the coming ~20 days hopefully you could normalize it and get back to…

According to Wikipedia, withdrawal symptoms can be severe including seizures, vomiting, etc. To do nothing of the discomfort from a lack of sleep. It would take incredible will power to overcome something like that.

It also sounds like there are some treatments that can help fight an auction, including other medications that bind to some of the same receptors. Or very slowly weaning someone off (but then you have to figure out something else for the insomnia.)

Re: Severe brain injury and paralysis temporarily reversed with a sleeping pill

#63

Post by jeron »

bxtt wrote: post #44

I’ve been taking Zolpidem for about 13 years now and suffer from addiction. I’ve sought treatment for this but it doesn’t work as now I cannot sleep without taking something. If you haven’t taken Z-type sleeping aids, I would definitely suggest not to start, as from experience the consequences outweigh the benefits. I’ve lost a considerable amount of friends/reputation/etc. from the abuse. Every experience that you h…

that's horrifying, so sorry for the situation you're in right now.

Re: Severe brain injury and paralysis temporarily reversed with a sleeping pill

#64

Post by muzika »

tedd4u wrote: post #33

Ah, the video at the bottom of the paper is really emotional! I hope they can figure out how to prolong the effects. Still, an hour of lucidity and verbal communication and a stroll every few weeks and a visit with the family is infinitely better than nothing at all.

Thank you

Re: Severe brain injury and paralysis temporarily reversed with a sleeping pill

#65

Post by jb775 »

My sister suffered severe TBI from a car accident for 15 years before she eventually passed last year. It was pretty shocking to witness the lack of knowledge in regards to how the human brain works, and more specifically lacking in how to heal/treat an injured brain.

Immediately following the accident, we saw other patients in the same condition as her and tracked their progress for comparison sake. The common theme was that patients either made significant progress (with motor skills, talking, etc) within the first 0-3 weeks, or not really at all. It seemed like once scar-tissue started forming in the brain, critical brain connectivity began to get blocked (not necessarily broken). If we can better understand the underlying mechanism behind the "signal blocking" vs "signal un-blocking" aspect seen using this drug in TBI patients, it would be a huge win for all brain related conditions.

Re: Severe brain injury and paralysis temporarily reversed with a sleeping pill

#66

Post by smabie »

bxtt wrote: post #44

I’ve been taking Zolpidem for about 13 years now and suffer from addiction. I’ve sought treatment for this but it doesn’t work as now I cannot sleep without taking something. If you haven’t taken Z-type sleeping aids, I would definitely suggest not to start, as from experience the consequences outweigh the benefits. I’ve lost a considerable amount of friends/reputation/etc. from the abuse. Every experience that you h…

Try getting prescribed seroquel instead. A lot more powerful, and will help you sleep. Less (known?) downsides as well. I guarantee you that you will be able to sleep with it.

Re: Severe brain injury and paralysis temporarily reversed with a sleeping pill

#67

Post by 7839284023 »

smabie wrote: post #66
bxtt wrote: post #44

I’ve been taking Zolpidem for about 13 years now and suffer from addiction. I’ve sought treatment for this but it doesn’t work as now I cannot sleep without taking something. If you haven’t taken Z-type sleeping aids, I would definitely suggest not to start, as from experience the consequences outweigh the benefits. I’ve lost a considerable amount of friends/reputation/etc. from the abuse. Every experience that you h…

Try getting prescribed seroquel instead. A lot more powerful, and will help you sleep. Less (known?) downsides as well. I guarantee you that you will be able to sleep with it.

I am happy that this works for you, but you can't really compare a Z-Drug with an atypical antipsychotic. That's some dangerous medical advice.

Also (from wikipedia) on Seroquel / Quetiapine: "Despite being widely used as a sleep aid due its sedating effect, the benefits of such use do not appear to generally outweigh the side effects."

https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/8812/afd4bc713c03435b68f2bb...

Personally I would only take antipsychotics when absolutley necessary. Nasty stuff.

Re: Severe brain injury and paralysis temporarily reversed with a sleeping pill

#68

Post by jokowueu »

smabie wrote: post #66
bxtt wrote: post #44

I’ve been taking Zolpidem for about 13 years now and suffer from addiction. I’ve sought treatment for this but it doesn’t work as now I cannot sleep without taking something. If you haven’t taken Z-type sleeping aids, I would definitely suggest not to start, as from experience the consequences outweigh the benefits. I’ve lost a considerable amount of friends/reputation/etc. from the abuse. Every experience that you h…

Try getting prescribed seroquel instead. A lot more powerful, and will help you sleep. Less (known?) downsides as well. I guarantee you that you will be able to sleep with it.

Non z drugs that make u sleep exist too such as the new OX Based sleep meds such as Lemborexant

Re: Severe brain injury and paralysis temporarily reversed with a sleeping pill

#69

Post by apache99 »

smabie wrote: post #66
bxtt wrote: post #44

I’ve been taking Zolpidem for about 13 years now and suffer from addiction. I’ve sought treatment for this but it doesn’t work as now I cannot sleep without taking something. If you haven’t taken Z-type sleeping aids, I would definitely suggest not to start, as from experience the consequences outweigh the benefits. I’ve lost a considerable amount of friends/reputation/etc. from the abuse. Every experience that you h…

Try getting prescribed seroquel instead. A lot more powerful, and will help you sleep. Less (known?) downsides as well. I guarantee you that you will be able to sleep with it.

Seroquel makes you wake up. at night and wanna eat chocolate. Too much of it makes you feel like a zombie the next day. SCAREQUEL should be the name. Ive sleep walked on that stuff

Re: Severe brain injury and paralysis temporarily reversed with a sleeping pill

#70

Post by smabie »

7839284023 wrote: post #67
smabie wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Try getting prescribed seroquel instead. A lot more powerful, and will help you sleep. Less (known?) downsides as well. I guarantee you that you will be able to sleep with it.

I am happy that this works for you, but you can't really compare a Z-Drug with an atypical antipsychotic. That's some dangerous medical advice. Also (from wikipedia) on Seroquel / Quetiapine: "Despite being widely used as a sleep aid due its sedating effect, the benefits of such use do not appear to generally outweigh the side effects." https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/8812/afd4bc713c03435b68f2bb... Personally I woul…

I've taken it for over 10 years and am better than ever. Hasn't suffered any harmful side-effects either. Of course, side-effects differ from person to person. But it's worth a try. Z-drugs and benzos are way worse.

Moreover, if you're severely addicted to Z-drugs like OP, the benefits probably do outweigh the side-effects. Not every person is the same, and the cost benefit analysis differs accordingly.

Post reply on HN