The Craziest Things People Have Done on Ambien

Wild, Middle-of-the-Night Behavior is More Common Than You Think

Kerry Kennedy, daughter of the late Robert F. Kennedy, is currently facing charges of driving while under the influence of drugs stemming from a July 13 arrest. According to reports, Kennedy had taken the sleep medication Ambien before getting behind the wheel. Rocco Scuiletti, driver of the tractor-trailer she hit, says Kennedy, "looked like she just rolled out of bed" while continuing to "nod off" behind the wheel.

While driving on Ambien is inarguably dangerous, it's not the most out-there activity users have reported while under the influence of the narcotic sleep-aid:

• Sean Joyce, a British housepainter, mixed an Ambien with two glasses of wine while on an airplane. Instead of falling into a quiet slumber, however, he jumped out of his seat, tore his shirt off and ran around the aircraft threatening to kill himself and other passengers. He claims to have remembered nothing.

• Also on the painting front, an Australian woman awoke in the middle of the night only to realize she was standing outside with a brush in her hand. While in an Ambien haze, she had painted the front door to her house.

• According to a study done by the Minnesota Regional Sleep Disorders Center, eating while under the influence of Ambien is common. A favored snack: peanut butter. Several of their patients have woken up only to find themselves with a jar in their hands and mouths full of it.

READ: Futuristic Sleep Mask Allows You To Control Your Dreams

• Heard of drunk dialing? Ambien dialing happens, too. A woman named Lori Kox told Newsweek she had ordered clothes on a home shopping channel and rang up an ex-boyfriend while on it. She, too, claimed zero recollection.

• Finally, attorney Susan Chana Lask filed a class action suit against dozens of users who reported unusual - and upsetting - behavior while on Ambien including shoplifting, eating raw eggs, opening the door to strangers and assault.

Lesson learned: perhaps going old school by counting sheep after a glass of warm milk is a better idea instead.