NEWS: Advertiser - 01/02/07 'Drug prompts eating binge' (Stilnox)

Drug 'prompts eating binge'
By Tamara McLean
February 01, 2007 12:27pm

DOCTORS have been warned about a popular insomnia drug after reports of strange sleepwalking episodes such as binge-eating or driving.

In one report to the Adverse Drug Reactions Advisory Committee (ADRAC), a patient put on 23kg over seven months while taking the powerful medication Stilnox.

"It was only when she was discovered eating in front of an open refrigerator while asleep that the problem was resolved," the committee reported in its latest bulletin.

Another Stilnox user was discovered by a relative pulling food from the kitchen cupboards at night, explaining her mysterious weight gain.

The committee said it had received 16 reports of sleepwalking, described as "inappropriate or strange automatic behaviour while asleep".

One woman reported waking up with a paintbrush in her hand after having painted the front door while asleep, while a man reported walking around the house like a "mad man" while asleep.

Two reports suggested patients had driven while asleep, while two described binge-eating and subsequent weight gain.

The tales match another media report last year of a Sydney man who had taken two Stilnox tablets at home and later woke to find himself lying on a woman's couch wearing a dress.

The committee also had 104 reports of hallucinations and 62 reports of amnesia since the drug, known generically as zolpidem, was released in 2000.

On the strength of the reports, ADRAC today recommended prescribers be alert to the fact that zolpidem may be "associated with distressing neurological or psychiatric reactions".

"(They) should warn their patients about the possibility of these untoward effects, particularly if they are going to take zolpidem for the first time," the bulletin said.

Pharmacology specialist Rick Day, from the University of NSW, said it was impossible to know who would be most susceptible to such unusual reactions.

"It seems that in some people something happens to their consciousness controls and their sleep mechanisms," Professor Day said.

"With these hypnotic drugs the rule of thumb is to have a very good reason to use them, and not use them for long, because there will always be some kind of adverse effect."

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Bizarre acts linked to sleeping pill

Julie Robotham Medical Editor
February 2, 2007

A SLEEPING pill has been linked to a range of unsettling side-effects in Australian patients, including binge-eating, painting the front door, and even driving while still asleep.

The federal health department's Therapeutic Goods Administration said there had been 16 reports of odd behaviour while sleepwalking in people taking the drug Stilnox, which works differently to older tranquilisers such as Valium.

The Adverse Drug Reactions Advisory Committee's bulletin, published yesterday, referred to "bizarre sleep-related effects" of the drug. One patient gained 23 kilograms over seven months while taking Stilnox.

According to the committee's bulletin, "it was only when she was discovered eating in front of an open refrigerator while asleep that the problem was resolved". Another patient, who had also put on weight, was found taking food from kitchen cupboards, while one "woke with a paintbrush in her hand after painting the front door while asleep".

More alarmingly, the committee received two reports "which suggest the possibility of driving while asleep".

The update marks the first time such "inappropriate or strange automatic behaviour" has been reported in Australian patients since Stilnox was first marketed here in 2000, though similar cases have been noted overseas. And while sleepwalking was the oddest of the possible side effects, it was not the most common; 104 reports of hallucinations and 62 of amnesia were also recorded.

A spokeswoman for the health department said the possibility of sleepwalking and of psychiatric side effects with Stilnox was already known, and included in warnings issued with packs of the drug. The purpose of the update was "to remind prescribers of a known and existing association," she said. The drug was intended for short-term treatment of insomnia, and should not be taken for more than four weeks.

Alan Brindell, a spokesman for the manufacturer, Sanofi-Aventis, said the company would continue to monitor the drug's safety, but it had not been proven that Stilnox was causing the disturbed sleep behaviour. It was possible this was occurring for a different reason in patients who had sought treatment for insomnia.

Mr Brindell could not provide an estimate of the number of Australians taking Stilnox, which is only available on prescription and attracts no subsidy. It costs individuals up to $2 per pill, compared to a few cents for older tranquilisers.

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Splatt said:

I don't know if I would call it sleep walking exactly. You probably have some control at the time you're on the drug, but you just do not remember anything while on it as it has strong amnesiac qualities

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