I spotted this article from the NYT in my reading about Heath Ledger this past week, and it caught my eye:   “Last week I probably slept an average of two hours a night, I couldn’t stop thinking. My body was exhausted, and my mind was still going. He said he took two Ambien pills, which worked for only an hour.”

Then I saw this yesterday on Fox News about how Jack Nicholson had warned Heath Ledger about Ambien:

The 70-year-old Oscar winner was dining at the Wolseley restaurant in London when a photographer told him about Ledger’s death.

After saying, “That’s awful,” Jack added “I warned him,” and refused to elaborate.

Later, at the premiere of his new film “The Bucket List,” Nicholson reportedly said he “warns people about Ambien.”

“I almost drove off a cliff once. I don’t take sleeping pills but somebody said ‘take this, it’s mild.’

So these two things really hit home with me.  When Marshall was in the hospital recovering from MRSA, and after he got home, he was not able to sleep at night.  His sleep patterns were completely reversed.  They had him taking Ambien a little at the hospital and then sent him home with a prescription.  It was a very strange drug.  It would help him sleep for an hour or so, but then he would wake up - I don’t know - a little disoriented and crazy.  He tried taking a larger dose, but the same problem.  It didn’t help him get any more sleep, but just made his behavior a little more odd.  Marshall doesn’t react that well to some drugs - Morphine REALLY makes him crazy - so we sort of wrote it off, but got him a prescription for Lunestra instead.  Mucho better.  Since then, I have told several people to stay away, there is something most odd about what Ambien does to you, and I’ve heard similar stories from others. 

There is another interesting testimonial at Yahoo! Answers telling a similar tale.  And you can do a little Googling for plenty more stories like ours.  I guess the moral of the story is that even when you are prescribed something that is seemingly *safe* - check it out.  Learn more about it.  You would think that with our stringent FDA, that takes decades to release *safe* drugs, that things like this wouldn’t get through, but they do.  Politics, I’m guessing.

Ive read this a dozen times before, but it’s funny how really frighteningly appropriate things come through your email box (or into your life) at just exactly the right time. Man, I need some coffee with a friend right now. And maybe to grind a few pebbles into sand.

When things in your life seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar and the 2 cups of coffee..

A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in fron t of him. When the class began, he wordlessly picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightl y. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a unanimous “yes.”

The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed.

“Now,” said the professor as the laughter subsided, “I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things—God, your family, your children, your health, your friends and your favorite passions—and if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.

The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house and your car.

The sand i s everything else—the small stuff. “If you put the sand into the jar first,” he continued, “there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff you will never have room for the things that are important to you.

“Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Spend time with your parents. Visit with grandparents. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your spouse out to dinner. Play another 18. There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal. Take care of the golf balls first—the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.”

One of the students r aised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented. The professor smiled. “I’m glad you asked.

It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there’s always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend.”