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Amazingly, ambien has had a similar effect for a small group of patients, returning them to consciousness for hours at a time after months or years of coma

https://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/04/magazine/can-ambien-wake-...

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Yup, basically the movie plot of Awakenings. Also, a family member of mine, whom was not catatonic, tried it for post-stroke fatigue/pain/neuropathy/brain fog to get away from gabapentin&pregabalin.

It was levodopa for Awakenings, no? Unless I'm remembering the scene w/ Robin Williams and the lecturer wrong

L-dopa, yup. I don’t think GP meant actually ambien.

Also GP if you check this - what are the downsides of gabapentin your relative was trying to get away from? I thought that was a fairly benign drug, even for long-term use.

I knew someone who took it for a while, and drowsiness, memory issues, balance issues, and depression were all pretty bad alone, much less combined. And getting off of it has to be gradual due to rebound pain.

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