STEVE MARTIN SLEEPWALKED ON AMBIAN

Hollywood star Steve Martin is vowing to stop taking prescription drugs to help him sleep, after discovering he developed a online poker habit after dozing off. The comic sought medical help to cope with his restless nights, when doctors suggested he take prescription drug Ambien, typically used as a short-term treatment of insomnia. But its hypnotic effects were too much for Martin, who quit the drug after a lucky night of gambling, because he was so stunned he didn’t remember playing the game at all. He says, "For a while I played Internet poker when it was legal, until I had one of those Ambien experiences. It was late at night and I was playing poker… I took an Ambien to go to sleep and I had $500 in my account, I quit, and I went to bed. "I woke up the next morning… and I had $1,500 in my account, and I said, ‘Oh, they made a mistake…’ So I called the guy in Pakistan, and he said, ‘No we have your I.P. (Internet Protocal) address, we have you playing between four and five in the morning…’ I never took an Ambien again."
Photo By: Sara De Boer/Retna