I'm not sure what is worse: not knowing the side effects of certain medications or knowing the side effects of certain medications.

The medication that currently is scaring me sleepless is Ambien CR, a sleeping pill heavily advertised on television. The commercial shows a woman tossing and turning in her bed in the dark. Then a huge rooster roosting at the foot of her bed starts to crow. A disembodied voice says, "Tired of morning coming in the middle of the night?" The voice then goes on to extol the virtues of Ambien CR. Actually, the extolling only takes a few seconds. A laundry list of potential dangerous side effects from the drugs seems to go on forever.

The potential side effects include — and I'm not kidding here — sleepwalking, memory loss, abnormal behaviors such as being more outgoing or aggressive than normal, confusion, agitation and hallucinations. (The helpful voice points out that those behaviors can be made even worse if the pills are accompanied by alcohol.) Written warnings are even more dire, pointing out that there's a risk of suicide. And that's not all. Ambien users are warned that allergic reactions can occur such as shortness of breath, swelling of your tongue or throat which, in rare cases, may be fatal. But if you survive all those potential problems and actually fall asleep, you are warned that the next day you may suffer from drowsiness, dizziness, headache and diarrhea.

I don't know if I've ever needed sleep so much that I'd risk taking a drug with such dramatic side effects. I don't think I'd take a sleeping pill even if the only side effect was diarrhea. But in the list of Ambien CR's possible horrific side effects, the diarrhea is like a ray of sunshine.

As a former semi-professional hypochondriac, I'd be so worried about contracting several of the side effects after taking the pills, I'd never get a wink of sleep.

On the other hand, the side effect to not getting a good night's sleep is, well, being sleepy. Being sleepy in itself rarely results in a fatal bout of swelling of the tongue, let alone diarrhea.

I don't mean to single out Ambien CR. I'm sure it's a fine medication and mostly safe. All advertisements for various drugs on TV or in magazines contain similar long lists of scary side effects. It's a law of some sort that such disclosures have to be made, no doubt. Full-page magazine ads are even more detailed. On one page advertising the drug Vyvanse is a pretty, smiling young lady saying, "I can focus and finish what I start." The next page is nothing but tiny type detailing side effects and warnings. Vyvanse treats attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). You'd probably need to take Vyvanse just to be able to read the entire page of tiny typed warnings.

As for the lady in the Ambien CR commercial, the best way for her to get a good night's sleep would be to keep a loaded .38 pistol on her night stand. Then when morning comes in the middle of the night in the form of a thumping big rooster at the foot of her bed, she just could just shoot the beast.

Read Charles Memminger's blog at www.charleyworld.honadvblogs.com.