>> 600. >> ambien turned out to be their miracle drug.ke doing when you realized that you could talk? >> i wanted to shout from the rooftops. >> you felt like shouting from the rooftops. >> do it. >> that's the best part about the ambien. it shows people that what i believed is true. he really is in there. >> which arm should we put in first. >> sam's speech is better some days than other, but now that he can ask questions, he must also cope with some tough answers. >> it's pretty tough. >> did you get better? >> you were in a coma for a long time. look at you. you're doing so well. what's wrong? what's wrong? >> also difficult is the cool twist to this use of ambien. the effects of each dose last only an hour or less. >> it's very difficult to comprehend the fact that i can talk now. >> reporter: we could see the drug start to lose its effectiveness during our interview. >> it's wearing off. >> reporter: how can you tell that it's wearing off? >> the expression in his face starts to go and his tongue doesn't move as much sometimes. >> re

: when sally gave sam the ambien, everything changed. suddenly he could talk, though his speech is slurred. >> hello, sarah. >> reporter: hi, sam. it's great to hear you talk. >> it's good to be talking. >> reporter: he was no longer trapped in his body. turns out sam's mind was always working. he just couldn't let anyone know. i understand you're good at math. what's 20 times 30? >> 600. >> reporter: very little research has been done to understand why ambien wakes up certain brain injured patients but experts say the active ingredient zolpidem triggers blood flow to certain areas of the brain. yet it appears less than 10% of brain injured patients respond to ambien, and very few as dramatically as sam. no matter. sally nielsen who said she always knew sam was in there is just glad she tried it. sarah james, nbc news, brisbane, australia. >> you can see more of sarah's remarkable report tonight on rock center at 10:00/9:00 central here on nbc. when we come back here tonight after getting a late start he's taking orders from guys nearly

>> this one of the findings that people who get the sedative medicati, ambien, have these paradoxical recoveries. and with the way we think about the ambien effect is very much the way we think about the central thalamus brain stem effect that is... and i have a colleague emery brown who's shown me this is very similar to what happens innesthesia as well. so let's take the anesthesia case because that's something we can relate to. if you give almost anyone an anesthetic their brain quiets and they get sort of less active and sedate. then there's a period of xi station and emery has taughte this is a generic thing called paradoxical xi station. and what you seethe is rhythms in the e.e.g. come up over the frontal lobe of the brain and the person gets disquieted. what we think is going on in am bee general that general phenomena in an underactive brain is releasing a break and the bre is put on because the central thalamus has been disconnected, it's underactive and what happens is that there's a combination of exciting the cortex, releasing the brake on the thalamus and just like when

and when she gave him some ambien, everything changed. suddenly, sam could talk again, though his speech is slurred. >> hello, sarah. >> hi, sam. it's great to have you talk. >> it's great to be talking. >> it was remarkable. awakened from a vegetative state by a sleeping pill. sarah james, nbc news. >> well, you can watch this incredible story of survival tonight at 10:00 on rock center right here on nbc bay area followed by the news at 11:00. >>> still come at 6:00, the race for the white house is shifting into high gear, but there's one problem for the republican front-runner. up next, the blow for newt gingrich in his home state. >>> we're all about to get exposed. the major changes comes to facebook that could affect your online privacy. >>> also ahead, a south bay family with a mission. why they wouldn't rest until this cat found his way to solid ground. >>> no rest this campaign season after a very brief christmas break, republicans are heading back on the campaign trail, with just eight days to go until the iowa caucus. and tonigh

or the drunk man's ambien.is called a whiskey skin. a hot drink. a variation. i am turning on the kettle since it is a hot drink. it is a variation on a drink called the hot tottie. there is something wrong going in america and everybody is tried to make hot buttered rum. don't do that. hot buttered rum is disgusting even if you don't do that. do a hot tottie or this instead. this is from david wondrich's book called "imbibe." you set the water to boil and a heat-proof mug and he calls for about a teaspoon of should goer. you can use white sugar or sugar in the raw, depending on what you like. then, you want a long thin piece of lemon peel. if you are following the recipe properly, you want it to be as long as you can. following the recipe properly. you just want to drop the lemon peel in there. nice and thin. you don't want too much pitt on there. if you are like me, my variation is you want as much as of the lemon oil as you can. you use the sugar as an abrasive and try to get the lemon peel and should go you

. >> you said we know ambien was not involved. i think you are right. according to the passengers on the flight he was pissed off and got up to go to the bathroom and slammed the bathroom door so loudly the captain called back to find out what was going on. when he found out the captain himself told baldwin to get off the plane. >> the other thing too is this is also -- he has no concerns. it is not like he has to get to a job like everybody else. >> he will have 20 hours a day to play that word game. >> it is addictive. >>> jim, brad is much better looking than angie. >> you think so? >> i disagree completely. >> who has that better butt? >> angie. >> i don't know. >> greg? >> shea is a little scrany these days. >> beautiful. school santa, christmas tree. >> is it poinsettia or poinsettia. her is correct. >> i won't know which to choose. >> you can choose either one or either one. con constant teen admires the people in greece right now. you should know he spends his days ranting about the smelly greeks. i am refer together fraternities. >> is that wha

he was receiving psychiatric treatment for individual and group therapy and he was taking drugs, ambien cabelas lunesta. he kept a secret to himself and never put on a form when he was getting a booster shot of of tracks vaccine and but by this time he was also taking an antipsychotic. the army allowed him to maintain unsupervised access to the decrease in tax cut by the united states government and this is highly portable. the index of the letter was less than a gram so a tiny amount of this material can create khanna to the to panic and kill people. one of the biggest surprises came in response in the mail one day in response to a previous information act request filed with the army. i asked for all documentation related to any mental health evaluations yet the response from the army major in english said even i could understand that there's no point during his employment in the army has the surface ever sought to evaluate his mental illness to handle the anthrax. let's fast-forward to the spring of 2001. then next generation and rex vaccine was intact beyond the back burner. those we

she read ambien might wake him up from a vegetative state. when she gave it to him, everything changed. suddenly, sam could talk again. his speech is slurred. hi sam, it's great to hear you talk. it was remarkable. awakened from a vegetative state by a sleeping pill. sarah james, nbc news. >> you can see that story tonight on "rock center" on nbc 4 beginning at 10:00. >>> at 11:00, much more on a pliszing blind man that got on a train two weeks ago and hasn't been heard from since. >>> the fallout after joe paterno's firing. we'll have that for you at 11:00. >>> final check, chuck? >> the rain is on the way for tuesday. if you got an umbrella for christmas, you will need it tomorrow. it won't stick around that long. the pattern we are in will take the rain out before wednesday morning gets here. it's blustery and windy outside. a mild start to 2012. >> thanks. >>> there's a wee little polar bear in denmark that's become an internet sensation. he recently hit a big milestone. new pictures out today that show the 3-month-old cub with his eyes o

powerful tranquilizers and sedatives, all the familiar brands, prozac, ambien, zoloft.the familiar side effects given to kids, sometimes infants. it's been documented in a new report from the government accountability office, the gao which looked at foster kids and other children in five states. what it found is that foster kids were anywhere from two four times more likely to be prescribed psychotropic drugs. found more than 20,000 kids taking more than the maximum recommended dosages. higher dosages than recommended. 1700 kids in both groups were taking five or more different drugs at the same time. five mind altering drugs or more at once. according to the report, more than 4,000 infants were on psychotropic drugs. kids a-year-old or younger given drugs that no child should actually take. the report points out that many of the foster kids have greater mental health needs because of what they've been through in life. yet, the report warns there are potentially at higher risk for health problems "according to gao's experts, no evidence support the use of five or more p

biden might as well washed down ambien and nyquil with warm milk while listening to sade in a sleepingyer while chamomile tea was being administered intravenously. i get it. but here's the thing, isn't it a huge part of any politician's job to stay awake while other people are talking? >> and elected a democratic legislature. and in 2005 -- >> hey, expediency asked the question is a position politic -- >> willing to work in a collaborative fashion with the federal government. >> could we please get some red bull to the capitol stat? maybe it's our problem. maybe we need to think about our politicians the way we think about babies and puppies. maybe we could learn to think they're adorable while they're falling asleep. look at this dog falling asleep on his darling little feet. huh, huh? i haven't seen anything that cute since this afternoon when joe biden could barely keep his eyes open. i know it was not really the same. it was worth a try, though. i will say this, at least when biden is asleep, he's not dropping f-bombs into an open mike, asking a disabled state senator to stand um,

biden might as well washed down ambien and nyquil with warm milk while listening to sade in a sleepinge dryer while chamomile tea was being administered intravenously. i get it. but isn't it a huge part of any politician's job to stay awake while other people are talking? >> and elected a democratic legislature. and in 2005 -- >> hey, expediency asked the question is a position politic -- >> willing to work in a collaborative fashion with the federal government. >> could we please get some red bull to the capitol stat? maybe it's our problem. maybe we need to think about our politicians the way we think about babies and puppies. maybe we could learn to think they're adorable while they're falling asleep. look at this dog falling asleep on his darling little feet. huh, huh? i haven't seen anything that cute since this afternoon when joe biden could barely keep his eyes open. i know it was not really the same. it was worth a try, though. when biden is asleep he's not dropping f-bombs into an open mike, asking a disabled state senator to stand up, messing up his boss' name. behold the gre

biden might as well washed down ambien and nyquil with warm milk while listening to sade in a sleeping of the dryer while chamomile tea was being administered intravenously. i get it. but isn't it a huge part of any politician's job to stay awake while other people are talking? >> and elected a democratic legislature. and in 2005 -- >> hey, expediency asked the question is a position politic -- >> willing to work in a collaborative fashion with the federal government. >> could we please get some red bull to the capital stat. maybe it's our problem. maybe we need to think about our politicians the way we think about babies and puppies. maybe we could learn to think they're adorable while they're falling asleep. look at this dog falling asleep on his darling little feet. huh, huh? i haven't seen anything that cute since this afternoon when joe biden could barely keep his eyes open. i know it was not really the same. it was worth a try, though. when biden is asleep he's not dropping f-bombs into an open mike, messing up his boss' name, behold the greatest gaffes of joe "lullaby" biden. th

mÁs adelante tendremos reacciones que tendremos de los foros ambiÉn hay recacciones en la ciudad de nuevark para ver quÉ es l que sucede desde allÁ. >> muchas gracias, raÚl y poncho, acÁ tambiÉn la noticia de la muerte del doctor pedro armendaris junior tomÓ por sorpresa al igual que pasÓ con muchas personas del medio çdel espectÁculo como nos mostrÓ pilar y fue una batalla bastante corta contra el cÁncer. estoy frente al memorial... uno de los hospitales que hace investigaciones sobre el cÁncer, fueron dos semanas que permaneciÓ aquÍ desde que ingresÓ a este hospital pero perdiÓ la batalla contra el cÁncer çy fue justamente ayer que la familia dio la noticia de su muerte pidiendo a los medios de comunicaciÓn privacidad por respeto a la familia no quieren hablar a los medios tampoco. incluso acudimos a su apartamento porque sabemos que el actor tenÍa un apartamento aquí en la ciudad de nueva york. y pues2no pudimos obtener ninguna reacciÓn. lo que sÍ sabemos es que ya la familia se contactÓ con el consulado mexicano aquÍ en la ciudad de nueva york para enviar los restos de pedro armenda

. >> mother's little helper of the new millennium is anything from ambien or low dose antidepressantsylenol pm. people call it mom's secret weapon. >> reporter: after surviving the day, carrie was back at the house with her family, focusing on the things that matter. >> i don't have any short-term plans to go off the medicine at this point. i don't want to be dependent on medicine for the rest of my life, but at the same time if it's something that helps me, gives me a better quality of life and the side effects are minimal, then it is something that i will continue to consider. >> and some experts attribute the increase in use of antidepressants and antianxiety medications to a decrease in the social stigma associated with using those drugs. ann, back to you. >> dr. julie holland is a psychiatrist and also the author of "weekends at bellevue." dr. holland, good morning. >> good morning. >> let's review the numbers. one in four women are now taking a mental health drug and also women are being prescribed these medications at a higher rate than men now. why the increase? >> well, a cou

benefits were calculated from the reduction of par particulate matter, which is already covered under ambien air quality standard regulations. this is about closing coal plants, and that's precisely what it is about. alisyn: what about closing those coal plants. if they come off line and are closed what happens to the power grid and to the electricity in states where the coal pants are now? >> reporter: we hav >> we have a number of concerns, as you know our economy is sputtering. electricity is a tremendous component in economic growth, and the price of electricity. one of the other concerns we have with this is what you're talking about, and that is reliability, because many plants are going to have to be closed, many other plants are going to have to be retrofitted with new equipment. and by the way the cost on this looks like it's going to be in excess of $10 billion through the year 2030. so reliability is a tremendous issue, and epa does not have any interest in that whatsoever. alisyn: well congressmanned whitfield thank you for coming in and explaining this all to us. we appreciate i

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you can only strangle around so much vodka and ambien on the road.ian, what are we looking at on this day before the day before christmas. >> well, we got a bunch of data, joe, that i want to whip through, durable goods were good. personal income and spending taking up .1%. maybe a little bit more disappointing. one takeaway number, the savings rate went down again. it is at 3.5%. it can mean two things. it can mean people are feeling more confident, they're spending more, saving less or they need that money just to get through the months. so americans have always needed to save a little more through the financial crisis, that's one number that is popping out. stock futures are up, a bit of a santa claus rally, not quite as fat and jolly as some would like it. but two interesting smartphone stories that might get your interest. volkswagen in germany, there is this work live balance thing. they're limiting blackberry usage, they're shutting down service a half hour after certain shifts and not turning it back on until half an hour before that shift st