Elon Musk Ambien use worries Tesla board: here’s what the drug does

Tesla CEO and founder of
the Boring Company Elon Musk said his workdays are a minimum of
17 hours.
John Raoux / AP
Images

• Elon
  Musk has had a rough year.
• The Tesla CEO
  opened up to The New York Times in an
  interview, where he said he was working 120 hour-weeks and
  relied on Ambien to sleep.
• Doctors warn that Ambien’s side effects can cause
  disorientation and depression, among other cognitive side
  effects. 
• Musk has admitted to tweeting on Ambien
  before.

Elon
Musk has had a
rough year. The Tesla and
SpaceX CEO
has often taken to Twitter — sometimes late at night — to air
grievances, make puzzling statements like suggesting Tesla
will
sell “thigh high socks with pockets for lipliner
& cards,” and even to make unexpected company
announcements (like his recent proclamation that he had 
 “funding
secured” to take Tesla private).

In a Thursday New York Times
interview, Musk opened up about his
struggles over the past year, including his problems
sleeping.

“It is often a choice of no sleep or Ambien,” Musk told The
Times. Musk’s use of Ambien — as well as other
recreational drugs — has reportedly worried Tesla’s board,
according to The New York Times. The board reportedly believes
Musk’s reliance on Ambien could be contributing to his late-night
Twitter use.

Doctors warn that it’s not a
good idea to take Ambien if you are sleeping for less than 7 to 8
hours.

In The Times interview, Musk said he has recently been
pulling 120-hour work weeks, meaning his work days are a minimum
of 17 hours, seven days a week. 
Based on his
own estimate, that leaves only seven hours per day when he’s not
working — so he’s probably getting less than seven hours of sleep
at night. 

While Ambien can be a useful tool for people who can’t
sleep, it has both physical and cognitive side effects. According
to the American Addiction Center, Ambien use can lead to memory
loss, depression, disorientation, and, less frequently, suicidal
thoughts or feelings.

It may also lead heavy users to lose their “pleasure in daily
life,” according to the
Addiction Center.

Ambien can also be linked to erratic behavior like impaired
judgment and sleepwalking when taken in high doses, or when taken
for nonmedical reasons, according to the Addiction Center.

Musk has admitted to tweeting on Ambien in the past.
“I’ve learned some lessons…such as tweeting on Ambien isn’t
wise,” he tweeted in
2016.

When someone suggested to Musk on Twitter that there’s “something
really special” about his late night tweets, Musk replied:
“It’s probably the Ambien.”

Last year, Musk tweeted,
“A little red wine, vintage record, some Ambien … and
magic!” Sam Altman, the president of startup accelerator Y
Combinator, replied:
“ambien tweeting is a dangerous game.” 

In May, comedian Roseanne Barr blamed Ambien on tweets in
which she compared Valerie Jarrett, a former adviser to
President Barack Obama, to an ape. 

That led ABC to
fire her from the eponymous show. Sanofi, the pharmaceutical
giant behind Ambien,
responded to Roseanne’s accusations: “While all
pharmaceutical treatments have side effects, racism is not a
known side effect of any Sanofi medication.”

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