A doctor shared the scary story of what happened when he took his sleep medicine before bed, and viewers of the viral video said it unlocked a “new fear.”
Rick Pescatore, a Philadelphia-based emergency-room (ER) doctor, drew more than 208,000 views on a TikTok video in which he explained how a small dose of Ambien indirectly caused him to go temporarily blind.
“I want to tell you all about it so it doesn’t happen to you,” Pescatore said.
‘I was lucky’
According to Pescatore, he arrived home last year after a long night shift in the ER.
“Like many others who work night shift, I popped an Ambien and jumped into bed,” the doctor said.
“I borrowed my wife’s sleep mask. Few hours later, when I woke up, I was blind.”
Pescatore said that the culprit wasn’t the Ambien—rather, it was the sleep mask, which featured puffy eye holes.
“While I slept all night, assisted with the stupor of 5 mg of Ambien, those puffy eyes pressed on my eyes all night,” he said.
“They cause a compressive ischemic retinopathy.”
In other words, the blood was cut off to Pescatore’s optic nerve. He woke up unable to see anything.
“I was lucky,” he said.
“One of my best friends is an ophthalmologist. I have easy access to emergency care and things got better for me.”
However, Pescatore said these kinds of issues are on the rise, especially given the opioid epidemic and the increasing popularity of sleep aids.
“If you’re going to use sleep aids, be careful about what you put on your face and what compresses your eyeball for hours while you sleep,” the doctor said.
‘I have this mask’
TikTok contributors were horrified by Pescatore’s video amid almost 700 comments since January 28.
“Omg… new fear unlocked,” one pundit posted.
Another doctor, meanwhile, chimed in: “As an ophthalmologist, the diagnosis is actually more like compressive optic neuropathy not retinopathy,” to which Pescatore replied, “You’re absolutely right.”
Numerous other night health care workers were concerned: “Stop, I’m a night shift nurse and I have this mask,” one wrote.
“I like it because it doesn’t press on my eyeballs, mannnn.”
Finally, several commentators required an important clarification: “Hi! I’m an ER nurse. Is it the mask that caused this or the Ambien? Or is it specifically because of the use of both?”
Pescatore replied: “It’s prolonged compression from the mask, but it goes unnoticed more often when pharmacologically ‘assisted’.”
Compressive Optic Neuropathy
Compressive optic neuropathy is often caused by tumors around the eyes, but whether the compressive element is a tumor or a sleep mask, the issue is the optic nerve, which carries signals from the eyes to the brain.
Compression can interrupt that communication. When it does, an individual may experience blurred vision, headaches, bulging of the eyes or vision loss.
The condition is often treatable, but if it is not treated early, it can lead to long-term problems, including vision loss.
Newsweek has reached out to Pescatore for comment via TikTok. We could not verify the details of the case.