Posted by Quintal on June 12, 2007, at 16:27:33
In reply to Re: Ambien/Stilnox..'Sensationalist Journalism', posted by kaleidoscope on June 12, 2007, at 15:26:30
People don't seem to report having hallucinations and bizarre sleepwalking behaviour with zopiclone et al with anywhere the near the same frequency as zolpidem (although I'm aware of the role 'sensationalist journalism' may play in bringing the Ambien cases to my attention). Actually Ed, you know that zopiclone and zolpidem belong to a different chemical class (it's the only imidazopyridine in widespread use) and they have important differences in pharmacokinetics. I'm thinking the short half-life and rapid onset of action may have a role in this, as drugs with similar properties such as triazolam are known to be more problematic than other benzos (yes, I know it's 40 times more potent than zolpidem, but still). Also, zolpidem has been shown effective for waking people from persistent vegetative state - no other benzo has this effect AFAIK. In any case this suggests that zolpidem may be activating some parts of the brain (or switching off defective parts), and it's my feeling that this is a possible mechanism behind the unusually high rate of hypnagogic hallucinations and sleep walking phenomena.
I suppose I feel quite passionately about this one because I've experienced these effects myself (as has one other articulate babbler who is fluent in psychopharmacology), and had nothing remotely similar with any other benzo despite taking a broad selection (including the infamous Halcion). Not that I did anything terribly dangerous under the influence, rather interesting and slightly psychedelic in fact.
Q
poster:Quintal
thread:761306
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20070604/msgs/762696.html