Psycho-Babble Medication Thread 121001

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Tolerance to Ambien??

Posted by temoigneur on September 25, 2002, at 0:08:48

Hi I have to taking sleeping aids to counter CNS stimulating meds, I'm Canadian, and I've found that zopiclone worked really well at first, but I gained tolerance to it. I was wondering if anyone knew any statistics on whether or not many people gain tolerance to Ambien, and if so how quickly. Thanks so much

Ben

 

Re: Tolerance to Ambien??

Posted by Bill L on September 25, 2002, at 8:15:52

In reply to Tolerance to Ambien??, posted by temoigneur on September 25, 2002, at 0:08:48

Tolerance to Ambien occurs if you take it every night. But the tolerance is not that bad. A lot of people can take it for years without necessarily increasing the dosage. It definitely works better if taken on an empty stomach.

You might be better off alternating Ambien with zopiclone. I have never heard of zopiclone, but if you alternate, maybe every 2 weeks, you might not be bothered as much with tolerance.

> Hi I have to taking sleeping aids to counter CNS stimulating meds, I'm Canadian, and I've found that zopiclone worked really well at first, but I gained tolerance to it. I was wondering if anyone knew any statistics on whether or not many people gain tolerance to Ambien, and if so how quickly. Thanks so much
>
> Ben

 

Re: Tolerance to Ambien??

Posted by etoc on September 25, 2002, at 13:44:52

In reply to Re: Tolerance to Ambien??, posted by Bill L on September 25, 2002, at 8:15:52

Many P-Docs who regularly Rx Ambien have noticed tolerance in a large portion of those patients after 8 months of continual, daily use. Doses of Ambien higher than 10 and even at 10mgs are addictive. They do stimulate the alpha-benzodiazapine receptor. So not only in theory but in practice they can have an addictive nature with severe rebound anxiety and insomnia.

Best to limit use to 2 months or less. Higer doses will be helpful for those who have aquired tolerance but then coming off the med become progressively harder and more unpleasant.

 

Re: Tolerance to Ambien??

Posted by banxious on September 26, 2002, at 22:28:02

In reply to Tolerance to Ambien??, posted by temoigneur on September 25, 2002, at 0:08:48

Hello,
Zopiclone and zolpidem (Ambien) are very similar medications and would probably exhibit cross-tolerance.
You might try a sedating antidepressant like trazadone. Also, Starnoc (aka Sonata in the US), a new drug, although somewhat similar to zopiclone/zolpidem has been shown in clinical studies to maintain it's hypnotic effect for up to 4 months. However, it is very short acting (ie. 4 hours).

HTH,
Brian

> Hi I have to taking sleeping aids to counter CNS stimulating meds, I'm Canadian, and I've found that zopiclone worked really well at first, but I gained tolerance to it. I was wondering if anyone knew any statistics on whether or not many people gain tolerance to Ambien, and if so how quickly. Thanks so much
>
> Ben


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