Questions about ambien use, abuse, and addiction? best advice -easy 10?

Question by Sarah W: Questions about ambien use, abuse, and addiction? best advice -easy 10?
I’ve just started taking ambien so i wanna know about these things before i get into it. for one thing, i noticed that taking my pill at night chills me out more and relaxes me, especially if i’m in a really crappy/depressed mood. is this normal? i’ve also heard of “ambien day binges”. what are those? and something about people snorting ambien, which i think sounds so painful and i see no point in that. i’ve also heard about people taking like 3-4 ambien cause they have no inhibitions and will do crazy stuff, and totally forget it the next day. is this true? i don’t wanna do something like crazy. any thoughts, personal stories, evidence, or anything on this would be great, thanks.

Best answer:

Answer by LizzyBee
Zolpidem (Ambien) is one of the “Z-drug” hypnotics, usually used for insomnia for short term use. It is normal for zolpidem to relax you as one of its side effects is euphoria i.e. makes you feel better. I’m assuming a “day binge” on zolpidem involves abusing the drug for its calming/euphoric effects, taking more than the therapeutic dose. This is not a particularly safe thing to do as you risk overdosing, possibly leading to respiratory depression, coma then death. Taking more of a drug does not necessarily increase its effects linearly, i.e. just because you have an effect with one 10mg tablet does not mean that 3-4 tablets will produce more of a desirable effect, just gives you more side effects. The fact that people forget they’ve taken too many previously is probably due to the side effect of amnesia, and they will get a nasty “hangover” the day after. Snorting the drug is also not a good idea, as you could irritate your nose, and the drug is a fast acting one anyway (within 15 minutes) so there’s not much point.

Zolpidem is associated with tolerance and dependence. Taking it over a long period of time reduces its effects, has a negative impact on your sleeping patterns and causes unpleasant withdrawal symptoms (anxiety, paranoia, insomnia etc). In the UK it is only liscenced for short-term use (4 weeks) for insomnia, if you are taking this drug on advice of your doctor, it’s best to follow their instructions. It is also not a good idea to mix alcohol or other depressants (i.e. benzodiazepines) with zolpidem as it potentiates its side effects.

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