Posted by yxibow on January 21, 2007, at 4:00:42
In reply to Specific drugs - any experiences?, posted by halcyondaze on January 20, 2007, at 12:05:52
> I've been examining abuse liability of various drugs in the literature and have come up with a list of possibilities w/ a lower or similar abuse liability as Ambien. Any experiences with the following for sleep initiation and maintenance?
> 1) Triazolam (Halcion)Not taken it personally, but the hype that led to discontinuation in many countries other than the US was limited in nature and not conclusive. Nonetheless it wouldn't be my first choice due to the past inconclusive hype.
>
> 2) Flurazepam (Dalmane)Dalmane, if you haven't taken it before will floor you. It is scarily (personal opinion) soporific and creates a sensation of feeling like one has been drugged. Continued use probably lessens this probably, but one can become habituated, of course.
>
> 3) Estazolam (ProSom)Have not tried.
>
> 4) Oxazepam (Serax)Serax is one of the few benzodiazepines that doesn't go through the liver particularly. It is a fairly weak agent.
>
> 5) Zopiclone (Imovane - is this available in the US? It's the precursor to the isomer of Lunesta)It is available in Canada and is a generic drug worldwide. The makers of Lunesta managed to patent a generic drug in its markets the active stereoisomer of zopiclone, which is Lunesta.
> 6) Quazepam (Doral)
Do not have any information on this.
All of the above have greater "abuse liability" than Ambien/Ambien CR with the exception of Zopiclone. Abuse is the intentional misuse of prescribed or otherwise obtained medications at levels at or exceeding medically typical doses. Habituation potential is what one would more apply to benzodiazepines and pseudobenzodiazepines.Ambien, Lunesta, and Sonata are pseudobenzodiazepines and while they touch on GABA-BZ, they are not benzodiazepines themselves. Ambien can be taken longer than previously thought, although at some point habituation probably will set in. Lunesta was created to be a more long term agent.
Lunesta is weaker than Ambien and probably requires greater than 3mg doses for the fairly insomniac, which includes myself. I did try it at 4mg, which made it slightly better.
I use Rozerem currently to taper from Ambien but I may return to Ambien. Rozerem is far more powerful than melatonin -- I took the maximum typically found OTC 5mg of melatonin and woke up with night terrors; definately weaker than Rozerem.
poster:yxibow
thread:724283
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20070119/msgs/724707.html