How close is ambien/zoplicone to a benzo?

I am just under 2 months since completely coming off of benzos after 2 years getting off them. Healing is going alright, could be worse.

 

I have severe trouble sleeping and it really affects me badly, especially when i have something important to do the next day. I am also on 15mg mirtazapine daily before bed which i was put on during my tapering when i was in a very vulnerable position (fucking doctors right?) which i am kicking myself for agreeing to take after reading horror stories about it on here. The mirt no longer helps me with ANYTHING and is only a hassle and problem now because if i dont take it, i get all sorts of horrible symptoms.

 

How close is ambien/zopiclone to a benzo? I recently took one 10mg pill (before i found out is was very similar to a benzo) and i honestly didnt notice any adverse reactions the next day. Maybe just slightly groggy.

 

I have something important coming up in 1 week time and was wondering if it will do me any harm to take it again. I NEED to have a good sleep the night before. If i do take it, it will be twice within a month with roughly 2 weeks apart.

 

I recently browsed this section of the forums and read some members threads about ambien/zopi and to my horror, i've read some terrifying things. People saying ambien withdrawal is HORRIBLE as well as other horror stories. It has really put me off taking ambien again after finding out they are very chemically similar to benzos but i have found ambien to be a lifesaver if i really need to have a good sleep. I never plan on taking it over once or twice a month - i have learned my lesson with taking prescription meds daily. I also have good self control.

 

Does anyone know how closely related ambien is to benzos and why it isnt exactly a benzo? I have promised myself i will NEVER put a benzo of any sort into my system again after these past 2 years of hell. But it has been 2+ weeks since i last took ambien and like i said i havent noticed any negative reactions or setbacks.

 

With alcohol i feel massive negative effects just hours after i have drunk just one glass of wine, and this carries on until the next few days.. i have promised myself i will never drink again even just a beer because of this. The side effects i get from even drinking just a tiny bit of alcohol, are akin to having a fever and last a few days. Bit off topic but thought i'd mention.

 

I appreciate your responses :-)

 

They are pretty much the same thing as far as a I can tell but hopefully someone who knows more can help.

Different chemical structure, but affect the same GABA receptors, according to wikipedia. You can read https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nonbenzodiazepine.

 

They are pretty much the same thing as far as a I can tell but hopefully someone who knows more can help.

 

Different chemical structure, but affect the same GABA receptors, according to wikipedia. You can read https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nonbenzodiazepine.

 

Thank you for the responses 

 

@Hope, i just read that page and a few others relating to my thread and from what i gathered - just like Ajusta said, ambien/zopiclone seems to be "pretty much a benzo".

 

I guess i was looking for an explanation as to why i didn't have any side effects from taking it that one time but maybe it is because i have crippling anxiety from my past benzo use complicating my life every day that i didn't notice much difference after taking it..

 

Going to avoid taking it if i can and save it for when it is really needed. Don't want to cause myself more problems.

 

Has anyone in the same BWD boat got any experience with using ambien or any other similar sleeping drugs for "special occasions" maybe once a month? Interested to hear if it has set you back or not

Diazemapamhell, I was originally put on both ambien 10 mgs and clonazepam 0.5 mgs for insomnia. A few years in, I started tapering off of both and actually got off of clonazepam, but when I finished my taper off of Ambien, I did not sleep. This was back in early 2000 and done totally on my own. My gynecologist said I needed a lower mg of Ambien during my taper. I gave up at that time and went back to my original doses. In 2015, I accidently mixed the Ambien with my HRT tablets and when I discovered I had been taking one or the other the previous week, I just never took another Ambien again. Strangely, I had no withdrawal symptoms, but I did end up in the ER maybe a year later, with transient global amnesia. My daughter thought I had taken an Ambien in the night, but I do not believe I had, thought I have no memory of anything after I went to sleep and "woke up" the next afternoon in my hospital room. My PCP determined I had not taken an Ambien, so I will go with that.

Anyway, for me, when I did finally stop the Ambien for good, I had none of the problems that I had when I started my taper off of clonazepam two years later. That was truly my worst nightmare, ever, which I am starting to come out of with each step forward.

Hang in there.

If you are having a hard time with a benzo withdrawal, you might be a whole lot better off pretending that Ambien and other similar z-drugs do not exist. They are actually very powerful  medications that zero right in on GABA receptors, which are some of the primary receptors that are disrupted during a benzo withdrawal. I am fairly sure that a single dose will not do much harm, but that could very well lead to a second, third, forth, etc. dose and then trouble will be close to certain. That saying about throwing gasoline on a fire would very much apply to such a situation. The apparent easy way out is really a deceptive trap that you don't want to fall into. Been there and done that myself.

I started taking xanax and ambien right after I finished chemotherapy, because my anxiety at that point suddenly jumped through the roof. It turns out my thyroid hormone dose was also too high suddenly, which didn't help matters.

 

I'm still taking the ambien, 10 mg a night, while I taper the xanax. I figure the ambien will be next. But first, the xanax has to go. My xanax taper is going pretty well, with only some hiccups here and there. Like here. I've been holding because symptoms ramped up last week. But I'm feeling pretty good today. I will probably start tapering in a day or two again.

 

I started taking mirtazapine when I started chemo, and it was a godsend. So I have no plans on quitting that anytime soon.

 

So with the ambien and mirtazapine, I sleep pretty well. And no grogginess for me the next day. The only reason I want to quit the ambien is because my doctor makes me see him once a month to renew the script (and give a urine sample, lol). Otherwise I would just take the ambien forever.

How close is ambien/zoplicone to a benzo?

It's the same thing, it has similar mechanism of action on the brain as benzos.

 

How close is ambien/zoplicone to a benzo?

It's the same thing, it has similar mechanism of action on the brain as benzos do.

I am just under 2 months since completely coming off of benzos after 2 years getting off them. Healing is going alright, could be worse.

 

I have severe trouble sleeping and it really affects me badly, especially when i have something important to do the next day. I am also on 15mg mirtazapine daily before bed which i was put on during my tapering when i was in a very vulnerable position (fucking doctors right?) which i am kicking myself for agreeing to take after reading horror stories about it on here. The mirt no longer helps me with ANYTHING and is only a hassle and problem now because if i dont take it, i get all sorts of horrible symptoms.

 

How close is ambien/zopiclone to a benzo? I recently took one 10mg pill (before i found out is was very similar to a benzo) and i honestly didnt notice any adverse reactions the next day. Maybe just slightly groggy.

 

I have something important coming up in 1 week time and was wondering if it will do me any harm to take it again. I NEED to have a good sleep the night before. If i do take it, it will be twice within a month with roughly 2 weeks apart.

 

I recently browsed this section of the forums and read some members threads about ambien/zopi and to my horror, i've read some terrifying things. People saying ambien withdrawal is HORRIBLE as well as other horror stories. It has really put me off taking ambien again after finding out they are very chemically similar to benzos but i have found ambien to be a lifesaver if i really need to have a good sleep. I never plan on taking it over once or twice a month - i have learned my lesson with taking prescription meds daily. I also have good self control.

 

Does anyone know how closely related ambien is to benzos and why it isnt exactly a benzo? I have promised myself i will NEVER put a benzo of any sort into my system again after these past 2 years of hell. But it has been 2+ weeks since i last took ambien and like i said i havent noticed any negative reactions or setbacks.

 

With alcohol i feel massive negative effects just hours after i have drunk just one glass of wine, and this carries on until the next few days.. i have promised myself i will never drink again even just a beer because of this. The side effects i get from even drinking just a tiny bit of alcohol, are akin to having a fever and last a few days. Bit off topic but thought i'd mention.

 

I appreciate your responses :-)

 

Ambien is a "Z class" "hypnotic" drug that is supposed to work differently than Benzos, but ultimately does pretty much the same thing to Gaba receptors as other have already mentioned.  Specifically, Ambien contains zolpidem tartrate, a gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) A receptor positive modulator of the imidazopyridine class.

 

I would avoid alcohol as it is also works on Gaba and could easily increase your withdrawal symptoms? 

 

Good luck.

I have been off benzos now for 5 years. I  have disrupted sleep patterns however and suffer from fatigue most days. They want to do a sleep study on me again to see if I am having any apnea. They tried a sleep study two years ago but I could not sleep in the sleep lab, so it was inconclusive. This time they want to give me 10mg of Ambien to help get me to sleep. I know Ambien binds to the GABA 1 receptor so I am worried it will rile up benzo receptors and cause me more grief, but I dont know that for sure. Will one dose of Ambien be a problem? I have had some day surgeries since getting off benzos and have had versed given to me a couple times which is a benzo and it caused no long term affects. SO I am hoping one dose of Ambien will not be a problem either. I need to figure out this sleep problem as its wearing me out. Any advice on this

 

Pokey

I have been off benzos now for 5 years. I  have disrupted sleep patterns however and suffer from fatigue most days. They want to do a sleep study on me again to see if I am having any apnea. They tried a sleep study two years ago but I could not sleep in the sleep lab, so it was inconclusive. This time they want to give me 10mg of Ambien to help get me to sleep. I know Ambien binds to the GABA 1 receptor so I am worried it will rile up benzo receptors and cause me more grief, but I dont know that for sure. Will one dose of Ambien be a problem? I have had some day surgeries since getting off benzos and have had versed given to me a couple times which is a benzo and it caused no long term affects. SO I am hoping one dose of Ambien will not be a problem either. I need to figure out this sleep problem as its wearing me out. Any advice on this

 

Pokey

 

I had a sleep study done in the past so I have a little experience in this area. First off, most sleep doctors make a large portion of their money from diagnosing and treating sleep apnea. Also, benzos and z-drugs cause your throat muscles to relax more while sleeping, increasing the likelihood of an apnea diagnosis. These drugs also affect your sleep architecture so the non-apnea results of the study might be altered. A single dose of Ambien is not likely to have much of a negative effect on your recovery, but I may be wrong. If you want a study done, you might want to try doing it without the sleep aid.

They want to give me the Ambien because the last time they tried a study I only slept 60 minutes which was a worthless study. I personally think I need to get off the mirtazapine and things will start to smooth out

Prevacid can cause sleep issues for some?  Mirt can also cause sleep issues especially if you have reached tolerance with it?  Drugs are never the answer in my opinion, but 1 night of Ambien should do nothing this far out?  Ambien 10mg did nothing for me prior to my sleep study and I only got about 2 hours 20 minutes of sleep but that was enough for them to tell me I did not have apnea.  I did get 23 minutes of deep sleep during that 2 hours 20 minutes.

 

Most sleep cycles are 90-100 minutes so not sure how 60 minutes would be completely "worthless" unless they are trying to find apnea where none exists? 

 

I concur with Aloha that a sleep study is almost exclusively done to "confirm" apnea so they can put you on some type of CPAP machine.

 

Even before my sleep study the doctor spent almost an hour showing me all of the latest CPAP gadets and devices.

yes, it was clear to me that the FNP at the sleep clinic I saw was looking at my sleep issues purely through the lens of thinking it could be some sort of sleep anomaly due to apnea or hypoxia of some sort. When I told her I did not think calling sleep apnea a sleep disorder was technically correct, but that it was a respiratory disorder that interrupts sleep, she got a puzzled look on her face.  Thats one of my main gripes about specialists. They never, or can't think out of their box. I told her I thought it was a brain based problem, which of course she had no clue how to address. But then neurologists dont address sleep disorders, so a person is stuck with pulmonologists. I think my problem is related to the mirtazapine and getting off it which pretty much leaves me on my own to work through it. I will do one more sleep study, which I dont think will tell them a clear answer and then Im done with it

 

Pokey

When I did my sleep study I was just starting to enter into severe insomnia from Ambien tolerance. The doctor was not the least bit interested in my overuse of Ambien and did not bat an eye when I told him that I had taken a double does of Ambien CR in order to sleep during the study. In going through my study results he seemed to ignore any of the readings except those that showed apnea events. He told me that I had minor apnea (maybe brought on by the double does of Ambien), but wrote moderate in my official diagnosis. Try getting used to a CPAP while going through tolerance withdrawal. Waste of time for me.

 

Since you are not going through a benzo or Z-drug withdrawal, a single small dose of Ambien might actually help you fall alseep during the study. The maximum recommended dose for a man is now 10 mg, but only 5 mg. for women. Maybe try only 5 mg. The drug's half-life is only a couple of hours so if you do fall asleep, you might get some more natural readings during the later half of the study. Apnea is an actual problem for some people, but the detection of excessive REM sleep or other unusual sleep cycles could be interesting to the doctor if he or she understood what they were seeing.

 

OK, fell off the wagon on ambien.  So needed sleep (fighting off URI forever) took an extra or half eztra and slept.

 

So seems hooked on it more than the valium which doen't do much but have been triying get off clon forever (see sig).

 

Any suggetion?  I need to sleep somehow-- my body breaking down here substantially.

 

Dr. will try to  help, what would you ask for?  thx

I took them for insomnia myself, till I read that they do NOT give you real sleep, they deprive you of REM sleep, and for those who take them for work - studies show you perform WORSE on tasks (According to the AMA Guide to Better Sleep).  As awful as insomnia is, meditation and exercise will give you more clarity after a rotten night than benzo's or Z drugs.  They -- and all benzo's - also increase mortality.  (I decided I'd rather have insomnia - I'm not suicidal!)

 

"Although most patients believe they accrue an extra 50 minutes of sleep by taking them, the American Journal of Public Health reported that Z drugs increase our sleep by a mere 12 minutes. There are other concerns, too. In February, BMJ Open published perhaps the most alarming argument against the use of sleeping tablets. An American study compared 10,500 patients taking prescribed sleeping pills with 23,000 patients not on sleep medication. Although the absolute risk of death remained quite low, it was four times higher in those taking sleeping tablets."

 

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2012/aug/20/sleeping-pills-britains-hidden-addiction