Benzos Is there a cross tolerance between Ambien and Xanax?

[talkin2myself]

I'm gonna get my hands on some Ambien, because people say it's very good for sleeping.

Xanax doesn't even makes me sleepy anymore, my tolerance level is higher than a college liberal's :D

If I start popping Ambien will my Xanax tolerance go up? Because that's something I don't want, there's times when I spend more money on Zans than food.

(and if we're already here, does Ambien has anything to do with your weight, gain, loss? Because I heard different stories.)

 

[pillman1224]

a few times wont increase tolerance. but yes they are both Gaba drugs so they are cross-tolerant. it will only effect your weight if you benzo-eat (worse than munchies by far).

 

[Hodor]

Ambien is a so-called "non-benzodiazepine", meaning it isn't a benzo structurally, but hits the same receptors*. In other words, yes, there is going to be major cross-tolerance.

Not sure if you're really going to get much more "value" from Ambien either - it isn't particularly potent (1 Xanax bar = 5 or more 10mg Ambien pills) and also fairly short-lasting.

Generally, there seems to be more variability in how people react to Ambien than with benzos. For me, Zolpidem actually seemed like the more recreational substance.

* by which I mean it's not just another GABAergic like ethanol, but that it actually docks at the same binding sites on the receptors that benzos do. The main difference is that Zolpidem produces only extremely weak anticonvulsant effects in relation to its sleep-inducing and anxiety-reducing qualities, meaning that someone heavily addicted to benzos could possibly get a seizure when attempting to substitute their benzo with Ambien.