The Ambien Effect

[FnX]

I've always found zolpidem tartrate a rather peculiar drug, with various people reporting very different effects varying from person to person, some of the stories outright unbelievable. Then I found this documentary and I was just blown away, like what the hell is going on here?

http://www.vice.com/video/the-ambien-effect

... it also possesses the ability to normalize functioning in certain types of damaged neurons, a phenomenon called "the Ambien effect." The first awakening occurred in 1999 when a man who had spent three years in a persistent vegetative state spontaneously regained consciousness after ingesting a 10mg tablet.

Hypnotic my ass. Doesn't put me to sleep, doesn't give me wild and vivid hallucinations like some people report, but personally I get this slightly drunken feeling where my motor abilities aren't quite as they used to be before the effects. I also become oddly fluent verbally like, words are just flowing from me and I can keep talking and talking like I was Shakespeare or performing a freestyle rap or something. Any theories what's going on in the brain with this drug? Why does it seem to repair damaged brains at least temporarily with dramatic success? Why isn't it utilized more (probably because we don't know what the hell is going on yet sure)? Just what the hell are they prescribing us to make us sleep better? I would be interested in studies, anecdotes and theories from fellow bluelighters regarding this subject.

 

[Burnt Offerings]

I have heard that zolpidem has some sort of dissociative effect, which is responsible for the strangeness and hallucinations and "shadow people" and all of that stuff some people experience, even at therapeutic doses. Don't know if that's true or not though.

 

[Epsilon Alpha]

I've always found zolpidem tartrate a rather peculiar drug, with various people reporting very different effects varying from person to person, some of the stories outright unbelievable. Then I found this documentary and I was just blown away, like what the hell is going on here?

http://www.vice.com/video/the-ambien-effect



Hypnotic my ass. Doesn't put me to sleep, doesn't give me wild and vivid hallucinations like some people report, but personally I get this slightly drunken feeling where my motor abilities aren't quite as they used to be before the effects. I also become oddly fluent verbally like, words are just flowing from me and I can keep talking and talking like I was Shakespeare or performing a freestyle rap or something. Any theories what's going on in the brain with this drug? Why does it seem to repair damaged brains at least temporarily with dramatic success? Why isn't it utilized more (probably because we don't know what the hell is going on yet sure)? Just what the hell are they prescribing us to make us sleep better? I would be interested in studies, anecdotes and theories from fellow bluelighters regarding this subject.

So there's a couple theories floating around about the mechanism of its unexpected effects in the brain insult population. Many of them focus on changes in GABA-A expression and subunit composition in insulted areas. With that said it is possible that due to its slightly different binding site on the particular combinations of GABA-A subunits that it restores normal function to the region. There is strong evidence that in persistent vegetative states there is reduced modulation of brain activity, which is often the role of GABA-A receptors.

Maybe increased brain synchronicity in some of the healthy population could explain how it works for a minority of users.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22560638
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23462249
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21439793

 

[Kdem]

Perhaps zolpidem and zopiclone have something in common with lorazepam ?

While I could not find any references to lorazepam being used for 'persistent vegitative states', it is used for catatonia. I've read some anecdotal reports of people having experiences with lorazepam that are somewhat similar to experiences with zopiclone/zolpidem.