Zolpidem and serotonergics - mechanism behind suppression of effects and aftereffects

[Vastness]

Quick question here. The last 2 days in a row I took a couple of ambien intending to sleep, and ended up going on a small solo stimulant binge, with 300mg of 3MMC the first night, and 300mg + 150mg MDMA the second. Was no doubt a total waste of drugs and brain cells because I could barely even appreciate these powerful drugs through the ambien-ed haze. That said, I do not recall feeling especially altered, even managed to do some basic work related tasks I had been meaning to do, rather than sleeping. Today I could say I feel a little off if I deliberately assess my mental state - BUT it is not obvious, and in fact I am surprisingly unphased by the substances I imbibed, which is quite counter to my usual experience with the day after hard stimulants.

So my question, although this may be just wishful thinking, obviously the act is done now against my better judgement - but is there any likely mechanism by which zolpidem (or, indeed, other GABA-ergics, benzos or "benzoids" such as z-drugs and similar) could suppress some of the acute activity of powerful serotonergic drugs, and possibly mitigate neurotoxicity and/or aftereffects?

Is it likely or possible that the same mechanism which causes this suppression of acute effects could also suppress some of the harmful, possibly neurotoxic effects, leading to reduced aftereffects?

 

[AlphaMethylPhenyl]

1. Generally, yes. Zolpidem produces its effects by binding to the alpha1 benzo receptor site, and less-so wrt alpha2/3/5. So it would attenuate physical stimulation. More GABA, less excitatory neurons reach action potential. Relative alpha1 selectivity is probably key in this because it produces a hypnotic effect--hence, being a medication for insomnia.

2. Maybe a little in terms of toxicity. Nothing to write home about, unfortunately. If that literature exists, it would be well-known (like the MDMA and fluoxetine thing). So, I really doubt that a significant amount of the neurotoxicity was countered by the zolpidem. Honestly not sure about this one though. Hopefully someone else can chime in.

I don't know much about 3-MMC, but that amount of MDMA is high, to say the least.

 

[Vastness]

Thanks for your response - sorry, I meant to say that I did 300mg 3-MMC again, and then 150mg MDMA later - not 450mg of MDMA. Maybe an hour between substances hopefully, although I know given their respective durations there would have been some overlap... the 3-MMC was done in 3 doses of 100mg, as far as I can recall.

From what I've read I think the neurotoxicity of 3-MMC at least is somewhat unclear, but suspected to be less severe than amphetamines, or even 4-MMC, to some extent. However I know the co-administration with MDMA wouldn't help, and I don't doubt for a moment that what I did was bad for me... just hopefully only transiently bad, provided I abstain from hard stimulants for a bit... and zolpidem, I'm constantly surprised by how disinhibiting zolpidem is, although I really should not be surprised given that a few times now I've been caught out by it.