Benzos Is it dangerous to take z-drugs at night and benzos in the evening?

[razorcuts]

My doc didn't tell me anything in regards to this. I get zolpidem for sleep and xanax for anxiety.

Now I read that you gotta be careful when you take benzos and z-drugs together.

Is this dangerous? Could this cause respiratory depression?!

If I take a xanax in the evening and then go to bed 4h later and take zolpidem then the xanax is still in the system.

 

[Raysu]

Xanax is a shorter acting benzo but really if they came from the same doc and you filled them at the same pharmacy you should be fine. Anything contraindicated would be alerted at the pharmacy.

 

[kleinerkiffer]

Well, they'll synergise (both act on GABA-A) but you'd need to take a lot for any significant respiratory depression. I'd worry more about blacking out and addiction

 

[razorcuts]

No I dont buy all my stuff at the same pharmacy.

The leaflet says that you should inform your doc if you take benzos. This indicates that taking z-drugs with benzos is risky.

But my doc didn't tell me if I can take them on the same day. I will ask him next time.

What worries me also is that benzos are linked to dementia. If benzos can cause dementia then z-drugs likely do the same. I have taken quite a lot of z-drugs
already, maybe 100 pills this year.

 

[kleinerkiffer]

http://www.bmj.com/content/352/bmj.i90

Conclusion
The risk of dementia is slightly higher in people with minimal exposure to benzodiazepines but not with the highest level of exposure. These results do not support a causal association between benzodiazepine use and dementia.

This meta-study says that benzos aren't linked to demetia
Plus this https://www.hindawi.com/journals/aps/2012/416864/

Zolpidem: 5-10-fold higher affinity for α 1 versus α 2/3 > 1000 fold higher affinity for α 1 versus α 5

α5 subunit-containing GABAA receptors appear to be involved in learning and memory

So even though α5 activation won't be the only cause of demetia/brain fog/bad memory etc. Z-drugs should be even 'safer' than benzos

Do you have any memory problems right now ?


You should really worry about dependence/addiction
Have you tried stuff like melatonin for sleep ?

 

[Solipsis]

Agreed, get off them as soon as you can. (Ive been benzo dependent)
Zolpidem is not meant to be taken long-term, and if you are already taking it most days this year the ship has sailed on initial prevention of dependency.

Taking two sedatives seems pretty redundant, I don't get why you don't just take one longer lasting benzo at night to sleep which then still works during the day. A switch like that shouldn't 'hurt' too much and may be the first step towards tapering etc.

The rationale about alpha5 makes sense, coincidentally I argued the exact same thing in NSP this evening.

I've taken Z-drugs and benzos before, they do potentiate each other's side effects - so yes blacking out is a risk but if you are taking it to go to sleep then this basically means you won't have much trouble sleeping.

Respiratory depression wouldn't get dangerous quite so quickly I think, especially since the modes of action are so similar. But yeah there is marked CNS depression so it's not really ideal either.

 

[Kittycat5]

I honestly dont think you are in any grave danger as a benzo for anxiety and z-drug for sleep is very common with very few issues in most. At normal doses, respiratory depression is probably of no concern. You said you have taken 100 pills of Ambien this year so far. Thats less than one every other day. If you arent abusing your Xanax, I dont think you should worry for one second.

 

[Treybudd]

Z drugs and benzos are frequently co-prescribed so asides from dependency issues that arise with time I'd say you're pretty much in the clear.

 

[Sobrietysucks]

If you take it as prescribed it's ok. Doctors know best, they wouldn't rx something that is no safe.

 

[razorcuts]

Hi,
the problem is that benzos do not work for sleep at all!

I get 2mg ativan injections when I have to get a MRI and even this does not make me tired at all!

And going above 2mg makes no sense to me. I mean maybe if I took 4mg it would knock me out but I dont know if this is safe.

----

I have not had an issue with z-drug dependence or withdrawal. I have talen z-drugs continually every night for at least 30 days straight.
Then I took a break of 1 week and I had no withdrawal issues. From what I know z-drugs cause less withdrawal issues than benzos.

I told my pdoc I need something for sleep which REALLY works but he insists on z-drugs or ativan.

I told him ativan does NOT make me tired but he doesn't want to give me anything else. I suggested valium or oxazepam but he was against it.

Z-Drugs are really weak. They don't knock me out at best they help with falling asleep. And when I take zolpidem then after 2-3 hours I wake up!
It's totally weak and unreliable.

I needed something which makes me sleep 8 hours straight and which is reliable.

Do you have any suggestions?

 

[kleinerkiffer]

Well, if you insist on a medication and don't care that much about side effects I'd say low dose quetiapine should knock you out straight. Or trazodone.

But have you tried more natural ways, like sleep hygiene, melatonin, chamomile tea, valerian root, L-Theanine, guided meditation (YouTube is a great source), ASMR etc?

It's really important to stay away from blue light (actual light, not the forum :D) a few hours before you want to go to sleep

 

[razorcuts]

My mother uses low dose quetiapine for sleep and she says that she feels drowsy the next day. That's not a good choice for me. I need something which causes no hangover and which can
be taken the night before taking an exam. If it made me tired the next morning or messed with cognition then it would be really bad.

Melatonin doesn't cut it. I have taken it in the past and this stuff really isn't what I am looking for. I need something which more or less knocks you out when you take it. For example when it's
1AM and you're not really tired but you gotta sleep cause you have to get up early at 8AM.

I'm a person which is most active at night. During the day I am tired. This means when I do work on the computer or on the desk I am exposed to light, unless I wear blue light protective glasses
which I have. But these glasses do not offer 100% protection cause they do not totally fit to the head. I don't know if it works if there's still some light coming through.

Another issue is that I usually go to bed pretty late, like 4AM and this means that when the sun goes up and it gets bright outside there's light entering my room. I cannot keep the room
100% dark and keep all light out it's just not possible.

I wear a sleep mask at night but it also doesn't cover my eyes 100%. There's some light getting through around the nose.

I'm aware that it's not really good to have a sleeping pattern where you go to bed very late but I'm a night person. During the day there are too many things which distract me and it's also
too noisy.

 

[razorcuts]

The z-drugs don't work for me anymore. I don't understand it.

I can take zopiclone and then 2 hours later I wake up!

They are pretty much useless now.

But I don't know if this is tolerance cause even after taking 7-10 days off it didn't get better.

Unfortunately my doc won't consider anything else. I asked him about valium and oxazepam and he was against it.

I'd simply like something which is reliable and which helps me sleep when I need to sleep and not wake up every few hours and then feel like crap even after sleeping 12 hours.