Chasing the Ambien High

This post should not be construed as glorifying Ambien abuse. I've since discontinued Ambien use and warn that misuse of Ambien can be very dangerous.

Recreational Use of Ambien

Ambien is a prescription sleep aid whose recreational potential is vastly underrated. This sentiment was echoed by a report published in France in 2007, which noted an incredible uptrend in reports of both forged prescriptions for Ambien and notifications about Ambien dependence.

Ambien recreational use appears to be on the rise.

In case studies published 1993-2005, the maximal reported average daily dose was 300 mg/day, with the highest individual dose being 1120 mg. For all patients, the route of administration was oral except for one patient using inhalation.

I must confess that I've abused Ambien myself. It's like lunar candy that propels you into a giddy spiral of irrational euphoria, disordered binge eating, and reprehensibly absent social inhibitions.

Ambien is a pretty bizarre drug, pharmacologically. Despite being a potent central nervous system (CNS) depressant, Ambien paradoxically rouses comatose patients.

As a z-drug that enhances GABA(A) receptor open probability, Ambien leaves your neurons so tightly hyperpolarized from inward chloride influx that complete stretches of time will be unaccounted for.

Case Reports of Ambien Abuse

Here are some highlights from case reports of Ambien abuse:

Some patients abused Ambien because they experienced a paradoxical effect, where they became stimulated and euphoric from Ambien, rather than sedated.

"A patient [ref] who systematically used cocaine was prescribed zolpidem for the treatment of insomnia resulting from the cocaine abuse. This patient swallowed 3 or 4 tablets of zolpidem after cocaine inhalation and took between 20 and 30 tablets per day."

"Another patient [ref], who had used heroin injection, began taking zolpidem orally initially for insomnia. He tried injecting zolpidem intravenously and experienced a stronger stimulating effect and euphoria. He increased the dosage of intravenous zolpidem from 20 mg to 300–400 mg day −1 because he experienced tolerance to lower doses. "

" For one patient, Ambien was a gateway drug; she experienced a craving for other psychotropic substances and started smoking marijuana for the first time in her life in order to increase the effect of zolpidem.

"For one patient, the use of zolpidem during daytime reduced the tremor caused by his Parkinsonism. Reports of lessening of symptoms for deficiency or mental disorders were published in the literature [ref]. Zolpidem reduces these symptoms, thus prompting patients to abuse it in order to cope with their activities, rather than use it as a sedative drug."

Ambien may just be a routine sleep aid for many, but for the initiated (or rather the genetically predisposed to this particular flavor of substance abuse), Ambien will make the most banal youtube videos inexplicably funny. You'll laugh at visual media that wouldn't even elicit a chuckle while stoned.

If you've tried Ambien and have no idea what I'm talking about, then consider yourself lucky. You've escaped the island of lotus eaters and will never be tempted by this ebullient soma.