Severe Chronic Abuse of Zolpidem in Refractory Insomnia

Zolpidem is an imidazopyridine nonbenzodiazepine hypnotic drug with a high affinity to the α1 subunit of the gamma amino butyric acid A receptor It is the first pharmacological option in the short-term management of sleep-onset insomnia. Initially considered a safer drug compared to benzodiazepines...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of clinical sleep medicine 2018-07, Vol.14 (7), p.1257-1259
Main Authors: Chiaro, Giacomo, Castelnovo, Anna, Bianco, Giovanni, Maffei, Piermario, Manconi, Mauro
Format: Article
Language:English
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Case Reports
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Summary:Zolpidem is an imidazopyridine nonbenzodiazepine hypnotic drug with a high affinity to the α1 subunit of the gamma amino butyric acid A receptor It is the first pharmacological option in the short-term management of sleep-onset insomnia. Initially considered a safer drug compared to benzodiazepines because of lower liability for abuse and dependence, recently, an increasing body of reports has questioned zolpidem's proneness to misuse. In this report, we describe a case of serious zolpidem abuse requiring pharmacological washout during hospitalization because of previous withdrawal seizures in a patient with chronic sleep-onset and maintenance insomnia.
ISSN:1550-9389
1550-9397
DOI:10.5664/jcsm.7240