Chronic Abuse of Zolpidem
- Christian A. Gericke, MD;
- Albert C. Ludolph, MD
Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text.
Excerpt
To the Editor. —The imidazopyridine zolpidem has only recently been marketed as a rapid-onset, short-acting hypnotic. It has been assumed that zolpidem has a lower potential for abuse than benzodiazepines because of its unpleasant adverse effects at higher doses. However, in baboons the drug had a higher reinforcing efficacy than any benzodiazepine tested and self-injection rates were similar to those maintained by pentobarbital or secobarbital.1
A 33-year-old man with known major depression since the age of 26 years was admitted to our hospital for evaluation of an unprovoked generalized tonic-clonic seizure that occurred 14 hours after the reported ingestion of 60 to 80 mg of zolpidem. The seizure was self-limited. Anterograde amnesia was present and memory returned to normal only after 4 to 5 days. An electroencephalogram showed increased photoreactivity 7 days after the acute event; another 8 days later a 24-hour recording, which included photosensitivity testing, was completely
