Zolpidem
Pronunciation:zohl-PIH-dem
Chemical Abstracts Service Registry Number:82626-48-0. (Tartrate form 99294-
93-6)
Formal Names:Ambien, Stilnoct, Stilnox
Type:Depressant.Seepage 19
Federal Schedule Listing:Schedule IV (DEA no. 2783)
USA Availability:Prescription
Pregnancy Category:B
Uses.Zolpidem became available for medical purposes in the United States
during the 1990s, after already being used in Europe. The substance can be
used to relax people shortly before they undergo surgery. Zolpidem promotes
sleep and has both sedative and anticonvulsant properties. Generally insomnia
patients are not supposed to take the drug for much more than a week. They
are also not supposed to take the drug until they are ready for sleep; the
substance is fast acting, and a person could doze off while in the middle of
doing something. Elderly nursing home residents have been known to fall
after taking zolpidem. People may forget things they do while under the
drug’s influence; a U.S. Army test found that the amnesia can be prevented
if the drug flumazenil is taken soon enough after a zolpidem dose (flumazenil
is used to counteract benzodiazepine depressants).
Scientific studies of zolpidem generally find no hangover drug effects, but
people should be careful about what they do after waking up from a dose
until they know they are functioning normally. No problem in that regard
surfaced when the drug was tested on French military pilots and ground
crews to determine if zolpidem could improve rest during prolonged military
activity, nor did Swiss researchers find any reduction in performance if ath-
letes used zolpidem to get a good night’s sleep before a sporting competition.
Not everyone, of course, has the same vigor as those populations. Experi-
menters running the French military test concluded that the drug is suitable
for active military duty, and the substance also has U.S. Air Force approval
for aircrew use.
The drug has been used to counteract jet lag, allowing travelers to compen-
sate for changes in their sleep/wake cycles and to function effectively while
crossing many time zones. During a simulation of such conditions for long-