Oral use - Sonata (zaleplon); recreational value?

[missoctober83]

I have been on Sonata for 3 years now. I learned from a friend to snort my pills. It has ruined my life. I have never been addicted to any kind of drug, just alcohol. Please, for your own sake, do not abuse Sonata. It will take control of your body and you can't let it go. I regret the day my Dr. ever prescribed it. And now I'm extremely addicted. Like someone addicted to pain pills or any other drug. I have lied to physicians and pharmacists. It is scary. Please, if you haven't done it yet, DONT!!!

[kemikal_nation]

Trips from the sona are pretty good for SWIM. Done 30mg snortin and SWIM is feeling pretty euphoric and disconnected from his surroundings. Playing the 3d light-cycle game from tron is a trip and 1/2. On a side thing, SWIM usually breaks up pills under a black light. Try it sometime. Ambien is white w/ purple haze and sonata is atomic yellow. Pretty fun shit.

[Expat98]

From the American Journal of Psychiatry, November 2008.

***

Letter to the Editor: Intranasal Zaleplon Abuse

THOMAS PAPARRIGOPOULOS, M.D., ELIAS TZAVELLAS, M.D., DIMITRIS KARAISKOS, M.D., and IOANNIS LIAPPAS, M.D.

Athens, Greece

To the Editor: Nonbenzodiazepine hypnotic agents were developed to minimize the adverse effects of benzodiazepines. These hypnotics bind to the {alpha}1, {alpha}2, and {alpha}3 subunits of the gamma-aminobutyric acid type A (GABAA) receptor complex. Zaleplon preferentially binds to the {alpha}1 subunit. These compounds offer less abuse liability relative to benzodiazepines, although this is debatable under certain circumstances (1). We present the case of a patient who abused intranasal zaleplon in order to experience a "high" feeling.

"Mr. A" was a 28-year-old man with a 13-year history of polysubstance abuse (cannabis, cocaine, and heroin). He had been abusing mainly cocaine over the past 5 years and had unsuccessfully tried several treatments to achieve abstinence 1 year prior, following a prolonged stay in a monastery. As a result of sleep difficulties, he was prescribed zaleplon (10 mg/night) as needed. Over the next 3 months, the dose was gradually increased to 70–80 mg/day. Subsequently, he noticed that zaleplon had a mood uplifting effect. To boost this effect, he started taking the drug intranasally by snorting seven to eight pulverized capsules. The patient mentioned that intranasal zaleplon produced a euphoric feeling resembling that of cocaine, although less intense and of a shorter duration. This pattern of abuse persisted for almost 1 year, and withdrawal symptoms (anxiety, nervousness) emerged whenever he tried to reduce its use. He was offered inpatient detoxification treatment, which he declined.

Experts have agreed that nonbenzodiazepine hypnotics have a reduced risk of abuse/dependence compared with benzodiazepines. However, this may not be the case when these drugs are taken for a prolonged period and in higher doses than recommended (1). To our knowledge, the present case is the first to describe intranasal zaleplon abuse for its stimulant and rewarding effect, which lends support to the concern of some investigators who maintain that individuals with a history of substance abuse may be at increased risk of abuse of these agents. Some studies showing that the physical dependence and reinforcing effects for zaleplon may be similar to those of benzodiazepines corroborate this reservation (2–4).

The underlying mechanism of zaleplon abuse and stimulating effect is unknown. However, following chronic exposure to benzodiazepines or benzodiazepine-like agents, alterations in GABAA receptor sensitivity occur, which contribute to the development of tolerance, dependence, and withdrawal. Moreover, a complex interaction (mostly a tonic inhibitory control) between the dopaminergic reward brain structures (ventral tegmental area, nucleus accumbens, ventral pallidum) and GABA function exists. It can be speculated that chronic and/or high exposure to GABAA receptor agonists could lead to a receptor inhibitory-excitatory switch in these reward-related areas that could contribute to addiction (5). Consequently, clinicians should be warned of the abuse potential of zaleplon, especially in multisubstance abusing individuals.

References

1. Griffiths RR, Johnson MW: Relative abuse liability of hypnotic drugs: a conceptual framework and algorithm for differentiating among compounds. J Clin Psychiatry 2005; 66:31–41[Medline]
2. Rush CR, Frey JM, Griffiths RR: Zaleplon and triazolam in humans: acute behavioral effects and abuse potential. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 1999; 145:39–51[CrossRef][Medline]
3. Ator NA, Weerts EM, Kaminski BJ, Kautz MA, Griffiths RR: Zaleplon and triazolam physical dependence assessed across increasing doses under a once-daily dosing regimen in baboons. Drug Alcohol Depend 2000; 61:69–84[CrossRef][Medline]
4. Follesa P, Mancuso L, Biggio F, Cagetti E, Franco M, Trapani G, Biggio G: Changes in GABAA receptor gene expression induced by withdrawal of, but not by long-term exposure to, zaleplon or zolpidem. Neuropharmacology 2002; 42:191–198[CrossRef][Medline]
5. Goodman A: Neurobiology of addiction: an integrative review. Biochem Pharmacol 2008; 75:266–322[CrossRef][Medline]

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http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/.../165/11/1489-a

Reputation Comments on this post:

Nice find!

[Cathay]

I haven't heard of Sontata in probably ten years. That takes me back to their commercials.

[Kindred S0ul]

yeah i signed up for this site just to read this, i'v been on zaleplon or sonata for YEARS, it def does get you high, i dunno the hallucination takes alot i mean like 30 10 mg pills intranasle, then yeah u will hallucinate. they are very addictive when you are doing them, but when they are gone ive never exp. a withdrawl and ive been doing them every month for 5 1/2 years. if are going to do them, DO NOT DRIVE. u tend to black out and not remember the whole night and you will kill someone. so please if u do plan on doing them dont plan on leaving your house or anything. compared to ambien they are way better. i take 600mg of seraquel a night a too and the zaleplon do the trick better. just be carefull with them. they're no joke, seriously

[Politicalchalk]

Just a note, SWIM used to take 3 or 4 without telling anyone. Bad idea. He'd do messed up shit that would hurt those around him. Very potent amnesiac. Upside? Terminal half life is only 1 hour, regardless of dose.

[C17H19NO4_4me]

Sonata is about one of the best highs that SWIM has ever had, when tooted! SWIM has a friend who used to get them and together they would party all night. The only thing SWIM hates about it is that it doesn't last long and one person can easily go through 30 in a five hour period. When mixed with any narcotic pain med the less sonata SWIM has to snort and the longer the high is. The hallucinations that SWIM and his friend had were not bad at all.

SWIM recommends that if any persons is ever prescribed or have obtained Sonata that it be consumed nasaly only as swallowing it will just put SWIY to sleep.