Baby Benzos - Z drugs

There’s also a category of drugs that are known as ‘baby benzos’. These non-benzodiazepines, or Z drugs as they are sometimes called, are used for the treatment of insomnia. Prescription names you may recognize include Lunesta, Ambien, and Sonata.

Despite the fact that they aren’t benzodiazepines, they work in a similar manner in your brain, mimicking that GABA neurotransmitter to induce sleepiness. The difference between benzodiazepines and these so called “baby benzos” is the fact that while traditional benzos work on the alpha-1, alpha-2, alpha-3, and other classes of the GABA-A receptors in your brain, Z-drugs only affect alpha-1, making them effective for insomnia but without an anti-anxiety effect.

Because the chemical structure of Z-drugs is different to benzodiazepines it makes them unrelated molecularly, however they still carry a raft of similar side effects and debilitating withdrawal symptoms.

Names of Z DruGS

• zopiclone (Zimovane, Imovane)

• zaleplon (Sonata) - pyrazolopyrimidine

• zolpidem (Stilnoct) - imidazopyridine

• eszopiclone (Lunesta)