Tuesday, June 13, 2006

Pagoclone safe?

A reader to this blog sent me an interesting article on the potential for abuse of Pagoclone. The authors are Harriet de Wit, Lisa Vicini, George M. Haig, Thomas Hunt, and Douglas Feltner (Note that some are associated to Pfizer, which is a rival company of Indevus, the producer of Pagoclone, as far as I am aware of). Briefly, they compare Pagoclone to Diazepam (also an anti-anxiety drug). They suggest that Pagoclone is relatively safe to use with some effect on mood, subjective and objective sedation, similar to Diazepam. And a similar (relatively low) potential of abuse. Though the picture may change a bit as the effect is dependent on the actual dosis.

Judge for yourself...


Evaluation of the Abuse Potential of Pagoclone, a Partial GABAA Agonist

This study assessed the abuse potential of pagoclone, a partial agonist at the g-aminobutyric acid type A (GABAA) benzodiazepine receptor site, in healthy recreational drug users. Twenty-three young adults, who reported past recreational use of sedative drugs or alcohol, participated in 4 sessions during which capsules containing pagoclone (doses: 1.2 mg, the higher end of the proposed therapeutic dose range, and 4.8 mg, a 4-fold higher dose), diazepam (dose, 30 mg), or placebo were randomly administered under double-blind conditions. Subjective ratings of mood, drug effects, and psychomotor tests were completed at regular intervals after ingesting the capsules. On most of the standardized measures of abuse potential, pagoclone (dose, 4.8 mg) was rated as being similar to diazepam. Both drugs increased the ratings of good effects and drug liking. However, pagoclone also produced some adverse mood effects that might limit its potential to be used recreationally, and it produced fewer sedativelike effects on some measures. In general, the results with these doses indicate that the abuse potential of pagoclone is similar to that of diazepam, although its profile as a partial agonist suggests that differences between the drugs may emerge at higher doses.

( from Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology Volume 26, Number 3, June 2006)

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Tom - I am a reporter in New Jersey and would like to speak with Lloyd about his experience on Pagoclone, if he is willing. I would really appreciate it if you could pass this message on to him. I can be reached at sara.leitch@dowjones.com. Thank you!

Anonymous said...

FYI regarding pagoclone--my understanding from this article is also that the abuse potential of Pagoclone is also dependent upon whether you use other drugs. For instance, heavy alcohol drinkers may find drugs like pagoclone or diazepam more appealing than nondrinkers.

Anonymous said...

Great article! Thanks.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for interesting article.

Anonymous said...

Nice Blog!

kevinwut said...

Hats off to all the researchers and Dr.s on this project. I think you are on the right track with this medication. As a person who has a stuttering problem I am of no surprise this medication may have addictive qualities too it. This medication either provides some relief or not to those who stutter. My Dr. was the first to know from me, about this medication and I cant wait to see if it works for me.

Anonymous said...

Thank You! Very interesting article. Do you can write anything else about it?

Anonymous said...

Very interesting site. Blog is very good. I am happy that I think the same!

Anonymous said...

Nice! Nice site! Good resources here. I will bookmark!

Anonymous said...

Excellent website. Good work. Very useful. I will bookmark!

Anonymous said...

I see first time your site guys. I like you :)