Help In the unlikely event that there are any psychiatrists, neurologists, or pharmacists on here. Is there a medication that is like zopiclone but not it

[Spectre]

I am looking for something that doesn't cause substance abuse problems, but one that calms my OCD thoughts and the powerful emotions surrounding them. I know the neuropathways affected are mostly GABA receptors. Is there a good drug option that works in this kind of direction?

 

[NearlyIrrelevantCake]

I am not a doctor or professional of any kind, but I'd like to offer my personal experience here, if you don't mind.

I've had OCD for as long as I can remember. It's 24/7 in my brain--counting and tracking and correcting numbers and letters. I chew my nails obsessively, nearly every waking moment and it's driven by the OCD, by needing perfection, why is there a rough spot, let me bite that off... And it goes to the point of bleeding sometimes. It hurts incredibly, but I can't stop.

All kinds of psych meds have never helped it at all.

But once, I was put on topiramate for seizures. It all stopped. Vanished. It was surreal, my mind was empty. My fingernails grew for the first time in over 30 years. It was fucking wild. But I encountered a dangerous side effect, I started having physical tics and spasms that I couldn't control and was taken off of it--the right decision, but heartbreaking. All of the Hell of my OCD rituals and obsessions returned.

 

[MatiSendiri]

I am looking for something that doesn't cause substance abuse problems, but one that calms my OCD thoughts and the powerful emotions surrounding them. I know the neuropathways affected are mostly GABA receptors. Is there a good drug option that works in this kind of direction?

Hi, I'm a pharm student and I'd like to throw my two cents here.

I was focused on researching about your OCD first since that's your diagnosis (at least the one being mentioned here). I found this paper that talks about OCD treatment in general:

Psychopharmacological Treatment of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) - PMC

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is associated with affective and cognitive symptoms causing personal distress and reduced global functioning. These have considerable societal costs due to healthcare service utilization. Our aim was to assess the ...

pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

One thing that's weird for me is that z-drugs like zopiclone isn't necessarily used as therapy on OCD. Perhaps its kinda focused on its anxiety symptoms (?). And also, did you have any medicine used with zopiclone in your life? I'd definitely need more information before making a judgement on this one.