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Lunesta taper after 1mg


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Hello buddies,

 

Since July I have been tapering Lunesta (Eszopiclone) 3mg which I was on long term nightly at a 10% dry cut method.  I have been taking benadryl and melatonin 3mg to cope but overall I have done well with just a bad couple of sleep nights usually 2-3 days after my 10% cut every two weeks.  The other nights of the 14 day cycle would be satisfactory.  Last week I even had a couple 10 hour nights sleep.  This past cut, however, took me under the 1mg level (which I believe is the minimum prescribed dose of Lunesta).  I know from previously tapering Klonopin that when I got to a very low dose I eventually had to jump cold turkey.  The reason I am posting now is that I am on day 4/5 of sleeping from 11pm-2:30am with a slight 2-3 hour continuation of sleep prior to 8am so around 3-5 hours which doesn't sound that bad but pairing it with the residual grogginess from the benadryl and the lunesta withdrawal side effects, is starting to be hard enough to handle to get me to find my login for BB and type this up.

 

Just for background information on my taper, I have noticed what I think are other withdrawal effects, depressed mood, some nausea, some headache and back/neck stiffness, loss of taste and/or bitter taste and one dead giveaway that I'm experiencing withdrawal has been a very moderate flushing sensation of warmth flashing down the outside of my left calf.  One of the worse w/d effects from the Lunesta (which thankfully seems to have left now) was a constant inability to relax, a feeling of being under extreme physical and mental tension (almost a mild akesthesia) which Magnesium Glycinate would help in about 30 minutes.

 

Sorry to get so wordy, my main question is, do I keep up my 10% cut every two weeks even as I go under the 1mg mark? I am fine with this method but only if it doesn't situate me in some kind of permanent kindling phase of withdrawal with the worst of all worlds (an extra 1 hour sleep from the small dose of Lunesta and a wheelbarrow full of withdrawal side effects).

 

I have ordered a melatonin vape and 1000mg L-Tryptophan just to have on hand in case.  I don't know if they'll help but things that have been helpful for me this far aren't enough - those had been (for other's referfence) Benadryl, Niacinimide, melatonin, Holistic Health BeCalm spray, Magnesium Glycinate (would help with extreme doom/tension side effect of w/d)

 

Thank you buddies, Godspeed! :thumbsup:  I mean that, this community saves thousands of lives and thank you for being there, you already helped me taper Klonopin in 2020!

 

-LS 2021

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LS -

 

How long have you been taking lunesta?

 

I took z-drugs and benzos for sleep for about 18 years. A long time. I've had a great deal of difficulty since quitting lunesta 6 years ago. In retrospect, there are things I wish I had done differently.

 

1.) I wish I had taken Ashton's advice and converted over to diazepam. I was having interdose withdrawal even before I started my taper, which only got worse as I went down in dose.

 

2.) Jumping at 0.5mg lunesta at the end was too big of a final jump. I actually ended up in the ER a few days after my last dose feeling like I was dying (spoiler alert: I didn't). But, it just gets to be impractical to cut pills much smaller and as I said above, the interdose withdrawal got worse as I went down. This is easier to do with diazepam due to the long half life and the fact that the doses aren't so small.

 

Your mileage may vary of course, depending on things like how long you've taken this medication and your genetics and probably a half dozen other things we don't know about. I suspect I had lousy genetics and had taken this stuff for almost two decades, so I was something of a worst case.

 

But, I'd be remiss if I didn't pass along my experience. I wish I could go back in time and do my taper on diazepam. I wonder if things might have turned out better.

 

I'm not a doctor so take what I'm saying with a grain of salt. You and your situation likely differ greatly from me and my situation. I don't want to scare you and you'll likely be fine no matter what you do as long as you listen to what your body is telling you.

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Nathan Arizona

 

Thank you for your reply!  I don't have exact figures on how long I was on lunesta or klonopin, I think I was on Lunesta 1mg for say, 7 years.  I took the 1mg dose most nights but I was able to take nights off on occasion.  Then I had an acute health crisis related to Lyme Disease that affected my sleep, so for 2 years I went on 3mg Lunesta and 1 mg bedtime Klonopin, all for sleeping difficulty.  I successfully tapered the klonopin with the advice here on BB in 2020, and then took several months off.  I then realized that tolerance from Lunesta was probably to blame for why I would wake up at 3-4am regularly even on the 3mg Lunesta. 

 

Thank you for sharing your experience and wisdom gained from hindsight of the whole thing.  I do think our situations are varied given that although I do have some withdrawal symptoms throughout the day from the Lunesta, whether it be dizziness or anxiety or racing heart, my main problem is just getting enough sleep during the night to function. 

 

Last night I did get a great nights sleep and I took a 500mg GABA supplement (I know this is against the common knowledge here but I was able to do this with the klonopin withdrawal only when things got severe).

 

It is so strange how the benzo/z drug withdrawal gets more severe and takes longer the closer one gets to the end.  I was also hoping to jump at 0.5 mg Lunesta, but I will make sure to listen to my body, especially given your experience that the dose was too high to jump from.  Unfortunately I don't think my doctor would be supportive of switching to another drug,  but I could always try to bring up the possibility if the going gets rough.

 

Thank you very much for taking the time to read my post and provide your insight!

 

God Bless,

 

-LS

 

 

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Sorry, LS, that you are among the Lunesta victims.  I was on Ativan many years ago and am unsure of how much I took and for how long.  I think I may have had withdrawal symptoms at the time but was also possibly struggling with CDiff so I'll never know what caused what.

But going from Ambien to the reputed less sedating, Lunesta was my downfall and, like Nathan, took it for years not knowing what damage I was causing.

I was so terrified of rocking my CNS boat that I just reinstated my Lunesta (really an updose since I was unsure about how much I was really taking) once I figured out I was dependent. 

I did a dry cut at first and eventually used a jeweler's scale  - 5% every two weeks or so -- I was sometimes irregular going down.  I jumped at .5 like Nathan but I think it was because I may have run out of pills.  I don't recall it making me any worse but I would encourage anyone tapering off Lunesta not to jump too early.  Yes -- get down to the smallest dose you can.

Sleep or lack thereof is the problem.  You are going to have insomnia.  It doesn't last forever but insomnia is something you have to accept.  Eat as varied a diet you can and stay away from caffeine and alcohol.

WBB

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Thanks for the reply WBB!

 

Sorry to hear that you also had to have these experiences with withdrawal!

 

I appreciate the advice on getting the dose low prior to jumping.  I may be prescribed a 2mg pill which I am thinking will be easier to split at least into 0.5mg or even a shade less than.  I just didn't realize that the end of the taper would take so damn long, even though I should have known from my prior klonopin taper!  Interesting about avoiding caffeine and alcohol - the alcohol part I get, my morning coffee sometimes has a euphoric effect but who knows maybe that's a bad thing!

 

Was there any supplements or OTC medications that helped you with sleep during withdrawal or after that you can recall?

 

I really do appreciate the feedback,

 

-LS :)

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Another thing about diet - sugar revved me up quite a bit and continued to do so for many years. In fact, it still will but it takes a greater quantity.

 

As far as sleep aids go - I ended up taking a low dose of trazodone. I think the most I ever took was 75mg but usually 50mg was enough to get me some sleep. It's a prescription drug but works differently than a benzo or z-drug.

 

You'll have to make your own decision unfortunately about using another prescription sleep aid. If you don't absolutely need it I would skip it. On the other hand, you need to get as much sleep as possible.

 

One thing I regret is trying to tough things out too much. I had the idea that I could just gut through every thing and eventually the pain would pay off. You are going to suffer to some extent but you should not let the suffering get out of hand since that will itself damage your CNS. You will need to tough things out to some extent, but don't go crazy with it. If you're really suffering and it goes on too long, back up your dose, do what you need to do to get on an even keel. Suffering for the sake of suffering does no one any good. It's a narrow line to walk. You will be uncomfortable (as you already are), but at some point you have to ease off and give yourself some breathing room.

 

Take your time and listen to your body.

 

 

 

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Was there any supplements or OTC medications that helped you with sleep during withdrawal or after that you can recall?

 

-LS :)

On my taper I tried a very lose dose of melatonin and felt pretty bad.  I also tried a small piece of a Benadryl and that didn't agree with me either.  I was lucky in that I was able to get a couple of hours of sleep - even in the worst of my taper.  I wasn't working at the time and was home alone a lot, thank God.  I was terrified sometimes but it was better for me in other ways.

Now that I'm years off, I do mess with my own particular sleep aids once in awhile - these drugs I don't recommend using while tapering which includes a small amount of hydromorphone (.5 mg).  But I cannot take it more than 2 days in a row since my w/d symptoms can kick in by the third night.  It isn't prescribed for sleep but works for me. - like with serious jet lag or stress. 

All other opioid pain killers rev me so they're not good for anything but pain if I need them and generally I don't. 

I also use THC/CBD tincture drops once in awhile. 

I make myself listen to stuff I used to abhor - like mindfulness meditations for sleep.  I have to confess they help.  When you use medication like Lunesta for sleep, along with messing with your GABAa receptors, you learn how Not to sleep on your own.  Normal zzz may never come back the way it was when I was a kid but I'm trying to relearn.

 

I never tried melatonin or antihistamines again since I felt so awful on them during my taper.  You could try them in minuscule amounts and see.  Every person reacts differently to everything while tapering. Some folks have tried 5-HTP.

 

I agree with Nathan and others that if you feel bad enough, consider updosing and holding.  I know there were a few periods I would have a month long holds which seems odd for such a fast acting Z drug but I couldn't face the possibility of feeling worse than I already was.  I was scared of transitioning on to Valium once I got low on my Lunesta and I would have had to convince my doctor to go along with the plan.  Once he saw me in withdrawal, he just wanted to prescribe more Lunesta.  I was in bad shape.

I wish I could be more helpful -- hang in there -- you'll make it.

WBB

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  • 3 weeks later...

Thank you fellow Lunesta withdrawees for the info!  I hope your holidays are going well and wish you a happy new year!

 

And your advice did prove prudent already - I haven't logged in to check here in a while - but I did end up getting on 1mg Lunesta and had begun shaving 10% off but oddly enough I was getting horrible sleep and when I held at 1mg it got better! 

 

So I do think you are right that sometimes you have to hold.  Looks like I might be on the Lunesta for a good bit longer than I thought.

 

Benadryl and Melatonin have been helpful for me, in case anyone reads this thread in the future.  Magnesium Glycinate helps with any episodes of extreme tension.  Going for walks also really helpful.  I was recently forced out of desperation to try L-Tryptophan when I began having sleep problems on the 1mg after stabilizing the aforementioned 10% cut, and it has helped for 3 nights but now I am getting the L-Tryptophan side effects like stomach ache, nausea, gas, icky feeling which I don't do well with Serotonin supplements so that's probably why. 

 

So tonight I won't be taking the L-Tryptophan and we will see how I do. 

 

Thank you for chiming in, I'll check back in every now and then

 

Thanks Benzobuddies

 

 

-LS

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  • 1 month later...

Checking in about two months after my last reply, it has been up and down.

 

I am currently at .67 on the jeweler gram scale, which is between 2/3 and 1/2 of a 1mg Lunesta, having made a cut to that level last night.

 

I had a period of 30 days where I slept very well the entire time, and coincidentally noticed I was taking a digestive enzyme "Bromelain" that entire time.  I also had a few other changes around the time I stopped the Bromelain, including running out of my P5P/B6 vitamin and running out of B-3 Niacinamide and substituting Nicotinic Acid, tinkering with taking L-Tryptophan and running out of melatnonin 3mg.  This initially complicated my understanding when after the 30 day period of sleeping well, I had 5 horrible nights sleep in a row - not knowing for sure if it was due to discontinuing the Bromelain or issues with the other vitamins.

 

I have genetics that cause high serotonin levels (coincidentally why Trazadone and antidepressants are not on my list of goto drugs) and I had wondered if a combination of the above changes was leaving my body with too much serotonin and too little melatonin, partially since B-6 is used to convert between the two and L-Tryptophan.  However, I since believe that the Bromelain was enhancing the sedative effect of the Lunesta while I was taking it, and then upon stopping, enhanced the withdrawal.

 

So, I began taking the Bromelain again but this time every 5 days instead of daily (it has been gnawing at my stomach a bit when taken daily).  My sleep began to rebalance itself.  I had a great day yesterday after a great night's sleep the night before and coincidentally or not last night was horrible sleep but it had been 5 days since I'd taken the Bromelain.  I read online that Bromelain can enhance sedative effects.

 

So last night I fell alseep at midnight and woke up at 3am after restless dreams and began having mildly unpleasant thoughts.  As has been my patttern, I was able to get a few more hours of sleep between 7a and 10a.  It is afternoon and I've had diarrhea and feel very irritable and dizzy.

 

I did take a Bromelain enzyme again this morning and I am really hoping that this stabilizes again.  I have to try to remind myself each time I have a bad day like this that these days will get fewer and more far in between and it is all a part of the process.  It is just challenging to face the day like this and the fact of having really good days in between these bad days sometimes makes the bad days seem all the more demoralizing.

 

So, it still remains to be seen for me how my taper will proceed at the 0.5mg Lunesta and under level.  It is unusual for me to have trouble sleeping on the same night as my 10% cut, but everything about the withdrawal seems to cycle around so who knows.  It is aggravating when the sleep problem involves falling asleep relatively ok but then waking at a horrible hour like 3am because it seems more like a biological problem than sleep hygeine etc.

 

I guess my plan will be to attempt to keep my mood up and try to get some walking in and get through this, if it stablizes I can keep up with the cutting if not, have to do a dreaded reinstatement.

 

Is there anyone out there who cold turkeyed/jumped Lunesta lower than 0.5mg?  Anyone who successfully troubleshooting waking at 3am?

 

Thanks again everyone, hope you are all doing well

 

 

-LS

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  • 6 months later...

Update to add I cold turkeyed the Lunesta effective 8/12/22.  Here are my stats

 

Initially on Klonopin 1mg and Lunesta 3mg for several years, began experiencing tolerance causing early waking and other unpleasant benzo tolerance symptoms like nausea etc.  I initially attempted sudden 25% or more cuts to the Klonopin and ended up on the floor with severe back spasms that caused me to need physical therapy.  When I realized the nature of benzo withdrawal and that it must be gradual, I began a 10% taper ever 2 weeks.  I had a lot of life events and then eventually realized that my Lunesta was probably causing me worse rather than better sleep due to tolerance and began tapering it.  It has been a long road but I'm off effective 8/12/22!

 

2/19/20 Began 10% Klonopin taper from 1mg nightly

10/19/20 Completed Klonopin taper!

7/15/21 Began 10% Lunesta taper from 3mg nightly

11/14/21 Switched from shaving 3mg Lunesta pill to using 1mg Lunesta pills

6/27/22 at .027g weight Lunesta started taking it every OTHER night

8/12/22 Cold Turkey Lunesta at approximately .020g weight every OTHER night dose

 

For anyone reading this in posterity - if you need to remain functional for work etc and if you have the Lunesta supplies and time to do so, I found that 10% cut every 2 weeks by weight dry cut taper with an Amazon jeweler scale, a pill cutter and an emory file to be a good way to get off of the 3mg Lunesta.  At a certain point my doctor helped me by switching me over to 1mg Lunesta tablets from the 3mg (the 1mg are easier to cut to a lower dose).  I made a spreadsheet of the dates for cuts and the gram weight of each cut and hung it on my wall.  I took a small variety of supplements throughout the taper and particularly found melatonin 1mg and benadryl to be helpful v harmful for me to take nightly during the taper.  I had to make a small reinstatement a couple of times, but nothing much.

 

 

-LS

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I wanted to put this out there in case anyone has any feedback, it has been about 23 days since I jumped off of Lunesta for good.  The last couple of nights I have fallen asleep well but have woken up at 4-5AM.  I have a history of numerous health issues, suspected parasites, some belly fat/suspected cortisol issues (wondering if this could be benzo belly), formerly have chronic lyme disease which I believe has healed so I never know 100% what is to blame for any given problem.

 

I am trying to figure out if my early morning waking could still be from the Lunesta withdrawal?  I did notice this morning when I woke up at 5AM some dampness on my undershirt in the chest area - one symptom I had previously identified as being withdrawal related for me in the past.  When I wake like this I am still tired, I feel like I shouldn't be awake and my reaction times, attention etc is impaired but I find myself unable to relax and sleep until usually 3-4 hours after having woken up, so if I allow myself to remain relaxed I might be able to fall asleep around 9 or 10am for 1-3 hours.

 

Does anyone know if this is still related to my w/d?  Just prior to these last few nights I was rather tired and sleeping a bit more than normal.

 

Thank you BenzoBuddies

 

-LS

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I think any sleep disturbances can be attributed to discontinuing the Lunesta, but I must say it sounds like you've done pretty good and are going to bounce back from this with less issues than most.

 

Congratulations on finishing the taper and staring your Lunesta free life! Hope all continues to go relatively well.

 

 

 

 

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Thank you Nathan!  Since my reply I have now had two back to back nights of waking up at 3AM for no reason and today some back tension/pulled muscle.  I am wondering how to evaluate if I am still having withdrawal symptoms (seems like it to me) even now 28 days since the cold turkey.

 

-LS

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Lunesta is a cousin to Zopiclone which I consider to be the worst of the z-drugs, I'm absolutely certain your sleep issues and muscle tension are from your withdrawal.
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