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Z-Drug Support Group (Lunesta, Imovane, Zimovane, Ambien, Sonata, Zopiclone)


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Happy Anniversary to my Z-drug stop-date in June friends, Deanna and LadyDen and anyone else I'm forgetting.

Thank you for sharing the journey!

lots of love to you

Kachina :thumbsup::smitten::angel:

Thank you Kachina! Good to have you back posting after being MIA. I understand that life can keep us away sometimes. Just know you were thought about and missed. I also want to wish you a happy milestone anniversary next week. You’ve done so very well. I’m proud of you! I know you still have healing to do but your a warrior in this. Sending you lots of love too! ❤️🌹

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Hi Everyone,

 

I keep a low profile and stay off BB for the most part but pop up every now and then to share how my zolpidem taper is going.

As my signature indicates, I tapered rohypnol over 6 months and have been off 4 months and counting.

 

Started zolpidem taper at end of February 2022 and have gone from 10mg to 2.3 mg currently in 3 1/2 months.

I am a little ambitious, going for 10% of current dose every 7, 10 or 14 days. So far, so good.

 

Of course, I feel terrible much(most) of the time but am managing. Sleep sucks as it has for many months now.

I am working (so far), which is very challenging at times but I think it helps by giving me something to focus on other than my misery.

I like my job, it's not too stressful and I want to be able to provide for my family.

 

Symptoms are headaches, muscle pain, wobbly legs, anxiety and depression (although the wobbly legs, anxiety and depression are less than when on the rohypnol).

 

Started taking a .3 micro dose of melatonin (Herbatonin brand) about 2 weeks ago.

Also started a course of supplements recommended by Peter Smith from the UK.

After doing my homework, I don't think he's a charlatan and he's not peddling a miracle cure.

He's definitely not doing it for the money (you don't but the supplements from him, none of them are proprietary).

 

Anyway, the only path is forward. I will never go back or up dose.

The only questions are when I will get to zero and how things will go when that happens.

 

Any thoughts, impressions or words of support would be welcomed!

 

Thanks for your support. I wish everyone the best!

Well done 👍🏼  :thumbsup:

You’re at 2.3mg that is awesome! So what are you waiting on….celebrate that! I think the rate you’re going is fine. 10% every 10 days and 7 days if your last reduction didn’t ramp up symptoms. Soon you will jump and that’s what you’re concerned about, right? Well….

Might I suggest you approach it in a more stress free way. Coming off these meds is a huge deal so IMO t should be ended in a happy memorable way. What I did was firstly, I made peace with coming off knowing that I was doing something great for my health. I accepted that I will not be taking that evil Ambien anymore and never needed it in the first place ( now that I’m looking back on why the doctor started me on it). Choose your jump date and make that night a big deal, my friend. Plan a special meal and a flush party for your remaining pills. Me? I played Ray Charles “ Hit the road Jack” and flushed and danced until I was tired. Wow it was liberatingly fun! Then I got a nice bath, listened to soothing ocean waves on YouTube, got cozy in bed in the dark, closed my eyes pretending I was on the beach watching those ocean waves and……drifted to sleep. I made it my business not to let worrying about not taking a pill would affect my sleep. I beforehand made up my mind that it was ok if I didn’t. What mattered most was that I was from that night on not poisoning my brain anymore. The next morning I congratulated myself. That night I repeated my bedtime routine….nice bath, soothing music, eyes closed in the dark with imagining myself on the beach. Guess what? I’m still doing that except now I don’t have to have the soothing music unless I want to. That trained my brain to when I do certain things then I’m ready to fall asleep. And so, I do! I sleep about 7 hours every night. Every so often I’ll wake up about 3-4am but go right back to sleep. N a nutshell….

1) push aside the fears of not sleeping - accept that you might not sleep well for a little while.

2) strict bedtime routine - comfy bed/ pillow/ covers ( weighted blankets are great), relaxing music, go to bed at the same time and get up at the same time daily, keep eyes closed in bed

3) morning sunlight about 20 minutes every morning while giving self affirmations. This helps to reset the brains circadian rhythm ( sleep mechanism)

4) celebrate your jump day! Make it a happy occasion after doing the hard work of coming off. Treat yourself!

5) Make a rule….never take the pills again no matter how you’re feeling. This is why you have a flush party the night you jump. If there’s none around then there’s none to take  :thumbsup:

I’m very excited for your upcoming jump. Keep up the good work. I hope this helped you.

Big hugs! 🤗

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Happy 2 years to me!

 

Also congrats to all of you having a milestone……

Deanna ❤️

Helen ❤️

Kachina ❤️

And whoever is in the background reading! Well done!  :thumbsup:

Well we will only get better from here. I’m so excited for us all.

 

Team Z! We are on our way!

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Lady Den!!

 

You made it to 2 years! Big congratulations to you who have done this on your own and keep encouraging everyone here while you are dealing with your own "kettle of fish".  I hope this is a good day for you, friend.  :thumbsup:

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I love the Love! The June Joy!

 

AND, this is still hard stuff ... being human and wide awake, lol.

 

LadyDen, love your post listing all that you do. You are a wise and smart Lady, so glad you are here!

Helen, June 1, woo hoo!!

 

Agoura, Jerry, others, we're here with you!

 

Happy Dad,

Kachina

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Hi Deanna, Helen, Kachina and LadyDen, congratulations with your milestones, through you I believe I can do it too!! I hope to follow you soon.  :smitten: :smitten: :smitten::thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:  :clap: :clap:  :clap:

Jerry

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Hi Z mates,

A little update from me,  i have been swimming at 1 O’ clock. It was nice, not too busy, and I met a friend; Willem. I am looking forward to do the next taper step, but I’ll wait at least till 2 July. 1 July is the wedding of the sister of my father. Huggs to all of you! Jerry :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

 

Ps. What is acute (withdrawal)?

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Morning hugs Team Z! Wishing you all a happy Sunday and smoother recovery.

 

Jerry acute is when your withdrawal symptoms come to a peak AFTER you’re completely off. The body kind of “ throws a tantrum” because it doesn’t have the pill anymore. It’s a tough phase for most but part of being off.

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Morning hugs Team Z! Wishing you all a happy Sunday and smoother recovery.

 

Jerry acute is when your withdrawal symptoms come to a peak AFTER you’re completely off. The body kind of “ throws a tantrum” because it doesn’t have the pill anymore. It’s a tough phase for most but part of being off.

 

Ah thank you for your clear explanation!

J.

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Hi Zers,

I am not looking forward to the wedding of my aunt coming friday. Why? Because of my lightheadedness, I have difficulties with concentrating on the conversations I have. I get tired quickly when I get too much stimulation. Luckily It won’t get warm, If the predictions are correct. So that is nice. Maybe I can bring my bike, so I can go home whenever I want. Can you give me some advice, what I can do to get through this feast in a nice way?

Huggs Jerry :crazy:

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Hi Jerry,

 

Ahhh, a wedding.  I am impressed that you can make it to a wedding. I had to miss one back in early May.  I like your idea of taking your bike so you can exit when you feel you need to go.  Sometimes for me the best solution in social situations is for me to find somewhere to sit and stay put most of the time.  I try to smile and listen to the people around me without having to talk too much.  Make sure you have plenty of water near by and have eaten some protein (maybe some nuts or something like that before you go) in your body for strength.  Maybe try not to sit too close to the music?  Lots of deep breaths and remind yourself there is no pressure on you. This is the wedding of someone you care about and your aunt will be the focus so just your presence will be appreciated.  Stay as calm as you can and if you are seated most of the time, the light headedness might not be so bad.  If you have your bike and you know you can leave when you want, that will remove some of the worry.

 

I hope you can go and have a nice time!

 

Helen

 

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Hey Jerry I agree with Helen. Sit as close to the back of all the excitement as you can. It might even be ideal to wear earplugs and if it’s outside, sunglasses. Plenty of water. Stay relaxed. Make peace with your lightheadness before you go. You know what I mean? Have a pep talk with yourself…..for example, say to yourself ok we are going to a wedding. This is a happy event so there’s no danger to be worried about. If we get a little dizzy then we will take some easy breaths and drink a little water. It will all go well. We will have our bike to go home.”

 

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Jerry, someone mentioned on this forum one time that when they go to social events and start to feel nervous and like they need some peace and quiet, they go find a quiet place to sit by themselves until they feel well enough to join the festivities again.  Maybe they'll be a garden with a bench in it outside with no one there and you can go sit there for awhile or a curb on a street that you can go sit on and be alone for awhile.  Or just go into the men's room and take breaks.  When I was in tolerance w/d, I'd go sit in a stall in the ladies' room and put my head in my hands until I felt well enough to go back and do my work.
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Ha Ladies, thank you for your help. I think I had the toughest day of the week today. I had a tough treatment at the dentist today. It took a 1 hour and 15 minutes. I get a “crown” on one of my teeth. The wedding will be easy compared to this dentist visit. It is a good idea to go to a quiet place, if things become to much for me. My father offered to bring me back home, when I want to leave the party…. Thanks for your helpful comments!

Jerry

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HI Sleepyjo,

No I am not off it yet, I think I do a next taperstep after the wedding of coming friday. My main wd symptoms are height anxiety and depression.

Huggs Jerry  :thumbsup:

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I've been off it for months but I have taken a few rescue doses, I took one last night hope it doesn't wreck my healing
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Hi everyone!

 

For two and a half years I would fall asleep relatively quickly, and then wake up after four hours with a jolt and be unable to fall back asleep. I take it now that this was only a mild-to-medium case of insomnia, but I was extremely frustrated at the time. A sleep specialist prescribed me zopiclone as a temporary cure.

 

As has been the case with many of us, I had no idea how quickly I would become dependent on zopiclone. I am a 130-pound woman, in my 20s, and took 7.5mg of zopiclone daily for only one week before I realized that my intense anxiety was a product of the drug. I tapered for two days, (at 1/2 and a 1/4 dose) and went off it completely.

 

The memory issues and intense mood swings abated after one week, but my loss of appetite and sleeplessness have remained. It's been just under two weeks. Believe it or not, I started a new job just three days before taking these horrible pills. I am not wondering if I should quit? I have been taking a mixture of valerian, melatonin, motherwort, magnesium, and GABA pills to fall asleep at night for a few hours, but am now wondering if the quickest path to recovery is to suffer through the sleeplessness nights herbals-free. Should I quit my job? Sounds like there's no telling how long this recovery process will be. I have been having some moderate-to-severe anxiety spells in the morning and finding it difficult to work at this time and feel that it is affecting my performance.

 

Grateful to hear from anyone else who has experience recovering from this z-drug, and who was a short-term user like myself.

 

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Hello Sutnik welcome to Team Z! Wow you have only been on zop for a couple of months? Consider yourself lucky that you discovered it was causing you issues. I’m glad you have quit taking it….correct?

As far as the insomnia…..it’s very common to occur but it is temporary. In my opinion yes I do think you should just let your brain heal ( go back to normal) without taking anything else. I say this because……..anything that makes you sleepy does so by way of gaba receptors directly or indirectly. Those are the very receptors that you’re trying to let heal. The Z drug attached to those gaba receptors so the last thing that needs to happen is another substance hitting them. IMO. It’s telling the brain you’re still on the pills. Also, IMO if you can avoid it, the habit of needing something to sleep needs to be broken. The human body was born to know how to sleep. It still does. And it will. Even if you only get a couple of hours at first, then that’s ok. You will not die. Very tired yes. Low energy yes. Worn down yes. Sleep deprived yes. But it is temporary. You are in a Ute phase if you’re no longer taking it. There’s no way around not having some kind of rebound symptoms. I agree with your thought that it’s best to just expect it and accept it then distract yourself. Establish a good sleep routine at night to retrain your brain to know when it’s time to sleep. Get about 20 minutes of morning sunlight each morning. Sleep restriction by going to bed at the same time and waking the same time. Soothing spa/ meditation music in the dark at bedtime eyes closed.

Quit your job? If it was me, I wouldn’t quit. I’d use it as a way to pass the time while you heal.

Btw, if you look up some of those substances you’re taking, you might be surprised to discover they act on gaba receptors and could make your insomnia worse. The body will get used to having them on board and as a result they won’t work as well. Do your research is my suggestion. When you can’t sleep, have something to do with your hands to keep you occupied. If you can exercise, walk daily but not in the late evenings because it can actually give you energy bursts keeping you awake. Cool room, weighted blanket may also help.

I also used reverse sleep coaching. It’s where a paradoxical reaction occurs after telling your brain mentally “ we only want to relax but NOT fall asleep. Don’t go to sleep.”  Strangely, the brain will do the opposite majority of the time you’ll fall asleep.

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Most people feel those symptoms in the morning. We call it morning dread. It can be anxiety with or without other symptoms. In the morning the body gets a surge of hormones and chemicals to get it going for the day. Because of our sensitive CNS, that flood of hormones can make us feel terrible in the mornings. Normally this wouldn’t be detected. As you get off your medication this may become a bit worse for a little while. It might go away then return as you go through the healing process. It’s normal under the circumstances. It sucks but part of the process. Thanks for the clarity. If you can, perhaps ask your boss if you can be scheduled to work after 12? Or perhaps 11? There are many buddies here that work all the way through their recovery. It serves as a distraction from their symptoms to avoid being focused on them day in and day out. If you quit your job, might I suggest you replace that time with something to keep yourself busy. Maybe start a hobby, jigsaw puzzles, art, crocheting etc. It’s ideal for it to be something you need to use your hands to do. Me personally I do several so I’m not bored with doing the same things. Also walking is a good way to burn off anxiety. Just be careful not to walk too much in one setting. Going outside is very healing. Best wishes to you. Hugs 🤗

 

Happy 4th of July!

May everyone enjoy a fun safe Independence Day weekend in the USA! 🇺🇸🎇🇺🇸🎆🇺🇸💥

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