Sleepwell Nova Scotia: Canadian Provincial Initiative to Curb Sleeping Med Use

http://sleepwellns.ca

From the site:

"The most frequently used quick fix for insomnia is sleeping pills, available off-the-shelf in pharmacies or by prescription from your doctor.

Their use has increased in adults and dropped only slightly in people over 65 years old.

Take the quiz to see if you know what you need to about the benefits and risks of sleeping pills (in English or French).

Sleepwell Nova Scotia supports people getting their sleep back without the use of sleeping pills, especially using something called cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia.

You can learn more about it at How to Get Your Sleep Back."

Take the survey!

Ali

Hey Ali, great work! It looks like you've found a number of Canadian articles and links in the past little while. I'll make my way through them slowly.

I see that this Nova Scotia organization is using the pamphlet that came out sometime last year in Montreal with the work of Dr. Cara Tannenbaum. Someone put up the link to it a little while ago, and we were having a discussion around here about the taper since it's different than the Ashton Method. I never did find the answer as to why the taper is set up that way. Perhaps there's some science behind it. Either way, it's a great initiative, and the more info like this, the better.

Thanks Lapis and you've raised some very good points.

I subscribed to the @Deprescribing Twitter feed and have been making my way through the tweets.  Someone there tweeted about a talk that Dr. Tannenbaum had given, there weren't any details though, I have to click through to see if the original tweet that was retweeted (now that is a mouthful!) had some details, I seem to remember it had a picture though.

Yes, it was interesting that they did not make reference to Dr. Ashton's protocol.  Disappointing really but I felt they were trying to simplify things and I had a sense that the people behind that schedule were pharmacists.  I don't know why I had that impression.

Here's the thing, I think for many people, the schedule she set out for z-drugs might be o.k., not because the schedule is a great one (it isn't really at all for z-drugs as they have a short half life so it isn't like Valium where you are bringing down the stable blood levels slowly over time), but because many people will be able to come off without major withdrawal.  I wouldn't say that is the case for benzos proper.

My 82 year old mother came off 7.5 mg of zopiclone after 4 years of continuous daily use without issue.  Her doctor brought her from 7.5 mg to 5 mg then to 3.75 mg then off.  She had a bit of rebound insomnia but honestly no real issues.

On the other hand, I had been on the zopiclone for the same amount of time but at a much higher dose (15 mg) and, in addition, I was ill due to interdose withdrawal and tolerance withdrawal for 2 of those 4 years.  We both tapered over 10 months.  I had real issues, my mother didn't.

I think a lot of people, if not most, can come off these drugs directly regardless of tapering method without issue.  Probably 10 to 15% suffer withdrawal issues and symptoms.  A smaller percentage suffer protracted withdrawal.

I agree with you though, the more info like this, the better.

I'm starting to dig into the research as I'm thinking about a thesis topic if I go back to school.  Digging around the edges, it has been a long time since I've done research.  Will be interesting though.

Lapis, I've started up an in person support group here on the west coast - in the span of a week, I've had 26 people sign up on Meetup.  My first meeting is on Feb 10th, 8 are confirmed to come out.  I'm so blown away by the response but it seems a lot of people are out there looking for some support.  I'm so glad I have BBs to refer them to for 24 x 7 support.  This site has been a godsend.

Ali

Excellent work on all fronts, Ali! I can't wait to hear about your in-person group! It's such a needed thing, and the response reflects that. BB is great for online, but there's nothing like face-to-face. The personal connection can be life-changing and possibly life-saving.

It's interesting to hear your personal story, and it just goes to show how different we all are. The genetic aspect of this can be huge, so while your mom was okay with her taper, you had a different experience. It's exactly why there's no one size that fits all.

When it comes to Ashton vs. anything else, I think the research is lacking. Here on BB, we're providing each other with more info than is available anywhere else, I believe. Again, what's clear is that we're all different. I'm so glad I found the Ashton Manual, since it gave me a framework in which to work. I hadn't found BB at that point and just did the taper on my own. But what we find here is that some people need to go more slowly, while others can just get off without issue.

As for your thesis topic, I'll be very interested to hear what you end up with. I wish you all the best with that!