Short term Zopiclone success story

I think it's time to post this. I'm posting mostly for people that come here, desperately looking for:

 

1. Z-Drug information

2. Short term Z-Drug information

 

I have never had problems with sleep. I never had insomnia, and while my sleep onset was kind of high (usually 1hr to fall asleep), and a bit of a light sleeper (small noises don't wake me up (like a phone notification), but creaking of stairs as someone walks up or down the stair will wake me up.

 

Last year was insane in stress. No point in going over it. I'm sure many people had similar experiences. My work ironically tripled in load, and some health issues with my parents, all it took was me to get a misdiagnosis from a tele nurse that I was in immediate danger (they called the ambulance and I was shuffled off to the hospital). Turned out to be a false alarm. That was enough to trigger insomnia. After a week of no sleep for 2 days, and 8hr the 3rd, and repeat, I thought that was bad enough to go to my doctor and get something for it. Boy if I had known.

 

Zopiclone journey starts. Worked great for 3 days, losing effectiveness. Doc approved to go higher in dose (so I bumped up from 7.5 to 11.25mg). Slept ok for 3 days after, but weird side effects were starting to pop up. INTENSE headaches. INTENSE neck tightness, I could barely move my neck. A constant voltage that would increase as the day went on. By 7pm it felt like a 9v battery stuck connected inside my brain. Abdominal discomfort, and FATIGUE! Like I hadn't slept at all.

 

I realized in 7 days it was the drug. Told my doc, didn't believe me. Thought it was sleep apnea. Wanted me to go to a sleep clinic. I resisted and hoped the sides would improve. Nope. After 14 days, I had to take sick leave, I was too fatigued to even drive. That day I took side streets to get back home. I  I cut from 11.25 to 7.5mg that night. I was already sleeping only 3hr with 11.25, but I slept 5hr when I cut to 7.5mg (I think due to the reduced mental stress of being off work). I thought that was progress, so the next night I cut to 3.75mg. So this is when hell broke loose. I spend 9 days at 3.75mg, I stopped sleeping completely. I'd get 3 days no sleep, and 4th day 3hr. 5,6,7th day no sleep, 8th 3hr. On the 9th day I updosed to 7.5mg. Didn't work, no sleep.

 

At this point my sides were so bad. The voltage was now all day long, non stop, and now it felt like 50v. The headaches were the worst migraines I've had in my entire life. Dizziness out of this world. Tinnitus in my left ear so loud I thought for sure I was going to lose my hearing on my left ear. The night after that updose, I quit completely. I was so bad I didn't care anymore, I though that was my last night on Earth, it was that bad. I wrote a letter to my parents and to my best friend, so people would know "what happened". Did not sleep at all that night, but did not die. The next day everyone freaking out, calling me what's wrong. I did my best to explain, and my dad came to help me. Spoke with the doc and advised I was off the drug. Is there something else safer to help me sleep? Got Trazadone. Tried it at 100mg for 2 days, no sleep, but the 3rd day, 3hr, and 3hr again the fourth, and 5hr again the fifth. Progress.

 

I ended up switching from Trazadone to Mirtazapine due to Trazadone's different, not anywhere near as bad, but still harsh side effects. Mirtazapine was much cleaner, and with 7.5mg I was able to get 6hr solid, very light, waking up every hour but immediately going back to sleep. After a couple of days, I cut the Mirt into 1/4s and started taking 3.75mg to see what would happen, and found I was getting 4hr, and very little hangover. Enough I could go back to work. 2 months total I was off. The full stack of "benzo" WD side effects lasted about a week after I was off the drug (so 1 month in total of absolute Hell on Earth nightmare. Too bad I wasn't the Doomguy with a Plasma Rifle  )

 

I was on 3.75mg of Mirt for a month and a half, where 4hr sleep eventually got to 6hr, but that last week, as it was losing effect, I'd get 4hr again, then 2hr, then nothing. I didn't want to updose, so instead I bought supplements (Passionflower, Valerian, Chamomille, Magnolia Bark, Kava, etc etc). It took like 6 different supps to knock me out, but I got by for 2 weeks like this, getting 4-5hr sleep with the supps.

 

Eventually I tried the Mirt again and found that 3.75mg would only give me around 10 days before it stopped working, but extensive reading on this board, and those PubMed studies on every single supplement (and the drugs, etc etc) I ended up trying Cannabis for sleep.

 

I went into a rotation for the past 4 months. Supplements, Cannabis, Mirtazapine. About a month ago, when I knew I was starting to heal, was when I took 3.75mg and I got a shocking 9hr of sleep, and the same the next day.

 

But the constant rotation would always require me to increase the doses (I bought a microgram scale and measured my Mirtazapine. At the beginning it took the full 3.75mg to sleep, any less and it would not work. But when I got better, 3.2mg would give me 6hr sleep. At the end of the week, I had to updose to 3.6mg, and then to 4.0mg. I went as high as 4.2mg). TCH I'd start with 15mg, and end up at 27mg after 2 weeks. Supps, I'd end up stacking more of different ones (My cabinet must have about 40 jars of supps right now).

 

The breakthough came a week ago. I went off everything, and was able to sleep 5hr the first night off, and I've been consistently getting 6hr now every day for a week. No other side effects. I am basically back to normal.

 

I feel like 6 months of my life were flushed down the drain. I've gained 30lbs from overeating and no exercise (I tried walking, but was far too exhausted most of the time). I'm a gym monkey, so that sucks, but I'm starting to do cardio again, now I gotta spend the next 6 months losing this extra weight.

 

But I have learnt a few things:

 

1. Read about any drug you are going to take, not just the studies, but the forums of people on them.

2. BUT don't absorb all of the bad. Forums tend to concentrate the worst cases in them. I was shocked that like 80% of people can take a Z-Drug for months and not have significant sides. I felt like I was going to die everyday. At my worst, I toyed with the idea of suicide as well, but would have never went thru it, but man, that little devil was there. Why did I feel that? Because at that moment I thought I would never heal. The terrifying prospect that I was stuck like that for the rest of my life was worse than any horror movie one could ever watch. Doctors had nothing except more drugs, and stupid assessments of "sleep apnea" without even asking my my previous history.

3. I was already thankful for everything I have, and I'm glad I did not lose any of it. I still have my job, my house, my car. I am regaining my health. I did not lose my hearing thank God (I do music as a hobby but it's an important part of me. Would be terrible to end up like Beethoven). So I'm not really any more "thankful" other than glad this was temporary. If you asked me 4 months ago, I would have told you I thought my life was over. Really really over. My only hope was to have some faith that I would improve.

4. If sleep is an issue, don't be afraid of either Mirtazapine, Cannabis, or Supplements. I used all 3 on a regular basis and still healed. I only used reasonably small amounts mind you. I can't vouch for larger doses.

 

It took 5 months to notice a real defined improvement for me. It took 6 months to be able to sleep on my own, no drugs, no cannabis, only with Magnesium and Lithium Orotate.

 

I never had waves and windows. My period of absolute hell was mid Oct to mid Nov. I would never wish that upon my worst enemy. The rest of the time was just acute insomnia which thankfully I could manage.

 

I think I got lucky with short term use, but there's not many stories like mine, so here I am, adding mine to the pile! I hope this helps anyone in this situation. I will of course stick around and help anyone with whatever I can.

Wow Andros, thanks for coming back and writing your story. It sounds like you are out of the woods, congratulations and all the best. Your story is encouraging and it’s good to realise healing happens...

Wow Andros, thanks for coming back and writing your story. It sounds like you are out of the woods, congratulations and all the best. Your story is encouraging and it’s good to realise healing happens...

 

Are you taking anything to help you? I still get mild random tinnitus, but it seems my hearing is still ok. I plan on getting tested for it sometime in the next month or so, but I am very aware of my previous level, and it seems I am still there, maybe I've lost 2-3% on my left ear?

Wonderful news! I hope to be there someday too :-)

So happy for u andros xx 😘 now put it behind u and enjoy ur life x

Very happy for you Andros!!!!   

 

Good advice that ppl should really investigate drugs before blindly taking them.  Besides this experience with the Ambien I also got stuck for months on Prilosec which completely screwed up my GI function - took 6 months to get back to normal.  And all the doc wanted to do was double my dose!

 

Patients BEWARE!!

I was shocked that like 80% of people can take a Z-Drug for months and not have significant sides.

 

That I didn't know. I was on Ambien 5 mg for two years in the late 90's and to get off I used a method from the internet,  I just chopped the pill in half, took a bunch of melatonin with it for several nights, then stopped it and still took melatonin. I had a few nights of very little broken sleep, then sleep returned. I was on Ambien again with Klonopin for 15 months, once I crossed over to Valium, I did the same thing and again stopped Ambien with no problems. I understand Zop is quite strong, the FDA rejected it in the US, so the company came up with it's weaker cousin with the brand name Lunesta. But even Lunesta is stronger than 5 mg Ambien. Not to be outdone, 12.5 mg Ambien CR came on the market (which is hard to get off, I hear). I realize I was extremely lucky with Ambien in the past, but once I'm benzo free, no more Z-drugs either. I may not be so lucky if there's a next time. Play with fire, and I might get burned. I had no idea Z-drugs were bad, now I know.

 

Happy to hear your success story. You have so much to offer others struggling with Zop.

I was shocked that like 80% of people can take a Z-Drug for months and not have significant sides.

 

That I didn't know. I was on Ambien 5 mg for two years in the late 90's and to get off I used a method from the internet,  I just chopped the pill in half, took a bunch of melatonin with it for several nights, then stopped it and still took melatonin. I had a few nights of very little broken sleep, then sleep returned. I was on Ambien again with Klonopin for 15 months, once I crossed over to Valium, I did the same thing and again stopped Ambien with no problems. I understand Zop is quite strong, the FDA rejected it in the US, so the company came up with it's weaker cousin with the brand name Lunesta. But even Lunesta is stronger than 5 mg Ambien. Not to be outdone, 12.5 mg Ambien CR came on the market (which is hard to get off, I hear). I realize I was extremely lucky with Ambien in the past, but once I'm benzo free, no more Z-drugs either. I may not be so lucky if there's a next time. Play with fire, and I might get burned. I had no idea Z-drugs were bad, now I know.

 

Happy to hear your success story. You have so much to offer others struggling with Zop.

 

I don't know what the actual # is, but it seems a large percentage of people are able to use something like Zop with minimal side effects. I'd have to search for that UK study that discusses it. It seems 60% of people get side effects, but only around 20% get severe side effects, like I did.

 

I started cutting my carbs (with the idea of starting a diet and exercise plan) and it seems this that hampered my sleep. It took 6hr to fall asleep last night, but was still able to get 4hr.

 

I went back to my regular eating pattern so I can normalize again, and I'll have to back into the diet slowly to get used to it.

 

 

I started cutting my carbs (with the idea of starting a diet and exercise plan) and it seems this that hampered my sleep. It took 6hr to fall asleep last night, but was still able to get 4hr.

 

I went back to my regular eating pattern so I can normalize again, and I'll have to back into the diet slowly to get used to it.

 

Carbs can make you sleepy. And it isn't Thanksgiving turkey that makes people sleepy after. It's all the carb-heavy side dishes people eat.

 

I know you have experimented with different things, what if you eat a carb-based snack shortly before bedtime? Maybe eating the bulk of your carbs at bedtime might be enough to get you sleep. Something like a banana.

 

 

I started cutting my carbs (with the idea of starting a diet and exercise plan) and it seems this that hampered my sleep. It took 6hr to fall asleep last night, but was still able to get 4hr.

 

I went back to my regular eating pattern so I can normalize again, and I'll have to back into the diet slowly to get used to it.

 

Carbs can make you sleepy. And it isn't Thanksgiving turkey that makes people sleepy after. It's all the carb-heavy side dishes people eat.

 

I know you have experimented with different things, what if you eat a carb-based snack shortly before bedtime? Maybe eating the bulk of your carbs at bedtime might be enough to get you sleep. Something like a banana.

 

I'm going to try. For now back to regular eating, I am back to getting 5hr with nothing except magnesium. It seems even a bit of stress will cause a restless night. That wasn't the case pre-Zop. So I'm not fully healed yet, but sleeping 5hr on my own with no help is a pretty big deal. Hopefully that means in a couple of months I'll be my old self again.

Thank you for the detail in your story and the subject line which highlights your short term use, all of this is important and will help those who will follow.  I've watched your progress and was expecting this story, I'm very glad you've found your way to recovery and happy you've shared it with us. 

Thank you for the detail in your story and the subject line which highlights your short term use, all of this is important and will help those who will follow.  I've watched your progress and was expecting this story, I'm very glad you've found your way to recovery and happy you've shared it with us. 

 

Thanks Pam. Yeah my story could have been 4 times as long. I decided to stick with the most important details. I'm still getting around 5hr sleep, like last night, on nothing other than Mag and Lithium Orotate. But it has to be almost stress free. I had a stressful week last week and had two days of only 2hr, and one day of zero sleep, but went back to 5hr again last night, so I know I'm healed enough to sleep on my own. Hopefully I can update in a couple of months time to say I am 100% back to my old self.  I have no idea how these drugs I will from now on call "torture in a bottle" can even still be allowed to be prescribed? Why would you give someone something for insomnia that is going to make their insomnia 10x worse? I consider myself a smart person, but I was stupid not to exhaust every possible natural treatment before reaching out for these Satan drugs. Well, it is what it is. We're all in that boat now, slowly trying to row to the shore.

6hr last night 

 

 

Thank you for the detail in your story and the subject line which highlights your short term use, all of this is important and will help those who will follow.  I've watched your progress and was expecting this story, I'm very glad you've found your way to recovery and happy you've shared it with us. 

 

Thanks Pam. Yeah my story could have been 4 times as long. I decided to stick with the most important details. I'm still getting around 5hr sleep, like last night, on nothing other than Mag and Lithium Orotate. But it has to be almost stress free. I had a stressful week last week and had two days of only 2hr, and one day of zero sleep, but went back to 5hr again last night, so I know I'm healed enough to sleep on my own. Hopefully I can update in a couple of months time to say I am 100% back to my old self.  I have no idea how these drugs I will from now on call "torture in a bottle" can even still be allowed to be prescribed? Why would you give someone something for insomnia that is going to make their insomnia 10x worse? I consider myself a smart person, but I was stupid not to exhaust every possible natural treatment before reaching out for these Satan drugs. Well, it is what it is. We're all in that boat now, slowly trying to row to the shore.

 

Torture in a bottle indeed!  Agree with everything you said - these drugs should be removed from the market.  No one deserves to be exposed to this risk.

Thank you for the detail in your story and the subject line which highlights your short term use, all of this is important and will help those who will follow.  I've watched your progress and was expecting this story, I'm very glad you've found your way to recovery and happy you've shared it with us. 

 

Thanks Pam. Yeah my story could have been 4 times as long. I decided to stick with the most important details. I'm still getting around 5hr sleep, like last night, on nothing other than Mag and Lithium Orotate. But it has to be almost stress free. I had a stressful week last week and had two days of only 2hr, and one day of zero sleep, but went back to 5hr again last night, so I know I'm healed enough to sleep on my own. Hopefully I can update in a couple of months time to say I am 100% back to my old self.  I have no idea how these drugs I will from now on call "torture in a bottle" can even still be allowed to be prescribed? Why would you give someone something for insomnia that is going to make their insomnia 10x worse? I consider myself a smart person, but I was stupid not to exhaust every possible natural treatment before reaching out for these Satan drugs. Well, it is what it is. We're all in that boat now, slowly trying to row to the shore.

 

Torture in a bottle indeed!  Agree with everything you said - these drugs should be removed from the market.  No one deserves to be exposed to this risk.

 

I think they have a use. To be the first line of treatment is absolutely ludicrous. There are so many other options for people suffering with insomnia before they have to reach out to the nuclear option.

 

For anxiety? IMO it is a CRIME to give this to people. Anxiety needs to be dealt with with therapy, not a pill that has a 20% chance of destroying your life.

 

Thanks for your story Andros, good to read it and glad you made it to the other side of the horrific part! I'm so grateful that I'm more accepting of less sleep now ... so grateful that I'm on my taper journey.

Thanks for your story Andros, good to read it and glad you made it to the other side of the horrific part! I'm so grateful that I'm more accepting of less sleep now ... so grateful that I'm on my taper journey.

 

I started using my FitBit watch again. Last night sleep was 90% back to my pre-Zopiclone sleep. REM sleep is still low, but deep sleep was good. I was very tired from a tiring day.

 

I'm still using 400mg Magnesium Glycinate before bedtime, and 5mg Lithium Orotate. I also do about 30 to 45min of deep breathing exercises when I go to bed.

 

I've also been reduced to drinking only water. I'm trying to cut my calories, and since I have 6 months of zero caffeine, even a TINY amount in the evening usually means insomnia.

 

Caffeine Free soda (Diet Coke, Diet Pepsi) is a lie. I've had a glass and I can't sleep afterwards.

 

Those Zevia sodas are good to go. The Black Cherry and Ginger Ales are true caffeine free. I've drank a can in the evenings and still sleep ok.

 

Deep breathing has become essential. If I don't do it, it can take up to 3hr to fall asleep. When I do it, I'm usually under in about 1hr.

 

Hopefully that helps anyone in the future. As we know, sadly, by the time people come here, they are already damaged from these drugs.

Andros I'm glad you are sleeping better - I myself have come a long way in the sleep department and have found an ancient healing therapy helps me a bit to fall asleep if I'm having some issues:

 

https://medschool.ucsd.edu/som/fmph/research/cim/clinicalcare/Pages/jinshinjyutsu.aspx

 

I heard about this from Balylissa's book - I was very skeptical but I was surprised to find that it indeed helps me.  I hold my thumb with my other hand and somehow it's soothing.

 

Best part: Completely risk free!!!

Andros01, this may not be affecting you at all, but just wanted to mention my experience with magnesium glycinate, which I love. Glycine, trimethylglycine and magnesium glycinate all give me minor insomnia. I couldn't figure it out until I realized that glycine is actually an NMDA agonist. For some, this can actually worsen sleep. I now take my mag in the morning, and take mag citrate at night. Just a thought. So happy for you to have healed! I hope I do too soon!

Thank you for sharing your story! I'm so glad I'm not alone in that feeling of "I am going to die everyday" (during bad waves) and omg I can relate to dizziness and migraines so bad, I was just clutching my head in the ER room thinking my brain would explode. I am so happy you healed and thank you for this story! I hope your sleep gets better and better everyday.

Andros01, this may not be affecting you at all, but just wanted to mention my experience with magnesium glycinate, which I love. Glycine, trimethylglycine and magnesium glycinate all give me minor insomnia. I couldn't figure it out until I realized that glycine is actually an NMDA agonist. For some, this can actually worsen sleep. I now take my mag in the morning, and take mag citrate at night. Just a thought. So happy for you to have healed! I hope I do too soon!

 

Interesting.

 

I actually alternate between Magnesium Glycinate, and Magnesium Aspartate. I've been doing extensive testing on myself, and both are equal in function to me.

 

If I don't use it, after a couple of days, my deep sleep suffers. I typically get 1.5hr deep sleep according to my FitBit watch. After 2-3 days of no Mag, I get around 1hr deep sleep. It was always like this even before the Z-Drug, but the difference is Mag would give me 2hr of deep sleep, and I used to wake up so awesome. Fully refreshed.

 

I'm still getting there, but 95% of the way so far.

Thank you for sharing your story! I'm so glad I'm not alone in that feeling of "I am going to die everyday" (during bad waves) and omg I can relate to dizziness and migraines so bad, I was just clutching my head in the ER room thinking my brain would explode. I am so happy you healed and thank you for this story! I hope your sleep gets better and better everyday.

 

Thanks man!! All the best hopes to you my friend. Check out some of my old threads to see if there's any info there that can help you.

 

I am now able to sleep a solid 7hr. I'm essentially back to normal with 2 small differences:

 

1. I now HAVE to go to bed by 12am. I tend to wake up around 8am. If I go to bed at 12am, I wake up at 8am. If I go to bed at 4am, I wake up at 8am.

 

2. Deep Sleep and REM sleep are hurting from my pre drug status. BUT the good news is I see a trend upward, as my body slowly repairs me back to my old self.

 

It is absolutely terrifying when you have those waves. The migraines are out of this world. Definitely check out the Supplement threads, as I think supplements helped me quite a bit get thru the ordeal.

Alright, final update:

 

I am 100% healed. As of mid Sept I am now not only sleeping my normal sleep before I went on the Z-Drug, but my sleep, about 30% of the time is actually better than it was before. I believe it has to do with the sleep hygiene I've practiced (most of the protocols in CBT-I).

 

I no longer have to do any of it strict. Right now I just make sure I go to bed around the same time every night, which is usually 12am. But I have fallen asleep as late as 3am, and as early as 11pm. Also if I fall asleep late, I will wake up at 8am, but am able to go back to sleep, and before I realize it, it's 11am.

 

I am also able to take caffeine, although I'm leaving that cup of coffee for the morning. And I've been able to stick to a keto diet and still sleep decently (it has suffered just a tad).

 

The only thing that's different is that I will probably never touch a drop of alcohol ever again. I "may" try a beer in about 2 years time, see how it hits me. But for now, Sleep is worth giving up the occasional Bacardi I used to have.

 

So there is it. I will probably frequent this board a lot less. Good luck to all of you in your healing journey.

We are very happy for you Andros - May you go forth and allow this experience to guide your life going forward, for we may heal but we are never the same.  And I mean this for the better, not worse.  We "see" more clearly now.

Hey Andros! Super cool and awesome, sleep is THE BEST. Or I should say unmedicated sleep is the best!!! Happy for you and happy to be like you, ha ha. I'm sleeping most nights and my body seems to want about 7 hours although wish I could sleep more sometimes. i vascilate with giving up coffee and going back to it. But, yes, I too cannot have a drink as it keeps me awake. Luckily I don't mind that.

 

Thank you for your great posts here! Don't be a stranger!