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

[[Buddie]]

I'm extremely sorry about your husband. I wouldn't introduce change at this point. There is too much going on for you now. When the time is right for you I think you can safely taper from 7.5 over the course of one month. If you simply can't sleep without it then perhaps consider alternatives like Seroquel or mirtazapine for a few weeks until you break the dependency. Then taper off of them which should be easier since you were on them for such a short period. Insomnia is a horrible thing but with proper nutrition and sleep hygiene I do believe people can conquer it. I have (knock on wood).

[[Buddie]]

Carol and All: I am wondering what advice you might have for me. I have been on varying doses of Zopiclone for the past 5 years. Before that I had another round with it and was eventually able to taper off it. However, when my husband became seriously ill, I resorted to it in the summer of 2008. I have not been able to get off it again.

Now I am attempting to get off it even though my husband has very advanced cancer with frequent crises and no hope for improvement. A rocky road ahead. Nonetheless I need to look after myself and that means getting off the Zopiclone.

I was taking 7.5 for a long time - a large half at bedtime and the smaller half when I woke in the night. When I was feeling particularly anxious in the summer, my family doc suggested going up to 1 1/2 a night. I also have been taking 10 mg of Doxepin  (a very low dose tricyclic antidepressant that is used for insomnia.)

Now the doctor wants me to only take 7.5. I only have a few tablets left and so need to use sparingly at least until I see him next week. It is a controlled substance where we live.

I have reduced to one tablet a night the past 3 nights but am not getting enough sleep. How long will it take to adjust to this dose? How long until I can cut again and how much?

Many thanks for any advice you can give.  LL

It is hard to know just how much you will be affected by discontinuing zop.

It seems that most people do not have such a horrible time as I did with it.

Because Of my experience I have quite a different answer for you than [...].

I also want to say , I am so sorry that you have so much to go through with your husband.
I have no other words that would mean anything .

Well, regarding the zop. You have already become tolerant and the only way to sleep would be to up your dose even more! OK , well I tried that. Believe me it is not the answer.
It is a controlled substance here also. But my husband had a stock pile because he used them so sparingly .

You have some major life issues that make it tough come off now and get no sleep at all.

There are a number of other things that may help a little.
I did not like how seroquil made me feel but worried dad seems to find it helps.
I got amytryptlin from the doctor.
I used Unisom along with "relax and sleep".
I alternated with, Supersleep which is L-theanine, 5 htp, melatonin.
I sometimes used L-tryptophan .
Nothing worked as well as zopiclone used to work but slowly I am getting some sleep.
I also put meditation in my ear most of the night.

I did not take zopiclone dependency seriously enough and had no idea that I had interdose withdrawal along with the tolerant issues.

I am not writing very well here tonight but I did want to write this.

Carol

[[Buddie]]

Thank you for starting this thread, as I did find it hard to search for any Z related topics.
 
 I took 1 Zopiclone tablet (3.75mg). This happened 2 months ago. I was already starting to suffer the following day after the first dose It began with me noticing weird distorted sounds from every passing car while I was standing at the bus stop. I arrived [...] and I seemed to be ok, besides the fact that I was unusually tired. So I went to bed early, but while lying for more than 30min I noticed I cant sleep, on top of that a weird sounds in my ears suddenly started to buzz constantly.
  I slept for 3 hours the following 2 nights until I was desperate enough to take another Z dose, since nothing was helping me to sleep - music, wine, valerian pills etc. But I only took a half of Z tablet, which didnt help at all. I was as sleepless as before 

 The worst was still to happen. While I struggled to calm down, I started to keep noticing more and more of distorted sounds around me. When I started my first day at the new job I had an intense panic attack where all sounds became distorted and loud, which made me take 2 days off. The loud attacks happened a few more times during that week of the first and last Z dose. Though they seemed to have moved away, I still could hear constant distortion when I heard background noise (like a fan, engine noise). And of course sleepless nights. This is when I ran into drinking lots of wine before going to bed, this was still all happening in the same week. I drank about 2-3 nights and I could only sleep 2 more hours, so around 5 hours per night.


But to be honest, I was not worried about sleeping as much as I did about my hearing. This made me so scared, I had constant death wish in my head...and plans on all the things I need to do before I die soon. The thought of not enjoying music as I did was just too depressing (Im an animator, so to do fun cartoons, I need to work with music).


Somehow I managed to survive, by talking with fellow workers as much as I could. I kept my mind away from myself and hoped that with time I would get [...]...after 2 months now I still hear distortion and my head still feels pressured, foggy and kind of strange

I have been feeling dead all this time, and though I managed to cope [...] with the dizziness and anxiety, I have daily phases when I feel terrified and hopeless that my life is over.

I do not know if this is normal for the Z drug to have such a long lasting effect, or if I am permanently disabled my hearing/brain function.

In my opinion,Some of the things you describe could certainly be attributed to zopiclone withdrawal but I have a question with that.
Did you say that you have only taken 3.75 mg twice?

It does seem quite a drastic result .

You can see my signature below.
I initially started having problems with zopiclone when I had extreme stress in my life and increased the zopiclone to force some sleep.
I had Been using it for years but more sparingly.
After increasing the dose for months, I started having a lot of problems.
Things escalated from there.
On another note, my mom says that she feels really strange everytime she takes 1/2 zopiclone.

Carol

Hi Carol,

 I took one full 3.75mg portion and then 2 nights later just a half of 3.75 tablet (I guess thats about 1.37mg). I noticed distortion of background noise the following night I read somewhere that it can take months before you heal, but even from such a small dose?

Also, do you know the main difference between the effects of Zopiclone and benzo drugs on receptors? I was pondering if Zopiclone has stronger power or it's just me.


 

[[Buddie]]

when i cut my dose by 25 percent of zopiclone back in September i had extreme anxiety, insomnia, depersonalizations and tinnitus/hyperacusis.  this continued even after i reinstated a week later..
I learned from that experience that zop is just as powerful as the benzos and has basically the same effect on my GABA etc

[[Buddie]]

when i cut my dose by 25 percent of zopiclone back in September i had extreme anxiety, insomnia, depersonalizations and tinnitus/hyperacusis.  this continued even after i reinstated a week later..
I learned from that experience that zop is just as powerful as the benzos and has basically the same effect on my GABA etc

I believe it to be even stronger as it is like a fist hitting you to put you right out.
It is meant to do this in 15 minutes. So it stands to reason that it is very powerful!

After using it for years, I started getting interdose withdrawal when I used it everynight for 4 months and increased the dose during that time.

The doctors here are so conservative with giving ativan compared to handing out zopiclone like candy.
In my opinion the zopiclone is even worse because of it's strength.
Half life is about the same.

Carol

[[Buddie]]

Like Carol, I had terribled wdwls from Zopiclone after CTing from 4 years use.

 The wdwl sx were identical to the wdwls I had from valium after I finally healed from the zopiclone so for me, it seems it was hitting the same receptors as a straight benzo.

Some BBs do seem to taper straight from zopiclone but it does have a short half life which can lead to interdose wdwls. Crossing to valium may make for a smoother taper if this is an option.

Best wishes.

[[Buddie]]

Hello everyone,


Further to ihopes suggestion to cross and taper from Valium.... I believe she is right...... the medical protocol used here in Australia as Zdrugs do work on the same receptors.[size=78%]  [/size][/size]I have had this discussion about Zdrugs and how they are tapered with an Alcohol and Other Drugs Dr.[size=78%][/size][size=78%] [/size]
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[[Buddie]]

At the bottom of this link you will find the equivalency chart for zopiclone and other z drugs and all the other benzod if you want to cross over  http://www.benzo.org.uk/bzequiv.htm

[[Buddie]]

At the bottom of this link you will find the equivalency chart for zopiclone and other z drugs and all the other benzod if you want to cross over  http://www.benzo.org.uk/bzequiv.htm

Remember that these equivalencies are estimates only, because each of these is a unique drug with different properties. Secondly each person has a varying response to them.

I so wish that I would have done a cross over to a longer half life drug.

Probably would have been a lot less pain and disruption to my life.
I did briefly try some Valium after being off for 6 weeks.
It heightened the depression to extreme proportions. I decided to stick it out without anything.
I foolishly thought that it would be about 6 months to healed.
I have a strong will and thought, I could tough it out for that long

Haha! 2 years and still not healed although much [...].

Carol

[[Buddie]]

Hi all,

Glad i found this group! I have been on ambien and trazodone since late November 2013, settled in on 3.75mg ambien and 300mg trazodone. Was hoping to taper off the ambien onto the trazodone. (I have taken trazodone before and had no trouble tapering when the time was right...although I was only on 50mg then.)   I need advice on the best way to get off this ambien. Unfortunately I probably wont be able to do much about it until May when I have 3 weeks off of work... I also have a week off the first of April. Should I try a slow taper up to then to lessen the drop? What should my plan be. I am miserable that I have to be on this stuff (insomnia with massive anxiety led me to it). Also any advice about how to deal with how bad my eyes look in the morning would be great... I am self conscious about how bad I look at work (the least of my worries, I know).