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I’m taking 4 x 7.5 Zopiclone a night.., help

Posted , 10 users are following.

bianca80
bianca80

really need help/advice to reduce or come off zopiclone all together. i have been taking it for about 10 years and over that time i have increased my does to the point of taking 4 a night. ive always functioned normaly and it hasnt taken a toll on my life in till resentley. i am litarally walking around in a fog and cant get out. i am working and have 2 children and i have let work and school runs slip because i cant seem to pull myself together on some days. i am terrifed to come off them as i will not sleep and that would probably be worse for my life. i am highly addicted . i buy my zopiclone over the internet costing me a lot of money each month. can anyone help me who has taken this much zop before and how to reduce my in take before my life gets any worse from these pills. any advice is much appreciated x

0 likes, 31 replies

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  • ZEN.
    ZEN. bianca80

    Posted

    Wowzers, 10 years on Zop is a long time. .

    I have read that tapering off by 1/10 dose every few weeks should work with minimal side effects and allow the body to get used to creating it's own sleep inducing chemicals again.

    Best ask your docs advice to be sure.

    All the best 😃

    • bianca80
      bianca80 ZEN.

      Posted

      hi zen thanks for your response. what do you mean by 1/10 ?

    • ZEN.
      ZEN. bianca80

      Posted

      Hi Bianca,

      1/10 = One tenth of the dose.

      So if you were on 100mg drop a tenth of it every 3 weeks (to make it 90mg) then 80 for 3 weeks then 70 etc till you are off it and your body has caught up producing what the Zop was making.

      A slow and safe taper.

      Please note I am not a doctor and am just repeating something I read about Zopiclone. I have successfully tapered off Zops but only 7.5mg's.

      I recommend that you seek the advice of your doctor to do this safely.

    • jackie74804
      jackie74804 ZEN.

      Posted

      Most drs are unaware of a slow taper. Prof Ashton is the expert

    • Guest
      Guest ZEN.

      Posted

      Hi Zen,

      Can I ask how long it took you to come off zopiclone. I was on 1/4 of 7.5mg tablet a night. Gp retired and new gp refuses to give me any more said should have no problems coming off them and symptoms just psychological. Tried 5 weeks ago to stop had dreadful anxiety, only sleep about 3 hours a night, generally withdrawal symtoms horrendous. NICE recommend very slow taper and advise can take 16-20 weeks. So got some off the internet back on them but doing very slow taper this time hopefully with less awful symptoms

    • ZEN.
      ZEN. Guest

      Posted

      Hi Lemar,

      I cut tab to half for a while then a quarter, then a quarter every other day, then every few days .

      To be honest I doubt the dose you are / were taking had much of an actual effect rather than a placebo effect as less than 2mg (1/4 of 7.5mg) is a tiny amount for an adult.

    • Guest
      Guest ZEN.

      Posted

      Hi Zen,

      That's what the gp said but I beg to differ definitely not placebo effect, felt very achey, affected my bowels, woke up very hot at night. Had been getting bit anxious driving which went off the scale after stopping the tablets. I spoke to a lady at an addiction centre, who said makes no difference what the dose is you will still suffer the same withdrawal symptoms and should never have just stopped taking them as will escalate the symptoms.She had several similar cases with gp's abruptly stopping meds. . Can you remember how long it took you to totally stop? NICE advises several months.

    • ZEN.
      ZEN. Guest

      Posted

      It took about 2 months

    • annesj
      annesj Guest

      Posted

      Lemar it seems you are very sensitive as the dose is very low? I take about 11 mg per night and struggling with trying to reduce. I feel awfull if I take, lets say 14 mg. Ive started to write down how the day is and there are a lot of days with anxeity. One night took two as I just dont could sleep. I had a horrible day after that and in the evening I was dizzy and all strange..

    • Guest
      Guest annesj

      Posted

      Think it's because I've been on them about 11 years, lady at addiction centre said even on low dose you get same withdrawal symptoms defintely not placebo effect. Gone back on them as anxiety was terrible, and developed OCD symptoms as well, taking 1/4 tablet 6 nights weeks then after say a month drop to 5 nights a week and so on.. Seems very slow taper over several months is only way to try reduce awful symptoms and manage to stay off them. Good luck seem a lot of people struggle come off these awful meds!!!

    • annesj
      annesj Guest

      Posted

      Lemar Im glad you try to taper. Im confused.. I phoned a "Free support" for benzo and Z drugs. They said split your night dose to four times a day. I dont feel comfortable with that. Do you know if its because of the low dose that you have, that they say to skip on night? I mean wouldnt the w/d be horrible that night and day after without? It s halflife is 6 hours.

  • emma77602
    emma77602 bianca80

    Posted

    I understand how you're feeling I've been on zopiclone now for about 7 years and I have been taking them in the day to help my anxiety I'm so frightened now to come off them and also like you do the same from the internet I know it's not good as we don't know what we're getting but the doctors don't seem to help they'll just send you to a drug rehabilitation place or stop your medication all together the doctors put me on venlafaxine really high dosage they don't work anymore the anxiety is so bad if I didn't take for zopiclone I feel so poorly and I'm always feeling poorly every day at the moment anyway with my fibromyalgia so if the spelling or grammar is a bit off I am doing voice text as my hand is too sore to text with text as my hand is too sore to text with maybe somebody on here could give us both some advice bless you and I understand

    • bianca80
      bianca80 emma77602

      Posted

      ohh emma its terrible isnt it. do you take them to sleep as well. i know someone who takes zop in the day too for anxiety. can i ask how many you take a day. i hope someone can help us on the the right path

    • emma77602
      emma77602 bianca80

      Posted

      Yes my love I do still take at night aswel I am trying to reduce my venlafaxine at the moment becouse thay seem to have stoped working and am I such a high dose I really want to go back on prozac that I had my years ago bit the doctor has told me I have to reduce the venaflaxin first let me know how you get on as I will try to reduce the zopiclone when I have reduced the venlafaxine I am like a zombie every day and that is making my depression a lot worse it's a horrible vicious circle to try and get out of bed I'm sure if you do and I'm sure you will do you will feel so much better and feel like you have a life back again

    • jackie74804
      jackie74804 emma77602

      Posted

      Benzos cause depression, anxiety, etc, etc. Its a viscious circle that can only be got out of by tapering but slowly and safely.

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