My experience of zopiclone (down the rabbit hole)

Me too.

Hi guys I have been on Zopiclone for 5 years and desperate to get off them. But where do you start. I take 3 x 3.75 mg at night and even then it takes hours to fall over to sleep. It's a real worry.

I am trying to reduce the ammount of Zopiclone as I ave been on them since around 1997,I managed to come off them for a while for a short time,but started again a few years ago. cannot remember when exactly.

It is so difficult to know what to do.

Onc consultant says to reduce the dose 7.50 by shaving off an eighth each WEEK and eventually I should be able to get to sleep without withdrawal symptoms,but it will take a few months to do so.

Another consultant (cardiologist) says I need decent sleep and as my sleep is so bad I should INCREASE the

dose by 3.75.each day.Very confusing,but I would rather try to decrease the dose.

It has also been suggested that Instead of taking Zopiclone,I should take 6mg Diazepan each night instead.

Who knows what to do,but I don't want to be any more dependant on drugs than I already take.

If I have an ambition,it is to get a decent NORMAL night's sleep.So far have had no luck.

Emis Moderator. Please are we informed if not suitable.

Wendl--i relate to your dilemmas and confusion. just wondering, when you came off the zopiclone after being on it for a while, how was that? did you have a difficult time coming off it? did you sleep ok when you were off it? i came off a 20 year period of taking diazapam for sleep in 1993 and found it hard to get good sleep consistently for a long time, but i had no regrets, i never wanted to go back on and never took them again, but my doctor prescribed zolpidem so i ended up taking that instead. But after i had been taking it for some years every night, i slept without it for several days in a row without any symptoms of withdrawal, it happened three times during 2010. Not what i would've expected, and pretty reassuring. But i'm taking a higher dose of it now than i was then, plus Zopiclone.

The way i'm seeing my options -- i'n not seeing continuing the meds as an acceptable option, it's deadened my short term memory and i know i will feel better once i get off it, but from my experience going off diazapam, i expect to not enjoy the ease of going to sleep i have with the meds, so i'm dragging my feet. Anyway, the options i'm looking at include: cold turkey, or tapering like your first consultant recommended, or going onto diazapam and then tapering off of that. i have the advantage that i went off diazapam cold turkey 20 years ago and it wasn't that bad. it was pretty bad but not intolerable, not horrible, and the worst of it only lasted less than four days, and i was so happy to be over the hump of giving up the meds, even if i didn't sleep that great for a while. it was worth it at the time. But benzos, i think, are a bit more complicated than Z drugs so i'm very hesitant to go that way, it seems like the frying pan to the fire.

i think that each person is different and each has to find their own pathway to getting off the meds. I was wondering how it went for you when you went off them because if it wasn't too bad then that might be a good sign for how it will be now.

Hi osborne,

At the moment no but I have requested this functionality so I can auto send notification when posts are deleted if required. If I think a user needs to know I have deleted posts I will email them outside of the forums. For example in cases where they are posting multiple posts or are becoming rude or aggresive/off topic etc.

In cases where it is simply "spammers" I just delete posts and deactivate accounts.

Regards,

Alan

Emis Moderator

I am so glad to have found this site, where people HAVE got off zopiclone, - very encouraging.

I am in 54 and have been on zopiclone for 10 years. I was prescribed it in hospital after spinal surgery. I had always had trouble sleeping, my mind just would not turn off, and surgery and extreme pain recovering made that worse. After surgery my GP continued to prescribe it as I just couldn't sleep. I initially took 7.5mg at night but after a few years and some extreme stress and grief, I started taking 2 x 7.5mg. I got a good sleep but started feeling very anxious during the day and had panic like attacks and palpitation, nightmares.

A normally very strong clear minded sort of a person, I hid how I was feeling on the inside, from those around me I felt terribly anxious about everything. I realized Zopliclone was also and making me depressed and dropped to 7.5mg and asked my GP how to get off it. He told me to go cold turkey. I did this and for 5 weeks had no sleep, the most terrible voilent hallucinations, and felt as anxious as hel, and my heart hammered in my chest. I would get out of bed at 1am unable to sleep and sit alone in the lounge. I gave up as was a mess and started taking 7.5mg at night again and sleeping 6 hrs on a good night.

Years passed and I knew it was affecting me, mainly making me anxious and depressed, awful taste in my mouth. I never took more than 1 at night again.

We moved 18mths ago, and left a lot of stress behind and I decided I wanted to go of the Zopiclone but couldn't find good info to support me. When I went to a new GP to get a new prescription I was seen by a young locum who told me how bad zopiclone was, how addictive and how it was bad as street drugs (Yep, I know that!) She decide I should have amytriptilene instead as it was far less addictive, and then taper off that. I decided to give it a go. I took 1 amytriptilene and I did not sleep at all, but the next day felt like my mind was floating above my body, it was a terrible feeling. I didn't take any more and went back to her and told her I wanted the zopiclone as at least I could function during the day and get a bit of sleep.

Two months ago I attended a life changing health seminar by innovative New Zealand nutritionist Ben Warren. This changed my life. We started eating a different way, - whole foods, no processed stuff. Lots of protein and good fat. I started taking a good all in one vit/min supplement, and felt a huge improvement in my energy and wellbeing.

NOW, I was ready to tackle the zopliclone. I decide to tapper off my dose and asked Ben Warren to recommend any mineral supplements that would support me. He explained some things to me. I cut out caffeine, stopped watching TV or using computer after 8pm, read and relaxed after that, had 2 cups of herbal sleep tea after dinner. I also took extra magnesium, Glutamine and Herbal Adrenal Support Formula.

I cut my 7.5mg tabs in quarters and started taking 3/4 each night. I had less sleep but did still sleep 3 hrs at night. After 3 weeks I was sleeping 5hrs at night on this dose so I reduced to half a 7.5mg tab. At this point I started getting headaches at night but persevered as I wasn't getting any other side affects.

After another 3 weeks I reduced to 1/4 of a 7.5mg tab and have been on this for about a week. Currently sleeping about 4 hrs at night, but I am rapt with this and so proud od myself because it is not easy!

I still have the headaches at night and wake up with one but it goes later in the day. I don't take anything for it just drink lots of water, keep eating healthy, get plenty of fresh air.

The end is insight and I will soon be off this poison. The other support has been reading book "You Can Heal Your Life" it is my bible and I read it first thing in the morning and before bed, the affirmations give my strength and faith and positive thoughts to carry me through.

To all those struggling to come off Zopiclone, - you can do it and it will be the best thing you ever do for yourself. It a terrible drug and you don't realize how much you lost of yourself over the years until to start coming off it.

Good luck everyone, hope this post may give you some practical ideas to inspire and help you.

Hello I have been taking Zopiclone for a while now and have some concerns. I plan to come off them and cut down but right now is not the best time. I kind of need my sleep right now.

The concern that I have is that sometimes when I get my Zopiclone the package looks different and the tablets can be a diffrent shape. For example my most recent ones have actavis written on the pack and the ones before that came from Bristol Laboratories. They all say Zopiclone and are always 7.5. I wondered if it makes any difference taking one lot and then taking another lot that look different and come from a different place. Is it safe ? I have always had side effects to some extent but wondered if some of that was due to taking one lot for a few weeks and then some from somewhere else and then back again ?

Jon.

Shiloh--thanks for the positive "how to do it" story of reducing Zolpiclone. I hope you will report back when you're all the way off and telll how that went. I am trying to get myself psyched up to do it, the same as you did, cutting the pills in quarters and taking a quarter off each time. For just over a year, i take 7.5mg per night, every night. BUT, before i started Zolpiclone, i had been taking Zolpidem for about 20 years, about 17mg per night in the last year or two before i added the Zolpiclone and simultaneously reduced the amount of Zolpidem to 5mg, creeping up to 7.5mg this year, and now at 10mg plus another 7mg. Total, i'm at around 7.5 zolpiclone and 17 to 20+ zolpidem per night.

I later came to regret substituting the longer acting Zolpiclone for my Zolpidem extended release, just because i now realize coming off those meds would be less complicated if i was just on one of them. Anyway, my plan is to come off the zolpiclone first, get that out of my system, and then later, start going off the Zolpidem. i came to this forum to try to find out more about what sort of withdrawal symptoms are involved so i can best sort out what is causing what. In all the years i took just Zolpidem, i never had any wiithdrawal symptoms during the day (it goes out of you really fast since the half life is 3 hours) but since i've been taking the Zolpiclone, i find i start grinding my jaw on the left side later in the day between doses. i don't know if that is caused by not having the Zolpiclone or the combination of the medications, or something unrelated. I get occasional headaches but wouild not associate them with the meds. But i will pay closer attention to that.

What especially got my attention in your post was when you mentioned Healing Your Life. I'm 64 years old. i have always not found it easy to sleep and 40 years ago, in my 20s, i started taking Valium 5mg for sleep, occasionally, and then over 20 years it slowly built up to 10mg per night and thein in the last few months, more, until i was taking 25-30mg and had a tolerance for it, so i went cold turkey in 1993. At that time, as you are doing now, i was supporting my body in various ways, nutritionally and with a potpouri of health stuff, i lived in an apartment that had a natural foods store on the first floor of the building. i was seeing a Chinese herbalist, before i was forced to go off the Valium because it stopped working, whicih i continued. I had also been reading You Can Heal Your Life at that time. I have kept a journal for decades and i read over my journal from that time when i went off the Valium, and it was clearly helping me to read. It helped me to be positive, i was very happy to be off that medication, even during the worst part of the withdrawal which lasted about a week ( did sleep a little though) and something that l focused on was "These are thoughts, and thoughts can be changed." i have moved since that time, and i seem to no longer have that book. I've been meaning to buy it again, and after reading your post, i am inspired to go to amazon and do that today.

Good for you that you are finding the strength to go off the meds and reaping the benefits. I have found that my big stumbling block has been to not be willing to give up the sleep, even if temporarily, and once i accept that i need to go through that, i will get over that hump and will start making progress. Thanks again for a helpful post.

jon--there are different brands but if they all say zolpilcone 7.5, they are probably essentially the same. i think you can use google by entering the brand name, the 7.5 or any identifying info on the package, and you can describe the pill, the shape and color. i find that when i've found pills in the medicine cabinet or a drawer that are not in their original package and i want to find out what they are, i am usually able to find it that way, like if there is a number stamped on the pill, put that along with the shape and color, and that will give you what it is, and maybe you can go to the company's website and see what all the ingredients are and compare them. They might have different inactive ingredients. Personally, i've used meds from different companies and didn't think about whether it was safe, so personally, i think it is safe, but i'm not telling you not to be cautious. i think it's a good question.

Oh what joy! I have been mystified by strange symptoms which I had begun to think were some sort of poisoning. I have only taken 30 3.5 over the course of two years but reading this makes me realise what my extra illness is!

My problem is that I have Hepatitis C (No: I picked it up at the age of ten from a transfusion) which was only diagnosed by chance in 2007. I had been getting increasingly unwell over the last thirty years but I knew the beast and its symptoms. The first Interferon therapy worked but was too short so I was down for the 48 week course. Unfortunately I had to have three operations for stomach and leg problems and it was during the last two hospital stays that I was given a few nights worth of Zopiclone 3.5 because the pain caused sleep problems.

It was wonderful! Best thing I had ever had to help me sleep. The last operation was pretty painful so I was prescribed a further weeks worth of tablets which actually lasted me three months. I had to get a few repeat prescriptions but the total amounted thirty. I only took one when the pain was a real discomfort.

I did notice that I kept getting these strange flu like symptoms, tinnitus, and cognitive problems which I put down to some new torture from the Hepatitis but none of my doctors could find out quite what it was. The second Interferon course was put on hold.The symptoms are only just abating even though I took the last half of tablet number thirty a month ago.

I was about to ask for five more tablets on Friday when I decided that I had better check every medicine and food in order to find a cause for my mystery illness. Googling Zopiclone, which I assumed was completely safe, finally brought me to this forum....

I am not going to ask for any more because I'm 100% that it is down to Zopiclone as the symptoms followed the times I times I took the tablets.

Hot milk for me from now on.

How did this stuff ever get past the trial stage? Thank God I haven't started the second Interferon course yet.

I started taking 3 x 3.75mg about 20 years ago. Zopiclone was a great improvement over the competitors at that time. I was also taking Prozac and doing a high pressure uni degree in my forties at the same time. I came to find that in time I was able to drop the Prozac totally and just stick with Zopiclone. And for a long time it did a pretty good job but there’s no doubt that it hampered my vivacity and affected my social and career life. There have been times when I’ve slowly managed to wean myself down to just 1 x 3.75mg. It’s an unpleasant process and it’s almost impossible to do unless you have a holiday period to do it in as sleep patterns and exhaustion abound. I found the reduction caused unsteadiness, some confusion and an increase in bouts of depression but if you know they are drug induced it is possible to fight through them. When I have been on this lower dose I’ve been much more active – I’m now in my early 60s – but late evening events, parties anything stressful can mean just being totally awake all night. So on each occasion I’ve always been forced back to higher doses.

I’ve recently found a number of worrying effects a) the higher dose has less impact and I wake after about 4.5hrs – the pills then keep me awake and I then flag out at mid-day. At times I find that I can suffer total lethargy all day. At other times I can find that each night’s pill affects run well into the late afternoon and then as it dies away I find it really difficult to find the words I want to use. I’ve also had times when I simply couldn’t remember key passwords for using payment cards. I also notice that my eyesight is affected by different levels of dosage. I have taken to sometimes keeping one of the pills to take at 4.30am. It can work quite well.

I’ve never managed to get free from the pills and they’ve dominated my life but slowly working the dosage down does help – it’s just coping with the effects. I would be terrified not to have them to hand in case of need – but then I suppose that’s part of what addiction is? It isn’t the fear of having a bad night as such – it’s the impact that has on the next day. Fortunately, as I’m now partly retired, I suppose I could give the task a better go, although as somebody who’s very obese I’m concerned about the effect on high blood pressure. Whatever I do would be without the input of my doctor because I’d be terrified that he/she would remove the pills and caste me adrift!!

Thank-you all so much for all the info this site has to offer. Shiloh , you have really given me a good plan of attack to get off of Zoplicone. Please let us know how you are doing. I too have been taking it for basically 10 years. I have only learnt recently how bad it can be for us, causing cancer and very bad for our immune system. I'm from Canada and my Dr told me that it was non addictive and really safe. Apparently he was very wrong. My symptoms are basically being sluggish in the morning , loss of short term memory and loss of words. Does anybody know how long these take to come back? So just started reducing the med to 3/4 of a pill and will do so for 3 weeks, then progress to 1/2 of a pill for another 3 wks and then 1/4 for another 3 weeks. Hopefully I will not be too distraught and will be able to lead a fairly normal life...although not being able to sleep is why I went on these meds in the first place. Terrible place to be in but I will be really proud of myself if I can do this. Please ....I really want to do this for myself.

Hi everyone, thank you all for your tales of the dreaded Zopiclone, I must say that having only started on them because of my brain bleed operation it has gotten to the stage that if i don't have any i get migraines from lack of sleep or very grumpy which is my baby who feels my bad moods and thankfully i have noticed now that my baby cannot or does not want to be around me which is killing me...he is my world without him i am nothing, so i thank you all for your stories cause that has scared the shit out of me to stop this crap...NOW not later when it is too late!

My daughter also gets migraines if she doesn't get enough sleep. She was on zolpidem for a long time, some years, it's very similar to zolpiclone (i'm on both right now) and she weaned herself off of it over a period of about 4 weeks i think, maybe it was longer than that. At first, she tried to do it too fast and had an intolerably hard time with it, it was torture, and then she did it slower, i think she was cutting a quarter of a pill at a time for a week or so for each cut. And she got off it. She was trying to get pregnant and didn't want to be on medications. Still, i didn't know if she could do it and she did. I'm so happy for her and admire the strength. I don't know how old your baby is. I just remember feeling like you did back when i had a baby, she was everything, and there were times i felt she didn't like me, she was frowning and unhappy, and i felt that i was failing her. Sorry you are going through what you're feeling.