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Trying to quit the Zopiclone habit

Posted , 6 users are following.

robin23223
robin23223

Been on Zopiclone 7.5mg every night for eight years or more and having read a number of posts on this site regarding side effects including stomach pains, Halucinations, mood swings and more, i have decided to quit, i have reduced my dose to half a tablet every night starting from new years eve and will reduce it by half again after one month at the end of which i aim to stop it altogether. Needless to say i have not been getting much sleep with very vivid dreams and a general feeling of impending gloom but i am determined to give it my best shot anticipating a better state of mind and body in the near future. I will post my progress.......

1 like, 16 replies

16 Replies

  • susannah2b
    susannah2b robin23223

    Posted

    good luck Robin, that's exactly what I keep planning to do ... then wake in the night at 2 am and reach for another tablet!   It will be interesting to see how you get on.  I'm lucky in that I have no adverse effects from taking Zopiclone for years now, usually 15 mg a night.  But they are increasingly difficult to buy and I really would like to stop or at least cut down.  Fingers crossed for you!  and glad that you'll keep the site advised of your progress.

    Happy new year, Sue

    • robin23223
      robin23223 susannah2b

      Posted

      Hi Sue, thanks for the support, 15 mg a night....I was on the verge of asking my GP for more but my previouse years of experiance with illicit drugs ( which i no longer use) taught me that i will only be making my problem bigger so i'm glad i didn't up the dose. You did not say how long you have been using Zopiclone but I hope i can inspire you to try and reduce your dosage. Over the years i have given up Alchohol, drugs and smoking but i am under no illusion that this is going to be easy, perhaps posting on this forum may help me as well as others, and i have been inspired by the posts which people have been so kind to share with us..........Happy new year
  • mark60129
    mark60129 robin23223

    Posted

    Interesting to read your experience of zopiclone. I have been using it for about 7 years. I initially started using it to help deal with jetlag but now use it virtually every night. However, I use far less than most posters on this site - usually just a quarter of a tablet a night and sometimes half but rarley more than that. I suffer very few ill effects that I can be sure of except what I would describe as a foggy head - not quite as sharp as a should be sometimes. Having said that, a sleep aided by zop is far better than getting just a few hours or less, which is what often happens to me without it. Sometimes I have gone a week or more without taking any, but a sequence of a few bad nights' sleep always brings me back to it. I also would like to quit it completely, but because I have a bad insomnia problem it will be difficult. Without fixing the insomnia (and I don't know how to do that) I don't see how I can give it up completely. I can usually go to sleep OK, but wake easily and almost always wake up after 2 or 3 hours and often have difficulty getting back to sleep - that's when I take my quarter or half a pill. Anyway, good luck and if you discover any great ways of getting to sleep please post it here! My own feeling is that most people have a natural drug in their systems that helps them sleep (seratonin perhaps?). Unfortunately fate dealt me a bum deal in this department!
    • robin23223
      robin23223 mark60129

      Posted

      Hi Mark, thanks for the post, Waking up after a couple of hours of sleep on Zopiclone seems to be a pretty common aspect of this medication, seems like a lot of people have this problem, it's why i want to give it up, if its not doing the job i can't be putting up with the side effects for nothing. I use to take heroin many years ago cos it used to block my mind from the things in my life that i could not deal with, the phrase 'Comfortably numb' as  we would describe it. Worked for a while, then of course you have all the inherent problems of the substance abuse as well as the original demons, and if i am to be honest with myself i think taking zopiclone in the beginning use to mong me out in a similar way being a downer but being legal made it seem ok, starting to wake up from the illusions of it now and know where i need to be headin'............
  • colette71120
    colette71120 robin23223

    Posted

    Hi Robin

    I year ago this past Nov I started reducing my zoplicone by 1/4 . ( I had been taking 7.5mg per night for about 10 years.) I took this dosage for about 1 month. Then reduced it by anothe 1/4 for another month and started taking some melatonin . Then Jan reduced another 1/4 and finally in Mar I was done.. Still took melatonin for a while but eventually phased that out as well. I too was starting to feel very foggy and forgetful and didn't feel like myself at all. Also the zops are really getting a negative review on this site so it helped me with my decision to quit them. I'm so happy that I did. I feel so much better , clearer in the head , and not dependent on some drug. Sometimes I don't sleep that great but I have developed some inner thinking that helps calm me and in some way puts me in a happy place. Also I'm retired so don't have to get up to go to work. So If I wake up in the middle of the night , I get up do some stuff and then go back to bed. It works for me and is better than relying on nasty drugs . So even if it takes you a little bit longer , each stage should be done with 100% deternimation to succeed and when you are ready for that next stage. I know you can do it. I promise that you will feel so much better. Good luck and keep posting. 10 months free of zops !! so so happy about that !

    • robin23223
      robin23223 colette71120

      Posted

      Hi Colette,  Thankyou for your post its just what i need right now, how your feeling is where i want to be sometime this year, yeah i realize that the sleepless nights problem is going to be there still after i have stopped  but i get that now anyway and have done for some years so not much to lose really, but a lot to gain. Having that clear head and a more positive outlook is what i'm aiming for, and of course side effect free. Thankyou.................
  • colette71120
    colette71120 robin23223

    Posted

    Hi Robin

    I was awarded a Helpful badge by this site because I replied to discussions 20 times in the past. LOL ....didn't know that existed but I guess they are trying to compensate us for trying to help each other. Which make me think of the discussion I was following & contributing to called Down the Rabbit Hole. It is here that I got good advice from others going through the same thing. It is where I learnt about cutting the tablets in four and gradually reducing as mentioned in my post. And what a great feeling it was to flush the rest of tablets not taken down the toilet ....good-bye ...finished , done with you ! It took 4 mths, I did it at my own pace and with determination . If you haven't read that particular discussion I might suggest that you do so. Lots of good info. Good luck my dear...you can do it ! 

    • robin23223
      robin23223 colette71120

      Posted

      So one week into my zopiclone 50%reduction drive and I have not faltered in sticking to the half of a 7.5mg tablet. I have been getting to sleep ok like before but having an even more disturbed night than before waking after about three hours to a semi consiouse state where my brain is just racing with thoughts about everything and anything......s.ome of it very unpleasant indeed, by the time I get up I feel very stressed and tense and still tired, starting to remember now why I started taking it in thr first place.........so I'm going to crack on with it, can,t let myself fall at the first hurdle and see how the second week goes.....

    • dave23662
      dave23662 robin23223

      Posted

      Hi robin, I was reading what you wrote and the bit,, 'waking after about three hours to a semi conscious state where my brain is just racing with thoughts about everything and anything.......some of it very unpleasant indeed'

      This is exactly what I have almost every single night I'm not on any meds but I have been surviving as I call it because it's not really living on 2-3hours sleep a day...I have a very full on physical job which has me balancing on ladders high up most days which is a struggle but I just push on through it and then spend most my weekend in bed. Sorry for side tracking but my question is, what you described is there an actual name for that or some kind of a condition or something like what is it? The thoughts the hundreds of thoughts the nightmares but whilst laying there awake which to others makes no sense...thank you robin.

      Dave

    • robin23223
      robin23223 dave23662

      Posted

      Hi dave, There probably is a medical term for it, it is some kind of mental disorder......for me it could be legacy of too many years using drugs of one kind or anothe. Some nights are worse than others, the weird dreams well you couldn't make it up what my brain conjures up.I wish you the best in overcoming your nightime ordeals. I wish I could offer you some advise but don't know your situation but good luck to you....keep us informed of any progress. Robin
  • lisa82294
    lisa82294 robin23223

    Posted

    hl robin;

    how are you doing with coming off the zopiclone,

    i am really finding it hard to ween off them. have you learnt off any goods tips. for getting over them.?

    take care

    lisa

    • robin23223
      robin23223 lisa82294

      Posted

      Hi lisa, its been two weeks now since I reduced my normal 7.5g nightly dose to half a tablet, I wish I could say it has been easy but it hasn.t however it is dooable, the trick if there is one, is too make a plan or desision on your reduction and try hard to stick to it, I know from previous addictions that half hearted attempts to withdraw inevitably fail which leaves you very depressed and needing the medication even more, so preparing yourself mentaly for the challenge ahead is important. I try to make up for the previous nights lack of sleep and the horrible way it makes you feel in the morning by congratulating myself on sticking to my plan which is to continue on the half dose for another two weeks before halfing it again for another month. I got my new prescription today which is the zopiclone 3.75 tabs 28 days worth so I have comitted myself, I feel there is no going back to the 7.5g tabs now and that in itself is rewarding and makes me feel better about myself which in turn gives me more confidence for the task in hand. So writing this post has made me realise I.m doing ok and although not easy I can see a small light of encouragment at the end of the tunnel which a month or so ago I didn,t. I hope sharing this with you gives you some encouragment......please keep us all informed of your progress good luck lisa all the best. Robin
    • lisa82294
      lisa82294 robin23223

      Posted

      thanks robin

      you have made me see a light at the end off the tunnel

      take care

      lisa

    • robin23223
      robin23223 lisa82294

      Posted

      Hi lisa was wondering how you are getting on.....have you been able to cut down the zopiclone at all......regards robin
  • colette71120
    colette71120 robin23223

    Posted

    Hi Robin

    Nice to hear from you , after week 2 and that you are not faltering and staying on course as hard as it might be !! Nice also that you can help out others such as Lisa etc. This site is wonderful ! Try to relax is be very good to yourself . Your future self will thank-you and be so proud .

    Colette

    • robin23223
      robin23223 colette71120

      Posted

      Hi colette,  had a particulaly bad night last couple of days and feeling even worse in the morning, but i'm sure it will get better and of course you are correct in what you say so thanks......Robin
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