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Zopiclone....

Posted , 10 users are following.

chris85033
chris85033

Prior to visiting my doctor this past Friday, I did my own research on Zopiclone. I read through forums like this one and visited many medical websites to get info on side effects, dosage and the length of time one should take this drug. Website after website states clearly that this drug is not to be taken for more than 4 weeks. My doctor agrees. Yet, forum after forum I read how those with awful side effects have been taking Zopiclone for month and years. Years!! Did you not do your research? Did your dcotor not advise you that this drug is a short term solution for insomnia or other sleep disorders? Abusing, yes, abusing this drug (or any drug, expecially Benzo's) will always lead to these off- the- chart- side effects. Don't knock the drug. If taken properly it is an effective band aid to get your sleeping disorder under control wiith limited and minor side effects. This following is from the WEBmd website:

"This medication is usually taken for short periods of up to 4 weeks. Do not increase the dose or take this for longer than prescribed. Tolerance may develop with long-term or excessive use making it less effective."

As for me, I asked for six 7.5 mg pills. After taking 3 pills over 3 nights I will wean off by taking half a pill, then a quarter pill..and then STOP. 

I also noticed that the WEBmd website states that Zopiclone is no longer available in the U.S.A. (i live in Canada). I'm going to take a wild guess as to why: Over prescribed and abused.

2 likes, 11 replies

11 Replies

  • julie85854
    julie85854 chris85033

    Posted

    Chris

    Thank you for your feedback but I really have to ask!!! Why would you come on a forum such as this and write such a post? I myself abused Zop for a number of years and have recently come off them. Do you really think given the option not to take them 90% of us would!??! 

    I have to to say I'm shocked and appalled by your post and I can't see anything positive to take away from it?

    Unlike you I don't mean to offend.

    • chris85033
      chris85033 julie85854

      Posted

      Julie,

      MY post was wriiten with the hope that anyone deciding to use Zop would take them as directed or suffer the consequences. You state in your reply to me that you "abused Zop for years". Yet I mention the word abuse in my post to prove a point and get carved up....which is not a surprse to me. You are probably correct in saying that 90% of people would not take Zop if they had another option. However, my point is not directed at 'taking' Zop but moreso not taking them as directed and not knowing in the first place that this drug is not to be abused by taking it for month's or years. I would rather not take Zop but after 8 days of liitle to zero sleep each night I went to my doctor, had a discussion on risks of longterm use, then asked for and was prescribed six 7.5mg pills which will help to get my sleeping rythmn back on track. I too am shocked and appalled, but for another reason; What doctor would continue to prescribe Zop to someone for years? Or have many Dr's been seen to continue getting scripts for Zop after your first Dr. stopped writing you scripts?. Here's something positve that you may take away from my post: Try using a light lamp  for 20 minutes each morning for sleep deprevation. These lamps mimic the suns natural light and are used primarily in the winter months for S.A.D. (seasonal effective disorder) by raising seretonin levels. Light lamps also assist in re-setting a persons circadian sleep rythms and raising melatonin levels nessecary for sound sleep.

      I wish you and all others well in getting off of Zop with as liitle long lasting side effects as possibe.

      Chris  

      Emis Moderator comment: I have removed the link as it was to a site unsuitable for inclusion in the forums. If users want this information please use the Private Message service to request the details.

      http://patient.uservoice.com/knowledgebase/articles/398316-adding-links-to-posts

      http://patient.uservoice.com/knowledgebase/articles/398331-private-messages

  • jackied68
    jackied68 chris85033

    Posted

    I agree with Julie.do you not think we dont know the facts about taking zoplicone? You picked the wrong forum, the majority of us support each other through this site, we dont need smug, ignorant comments such as yours making us feel worse than we already do!
  • RobertT
    RobertT chris85033

    Posted

    Four weeks at 7.5mg a night is indeed the licence recommendation maximum for this drug.

    You are not going to have people getting enough sleep by shouting "drug abuser" at them, so if you know a better way, please let us know.

    Many, perhaps most, people can take Zopiclone for years without side-effects and without it becoming completely ineffective. No sensible person takes a drug they don't need.

    I think you will find Eszopiclone (Lunesta) is available in the US. It is the more active part of Zopiclone.

  • RobertT
    RobertT chris85033

    Posted

    Oh, and in the States the licence for eszopiclone extends to long-term use.
  • SeaWhisper1
    SeaWhisper1 chris85033

    Posted

    Chris, I am appauled at the way you are judging people who have become dependant/addicted to Zopiclone.

    First of all, I must correct you when you state 'Zopiclone is no longer available in the U.S.'  It was NEVER used in the U.S.!  They have Zopliderm (Lunesta) and there have been lawsuits against this Z drug due to sleep walking, sleep sex etc.

    I have had a chronic sleep disorder of EEG Anomoly and Fragmented Sleep for over 20 years (as per Canadian Sleep Studies in both Toronto and Parry Sound).  After my first study I was prescribed Zop and, at that time both the drug company and my doctor stated that it was not dependant/addictive...well, just like the Oxycontin Story, the drug company lied to me about the hazards of Zop.

    Some doctors still claim Zop is not dependant.  It is now the most prescribed sleep medication in Canada.  It is now prescribed for short term use for insomnia....but.... insomnia can rarely be resolved within the time period the drug company now recommends.  It creates a temporary crutch that leads to many people needing this drug for long term use.

    After 19 years of being on Zop and it screwing up my circadium rhythm as well as a family doctor who just added other drugs as well my brain became very messed up.  I trusted my doctor (who is now my previous doctor). I went off of imovane(Zop) with the help of diazepam, but, it left my days and nights completely reversed.   I became so sleep deprived and suicidal that I checked myself into the hospital in Ontario just before Christmas.  With the help of a team of specialists they restored my circadium rhythmn and now I use a low dose of trazedone (25-50mg).  Zop left me very anxious due to the withdrawal so I am now practicing Mindfulness Meditation.

    Don't judge us Chris, you are not helping any of us who are suffering from being addicted to imovane.  We all trusted our doctors and the drug companies.  Please rat on them, not us.

  • jules1170
    jules1170 chris85033

    Posted

    I've been taking Zopiclone for 10 years and I can tell you I'm definitely not abusing the drug.
  • keith09733
    keith09733 chris85033

    Posted

    Why do you need them in the first place? If what you've read is so bad, why are you agreeing to take then? PS: I would not touch them with a barge pole after hafving such a bad exzperience with them. Just stay up and read a book.
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