zopiclone addiction

Keith, Anita, can Keith contact CITA for help interfacting with GP?  I can understand some GPs not wanting to just go on a patient's say so to prescribe an addictive medication like diazapam--as addictive as zop is, diazapam is more addictive in certain ways because it is also anti-anxiety and muscle relaxant and anti-convulsive, and going off it affects not just the sedative dependence but dependence in these other neurotransmitter processes. Not only that but diazapam is so long lasting that it builds up in your tissue while you're taking it and the elimnation half life is much longer than zopiclone so that it takes a long time to be eliminated from plasma circulation, and how long is unpredictable, related to individual conditions such as age, liver function and many others. Zop is quickly eliminated from circulation, so that it doesn't build up in tissue as much as diazapam does. Diazapam can't be eliminated very quickly, so every time a new dose is taken, some of it accumulates in the body, and i don't thnk this is well understood medically, just speculated about.  Diazapam, clinically, has a good track record for helping people who are dependent on the shorter acting medications because it takes so long to be eliminated, tapering off it can be easier and smoother than with the shorter acting meds. But this does involve experience and expertise of the doctor, monitoring and encouraging the tapering process.  I can understand a GP not having confidence in their experience in managing withdrawal from meds. Some GPs are more willing to work with the patient and learn knew things than others. That's why i wonder if the involvement of CITA would help--if they might contact teh GP by phone to provide contact info where the GP can consult while managing withdrawal (from diazapam), or with a letter that the GP can place in the patient's chart which provides him with a kind of coverage, showing that he is consulting with experts during the process.  I think if i had ready access to CITA, i would seek out their help with my dependence. My GP is clearly not experienced, nor am i, in using the diazapam crossover method, that's why i sought out a specialist in addictioin medicine, but in retrospect, i didn't find his communication to be adequate for my needs, and maybe the options just aren't that many--i went off zolpidem onto diazapam but then found that i was so hung over from diazapam, it ruined the quality of my daily life in a way that zolpidem did not, so now i'm using the zolpidem to help me taper off the diazapam.  My case is more complex because i recently learned i have an insulinoma which is a rare condition, a non-malignant tumor that is very tiny on the pancreas that secrets insulin into the blood stream, which removes glucose from your blood, causing you to be very hypoglycemic, which makes me very tired and lacking energy that glucose normally gives, so it's too hard for me to tell what is caused by diazapam and what's caused by the insulinoma, insulinoma is curable by surgery and i'm in the process of trying to get that scheduled, and then i can get back to the project of getting off my Z drugs, but it wasn't until my addiction meds doctor took my insulinoma evidence seriously that he got on the same page with me about getting off the sleep meds, we are waiting until the insulinoma is gone. I think CITA is a very good support option that can probably make a positive difference in most peoeple's withdrawal efforts.  

Hi I told you a few months ago I was giving them up well I failed  I am back on them , and the price has gone up shame united pharm stopped them .

Hi Keith,

 

Hi Keith,

I am Geri I have been on Zopiclone now must be for about ten years after a very good friend of mine killed her self my G-P started me on one Zopiclone but it only worked for a while I am now on two Zopiclone now and addicted to them,

I have become medically dependent on them

Hi Keith

I want to update on my own efforts to come off 11 mg Zopiclone ( on it for 13 years and was adding to my own low prescription using Internet provided Z's). I stopped taking Zopiclone 9 weeks ago after looking at the CITA website and advice and crossed over to 9  mg Diazepam nightly. My GP was very supportive on this.  I hoped to reduce quickly and am now on 6 mg but feeling a bit scared to drop lower. I feel very different with Diazepam - not sleeping quickly or well, but I do get some sleep. I am more emotional and feel I have lost some kind of 'security' that I felt with Zopiclone (misplaced, I think, since I didnt sleep that well with it and felt pretty hungover in the day time). But on the other hand, I'm off it, and the Diazepam dose is relatively low - and also, I think I've lost my fear of not sleeping. I've realised I can get a few hours and still live my life ok.  I'm hoping to drop another mg this week, when I have a quiet time coming up. I feel I'm doing well, but it's also hard and its a very big deal. That's my experience so far!