zopiclone addiction

Hope everything goes OK for you kept,  I too am addicted to zopiclone I take 3, 7.5mg a night, not only am I addicted to those also Fentanyl, Amitriptyline,.Co-codamol, Sertraline.  I suffer from Fibromyalgia, Chondramalacia. Patella, Sciatica, IBS, Slipped disc, Raynauds disease, Cubital tunnel syndrome,  Migraines, Asthma,  CFS.  I know I need painkillers to get me through the day & night. I've felt like ending it numerous times but I'VE 4 lovely kids & a granddaughter on the way. So have a lot to live for. Just wish there was one tablet I could take a day instead of 36 tablets sometimes more.

Jules xxx

Meant to say I take four 3.75mg tablets a night

Hi Keith,

i am Geri,

i started on Zopiclone ten years ago after the death of a very close friend,

they worked reall well for about seven years but I had to go back and see my GP to up the dose I now take two per night 7.5 mg I am now totally hooked on them so now I think I have been on them for about 12 years,

I want to ask my GP if she will put me on three Zopiclone a night but I really don't think she will the only thing I can think of is buying them off of the internet but they are not cheap,

you say you take 4 or 5 a night do you get any side affects the next day I can not believe your GP has prescribed you 4 or 5 Zopiclone a night,

it would be interesting to hear from you thanks,

GeriGeri

Hi Keith. Just wondered if you have started taking the Activas brand of Zopiclone yet. I find they dont knock me out like the Sanofi brand. With the others, i am lying awake for hours, although i do usually get of eventually.  Or maybe you have got on some sort of programme at last.

Well an update after a long time...

It's been 6 months now since the ban on internet sales of Zopiclone, and 6 months since I went to see my doctor about getting off them.

At first, he tried to refer me to a drug&alcohol unit in a neighboring county (the practise is actually split between two counties) but they told me to go to the one in my own county. And they also said, look, we're not medically trained, we can't put you on a crossover program, only your doctor can. So doctor next refers me to the similar org in my own county, basically they say the same thing - they don't deal with things like this, they give out needles to junkies, have self-help groups etc. but don't deal with withdrawal itself.

Meanwhile I was getting 56 zops prescribed every 2 weeks (I'm on 4/day). However the last 2 times when I went to pick up the prescription it had been queried by other doctors. Fortunately one of them was there at the time and called me in for a quick discussion and said she'd talk to my doctor. I mentioned CITA seemed the only place that seemed to advise GPs on crossover and she listened.

I had an appointment with my doc today and was terrified he'd be the same but no -  he has agreed to do a crossover and has prescribed my diazepam - and he has also asked for details of the crossover, which I've given him from http://www.non-benzodiazepines.org.uk/zopiclone.html (which matches exactly what I'm on). I feel a great weight has been lifted and I'm finally getting somewhere. Still will probably be hard but at least I'm getting some support now.

So don't give up trying to give up!

Hi Viv,

Thanks for your comforting words. I have my next appointment on 6th Jan, will see how it goes. The doc is still a bit unsure, he prescribed me 100 x 2mg diazepam but (as I was away last week in the US) said 'don't start until I see you when you're back, hence the 5th. Also 2mg tabs for the Ashton plan seem too small, as the crossover starts at 10mg diazepam for the first 2-3 weeks, 15 mg for the next 2-3 weeks then 20mg when completely off the zops and start to gradually reduce the diazepam.

Interestingly the doc did say he thought the NHS had facilities for helping people with tranquiliser dependence, and was surprised that they did not ... well I'm not surprised.

So I've been on the Ashton plan for crossing over to diazepam from Zopiclone. It took 6 months for my doctor to agree to this but he finally admitted that the NHS had no facilities to help and he agreed to the CITA/Ashton plan.

So far it seens to be working. The first few days were tricky with the usual zop-withdrawal symptoms (anxiety, panic etc). But after just over a week the diazepam is kicking in and I'm down from 4 zops a day to 1 or 2, and I don't feel bad during the day, and can can sleep at night. i hope to kick the zops totally in another week or two, then its down to diazepam reduction which I hope will be easier and can be taken slowly as its side effects are much less than zopiclone.

Thanks for all the advice I received, it has helped me greatly - esp Anita, your advice was good and made all the difference.

 

Latest update: went to see the doc today and told him how much better I feel (which is true - no more panic / anxiety attacks, and no more worrying about have I a zop to take every 5-6 hours). Also that horrible metallic taste has gone and my brain feels a lot clearer. He was really pleased and I cam out with a big confidence boost!

The crossover to diazepam was not pleasant the first week but that's all gone now and am hoping that after 3 weeks on the Ashton plan I can junk the zops entirely. Of course the next step is the diazepam reduction which could take 6 months but I am determined to give it a go.

For anyone stuck on the zops, do try it. It works, at least for me.It took me 6 months to persuade my doc to do the crossover but it was worth the effort...

Glad to hear you're still sticking with the Ashton plan and feeling optimistic. I know what a hard journey this is. I crossed straight to Diazepam last June from 11 mg Zopiclone (13 years on it). My reduction from the starter dose of 9 mg Diazepam has been slow and sometimes I've panicked a bit and stabilised on a dose for a while. I've had a bumpy seven to ten days or so every time I've reduced and it's hard to keep my nerve when I'm reminded of the horrible effects of rebound insomnia. . I've stuck on 3 mg since last October, and have been generally getting enough sleep to get by. It's variable, swings between 4 and 7 hours, but I'm very cheered by being able to sleep at all. And now I yawn and occasionally feel like taking a nap, which I never did on Zopiclone. It was like, awake and then bang, asleep, no in between. And the horrible hangover symptoms disappeared almost immediately on stopping the Z's.  But now I've  just decided to make the leap and reduce to 2 mg. My new Doc doesnt think this low a dose can really be contributing to making me sleep, which cheers me up when I think of the progress I've made in seven months. It seems slow, but I was chronically insomniac for four years beofre even starting Zopiclone, so I know that realistically this will take a while. For me at least. I was too scared to do cold turkey, want my brain to get used to the changes in its structure gradually. I'm aiming to stop Diazepam entirely but might celebrate my year anniversary of starting this programme by that time! Good luck with yours. It's worth it. Every day.