Have quit Clonazepan, want to quit Zolpidem

[[la...]]

Hi,

 

i´m 55, female, living by myself.  For two years i´ve been on Clonazepan in regular bases, .5 mg three times a week, maybe 4.  10 mg Zolpidem every nigh, for imsonia.

 

I´m not american, so my english is like so so, ok?

 

Then i went off Clonazepan, helped by this forum and other sites about benzodiazepin dammages.

 

Now i´m willing to quit the zolpidem, but not now.

 

I´ve been clean from Clonazepan for 17 days, have symptoms still, like tinitus, blepharospasm, some tremor on hands, some depression, but i am getting better every day.

 

I want to educate myself about those evil pills, and find a way to get me off medication.

 

The thing is i have a tipe of imsonia that, sometimes, keep me without sleep for two or three days!

 

I´m going to psicotherapy too, attending to yoga classes, increasing phisicall activity, cut the cofee and chocolate...

 

So if you have any ideas helping me to quit the zolpidem (i have already reduced from 10 to 5 mg) i would like to know.

 

Thanks,

 

Laura.

 

 

[[Ch...]]

Hi and welcome, lauraveigaosoares.

 

We'll probably call you Laura. 

 

Recovery from the withdrawal may take a little while, but it's good to hear you're already better.  Zolpidem isn't a benzodiazepine but in many ways it has the same properties and I'm sure we have members here who can help you taper it.

 

Here's a good place to start posting:  Other Medications  We also have an Insomnia board and a board where you can talk to others about  Post Withdrawal Support

 

A great source of information is the Ashton Manual, if you're not already familiar with it.

 

Please include your benzodizepine information in your posts.  To make that easier by adding it to each post automatically, you can go up to Profile, choose Forum Profile, write the information in the text box and click Change Profile.

 

Take care, Laura.

 

Challis 

[[De...]]

Hi Laura,

 

Welcome to the forum from me too 

 

Congratulations on being benzo free!

 

17 days is still very early in the recovery process, it is quite normal to be still symptomatic at this stage. The strong symptoms will ease with time but it can take a little while for the central nervous system to heal fully. You will, of course, make a full recovery with time that's for sure.

 

I'm so sorry to hear about the insomnia, I'm sure that must be very difficult to cope with. As Challis said a slow taper is the way to go with relation to tapering from the Zolpidem. The "Z" drugs, although not a benzodiazepine, have a similar action to a benzo and should be tapered in the same manner with cuts of no more than 10% of the current dosage every 10 to 14 days. Tapering slowly and carefully will help to minimise the withdrawal effects. I think you're wise to wait a while before beginning the zolpidem taper, most members wait a few months after they finish their benzo taper before beginning a taper from their other medications. When you feel ready to begin tapering perhaps you'd like to introduce yourself at the "Z" drug support group here where you'll find other members who are in the throes of tapering from this particular group of drugs. I'm sure the members there will be able to give you some good advice on tapering based on their own experiences. Here is a link to the support group:

 

 

http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?topic=97331.0

 

 

I'm glad you found us and I wish you a speedy recovery.

 

Debbie