HELP!!! Please! Is it ok to switch z-drug zith benzo?

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Hello dear BenzoBuddies,

 

I am in desperate need of advice and hope somebody out there can help me out, as I feel extremely ill.

 

I went to the psychiatrist beginning of April and asked for something to help me with insomnia. The doctor put me on cinolazepam 40mg (Gerodorm) for 3 nights and then zopiclone 7,5mg (Imovane) the next 3 nights saying they were different drugs and therefore I wouldn't get addicted to any of them if I cycled them. Also, he added that he had patients on zopiclone for months and they didn't get addicted, only tolerant. Naturally, I trusted him and started to take the prescription doses, happy that I could finally get some rest.

 

After two months however, instead of improving from all the extra sleep, I started to experience bad symptoms that I didn't have before, and did not know why. Bad muscle and joint pain, I had terrible bowel, stomach and GU pain, then I started to get some weird dizziness, mental confusion, memory and concentration problems, nausea and a "rocking boat" feeling. I would then rest in bed. Later, headaches came with sensory hypersensitivity, everything started to feel violent and painful, my heart got into crazy mode, I had trouble breating, my muscles began to jitter and tremble, I would get electric shocks and shiver from cold in summer under the blankets.

 

I had no idea what was causing this, so went on for another two months blindly taking the prescription and seeing tons of doctors in the meantime for my symptoms. I've spend ridiculous amounts of money on blood tests, MRI scans, and appointments. Everything came out fine and nobody asked about my medication use. They put everything down to either me being depressed or anxious. They told me to smile more. Yeah.

 

Recently, I began suspecting that those symptoms were somehow related to my benzo and z-drug medication, as they have started to begin earlier and earlier in the day, and finally I couldn't get more than 4h of sleep at night and was shivering and feeling awful starting 5 am already. So, I went back to the psychiatrist, to discuss everything. He listened to my description, said that he doesn't believe that I am addicted, having taken the drugs only for 4 months. Then he proceeded to diagnose me with anxiety and prescribed an antipshichotic and an antidepressant to try. I replyed that I am already feeling very ill and don't want to take any more meds, but want to get off these that I take already. He told me ok, that I should reduce then the dose by 50% for a month or so, then stop C/T, and it should be fine.

 

At this point I began to doubt his judgment, therefore, I've started my own taper, not of 50%, but of 25% reduction in both the drugs for the month of August. So far I'm two week in and not AT ALL stable, spend most of my time bed-bound, agonizing in pain, feeling extremely sick, nauseated and suicidal, going through hell every minute of every hour of every day. But, on the other hand, I wasn't stable on the full dose either for the last two months, so I am more than confused about what is going on.

 

I don't have much knowledge about benzos and z-drugs, and also coudn't find any info online about cycling them as my doctor said to. I always feel worse on the zopiclone days, and thinking of dropping the z-drug all togheter and replacing it with the benzo. What do you think buddies? Is it ok to switch?

 

Thank you! Love you all!