Zopiclone and Amitriptyline switching one for the other without tapering.

[[Cr...]]

I need some advice please…. Im a 64 yr old male… and have been  taking Zopiclone 3.75 for the past two months… for an episode of severe insomnia. 

Prior to that I had successfully come of Zopiclone 3.75 a year earlier… (I admit ignorance… I was truly unaware how strong this drug is and how dependant one can become in such a short time.) 
When I started tapering the 3.75 dose  this time last week… I found that my body was reacting with incredible sensitivity… high anxiety… intrusive thoughts, tremors, muscle twitching, pins and needles, sweating, agitation and restlessness, headaches… etc… I have since learned about Kindling and it’s affects… which I assume was what was happening. 

After many days with crazy symptoms I went to the hospital emergency and was told it was just anxiety… I tried to convince them that I was having withdrawal symptoms from the Zopiclone…  I was   prescribed Amitriptyline 10 mg in order to help with sleep, anxiety and as a segue for  switching  from the Zopiclone to  Amitriptyline because my body and mind were getting sicker by the moment from taking it… 

The Dr in the Emerg advised that I could just switch to the Amitriptyline 10 mg … without tapering the Zopiclone 3.75… I followed that advise… and have not slow  tapered the  Zopiclone 3.75,  I have had better control over the anxiety and many of its symptoms while on the Zopiclone….. BUT I have developed a rebound insomnia while on the Amitriptyline 10 mg.  Not sure if it’s from the Zopiclone withdrawal running in the background of directly from the Amitriptyline  use… 
 

After the five days, I now feel I need to get off this Amitriptyline 10 mg  as well, as I have a massive headache, feel hyper aroused and … and perhaps need to switch back to the original Zopiclone 3.75  as not to shock the body… I’m worried about the consequences of this switch regarding “Kindling”… and what type of tapering I need to do with Amitriptyline 10 mg after only 5 days of use?
 

Can I just rapidly switch from one to the other as I did previously or is this all fools gold?  Can anyone offer some reasonable advice ASAP for my situation… 

Thanks… 

 

 

[[de...]]

Welcome to Benzo Buddies!   Glad you are here.   This is pretty complicated, and since everyone is different it is difficult to know exactly what is happening and why.    

As to the ER visit, the medical community is not trained to recognize withdrawal symptoms from these drugs, so they are going to be unhelpful when it comes to solutions.  

If I were you, I would reinstate the Zopiclone, get stabilized and then do a very, very slow taper.   If you post in the Tapering Strategies section of this forum you can get lots of help on a tapering schedule.    

I cannot speak to whether you can cold turkey the Amitriptyline.   Your brain is hyper sensitive to any change, so it is possible that even though you have only been on it for five days, a cold turkey might still be problematic.     The headache, hyper arousal, insomnia, etc. are probably side effects from the Amitriptyline that would calm down after a couple of weeks.  

Hopefully others will chime in and give their thoughts.    You will find lots of help and support here.  

 

[[Cr...]]

I’m thinking that I should go back onto the Zopiclone 3.75 as of tonight… instead of the Amitriptyline 10 mg… But I’m also wondering whether I can take them both at the same time… or is that going to open things up to Serotonin syndrome or some other situation?  Any thoughts? 

[[PE...]]

3 minutes ago, [[C...] said:

I’m thinking that I should go back onto the Zopiclone 3.75 as of tonight… instead of the Amitriptyline 10 mg… But I’m also wondering whether I can take them both at the same time… or is that going to open things up to Serotonin syndrome or some other situation?  Any thoughts? 

Hi I had my turns with zopiclone as well.

I don't think you should worry about getting serotonin syndrome as zopiclone only effects GABA. 

Also it takes a LOT of serotonin to get something like that.

[[de...]]

Agree with @[ne...].  You can take both without worrying about serotonin syndrome.