Z-Drug Support Group (Lunesta, Imovane, Zimovane, Ambien, Sonata, Zopiclone)

[[La...]]

Wavy too. Jack Sparrow brought his friend Davy Jones  :'(

Damn pirates! Hope they run out of booze real quick!

[[Li...]]

Ha Zz people,

Today it is really hot here, 35 degrees. Luckily in my house it is 24,5 degrees, which is really ok. I just exercised on my alto sax. Probably no lessons this summer. But I want to practice a lot. My father will come home from his holiday tomorrow, late in the evening. So I guess I see him on Thursday. Huggs, Jerry 

[[La...]]

Yay Jerry. I’m sure you’ll give him a nice welcome home. Keep playing that sax my friend. It’s very hot here too. We all have got to stay cool. Big hugs !

I’m 25 months today! Celebrating in a wave…typical for me every time I turn another month. 😝 so onward we go!

 

Team Z you’re awesome! ❤️

[[Li...]]

Ha Ladyden,

Congrats with your 25th month!! It is morning here, which means it is tough for me. Mornings are always difficult. I’ll go swimming later today. Hug’s Jerry

[[sl...]]

Are you still on the zop lightspacer?

[[Li...]]

Are you still on the zop lightspacer?

 

Yes I am

[[sl...]]

Lightspacer, what is your dosage now? Does it still have an effect on you?

[[Li...]]

Lightspacer, what is your dosage now? Does it still have an effect on you?

 

I think 1/6th of a half tablet left, so very little. I still have height anxiety and a feeling of depression…I think that is because of interdose withdrawal… I think this weekend I do a new taper step… from 1/6 to 1/8th I guess…

[[La...]]

Thanks Jerry for the congrats!

Hugs 🤗

[[sl...]]

Lightspacer, that's just over half a mg. Is it worth taking at all?

[[Li...]]

Lightspacer, that's just over half a mg. Is it worth taking at all?

 

Good question Sleepyjo, it is holiday time here, so I like to do it slow. It is a kind of microtaper I do too…

[[Sh...]]

Hey team. I just thought I’d pop in and Thanku all for ur support while I was recovering and getting off the dreaded z. I’m good now but I couldn’t have done it without all of u xxx Thanku

[[ma...]]

wow, thanks for this. this is all new to me. what is interdose withdrawl?

[[sl...]]

Because it has a short half life it leaves your system quite quickly so can cause withdrawal symptoms between doses. Most benzos have a relatively long life so leave your system slowly so you don't notice any difference between doses. They also build up in your body the more you take.

[[ma...]]

I have definitely noticed withdrawal between doses. I am going to try and look after myself better!

[[La...]]

Hey team. I just thought I’d pop in and Thanku all for ur support while I was recovering and getting off the dreaded z. I’m good now but I couldn’t have done it without all of u xxx Thanku

Shayna!!! 

Thank you for popping in. We have missed you but so happy to see you healing nicely. Thank you also for being a good supportive buddy too. I send you my best wishes in enjoying your new symptoms free life. Love you bunches! 🤗❤️🌹

[[La...]]

Hugs Team Z!

Welcome Mari. You’ll be surprised to find out your strange symptoms was the Zdrug. Sneaky little evil pills. I’m wishing you smooth tapering. We’re here to support each other. You sound like a strong lady. You can do this!

 

Big hugs to Sleepy, Jerry and everyone. May you have a better day today. Watch out for the heat. Stay cool and hydrated. Do something fun to pass your time.

 

:smitten:

[[Li...]]

I have definitely noticed withdrawal between doses. I am going to try and look after myself better!

 

Ha Mari, I have been using zopiclone for a very long time, tried several times to come off. This time I will succeed because I do a very slow taper. I now use a set of small files, so I can do my taper very precisely. I also have interdose withdrawel. Mostly lightheadedness and height anxiety. This a very nice support group. It really helps me with my fight. I wish you a lot of luck. I am from the Netherlands 🇳🇱… hug Jerry 

 

P.s. I can see you are a cat lover, My cat is named Pippy an is 14 years old. I am really glad he is with me..

[[He...]]

Welcome Mari, 

 

I took Lunesta which here in the US is called ESZOPICLONE. I believe it is basically the same thing.  I also took Sonata which is Zaleplon.  I alternated them for the most part.  I tapered the Lunesta over a course of time.  I hope your taper will not be too hard but you have this group here to encourage and help you understand it.  You can do this...I know it seems daunting right now but you can do it.

 

Mari and Lightspacer, I have a wonderful kitty cat also named Catalina. She is 10 1/2 years old. Lightspacer, I hope my kitty cat will still be very healthy at 14 years old. She is such a comfort to me. 

 

Helen

[[ma...]]

Thank you so much for your kindness and encouragement. I am doing 3/4 of a tablet for the next week or so, until after my period has come and my estrogen starts to come back up (that's when my mood usually lifts) so it will make reducing down to half a tablet easier, and then another week and down to a quarter, and then from there probably 1/8th of a tablet.

 

hoping to have a window this evening to do some food shopping. I am proud of myself for taking this on. I seem to be in good company

[[ma...]]

you do childs pose in the shower or in the bed?

[[La...]]

Morning hugs Team Z! May you all have a good day and getting peaceful sleep at night. I’m still hanging in there waiting on my waves to settle back down so I can get back to taking walks. This milestone waves suck! I’m hopeful that this is my last round of rougher waves and go on to completed healing. I can’t wait!

For those of you who are tapering, keep going and remember that you are stronger than you think. These pills will interject thoughts that will make you question yourself and your bodies’s ability to repair itself. Things like: I can’t do this, what if I don’t sleep, will the WD be too much, how long will WD lasts, etc etc. YES you can do this! It is very doable. Don’t give up. You got this! Keep in mind this is a decision that you made for your health! You have taken a stand to prevent further brain injury from your medication. That is brave and awesome! Celebrate little victories. Accept the process. Expect symptoms. Distract from your symptoms. Self love, extra TLC and pampering.

 

:smitten:

[[ma...]]

I really want to cold turkey from 5.625mg zopiclone. about 4 months using between 3.75mg and 7.5mg.

 

does anyone want to talk me down off the cold turkey ledge and convince me to taper?

 

the other option I am considering is a quick crossover taper using diazepam, starting at around 3mg and gradually lowering...

 

thoughts? I just want to stop, I hate this drug. I have interdose withdrawl/comedown in the mornings and during the day.

[[He...]]

I really want to cold turkey from 5.625mg zopiclone. about 4 months using between 3.75mg and 7.5mg.

 

does anyone want to talk me down off the cold turkey ledge and convince me to taper?

 

the other option I am considering is a quick crossover taper using diazepam, starting at around 3mg and gradually lowering...

 

thoughts? I just want to stop, I hate this drug. I have interdose withdrawl/comedown in the mornings and during the day.

 

Mariposta, I can't speak to whether you should stop taking it now or not. In my opinion, crossing over to Diazepam is a bad idea though.  I wouldn't go from a Z drug to a benzo but that's just me.  Having tapered from both, the benzo was worse than the Z drug. Also a cleaner break from all the meds is the least complicated route out.  Since you haven't been on the Z that long, you might be ok to go ahead and jump but maybe you could just cut it down a little more for another week or so?  Good luck with whatever you decide! 

[[La...]]

Hi Mari. I can’t talk you down from CT the rest of your zdrug but I can give you some things to think about that may help you make an informed decision.

1) Zdrugs are called a non-benzo because they are not exactly a benzo but they act on the same receptors which produces the same affects/effects including WD symptoms. Those WD symptoms do include tolerance, interdose and acute/regular WD. They are just as powerful as they’re benzo cousin and I dare say in some ways more so because they were designed to have a sudden hard impact on the brain to induce sleep. In other words, they pack a hard mean punch to the gaba receptors with each dose. They SHOULD be tapered just as benzos. Pretty much all they are is a benzo that’s been modified to focus more on the putting people to sleep mechanisms. The pharmaceutical companies that made them was hoping to make something similar to benzo that wouldn’t have the same affects or remain in the bloodstream for long periods. They thought they were a safe alternative for those people who battled insomnia. Unfortunately they were wrong. So as time went on they had to come back to say “ well, they’re still safe, but they do form dependency, they do give people WD, they should be tapered, they do form tolerance, and they shouldn’t be used for more than a couple of weeks. Oh by the way, we have no idea of their long term effects.” Oh and it’s causing deaths, dementia, memory loss, dangerous activities while asleep with no memory of it the next day, increased anxiety, panic attacks, illnesses that mimick other diseases and tachycardia/ blood pressure issues.” So we need to black box these but we’ll leave them on the market. If the patients don’t ask then doctors won’t tell. Why? Because some doctors don’t know about the severe WD potential of Zdrugs. They mistakenly think they can be quickly tapered then people will get a little insomnia as a rebound effect and that’s it. OMG I wish that was true!

LET THAT SOAK IN……

2) Your brain is dependent at this point. The reason for a taper is to SAFELY allow the brain to gradually get used to not having the ZDrug. Seeing it is used to having the exposure of it, it has adapted to it as a result your gaba receptors are down regulated. If you discontinue your taper, there is a very good chance that the consequences are severe as far as acute WD. You don’t know how awful it could get….do you want to chance it? I’m not trying to scare you but you might end up in the emergency room. IF I WERE YOU, I would continue to taper and look into seeing if I could take bigger chunks of my reductions or reduce every 7-10 days instead of 14. When I was tapering and got down to the lower doses ( 4mg  and below) it was very tempting to just CT the rest because my Ambien turned paradoxical on me. Meaning that it made me so sick every time I took it. But, I did my research on here and decided that the lesser of the two evils ( continue taper or CT the rest) was to continue tapering. I’m so very glad I made that decision because I spared myself seizures and possibly heart attack. Perhaps you can jump at close to zero. The equivalent of Valium to your zdrug should be considered. For example, if 5mg of zdrug is equal to 10 mg Valium then wouldn’t that be too much to CT? Tapering makes coming off an easier more gentle landing. It has been proven to spare the brain from having a sudden shock factor of taking away what it’s dependent on. In my case, when I jumped at less than 1mg I immediately felt better. Many of my tolerance symptoms faded as I tapered. I had a delayed acute phase. My rougher WD didn’t start until 10 days later. My brain’s reaction further confirmed that continued tapering was the right choice. My acute would have been unbearable and much more brutal.

3) I honestly believe that those who put in the work to taper down to zero or very close tend to not reinstate. I gathered this from my research. I was like you and quickly hated Ambien and wanted off so bad because I knew the damage it was doing. Plus it was not helping me sleep and made me so sick. Doctor after doctor couldn’t figure out why I was so sick with so many different issues. The whole time for the most part, it was Ambien. That hate and memory of what it did to me serves an important role of never taking it again! You have come this far, I truly think the more you hate it, the better.

4) Are you mentally prepared to deal with CT? Do you have a plan for not sleeping or dealing with WD symptoms? Do you have support at home? Is it a good time? Are you aware of how bad you might get? If they do, will you reinstate? If you reinstate it won’t be long before you’ll be faced with making a decision to start tapering again or as you mentioned getting on a real benzo Valium. Valium WD and tolerance is on a whole other level….some people cross over to Valium some don’t. But IMO, I don’t think crossing over to Valium should be a consideration unless it’s necessary. Once you’re on Valium then it WILL have to be tapered too. In the case of a zdrug IMO, it’s best to just taper it directly if you can. IMO I’d make getting on Valium my LAST option. I feel that by the time you can’t take it anymore, you’ll be low enough to jump. And you will have spared yourself the added misery of Valium WD on top of zdrug WD. You’re already down to lowered doses so I’d say keep going. You’ll be at jumping point soon anyway.

At the end of the day, you know what you can bear. But I’ll say that it’s surprising to our own selves how much we really can bear with the right mentality. It is your choice to make. I just wouldn’t feel right in my spirit if I didn’t tell you what you will be up against. Please be totally informed. Do your homework. Read through this thread. Ask questions. Don’t rush that decision because it can be life changing. After you finish the zdrug if you didn’t start Valium, I don’t see that you’d have a hard WD. If so, probably not for long. Most Zdrug users have rebound insomnia for a few months. Then the sleeping improves with each passing weeks.

Hope that helped. Hugs 🤗