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

[[bi...]]

Well, it's been 2 weeks since I CT'd Zopiclone and I finally felt like I got some decent rest last night.

 

Sleep was still fragmented, but I feel somewhat human today. I haven't been able to drive anywhere for about a week now, just from being so spaced out and sleep deprived, but today I actually feel like I might be able to get in the car without being a total hazard to others.

 

Seroquel hasn't been super effective but it's helped a bit. Unfortunately I have some serious concerns about some of the side effects and I'm going to have to discontinue.

 

I'll see how things go with just the Remeron tonight.

[[Te...]]

I had a really bad night a couple of days ago, and didn't have access to the computer, so had a friend txting others for me. I was actually really considering taking a one-time dose of zolpidem just to bury the willies...didn't, but wondered if anyone else had ever thought about it or done it. If so, what was the result?

[[al...]]

I would say for the first  6 weeks post z drug w/d... I tried many a rescue dose. I thought I could get away with it. It made me feel like crap. All my symptoms would return for a few days....depression, fatigue, dizziness.........but i needed the sleep so I made a trade off....until i realized that i would rather be exhausted from no sleep than exhausted from taking a z drug............at least exhaustion from no sleep keeps my mind clear, the depression away and my brain in repair mode.........which is not the case with a z drug hangover........in the end it just wasnt worth it.

[[8d...]]

When I CT'd Zopiclone, I was put on Seroquel, and took that for 3 months.

 

But within that 3 month period, I took Clonazepam once, as I was having a horrible day of anxiety.

 

I'm 7 months off of Zopiclone, and 4 months off of Seroquel, and my sleep is still disrupted. I wake up every day after about 4-5 hours, and then I sometimes get lucky and go in and out of very light sleeps and dreams.

 

I used to be able to sleep in past my alarm after 8 hours, and that was 1 year ago.

 

Now I'm dealing with this after taking Zopiclone and benzos for 4 months.

 

These doctors should face a firing squad!

[[ci...]]

For those of us going thru z-drugs WDs, it would be nice if we could get this thread active again? If we could start posting our struggles, concerns, it may be very helpful for all of our z-drug BBs. Just a thought.

 

I know of whyowhy2013, aoibherose, seekingsanity, and seriouslydone all going thru z-drugs WDs currently. It would be great to hear how you are all doing, and if you feel up to it, post on this thread to check in? No pressure on anyone, just a thought?

 

My ambien WD update: I am 9.5 months CT, the severe mental WDs of fear of being alone, panic attacks, uncontrollable crying have lessened significantly since month 7-8. I still have anxiety and heart palps which wake me up. For now, the physical WDs are much more severe than the mental WDs. Physically, I expereince, heart palps, tinnitus, back pain, neuropathic pain, body burning, pins and neddles sensations in hands, feet and head, sweating, and insomnia. I can sleep 3-5 night a week up to 5 hours a night.

 

I am thankful that the mental sxs have lessened, the mental torture was worse for me than the physical pain. My pain level has decreased overall from a 10 pin level to now 4-5. With my healing pattern, I don't really notice days of windows and then days of waves, my pattern is more like a very gradual, very slow diminishing of sxs. I use ot think i was going in and out of windows nd waves daily, like rapid cycling a few hours or windows then slam a few hours of wave, but now I just view it as gradually the sxs are leaving.

 

Would love to hear updates of others, if you are willing and able to share?

 

Always, cindy

[[Ao...]]

Hi everyone in this group

 

How is everyone doing ?

 

I'm 5 weeks post Ambien jump and whilst my sleeping is pretty good and my mood is lot better, my nerve pain , parathesia and muscle aches and pains are still with me. They definitely did decrease for a while in December but these symptoms are back again. Im also off Xanax ( ct at 1.5mgs )

[[Ao...]]

Thanks Cindys for sharing thow you are. I was wondering how you were ?

 

I find if I am stressed at all my pain gets even worse.. its awful.  Have you experienced this ?

 

I have all the symptoms as you describe ..the very same. Yesterday was not too bad but today , pain level is up again 6/10    . Thankfully it not as bad as it was before November 2014.

[[ci...]]

aoibherose, it is great that you notice such improvement at 5 weeks. What I find amazing is that your sleep is "pretty good." YEA! Usually with most z-drugs BBs the sleep issue is the last issue to resolve. I have the same sxs you mentioned, but I do agree with you if I am stressed my pain gets worse. For example, I usually cry about 1/2 hour daily, and with the crying my back and nerve pain immediately increases.

 

Keep healing, and thanks for the update, cindy

[[Ba...]]

This is an interesting thread to me because I was put on ambien when I was in the pyschward. They didn't send any home with me or give me any prescriptions for it when they released me. I Had no idea what was wrong with me after a few days at home. I can see now that I was in severe withdrawal. I had to go back to the pyschward. Oh god, what a mess.

 

[[Te...]]

Hey Folks...my leg tingling/numbness/pain comes and goes a lot based on stress...the majority is left sided. The numbness never goes away in my left foot. I still get severe foot cramps, top and bottom, usually after I lay down...quinine water seems to fix that...I drink a large glass before going to sleep.

I c/t'd ambien almost two years ago, but a.) didn't know it , and b.) went thru mega-multiple tolerance w/d's over the preceding 5+ years. Most recent wave originated with an ugly emotional situation. Other stressors have kicked me around, and a chemically induced stressor for, well, a stress test, knocked me outta the park for quite awhile. I feel better as a whole, however, and the understandings I've come to thanks to BB have made a huge difference in my ability to cope and laugh...

[[ci...]]

Bailey, ambien is just as bad as benzos or even worse, IMO. But you figured it out, now you know. It will be so nice when I can get a nights' sleep which is natural and not chemicl induced. Ambien was the only drug I ever took, and none of my doctors recognize ambien WDs, my medical records indicte a diagnosis of major depression and panic disorder. They all ignored the fact that I went 59 years w/o any mental health issues, until I took ambien for 2.5 years...........so I guess t the age of 59years, I just decided to wake up crazy one day and felt like I was on fire!

 

The best way for me to heal, is to stay away from doctors, and all meds, and get validation from my fellow BBs.

 

Texasstar, All the sxs you mentioned I have experienced.  Ambien was the only drug I ever took. Our healing and recovery is similiar to our fellow BBs on benzos. At one point I surveyed BBs who recovered from z-drugs, and their recovery varied from 8 months- 3years, so the good news is they recovered So we will , too. It just takes , time.

 

Bailey and texasstar, please stay on this thread and keep us posted how you are doing from time to time.

[[Ba...]]

Cindys.

You're right, this is an important thread. I had learned from a doctor that that sleeping pills destroyed " the sleep architecture " of our brains, but had no idea that there is another withdrawal component to them.

I'm so afraid of medicines now. I used to be a little in awe of them and took them because I trusted my doctors.

[[8d...]]

I've been off z-drugs for just over 8 months now, and I was only on them for 4 months. I had severe interdose withdrawal, and when I CT'd, I had a lot of what Cindy has experienced.

 

I would wake up with intense burning, covered in sweat from head to toe.

 

I have definitely seen improvements in recovery over time. My sleep is still not normal. Have a hard time getting tired, and I can't sleep throughout the night. Always wake up too early. But I usually get back into short naps to help out.

 

I will never trust a doctor again. I think they are arrogant, narcissistic, and careless. I also feel a rage of violence every time I walk by a pharmacy. Mother f%cking drug dealers!

[[Te...]]

Yep, I intend to stick around for the long haul, and probably longer...thanks, cindys, for reminding me that I'm where I am today because someone else was there yesterday and talked about it...my attitude has really improved with the knowledge I have gained here, and am still gaining. The greatest one factor I carry from this forum every day is the support and genuine concern shared so freely...the humility is astounding...mike

[[Be...]]

Hey Folks...my leg tingling/numbness/pain comes and goes a lot based on stress...the majority is left sided. The numbness never goes away in my left foot. I still get severe foot cramps, top and bottom, usually after I lay down...quinine water seems to fix that...I drink a large glass before going to sleep.

 

Hi Texas,

 

Why do you suppose the quinine water helps?

 

Bennie

[[Te...]]

I was told the quinine( small amount) in the tonic water alleviated cramping...that's about as far as I took it other than to appreciate that it does work for me...used to pour it into a lot of vodka... , but back then, I wouldn't have felt a leg cramp ...hell, I had trouble feeling my legs :laugh:

[[Be...]]

Your left foot is still trying to catch up!

More quinine!

Bennie

[[wh...]]

I hope this is the right place to post! I am new and desperately seeking advice on getting off ambien. Up until very recently I had no idea the similarities between benzos and z-drugs and that the risk of withdrawing cold turkey applied. Luckily I was too chicken to just quit the ambien completely so about a week or two ago I went from usually 10mg every night (for around 3-4 months, honestly not sure when it began to be a regular thing) down to slightly less than half a pill, around 3-4mg a night. About 5 days ago when I realized the risk of seizure I added a small dose of valium, rarely a full 2.5mg, always in small divided doses during the day as symptoms get bad because I am pretty unfamiliar with the drug and a total lightweight (not even 100lbs soaking wet) and I don't know how accurate the equivalency tables for ambien and valium are so I don't want to overdo it and create more risk or bring back up my tolerance and dependency to that kind of drug (please correct me if this is misinformed thinking, I'd love to know if I could just switch from the ambien to a higher dose of valium and be safe and symptom free but I'm sure this isn't the case, the last thing I want to do is prolong or worsen W/D) I have already read the Ashton Manual but since I cut so quickly in the beginning it isn't helping me to figure out where to start now to make w/d more bearable.

 

The interdose or tolerance w/d has had me sick every single day even before I lowered my dose and I finally realized it was the ambien and want to get off of it more than anything. I feel that even though I tapered far too quickly it might be in poor interest to up the dose much after making it this long, miserable or not, so I am TRYING to stick it out and stabilize with the divided dose of almost 2.5mg valium couple times a day when things get bad (not fond of valium so I'm not too worried about getting off of that when it's time, mental addiction is really not the problem at this point) and then maybe in a week hoping to slowly decrease the ambien by .5-1mg every 10 days or so if it feels comfortable. I'm just terrified that this nausea/panic will never subside as I'm tapering and I won't be able to make it or keep decreasing. Right now it is pretty much unbearable and there is no way I can imagine making it any worse, and this is how I feel with a good 2mg valium in my system after being on the same ambien dose at least a week.

 

The main problem is, the intense CONSTANT nausea and panic is keeping me from going to college classes or even doing my homework or talking to my family. I keep reading posts about how tapering and adding valium can just prolong suffering, and how direct tapering or C/T off the ambien can do the same. So I have no idea what to do and I am stressing really badly. I'm really hoping someone with similar experience to mine can tell me the nausea will pass as I stabilize on my new lower dose or if it would be wise to divide the dose and take part in the morning, or to add more valium (responsibly of course) or add another 1mg of ambien to help stabilize or what.

 

I have no health insurance, money, or time to go to rehab or see a specialist but I have ample supply of ambien, valium, and other medicinal odds and ends to get me through, I just need help figuring out how to best use them to get off while minimizing W/D. I cannot afford to miss any more school. Please please, any similar experiences that do not involve being panicked and nauseous for years after quitting are much appreciated. I am so scared and so sick and so sick of being sick.

 

Sorry if the timeline is a little confusing and if my sentences are kind of awkwardly put together, this brain fog and anxiety has had me typing and retyping this post for about an hour now  I just need some kind of direction!

[[Ca...]]

Whattheaudacity.  My advice would be to stabilize by adding  Valium rather than adding back to the Ambien. Ambien being a short acting benzo type will continue to give you interdose withdrawal.

Valium being a long acting benzo will even everything out for you.

I don't know how much you would need to stabilize.

I Cted from. 21mg per day of zopiclone /ambien. It was an unbelievable hell and I could not function at all for about 6 months before the CT due to so much interdose withdrawal to about a year after the CT.  And even after one year functioning is used very lightly. That means that I could maybe cook something and get out of bed. I am now 3+ years off and working again.

My signature mysteriously disappeared a few months ago and I haven't rewritten it but I will.

Zopiclone /ambien is an incredibly strong drug that is used to hit you like a bit to put you to sleep.

They hand it out like candy and it creeps up. I am glad that you found BB.

Love Carol

[[wh...]]

Carol,

 

Thank you so much for taking the time to respond! I hate to hear that you had such a difficult time getting back to normal but am happy that you were able to resume working again after a few years. It worries me to think it could be so long before I'm able to get out of bed and function every day, as I am already struggling with that, but I am relieved to know that I am not alone and have finally pinpointed why I've been feeling so badly and am on the path to getting back to normal as well.

 

I decided to get over my worries and add on a little bit more valium after my last post as I was hitting the ceiling as far as panic/hopelessness goes, and I am happy to report that aside from some seriously annoying sweating I am feeling so much better and hope to even be able to push my ambien dose back a little later tonight so I might not wake up at 3am with the sweaty icks. I do not like the feeling of valium at all but I must say it beats the alternative.

 

Glad I found such a supportive helpful community during all this!

 

 

[[Ca...]]

WTA

 

I realized after 6 weeks off that I was not going to get better any time soon.  I got some Valium from my doctor to see if it could help me.

Instead of the high anxiety I got really deeply depressed. I decided that I would stay the course with nothing.  It was incredibly hard.

 

As I got tolerant of the zopiclone I started taking 7.5 mg to sleep and then another 7.5 mg in the Night when I woke up.

Then I started getting really anxious around supper time and started taking it earlier. I then realized that it was interdose withdrawal from the zopiclone. By then I was breaking pieces up and taking it every 3 or 4 hours. My brain started to doing so really weird things then. Some of the symptoms I still have.

 

Good luck

Carol

 

[[ci...]]

whatthe, I can not advise you on how to taper because I foolishly CT. Not a route to take. I would advise you to post on the Planning your Taper board, you can get some direction there. I am glad you found us and discovered ambien was the cause of your sxs. With a safe smart taper plan, that should help you lessen your WDs. Dont worry about the length of your recovery compared to others, you could have a very short recovery time, we are all so different. Those of us who CT'd seemed to have longer recovery times compared to those who taper. You will be OK,  you are on the right track to taper off. Panic was one of my worst sxs and it has lifted.

 

ChrissyJ tapered off z-drugs, over 9 months, if you want to read her posts. She has totally recovered now.

 

Good luck, to you and feel free to post any of your concerns, we are here for you.

 

Always, cindy

 

 

 

 

[[Ca...]]

Yes. I agree with Cindy's. No one knows how it will be for someone else.

Mine has been really slow but I had been years of zopiclone and then a Giant increase along with trazodone 200 mg. It took quite a while for me to figure out that it was zopiclone withdrawal.

Wish I would have tapered to Valium instead of the CT.

Carol

[[ci...]]

Carol, I am so glad you are posting on this thread. I was hoping we could keep this thread alive, because there are only a few of us z-drug BBs. I have always followed your posts, and you have been so kind to me in the past responding to my PMs. I am so grateful to you for sharing your story, and thrilled to see the progress you are making. I pray for your continued healing.

[[Ao...]]

Hi Whattheaudacity

 

I recently tapered off of Ambien.  I was on it for nearly a year at 5mgs. I started tapering in Mid November 2014 and I jumped off it by mid December . I was on Valium 2mgs when I did this. Before tapering I was in hell , mine is long story of physical pain mixed with mental symptoms.  I wont go into it but you can read previous posts I have put up about my Ambien tapering.  So I went down by half of 5mgs on the first cut......2.5mgs. .... too much. I FELT it. My symptoms did increase dramatically but 10 days later , I felt a little easier.  All I will say is , Take It Slow with Ambien.

Its a very powerful , strange drug. I only ever got 4/5 hours sleep on it anyway.

 

The good news is ;  I do sleep better now. Im getting a good 7 hours solid. More if I haven't been stressed out the day before.  My nerve pain , backpain has lessened too. My mental symptoms ( anxiety , irritability , spaced out , groggy , dp , sadness ) have  been a little better ... some days are better than others.

 

I think you are doing the right thing adding in Valium for a little while.  As other Bbs have said, it does have a longer half life than Ambien . I do know what you mean by 'not liking Valium'.... I never liked it EVER. I now will be coming off it in the not too distant future too .

 

Best of luck and healing to you.