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

[[Ca...]]

Thanks cindys

It is nice to know that I have helped in any way. Even if it is just letting someone know that is really suffering,  and those around them don't understand and tell them to just get a grip so to say,  that they are not having some weird mental illness. It is the z drugs.

There is so few people to ask about the z drugs and most people see them as less harmful than their cousin benzo. But anybody who has gone through z withdrawal will testify to the terrible withdrawal symptoms. They really are all alike with only slight variations.

 

I am quite choked that my signature and time ticker and link to my blog,  is totally gone. I don't really feel like rewriting it and I also can't remember where I got that time ticker from. It was 3 years ago that I set it up.

I guess I will try because I am sticking around here for a while yet

 

Love Carol

 

[[ci...]]

Carol, I hope you can get your signature line back up, because you will be writing your success story soon, and everyone will be able to see what a survivor you are.

 

In the US, ambien is one of the top selling drugs. Very profitable for the drug companies. However, i believe it is just a matter of time before the horrors of ambien are revealed. For years, there have been stories of ambien and suicide, years ago there was a NFL player who committed suicide while WD from ambien. And most recently a Las Vegas lawsuit has been filed on behalf of an excutive who worked at the Hard Rock Casino, who committed suicide. His family claims while he was taking ambien he expereinced depression and thoughts of suicide. 

 

It just saddens me to know there are so many suffering from z-drugs, unaware that these drugs are the cause. I just feel we need to do something to alert others of the dangers of z-drugs.

 

 

[[Gr...]]

Does anyone here have experience with taking Lunesta (eszoplicone) and coming off it?

[[Ca...]]

Grapejuice. I believe that that is another name for zopiclone. If yes then yes. See my signature below.  I am here to answer your questions.

Carol

[[be...]]

Betzy. I no how you feel.it will get better .

Somehow because these are not labeled as a benzo people consider them less potent.

In actuality they are extremely strong being made to knock you right out.

I ended up doing a 3 week taper.(I know my sig says 4 but I made a mistake on it)

 

I was Crushing the pills to a powder and trying to divide it up.

I was taking a huge amount every 3 hours or so . It was unbelievably hard.

 

I am guessing you are not getting any sleep at all.

I used unisom and valerian and melatonin all together and still it barely touched me:(

I am here if you need to talk.

Love Carol

 

Sorry, but I have not visited this thread for quite a while and just saw your post. I successfully dropped the Ambien CR and after four days of hell I went back to my baseline. That's probably because I was only on it for three weeks. I would love to talk, but I have blocked my PM system, so the only way were can talk is on the forum. Thanks for caring, Carol, hugs, Bets

[[bu...]]

I need to come back to read the posts, but need to join this thread!

[[bu...]]

Ok, I am back. Just read the whole thread.

 

Really confused! I have been told for the past few years, taper klonopin first, look at my sig. But I have been on both klonopin and ambien for over 14 years! Most of those years I have been on ambien cr so I am looking at first crossing to regular then tapering.

 

To the question about lunesta, go back a few pages. dr, Ashton believes it  to be the same as the others. I had a doc try to give it to me last year and I said no way. Sticking with what I know an say plan is to be off some day, not addicted to another.

 

Really tired right now but getting the idea everyone here has gone off sleep drug first. Confused why everyone keeps telling me the opposite on here prior to this thread.

 

So meanwhile as I get lower in k dose, ambien is acting really powerful! All of the interdose stuff is gone this past week and I sleep so deep, did someone say it can start acting like a hypnotic?  Ahve I read that in Ashton?

 

Tired an confused now tonight so will come back to this. Btw, I oractice excellent sleep hygiene now that's ambien stopped working, prior to this week anyway.

 

So as part I am not usually on at night, plus my cog ability is really bad already and it is only 8 Pm here!

 

Sleepy wishes to you, wish I could give you some of my sleep this week!

[[Ca...]]

Butterfly

 

I have no idea about being on more than one benzo /benzo cousin at one time.

My interdose and tolerant  withdrawal was purely from zopiclone. I got on other drugs as a result of not knowing that the sleeping pills were causing my problems. A lot of trazodone (250 mg). It was actually because of an increase in zopiclone that things went awry for me.  I used them for years with not too many problems.

 

They are a very powerful hypnotic and a minor anxioletic meant to knock you out for the night and then be out of the system but with prolonged use your Gaba down regulates and interdose withdrawal starts.  Lots of cog fog for me too.  I could no longer think.

 

So no big answer for what is best for you.

 

I say get off of it all no matter how you choose to do it

 

Love Carol

 

 

 

[[Wo...]]

Really confused! I have been told for the past few years, taper klonopin first, look at my sig. But I have been on both klonopin and ambien for over 14 years! Most of those years I have been on ambien cr so I am looking at first crossing to regular then tapering.

 

IMO it is better to taper off the one with the shorter half life first. That is why it is often advocated to switch to valium. Longer half life means more stability in blood levels. In your case I believe klonopin has a similar half life to ambien (I could be wrong) so perhaps it doesn't matter so much.

[[ci...]]

Just reaching out to my fellow z-drug BBs, I am 11 months CT ambien now, and I am a mess. I feel so defeated and so afraid. I never thought that I would still be this bad off at 11 months. I try to focus on what has improved and probably the 2 improvements are the neuropathic pain/intense body burning has decreased in intensity and I am no longer afraid to be alone. But now the excruitiating back pain/shoulder blade pain I had in tolerance WD has returned, rug burn feelings in my hand, and weird scalp and head burning, pins and needles in my head, werid vibrations, and insomnia are brutal. My pattern remains the same of windows and waves daily, flip flopping back and forth, I thought I was over at least the severe WDs, and then it just keeps kicking me down, I am afraid now again because I think I am losing my "rational mind," again, and going back into that dark depression, anxiety. I can't stop the crying. So many of us seem to be suffering still fro these z-drugs, and so little is really known about them.

 

Will this end? Will I have a day w/o the pain?

 

Sorry to be such a bummer.......

[[Te...]]

Hey all and hey Cindy,

  I celebrated 2 years of sobriety and ambien c/t yesterday...i settled down fairly well, but was a**kicked by a chemical stress inducer for a stress test(atropine and/or some other drug)...i'm just starting to settle back in, again, after 6 weeks...still have foot parasthesias, L > R, and anxy waves that peak at about a week...either I have just gotten used to them, or they have eased...tinnitus is always bad, but gets worse with stress...my PTSD is ramped by sirens, so living close to a fire station is not an ideal choice unless my home catches on fire a lot...but then, that's probably stressful, too    the head stuff comes and goes, occasional hand stuff(i find myself rubbing my hands together a lot), and insomnia is like a permanent resident, although i got 7 hours sleep two nights ago!!!

I am...I think the term is...inured to my sx, for the most part...and improvement is measured first by what is no longer there, and degrees of what still is...palpitations are rare, now, and I am able to hit the gym 5 days a week...dp/dr comes in the wave peaks, but not as severe...time is gonna fix this...tex

[[Ca...]]

Cindys

 

I know how you feel. I know also that there is no way to go but forward.

Each of us does have different recovery rates it seems.

If you follow how mine is going,  then you will have relief from the damn burning weird head skin sensations.

I have relief,  meaning that they are gone sometimes but they do return often although with less intensity than before. Anything at all stressful brings back a myriad of sxs. The thing is,  is that what was never stressful before is now stressful. even trying to solve something in my brain takes it's toll.

 

I too thought somehow that because" all " I was taking was sleeping pills and trazodone,  that somehow it wouldn't be as bad a" real benzos. " I now know that they are everyone as bad if not worse because of their very strong punch to put you to sleep.

Lots of damage it seems. Well maybe because I took so much of it during the day to keep the anxiety at bay. Would have been better off on Valium if I had known.

 

Anyways,  all you can do so go forward. It does get better. Even sleep has sort of come back. Not wonderful sleep but sleep that happens over a few hours of brain vibrations. Then they settle down and I sleep for 1 to 3 hours at a time for a total of 6, or 7 hours most nights.

 

Sorry that you have this too.. Love Carol

[[ci...]]

Carol, Thank you for your kindness in responding to me, you always have a way of letting me see reality and not go into that "What if" world. You have been thru so much, and your success story is right around the corner. I have read your posts and understand your struggles and pain. But I can see how much healing and progress you have made, so it gives me hope, that we all can heal. Keep us posted on your progress, we need to read your success very soon!

 

texasstar, Two years, Congratulations! I have been told by many who have recovered from ambien WDs that usually the sleep issue is the last to resolve , but it will. Getting 7 hours of sleep is a great sign, more sweet dreams to come. I am happy you have had such great success with your healing. Thanks for letting us know that we can recover from ambien WD and CT.

[[Br...]]

I started tapering off Prosom (estazolam) slowly over the past month, then switched to valium for 1 week until 1mg then stopped.  I started taking Lunesta during the withdrawal and am still taking now.  Have been off benzo's now for 7 days as of today.  I am having horrible inner trembling, shaking and heart racing which starts mid morning and gets worse through the day.

 

Is this lunesta interdose withdrawal or still the benzo?  I don't want to make the withdrawal worse by Lunesta.  Need advice!

[[Wo...]]

I started tapering off Prosom (estazolam) slowly over the past month, then switched to valium for 1 week until 1mg then stopped.  I started taking Lunesta during the withdrawal and am still taking now.  Have been off benzo's now for 7 days as of today.  I am having horrible inner trembling, shaking and heart racing which starts mid morning and gets worse through the day.

 

Is this lunesta interdose withdrawal or still the benzo?  I don't want to make the withdrawal worse by Lunesta.  Need advice!

 

Lunesta is essentially a benzo. You are likely experiencing a combination of withdrawal (from the other benzos) and interdose withdrawal between doses of Lunesta. I'd suggest tapering off the Lunesta. If sleep is a problem there are alternatives.

[[Br...]]

Thanks.  It's like clockwork every day.  I wake up, then approximately 2 hours later, the inner trembling, shaking and general feeling of being plugged into an electrical sockets starts up.  If it were simply the benzo, then I would think it would be constant each day since I don't have them in my system.

[[Br...]]

worried dad, I see you took lunesta, did you have interdose withdrawals?  IF so, how did you know it was the lunesta and not the benzo?

[[Wo...]]

worried dad, I see you took lunesta, did you have interdose withdrawals?  IF so, how did you know it was the lunesta and not the benzo?

 

I didn't take benzos. I only took zopiclone (similar to lunesta). I took it for 8 months (got up to 22mg at one point). I suffered horrible interdose withdrawal. After I started my taper I quickly improved. For me there was very little actual withdrawal. It was almost entirely interdose withdrawal. I wouldn't recommend staying on lunesta. It almost killed me.

[[Br...]]

Oh geez, what a nightmare.  My dilemma is that I am 7 days off 3 months worth of benzo's after tapering slowly.  I am afraid that if I stop the lunesta now, it will make my withdrawal worse and add no sleep into the equation.  I was hoping that I could get through the worst of the benzo withdrawal and then taper Lunesta.  Do you think that the Lunesta will prolong my benzo withdrawal or that those will lessen soon and then I can taper off the Lunesta.  I"ve been taking it now for almost a month.

[[Wo...]]

I am afraid that if I stop the lunesta now, it will make my withdrawal worse

 

It will make it worse. But lunesta is essentially a benzo so it isn't really a taper (to the extent that you think it is). Perhaps taper more slowly off the benzo? Adding lunesta into the mix is asking for all sorts of trouble. Was that a doctor's recommendation?

 

For sleep, consider an antihistamine (prescription or OTC) and/or magnesium glycinate.

 

Sorry I can't provide better news. I can only provide assurance that once you are done you will feel so much better. I do.

[[Br...]]

Yes, he said that I should take the Lunesta and Trazodone to help with sleep until the benzo withdrawals are mostly in the clear.  He said at that point, we can take out the lunesta and Trazodone if you wish.  But from what you are saying, I will never get any better as far as benzo withdrawals, because I'm taking the lunesta which is essentially a benzo.  So as long as I continue the Lunesta, I am never going to feel "less" benzo withdrawal, is that right?

[[Ca...]]

I,  like worried Dad.,  took zopiclone for years.  It is like he said just like a benzo. So withdrawal is just like a benzo. It is likely masking some of the withdrawal effects that you would be feeling if you didn't take it. It is a short acting one so that part way through the day it wears off and one feels the full on effect of withdrawal. The problem is that it is just as bad as what you tapered off of.  There is no easy way to get through withdrawal.  Short acting pills like ativan and lunesta are no less addicting and just as hard to come off of.

 

Wishing you well.

Carol

 

PS I am over three years off and still not 100%.

 

 

[[Br...]]

Thanks Carole.  Do you think I should taper off lunesta now (after taking a month) or wait until the benzo withdrawals get less?

[[Wo...]]

Thanks Carole.  Do you think I should taper off lunesta now (after taking a month) or wait until the benzo withdrawals get less?

 

Typically it seems to be preferable to taper off the shorter acting benzo/nonbenzo first. This is why they often switch lunesta users to valium for a taper. Not sure what the half life for the benzo you are on is but if it is longer than 4 hours you should probably do the lunesta first.

 

Oh, you might want to find another doctor.

[[Br...]]

well that's the thing, I tapered off of the benzo 2 weeks ago and am still experiencing horrible withdrawals.  I'm taking the Lunesta to help with sleep until the benzo withdrawals lessen.  Do you think that is a mistake and I should get off lunesta now or wait until the benzo withdrawals lessen?