Had some worrying news about Zopiclone

[Pete_uk]

I have never been able to sleep very well so some time ago the Doctor prescribed my Zopiclone. :yesyes: Its been working well for all these years.

Admittedly I have had to order them in via airmail as they are a controlled drug here in the UK. But the law has changed and it will become a scheduled drug which changes it legal status and as a result it will no longer be available to order in. :ohmy::mad:

So I'm worried that when things get tough I wont be able to sleep. Its not so bad now as I work a few hours in the morning but what if ( :roflmao: ) I get a full time job and start having problems?

:scared15:

[MRS STRESS ED]

Pete why have you been ordering them via airmail so do you not get them off your doctor ?
as you said he prescribed them ,so maybe what im trying to say is are you getting them without your gps knowledge xx

[SADnomore]

Pete_uk, I can understand your fear. We do become dependent on zopiclone, and there is a rebound insomnia that can happen when we withdraw from them. Any time I try to go a night without taking it, it is a fitful night indeed.

But good news, I know at least 3 other people on here who take mirtazapine, which is an antidepressant (in North America available as Remeron and pretty much marketed as a sleep aid). They sleep soundly through the night, which is not a guarantee with zopiclone due to its short half-life. The caveat is that you will need to start with a very low dose, something like half the 15 mg tablet (if available), so 7.5 mg. 15 mg will make you very drowsy in the daytime too for the first week or so. Consider planning this upward titration for when you have vacation time coming to you, maybe combined with a long weekend. It is temporary, but everyone says it really does create daytime drowsiness at first, but also the solid sleep you need.

This is because it really, really makes you drowsy and you will want to be weaning off the zopiclone at the same time as starting the mirtazapine. Slowly. Cutting back on the zopiclone slightly and surely as time goes on. It was suggested to me to take several weeks of slowly weaning off the zopiclone by literally paring down the tablet with a knife week by week. Once you are regularly sleeping well and the daytime drowsiness is gone, you can cut the pill in half at the score line, or ask to be prescribed the 3.5 mg dose zopiclone for another month or so. At either 15 mg or 30 mg of the mirtazapine, most people are sleeping like babies and have been for years, although some are on 45 mg therapeutically as prescribed for depression/anxiety and are doing well.

I so wanted to add this to my currently prescribed Effexor (venlaxafine), but as I suffer from seasonal affective disorder and what I need is more activation, my doctor said no, you're better off with Wellbutrin, so they are my combo now.

Anyway, I just thought I would reassure you that you have the option of something that is not a benzo and IS effective for sleep, if your doctor will agree to prescribe it for you and you are up for riding out the side effects (mostly daytime drowsiness). This will depend on what other meds you are taking, too, of course :D

Good luck, hope it works out for you!:yesyes:
Marie

[SarahH]

Pete, If you are buying Zopiclone over the internet you are, I'm afraid to say, breaking the law. It is a Class C drug and can only be obtained by prescription. Sorry to be a party pooper:shrug:

[Rennie1989]

It is incredibly dangerous buying medication online. Drugs in pharmacies are rigorously checked whilst the ones over the internet don't, and there is a risk that they do not contain the ingredients that they state. People have died doing this and it has been on the news several times.

I don't understand why the doctor has prescribed them to you and yet you still obtain them illegally and dangerously.