View Full Version : Zopiclone 7.5mg
Ive been prescribed these to help me sleep during a high health anxiety state.
Has anyone else tried these? I am med phobic so scared to take them.
Pamplemousse
19-09-18, 22:39
Yes, and they're very effective so don't worry about them. :)
But if you're like me, be prepared for a bitter aftertaste in the morning!
Hi MamaCass,
I took zopiclone for a month, and it was the best i ever slept. I had no side effects apart from the taste of metal in my mouth on a morning as mentioned in the reply from pamplemousse, soon washed away with a cup of tea:)
Best wishes, Otterman.
I’ve been taking Zopiclone for 19 years! Every night! They still work for me and I have never had any side-effects. They are demonised by doctors, but have been my salvation.
I hope you have a good experience with them.
Amazing they still work! I was put on them once but took every second night. The night I didn't take was insomniac
panic_down_under
06-09-19, 11:28
Amazing they still work! I was put on them once but took every second night. The night I didn't take was insomniac
It probably doesn't work, just that taking it prevents withdrawal expressed as insomnia. Insomnia is rarely, if ever, a permanent condition.
I take a quarter to a half of a 7.5mg zopiclone when I can't get to sleep. However I get a dreadful hungover feeling the next day and feel so awful with horrible depression and not being able to think clearly that I don't know why I even bother to take it. I can be alright sleepwise for periods of time, maybe two or three weeks will go by but am getting insomnia on a more regular basis now, I feel overstimulated with racing thoughts which I can't switch off and I just can't get to sleep. Sometimes it just comes out of the blue for no reason, other times it happens if I am very stressed by something or it can be something joyful which overstimulates me. One way or another it is having a detrimental effect on my quality of life as I am putting off things because I don't know how I will feel on that particular day. My brother lives in another country and I am desperate to visit him but I know I will feel overstimulated with excitement and anxiety and will feel overwhelmed and won't be able to sleep when I'm there. I am so frightened I will be a nervous wreck. I have tried therapy, but that only works up to a point. If I could just take something which would help me to switch off at night during the visit I would be alright.
I started Mirtazapine (which I have taken in the past) last night. But I just feel it's a shame that I have to be on something every day when as I say I am alright for periods of time. I just wish there was something I could take for sleep which which wouldn't have horrible consequences the following day. I do envy people who can take zopiclone and not suffer any ill effects. If anyone reading this has had success with a sleep medication without side effects please let me know. Maybe part of my problem is that I need be on mirtazapine and just need to accept that that is the way things are at the moment.
Sorry if this post comes across as a bit rambling, but as I said I just started on mirt last night and it leaves me a little cognitively challenged for the first 3 or 4 days.
IHi BB
I've been on 50mg Quetiapine an anti-psychotic for sleep and it works with no side effects, just some zombification in the first 2 or 3 days. However I know it's not good stuff for the rest of your body and have just placed a question asking panic down under if certain antihistamines can be used instead. Follow his replies.
panic_down_under
08-09-19, 10:23
I started Mirtazapine (which I have taken in the past) last night. But I just feel it's a shame that I have to be on something every day when as I say I am alright for periods of time.
Has it been prescribed for anxiety, or as a sleep aid? If the latter it doesn't have to be taken continually. For occasional periods of high anxiety the benzodiazepines would be a better bet, imho, than antidepressants, but the medical profession doesn't agree, admittedly with some justification given the dependency and abuse potential. *Hydroxyzine is another possibility. It is an antihistamine with pretty good anti anxiety properties. Not quite as potent as the BZDs, but often potent enough.
*Hydroxyzine comes in two forms, hydroxyzine pamoate (Vistaril) and hydroxyzine hydrochloride (Atarax). Anecdotally, the pamoate form is claimed to be the more effective anxiolytic, but just how true this is remains a matter of considerable debate in some anxiety forums
I just wish there was something I could take for sleep which which wouldn't have horrible consequences the following day.
Small doses of trazodone might be a better bet than zopiclone, both in terms of tolerance and the sedation hangover into the next morning, though there are no guarantees. Trazodone is a novel antidepressant mostly prescribed these days for SSRI induced insomnia at low doses at which it acts mainly as a powerful sedating antihistamine. It has only a short, though complicated biphasic elimination half-life, but for low doses around 3-6 hours is about right, so much of it is out of the system by morning - mirtazapine has a half-life of 20-40 hr, zopiclone 5-7 hr, but for some its effects seems to linger much longer than the half-life suggests.
Thank you Ian for replying.
To answer your question re whether Mirtazapine has been prescribed for anxiety or as a sleep aid .. it has been prescribed mostly for sleep but also for anxiety. They just feed each other. Most of the time I have low grade anxiety going on which is manageable and I have a degree of acceptance when it's at that low level. But when something happens which really throws me off balance, then my brain just won't switch off and I obsess over the particular issue which has caused the anxiety and my racing thoughts then make sleep extremely difficult. I use all the right techniques, but the anxiety is not just in my brain but in my body which feels incredibly tense. So I take some zopiclone which is always a mistake as I not only have anxiety the next day it also makes me feel very depressed and affects my cognitive function. It also causes some amnesia.
My lovely brother who lives in another country and who I haven't seen for a couple of years paid me an unexpected visit during the week which was lovely. However the high emotion and mental stimulation of the couple of days made sleep impossible and I had to take some zopiclone. I don't know how I got through the couple of days, but I did and with a smile on my face. So this anxiety and insomnia strikes not only when something bad happens, but also when really nice things happen. I am due to visit him in a couple of months and am so fearful the stimulating effect of that will make me a nervous wreck. The thing is if I can get some restful sleep at the end of the day I know I will be alright for the next day.
I tried diazepam some years back, but unfortunately it gave me the same side effects as zopiclone, next day depression and amnesia.
Thank you for the heads up on hydroxyzine and trazodone. I think you can buy hydroxyzine over the counter here. Promethazine is another one I was thinking of and I know it's prescribed by GPs for short term sleep problems. When I saw your reference to hydroxy I did a little research and it seems that it is more effective than Promethazine.
I didn't take the next dose of mirtazipine last night, it just doesn't feel right for me and I am scared that I will end up getting those horrible flu like symptoms I got after several months. I think I also may try to make an appointment with a psychiatrist privately. I got a good recommendation from someone here, but they are booked up 'till the end of October.
Thank you for all that information, I really appreciate it :-)
Belle
When I was out today I went into a pharmacy to check if I could get Hydroxyzine over the counter, but was told it is prescription only in the UK. They suggested Sominex which I believe is promethazine.
panic_down_under
09-09-19, 00:02
When I was out today I went into a pharmacy to check if I could get Hydroxyzine over the counter, but was told it is prescription only in the UK.
Oops :doh: Should have told you a prescription was required. Sorry. :weep: Now you know why I chose my avatar. :D
They suggested Sominex which I believe is promethazine.
In the UK Sominex is a brand name for promethazine, however, in other counties it may contain diphenhydramine which is the active component in the Benadryl sold outside the UK (in the UK it contains one of two non sedating antihistamines). Promethazine is worth trying if you can't get a hydroxyzine prescription.
Oops :doh: Should have told you a prescription was required. Sorry. :weep: Now you know why I chose my avatar. :D
In the UK Sominex is a brand name for promethazine, however, in other counties it may contain diphenhydramine which is the active component in the Benadryl sold outside the UK (in the UK it contains one of two non sedating antihistamines). Promethazine is worth trying if you can't get a hydroxyzine prescription.
Not to worry Ian :D I had a feeling it was prescription only.
Regarding getting a prescription, the younger GPs here who are inclined to go by the book (and most of them are young due to a lot of factors) are very wary of prescribing anything which has even the tiniest potential for abuse. For instance I suffer from silent reflux/acid stomach which causes some nausea from time to time. One of the GPs in my surgery was advised by the gastro consultant to prescribe cyclizine for the nausea and she would only prescribe 12! She said that people use them to get high!!
I was also thinking that I might try melatonin, I keep forgetting about that one.
Many thanks for feedback.
Belle
panic_down_under
09-09-19, 13:32
For instance I suffer from silent reflux/acid stomach which causes some nausea from time to time. One of the GPs in my surgery was advised by the gastro consultant to prescribe cyclizine for the nausea and she would only prescribe 12!
Ask for ondansetron (Zofran) wafers instead, Belle. It was originally developed as an anti anxiety med and by accounts of the time it was very effective with less side-effects than the SSRIs then coming onto the market. However, much to my and my then psychiatrist's disappointment, during the drug trials Glaxo discovered it was also great at blocking nausea and vomiting from chemo and radiation therapies and because cancer treatment centres were prepared to pay much more for it approval was only sought for that purpose. Back in the 1990s the centres were paying US$5 per tablet for it!
It has no abuse potential that I'm aware of and is being used to help wean folk off some illicit and legal drugs. The wafers work fast with nausea usually stopped in its tracks within 15-20 minutes.
She said that people use them to get high!!
Most of the abuse is by opioid users because it enhances the buzz, though it apparently will induce hallucinations at very high, near lethal doses...and, unfortunately, sometimes too near. :weep:
I was also thinking that I might try melatonin, I keep forgetting about that one.
Melatonin is one of those things that works reasonably well for some and not at all for others, but is definitely worth a shot.
Belle, i hope you get some success from the Sominex. I'm going to try some for my son (he has ASD) but has had weeks of unrelenting insomnia after a sudden job loss. The psych just upped his escitalopram to 20mg and added zopiclone to be taken "as needed" but not regularly-hardly a help...
Both my adult children are on the autistic spectrum and haven't been helped by melatonin. I've been prescribed Hydroxyzine in the past (Atarax) and was absolutely knocked out for hours-it was horrible and impractical for me as a carer..
It would be great if there were a drug for insomnia with no "zombie-like" side effects the next day. A drug which made it safe to drive and function at work or at home
Ian, I'll ask about ondansetron the next time I discuss my stomach issues with GP. I had no idea it was originally developed as an anti anxiety med.
Yes, I've heard that Melatonin is very hit and miss. But as you say is worth a shot. In the meantime I think I'll try Sominex first.
Many thanks again.
Belle, i hope you get some success from the Sominex. I'm going to try some for my son (he has ASD) but has had weeks of unrelenting insomnia after a sudden job loss. The psych just upped his escitalopram to 20mg and added zopiclone to be taken "as needed" but not regularly-hardly a help...
Both my adult children are on the autistic spectrum and haven't been helped by melatonin. I've been prescribed Hydroxyzine in the past (Atarax) and was absolutely knocked out for hours-it was horrible and impractical for me as a carer..
It would be great if there were a drug for insomnia with no "zombie-like" side effects the next day. A drug which made it safe to drive and function at work or at home
Hi Pulisa, thank you for the feedback on Hydroxyzine and I can well understand how you need to be so careful with meds that cause drowsiness when you have others so dependent on you. Yes indeed it would be fantastic if there was a drug for insomnia with no horrible side effects the following day and I'm sure there will be in the future.
I hope the Sominex works out for your son, let us know how he gets on with it.
Take care.
Thank you, Belle. He's already got a packet of Sominex Herbal but this is probably the placebo stuff with no added extras!
I remember when my daughter was younger her psych prescribed clonidine for sleep issues but we didn't dare try it because it was a "controversial" option at the time.
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