Does anybody have any experience of this medication. I have suffered from chronic insomnia for the last 18 months and in absolute desperation started taking zopiclone about 8 months ago. After about 6 months it no longer worked and my GP prescribed Halcion, which I only took for a week due to a severe headache. Now I am finding I need 2 tablets to get to sleep. i have tried absolutely everything else eg, relaxation etc. I am so worried about the dependence I have developed on this drug and am very concerned that soon 2 tablets won't work either. Any advice would be welcome. Thanks heaps

hi kindergirl i too am on zopiclone. if i take one i'm awake again in 4 hours. i usually take 2 if desperate for sleep, but i too am becoming dependant i think

sorry not the bearer of good news

jinny xoxoxox

[SandyWeb]

Sorry Kindergirl,

I tried Zopiclone twice, even at a higher level once, and found it to be basically a placebo. It did absolutely nothing for me. My daughter had trouble sleeping once, and I gave her one. It did absolutely nothing for her, either. Like mother, like daughter!

They charge more for Zopiclone then a benzo because apparently they work in the same manner and benzos are cheaper to manufacture.

I've never tried Halcion. What about Thioridazine? I've found that Nozinan works at a high dose on some nights and some nights it doesn't. But I stopped taking it because I was afraid of getting EPS, since it's an older antipsychotic.

Good luck. Insomnia is the worse!

God bless,
Sandy

Thanks for your replies. The trouble is I don't like taking any medication - at all! It feels horrible to be so dependent on something. I really struggle with that the most. But what does one do???? I dont know x

[SandyWeb]

Hey Kindergirl,

I'm not sure if we're supposed to post links on this site or not, but since it has a Post Icon of a link to use in a reply, I guess that means it's acceptable. Hope I don't get my hand slapped.

You said you didn't know anything about medications. Here is a very easy site to use to read up on almost any med you might be interested in trying.

http://www.rxlist.com/script/main/hp.asp

Just type the name of the med in the search box, and it will come up with some matches. Make sure you pick the correct match! Lol. Then it will take you to a page description page. If you look to the left, you will see that you can look at other information regarding that med: medications & dosage, side affects and drug interactions, warnings and precautions, overdosage contraindications, and patient information.

It's a good site to get a feel for the med. Good luck.

God bless,
Sandy

[drunksunflower]

I love Imovane!!!!!! (same thing)

Bit of an icky taste next day but I found it worked really well for me personally.

I am trying to stay away from prescription stuff (and hate seeing drs anyway) so I am just using OTC stuff at the moment - Unisom Sleep Gels are the best of the range and are 50mg diphenhydramine hydrochloride.

I have no idea what you are on, i'm not saying try them, but they actually work just as well for me as prescription stuff. And a lot easier to get lol.

I had a glass of wine one night (just one!) and then took one and i was all over the place ... my flatmate had to put me to bed ... it is NOT recommended lol. I mean, I know you're not mean to drink on that sort of stuff but I didn't think it meant you couldn't take it after ... lol :> Needless to say I slept well.

some people find the nasty taste in the morning is worse with zo-tab (generic) and better with imovane (brand).

i ended up taking a couple of those every night for about 4 or 5 years. it was really hard work to come off them.

what did i do when i came off them?

all the stuff that i'd always done. what i found was crucial, however was not oversleeping (there is no way i'm going to be able to get to sleep at 10pm if i didn't get out of bed until mid-day) and also making sure i had done some exercise to help tire me out.

it is true that if you take a tab and wait to feel its effects (as some people tend to do) then you will probably notice a nicer 'hit' with benzos than with imovane... if you take a tab and go to bed and attempt to do some PMR exercises or something like that then it should help you in a subtler way, however.

but the long term cost... made them not worth it for me. eventually i build up such a tolerance that i was taking 2 tabs per night and still wasn't getting to sleep before 3am. had one week of hell (with minimal sleep) when i decided to go cold turkey. all kinds of bizzare stuff... being awake but paralysed and nightmares / terrors and freaky out of body experiences and all kinds of crap.

no way i'm going through that again no way.

still, doing a bit better now :-)

best thing for me is to MAKE myself get up at a certain time in the morning. that way i am tired when i go to bed...