Psychologically you may be nervous and fearful of not having enough sleep or Zopiclone but your symptoms sound like typical signs of Zopiclone addiction. I think that perhaps a long talk with your doctor might help.

Also Google 'benzodiazipine addiction and withdrawal and recovery'. There is a site that should be very helpful in helping you understand what you are going through and why, It's run by Professor Heather Ashton the leading expert in the field.

I have managed what I thought impossible a year ago, Praise to Heather Ashton and support from friends with similar addictions/dependencies.
I have not been active on here for a while, actually whist I tapered down the last One and a half mil of Zopiclone, but now want to tell all you people that it really is possible to get off this horrible substance.

hi craig - how long were you on zopiclone and how many were you taking per day? how long did it take you to get off the zopiclone wih the ashton method?
thanks

(sorry about my bad english but I just HAD TO share my story)

my story:
Since i'm working nightshift i started with zopiclona too sleep by daytime. It seemed harmless in the beginning and i used only 3,75 mg.

What I then didnt know was that this stuff, because of it's short biological half-life (4 hours) , can give a slightly form of abstinence only short time after you have taken it.
Many, including me, experience awaikening after 4 hours. then the temptation is big to take more. Thats how it started to go downhill for me.
After about 8 hours (at the second half-life) I experienced a kind of anxiety, total passivity, social anxiety and agressivity. I thought it was something wrong with me. Now I understand that this was only the zopiclone which left my body, and my brains GABA-system that was affected.

The only thing that helped against this anxiety was to take more zopiclone. I remember the first time i took 2 x 7,5mg. I couldnt sleep so I desided to go out. I dont remember any more.

I woke up in the evening and i had been shopping. My refridgerator was full of food which i had bought but didnt remeber. This is a known bi-effect of zopiclone and other benzodiacepines known as amnesia. Later I also found out that I had called friends and made appointments which I didnt remeber.
I can remeber thou that I had hallucinations. The pattern in my carpet was moving when I looked at it but the carpet itself was not moving. This sideeffect did not dissapear even days after I took the pills.

But the anxiety disapeared as long as I took more zopiclone every 4'th hour. My brain started telling me that there was something wrong with me and that I just needed this stuff to survive. But the antianxiety-effect didnt last for long.

To make a long history short. After using zopiclone for 7 years I was now using about 20-30 x 7,5mg per day. I started my day with 7-10 pills just to get out of bed. To avoid drowsiness I used 3-4 fenazon-coffein-pills. At some point I was near to try amphetamin, but thank God I didn't. With so many sleepingpills inside, you are not exactly sane, and your critical sense is very reduced.

I couldn't get out of this addiction alone so I contacted my doctor ( who was only one of MANY, since I had been doctor shopping a lot) I also bought pills from china on the internet.
He contacted a treatment place, and after waiting for 3 months I got in to treatment.

Now I dont use anything, and I now understand that many of the things I was suffering from was because of the pills themselves. The treatment was 1 week in 24h institution and 2 months as day-patient.
Now that is half a year ago and I only go there about once pr month for a talk. Some of the side-effects (ex. dry mouth and muscle tremor ) are still there. The doctors say that you will have to use about 1 month pr year you have been mis-using.

I didnt start to feel OK untill I had been TOTALLY without pills for approximately 1 month.

One more important thing about half-life : When you take a pill you must think about 7x the half-life-time untill you can say that the pills are out. For another common benzodiazepin, diacepam, the half-time is about 35 hours. Then you must think 7x35 =245 hours (10 days !!)

Wake up and dont let the farmacological industry fool you, as they have fooled your doctor with luxus hotels and seminars. There are NO farmacological sleepingpills without side-effects and dependence.

i am taking this drug at first took 3.75 1 a nght 6 months on taking 4 tablets now sleep bad wake up axcous so take a half a tab that helps short while it takes panice attacks off but upsets tum is this normal anyone hel

been on zopiclone 10 years ..was taking it through the day and night . started getting severe symptoms like head pain , eye pain and total derealisation and depersonalisation and pains around the body and sparks and electris shocks i feel that when i take zoipiclone i feel norma, and want to do things ...but its a catch 22 anyone got any feedback as get severe anxiety and valium does nothing for me and zopiclone allevaites my anxiety to some extent as well

martin

I really need to get my life back on track after extended use of Zopiclone. Ive been on it for a year now, up to 2tabs (7mg each) a night.
Its taking its toll on my memory and ability to store information, which is least desired since im still at university.
Can someone who has been able to get off this drug pls advise me.
Thanks guys
regards

I've been using zopiclone on and off for the last 8 years now. At first, I would take 1 or 2 x 7.5mg doses, but recently this has increased and I am now taking 4 or 6 x 7.5mg tablets (or even up to 10 TABLETS) per night, and getting l. Am I addicted? Well I know I WANT it a lot, sometimes, but I still feel that it hasn't quite stepped over the mark into addiction yet.

I would like to get in contact with other users, and people who may feel addicted like me. So anyone out there? Please feel free to write me.

Hello,

I have been on Zopiclone for just over 2 years now, and I feel like I can't even remember the person I was before taking this! I have no motivation, I wake up really groggy and wanting more sleep and because of this I can't keep a job down. My short term memory is really bad these days and fail to remember things Ive said or haven't said. Starting new jobs is a nightmare as I have no concentration and can't seem to keep things in.

I was prescribed 7.5 mg by my doctor and after a few months my doctor refused to give me anymore, so I now purchase them off the internet, so now I don't know what Im taking!

Im about to try and wean myself off them now as I know they are ruining my life... all I want to do is take my next pill, I like the way they make me feel, all relaxed and floaty. But when Im on them I don't know what Im saying and end up speaking my mind and not even remembering it the next day?! Im sure people are starting to think I am a psycho! I have even started to take them during the days as don't like facing the world without them.

I took an overdose last year on them as they made me so depressed and almost died. I recovered and managed to come off them for a couple of weeks, but things weren't stable in my life so I ended up going back on them.

At the worst I was taking about 4 7.5 mg a night, you do tend to build up a resistance to them. I cant believe how addictive these pills are, and just hope I can get back to having normal nights sleep and getting my life on track!

Good luck to everyone else trying to get odd them x

I too take Zoplicone 7.5 3 per nite.I have been on them for 15 years .With out them I stare at the ceiling all night. i know they are psychologically addictive but I have no problems.
to the person taking 50 a day how on earth do you stay awake .Do you not get ill? My advice is DO Not go cold turkey try to taper off ,50 is way way too many.

WOw. I've been having prescriptions for Zopiclone (I ahave severe anxiety induced sleep problems) but the most I've taken consecutively was 4 when my father passed away. Other than that for the past two years I've been having 1 a week at the most. Taking them too often makes me feel horrible, I can't fatham people who take 1 or 2 for weeks and months at a time, I wouldn't be able to function. In the past I've tried Nitrazepam, Amitriptylline and Mirtazipine in effort to ease my insomnia but Zopiclone is far by the best and I won't be abusing it. Incidently I like the bitter taste at night because it's comforting, pretty much soon after the bitter taste comes up your throat you drift off but I don't like it the next day, the bitter feeling can make me quite nauseous. My doctor also see's me no problem in taking them long term and the help pamphlet that comes with it suggests it's fine for long term occasional use.

Also to point out the UK I stress where the protocol for Zop is completely different. It's deemed safe for long term occasional use here but not to be taken consectutively for long periods of time. Effectively I can take 7.5g once or twice a week for the rest of my life.

I've recently been diagnosed with Bipolar II the past year; take lithium citalopram and metformin. My psychiatrist prescribed me zopiclone to help me sleep during a bad break up: 2x 7.5mg per night. I've taken built up from two to three, now three to four pills a night. I read various posts above recommeding supplementing withdrawal using diazepam, amitryptiline, and seroquel. Does anyone know if any of these three drugs interact negatively with my current bipolar medications. Thank you very much. Also who know what's the safest anti anxiety, insomnia, sedatives available?

DM aka Madame Celeste

glad i found this site im going mental on zopiclone ihave cut down from 20 a day to 4 but 4 r not working im stressed out cos my doc is trying to withdraw me all i can think about r zoppies been on them 10 years they r evil ihave tried to kill myself twice cos of them but i still cant stop taking them

how did you cut down from 20 to 4 a day? how long did it take and with other medication or just naturally?

i ran out of them then i took on overdose of paracetamol so i was in a bad way for 2 weeks so one was working for a couple of weeks but ihe dose started to creep up again so wen i got to 4 i went to my doc and told them i had a problem they referred me to a sleep counsellor who was brilliant he has stopped my zopiclone for diazepam im feeling as though my life is starting again

Hi , My name is michelle & i'm a practice nurse , with experience in acute medicine .
I too am on zopiclone 7.5mg . I t it used for short term insomnia , or acute episodes eg- after a traumatic incident. They are habit forming , so if you find you are taking more than you should be you need to speak to your GP . There are other alternatves , such as sleep hygiene rutines , amitryptilline and melatonin a hormone that helps regulate your sleep cycle.