Little bit about me, I have BPD PTSD GAD and OCD, needless to say I'm an emotional wreck! I take citalopram 40mg and 2-3 1mg Ativan when needed. I have been having sleeping issues for a very long time, but recently noticed an increase in suicidal thoughts with lack of sleep (2+ days awake) I started taking zopiclone 5 days ago. The first night I was awake for 3 hours.. and woke up after 5 hours of sleep. The second night I didn't sleep at all... the third night I didn't take it, I hate that taste and I HAD to drive the next morning. Last night I took it and was out within 30 min, but I didn't wake up I slept from 1130pm until 230pm. So tonight I took it at 11, I slept from about 1130 until 130.. I jumped out of bed.. according to my fiancé I was talking about a noise.. it took me 10 min to get my ass off the floor and get back on the bed... I laid there for 45 min and now I'm WIDE awake is this normal? When will it make me sleep?? The problem isn't that I'm tired... last week I was awake for 105 hours before I took a few Ativan and some benadryl so I could sleep. I get to the point where I can barley move because I'm so tired but I can't sleep. I'm taking 5mg of zopiclone btw
hI iound it to work right away, I have nerve taken any other meds and thats good for my age in fact i still dont any meds and im almost off this, maybe you just taking too much. whatever, but if you can dont t ake it, you will be on it for a log time and not come off it, if its not working it sertaily wont further down the roas
Hello sorry about everything ... try not to go the Zopiclone road. It's never ending ... have taken them for years ... and have at LAST kicked them ... years and years of being a slave to them. They make you ill believe me. Maybe you need to see your physician soon for help and advice. Meanwhile look after yourself and take care. x
He wants me to continue taking them for another week says I'll adjust to them... think I should see another GP? I have a history of drug use.. I've been sober but that was one of the things that stood out to me from the leaflet they gave me. I don't know what to ask them for.. but I need something to knock me out so I can sleep... I think my MH diasnosis is off.. normal people don't stay up for 4 days at a time do they??
I cant say no, I have stayed awake for longer, it happenens, i would really check back with your doctor again though
I'm sorry that you're having such problems with the sleep. I think you ought to talk to your physician real soon... I'm sure he'd refer you to a specialist. Take care x
we all know how bad it can get and Zop does help to begin with, but really I will say the same, see your DR with your other problema nd meds you need further help, but please let us know how you get on and stay on this forum, we are a good lot i think, but you need more help, and Zop can be so addictive as we all know, I have often thought a mallet on the head is the answer (maybe it is in my case), im now down to 1.87 and on a bad night 3.75 and really bad 7.5 but its going
I hope you see your physician real soon fkutterby902. It must be horrid feeling like you do. I've been there, and you need the help from a physician or specialist who understand how you feel. I've been so many nights without sleep ... you feel tormented and motionless. It will get beta ... but you need the professionals right now... we are a good bunch on this forum and will support you whenever we can x
Just so you know zoplicone is highly additive. I have been on for many years. the 7.5mg one. (I was up to using 7 of them at one time). I am now down to one and sometimes 2. I don't have any unusual symptoms except that yes they don;t give you a full nights sleep. Friday night going to try going without any. I want off these things and another person on my discussions went off them the other night so figure if she can so can I. I used to hear of evil things happening when go off them like seizures, convulsions etc but that was years ago. This group I am in discussion with hasn't mentioned that kind of stuff so will try. My doctor gives me two months prescriptions but I pick them up weekly from my pharmacy. We are working together to get me off of them. It was not her that put me on them years ago. Good luck and keep me updated.
hi there flutterby. it sounds like you're cautious about addiction, since you are not taking the Ativan regularly. That's good! Ativan defiitely works for sleep. I have some, 1mg, and i break those in half when i take it, and i am careful to only take it occasionally.
what makes Zop bad is if you get dependent on it, eventually you can get a tolerance, so that it takes more and more to have the same effect. And then, a lot of people will find that their doctor, who put them on the meds in the first place, will not keep increasing it, so then it doesn't work for its needed purpose but there is still a physical addiction so that when you try to get off them there are symptoms, including worsening of no sleep of course.
I was never on Zop alone. I was already taking Ambien when i first started taking Zop, i added the Zop to the Ambien (Zolpidem) a long time ago. Then, after being on Zop for a year and a half (7.5 a night) i tapered off, a quarter at a time, it took me about 2 months, i was really happy to get off it, but it was relatively easy because i was also taking the Ambien, and if i wanted i could increase the Ambien if i had a sleep problem when reducing the Zop dose. When i increased the Ambien, fortunately i found i could bring it back down once i adjusted to reducing the Zop by a quarter each time. If i had gone off Zop while not taking any Ambien, i expect that would've been harder.
Anyway, i wanted to tell you, the reason i went off the zop first instead of the ambien is because i got a weird effect from the zop, really really weird, and i did not like it, it was scary. i never got it from Ambien, though some people do i think. what happened when i added the zop in was that about once every week or two,i would wake up in a very weird place, what happened to you reminded me of it----i would be in a very altered state of consciousness, like some kind of psychedelic drug which i used to take recreationally way back in the 70s, but the difference was, on those drugs, i always knew i was on a drug. With zop, i did not know i was on a drug when i was in the altered state. i just thought that was reality, a very weird reality but i didn't know there was a regular reality to go back to, i was in another world. it was like being in a dream except i was awake, walking around, on my computer, on Facebook, i posted something weird one time. Everythign seemed very weird, things didn't have their normal meaning, like my dog seemed odd, and cooking utensils didn't make sense. The episode would only last abut a half hour or less, and when it wore off, i could remember it, and it was troubling.
The worst thing that happened was that one day, i was sitting on my couch, not feeling weird, about 11:30am and i got a call, he said he was the plumber and he just wanted to check my address. He told me my address and i confirmed that it was correct and he said his employee had been to my house for our appointment (which i had forgotten) earlier in the day and that he was told by the person who answered the door that no plumber was needed. i did not remember doing this, but from what he said, i had no reason to doubt him that his guy had come to my house and had talked to me, maybe an hour or so before this call, and i had no memory of it, and i still don't. i never will, as if it never happened. It was really embarrassing, since i had no memory of seeing the guy earlier in the day and when he got to my house the second time, he looked at me funny like he knew something was wrong.
I wasn't 100% sure it was caused by the zop, but it started soon after i started taking it regularly. After i got off it, i never got it again.
So, that is not a common effect people have but it does happen, and if it happens to you, it might be a risky thing, dangerous even, if you were to black out and go driving, that kind of thing. Ambien is known to cause blackouts in a few people. i have never had it from Ambien in 20 years.
Another thing for you to know about Z drugs like zop and zolpidem is that they are very short acting, compared to diazapam or even ativan, so if you take them habitually for sleep what they are designed to do is get you to sleep, NOT to keep you asleep. They are only for sleep onset. So if you are someone who's main problem is falling asleep but once you fall asleep you can stay asleep, then they are helpful, but if you have trouble staying asleep, then they will wear off, only half the ambien is left after 3 hours or less, which means the dose is reduced by half after only a short time. Half of the Zop is gone after about 6 hours or less, so the point is, it goes down in your bloodstream very rapidly, and if you have trouble staying asleep then Z drugs are probably not going to help you stay asleep for very long. If you're not sleeping much for a few days in a row, then you might take a Z drug to get to sleep and you might sleep long because you're body is so tired and is taking what it needs. It's not the medication that's keeping you asleep, it's your body.
So, you asked something about seeing a different physician--if it was me, i would want to see someone who who specializes in sleep disorders, it might be a neurologist, i'm not sure. But if your doctor wants you to keep taking it for a week, maybe it won't hurt to take it for a week and if you find it's still not working to keep you asleep, and especially if you're having weird effects like you described, if it was me i would talk to the doctor about those effects and about the way in which the drug is too short acting to keep you asleep.
Unfortunately, there's no drug way out of not sleeping in the long run. At least not for a lot of people. There's a new medication out which is supposed to be for both falling asleep and staying asleep. I heard about it in the US, on a TV commercial. i just googled it because i don't remember the name, and i got one hit that can give you some info about it. If it's available in the UK (or another medication of this kind) you and your doctor might want to look into it. I decided not to try to get it because at this point, i want to get off the meds and get all cleaned out from meds and go without sleep if needed (i'm retired but i could not do that if i was working) and any new medication scares me because it takes a long time to learn about what meds really do in the long term.
Citalopram has insomnia as one of its side effects and also anxiety, so you could ask your doctor if there are any antidepressants that dont have that kind of side effects, i am pretty sure there are some, but they may have other unwanted side effects. But it might be worth discussing, just to find out if there is something that isn't a possible cause of insomnia. My friend recently went on antidepressants. She had been on Wellbutrin for a long time and had tapered off and was doing fine, but then tragically her husband died and after struggling with depression for a while, she went back on the Wellbutrin and the psychiatrist also put her on something called Vibrid, i think. i don't know what the generic name would be, you would have to google it. She had some side effects, feeling wiped out, and also very bad diarrhea, but she wanted to keep taking it because it helped her depression. But her doctor said no, she should not take it because of the side effect she was having. The doctor did this test, i think it was a blood test, neither i or my friend had heard of it before, something fairly new, a test that can show which antidepressants will work for you and which won't, or which ones will cause side effects. The doctor then put her on Lurasidone, which is technically an antipsychotic but is used for depression related to bipolar disorder. My friend had never been diagnosed with bipolar disorder before, but she has found that this medication has helped her a lot, i can see it, she is no longer depressed.
the interesting thing is that blood test.
I'm going put the link to info about that test and the link to info about the newer sleep medication/s that help with staying asleep as well as sleep onset into a separate post because the moderators need to check links out and will delay posts that have links in them and i want to post this now. The two links will follow.
Saw my GP yesterday... he told me to take two. I took two last night at 930 pm and I was still awake at 130 am. I did eventually fall asleep, and slept until 630 am.. I don't really need something to keep me asleep.. 8ve become used to waking through the night.. until recently falling back to sleep hasn't been a problem. The doctor told me that I would fall asleep and stay asleep... lol LIES :P on a side note.. he said my sleep problems are because he thinks I have sleep apnea :P I informed him that sleep apnea is only a problem if you fall asleep :P funny guy.. I'll update you guys in a few days on how thungs are going.. anyone know the highest dose of zopiclone a person can take?
good luck! Keep us posted on your progress!!!
Ativan only sedate some people.. I could take Ativan like candy and keep going with ny day.. I have mixed it with zopiclone trying g to get to sleep and nothing! I also tried alcohol before because it will make the drowsiness worse in combination, didn't work! I've been on citalopram for a year and a bit now.. but I had he occasional night ever since I was 13 or so where I couldn't sleep.. I would get episodes of no sleep.. but usually after a few days they would go away.. even while I've been on citalopram... I'm afraid to change my citalopram.. if insomnia was new to me I could see it being a side effect.. but I've had no side effects to citalopram.. and it works well for balancing my moods
I know this is off zoplicone but anyone on this discussion that has quit smoking in last while. I quit 5 days ago and I have copd but having more trouble breathing now than I did before quit. Thanks
Well done you're doing really well. I've had a bad patch. I've not resorted to zops ... but sleep has seemed just been like I'm dreaming all night and I don't wake up refreshed and feel tired. I'm pretty sure it's cos I had the flu jab and been cuddling my grandson who has bad cold which I'm getting ugh!! which has disprupted the sleep cycle.
You're doing really well and you're nearly there I'm sure.... as you're taking it easy in your mind and feeling calm and not panicking or worrying...... pat yourself and buy yourself something nice! You deserve it. Hope tonight goes well too and you'll get your script tomorrow! x
It could be the build up of mucus that's leaving your system and causing you a lot of congestion as a result of quitting. Have you got your inhalers? I would get it checked out with your physician as you might need antibiotics in case of infection. All the best. x
My Parnter has COPD stopped smoking 15 years ago, it will be hard for a while as your body gets used to it, after that it is still hard work, I wish cigs had been banned 1000 years ago, i am always telling people not too smoke, there is a good copd forum on facebook, worth joining for help and advice, good luch with stopping but please STOP while you can
Yes i actually have three. going to pharmacy this afternoon to pick up two refills as i am running out. My copd is not severe copd but was just bothering me my breathing worse than when smoked but been told by a few people it is lungs getting rid of everything. thankyou for blog to me re zoplicone. I am quite happy with how it is going. My prescription is for two a night but think when i pick them up tomorrow i will try half instead since last night went pretty well. That way will be off them sooner than later. Wish I had never heard of zoplicone or cigarettes. I am so easily addicted to that stuff. Oh well just continue prodding along. Once again thanks.
Well done... it's the detoxing from the cigarettes that's producing all the mucus, but you'll be so much beta for it quitting. Don't be in too much of a hurry reducing zopiclone... taking 2 a night and then going to 1/2 a night is a big step.... I'd go down to 1 tab for 2 weeks or maybe 3 weeks and then down to 1/2. I reduced too quick last year and had awful anxiety and it didn't work and I was back to square one again. Especially as you're quitting the ciggys as well! My problem now is chocolate!!! .... that can't be too bad though hey! Take care ... you're doing great and you'll feel and look a million dollars! x