Hi Keith. You would probably only need 28 days (whic is the normal stay) with the amount you're on. - approx £12k in the Priory hosp where I went (not in London or Manchester...). Other folk in there with me for alcohol, drug & other addictions were signed off work by the in-house doctors. PM me if you want further info.
PS. Putting myself in The Priory was the best decision I have made in my life!!
An update...
I saw the doc just over 2 weeks ago asking for help to cross over and get off the zops, well he said he'd have to seek advice and told me to come back a week later. So I saw him last Friday, and he told me I would be contacted by a local group that handles things like benzo addiction. In the meantime he prescribed me another 56 7.5mg zops (that is 2 weeks worth for me), and told me if I hadn't heard from them in a week to come back again. Strangely, he didn't seem to know the name of the organisation or where they were located!!! I think he had just forgotten to contact them.
The latest... still no word from the people my doc said he would refer me to. So I phoned up the surgery yesterday and they checked, and said he was trying to remind them. In the meantime I asked for a repeat prescription and they gave that to me without question - another 56x7.5mg. Don't really want this but at least they are not ignoring me... some small consolation!
Crikey, i cant believe they gave you 56 Zops. Maybe you should tell me the name of your doc. Ha Ha. Just hang in there , take the zops and wait, thats all you can di i guess.
So today I had an appointment with the organisation my GP referred me to. I should add I first saw the GP on 9th June (when he said he needed an expert opinion), then 20th June (when he told me he had referred me to someone who could help) . This organisation (who I shall not name) said he wrote to them on 27th June. Oh dear.
Anyhow it was a waste of time. They are not medically qualified and seemed surprised that the GP could not prescribe a withdrawal program. They said my doctor was probably the best qualified person to help... They only deal themselves with CBT stuff to help people coming off heroin/alcohol. So it's back to the docs again, I need a repeat prescription as I am on holiday for two weeks shortly...
Oh well I never thought that this was going to be easy. Will keep folks updated how things go.
A bit of an update. Have been away most of the last month, before I went my GP had referred me to people in the next county who he thought could help - well they couldn't. They were not medically qualified and only offered CBT help.
Today I went to see the doc armed with the Ashton manual and a crossover program from Zops to Valium. He was polite, but did not want to even look at the info I had gathered. He reiterated he was a GP and not qualified to help with withdrawal from zops and he would have to refer me. Bearing in mind that I first saw him on 9th June time is running on a bit... He wants to refer me to a unit in a nearby city that would take 40 mins getting to and no chance of parking nearby. There is no chance that I will be able to travel there very often - the situation seems hopeless. So may just have to stop taking the things and see what happens... Is there support for people in this situation in the UK? It seems not...
Hi Keith. What a disappointment, after going to all that trouble and then the gp was not interested. My old gp was the same, one months supply to taper of and then that was it. When i said i felt anxious, she put me on Mirtazapine. Didnt like those so came of them and bought Zops of the internet. After one month, i changed doctors surgery and saw a very nice trainee doctor who had no problem prescribing Zopiclone. Unfortunately, she has now left, but ihave got so far one repeat prescription, Dont know for how long that will carry on but i am for the moment very grateful. Have tried unsuccessfully to give them up and didnt like it one little bit. So i am going to carry on taking them for as long as i can. A lot of the internet sites selling them are now running short i think. Who knows where this all will go. Its horrible that Zopiclone have been demonised. I wish you luck with your withdrawal.
Hi Keith sorry to hear you are not having much look with GP.I was addicted to zopiclone over 3,years ago and came off by switching to diazephan ( valium) and then tapering off this slowly.Although i have been off this drug for some time now it still saddens me to think there are people suffering from the aftermath of this drug as i did.The way i did it wsd the only way for me and as i have posted before i couldnt have done it without the the tremendous telephone support of CITA( Councel for involuntary tranquiliser addiction) They helped me every step of the way, telling me how to do it and what to tell my gpI wish you well ,feel free to contact me if you need any more information
Hi Anita,
I guess I ought to talk to CITA, I haven't so far as I thought my GP would help but he's really useless (although a very nice person - he just doesn't seem to have the confidence or wish to take on something outside a normal GP's domain i.e. prescribing pills for people with flu!)
Did you get on switching over with your GP or did you get CITA to help? My doc is trying to refer me to a drug&alcohol unit (the first time he tried, the one he referred me to was not in the county I lived in and so didn't want to know, and said anyhow that they were not qualified toi deal with this kind of thing - they only gave CBT therapy). The one he is now trying I suspect will be the same, as I think he does not have a clue and is just trying to fob me off.
regards
Keith
Hi Vivien,
I think giving up is the only way, I've been lucky (or not?) in that I have not had my supply disrupted so far, just have to get a repeat prescription every 2 weeks... it seems like no-one seems to want to help deal with the problem, they just want to maintain the status quo. One person on this site recommended detox at the Priory, well that's OK if you have several £xxxxxx and a few weeks to spend, but alas no good for most of us.
Hi Keith, i had no trouble with my GP in switching, just told them what i needed to do snd about Cita.Think GP didnt have much option but to support me in my decision and in supplying diazapan as they really should not have kept supplying me with repeat prescriptions of zopiclone for a 5 year period.Cita would have wrote me a letter if needed though.This is something you really need to do Keith, go back to GP insist on him listening and helping you the longer you are on this drug the harder it is and you have been asking for his help since June, tell him been a long time and he should have offered you more help , that is what he is paid for.Good luck
Keith, Anita, can Keith contact CITA for help interfacting with GP? I can understand some GPs not wanting to just go on a patient's say so to prescribe an addictive medication like diazapam--as addictive as zop is, diazapam is more addictive in certain ways because it is also anti-anxiety and muscle relaxant and anti-convulsive, and going off it affects not just the sedative dependence but dependence in these other neurotransmitter processes. Not only that but diazapam is so long lasting that it builds up in your tissue while you're taking it and the elimnation half life is much longer than zopiclone so that it takes a long time to be eliminated from plasma circulation, and how long is unpredictable, related to individual conditions such as age, liver function and many others. Zop is quickly eliminated from circulation, so that it doesn't build up in tissue as much as diazapam does. Diazapam can't be eliminated very quickly, so every time a new dose is taken, some of it accumulates in the body, and i don't thnk this is well understood medically, just speculated about. Diazapam, clinically, has a good track record for helping people who are dependent on the shorter acting medications because it takes so long to be eliminated, tapering off it can be easier and smoother than with the shorter acting meds. But this does involve experience and expertise of the doctor, monitoring and encouraging the tapering process. I can understand a GP not having confidence in their experience in managing withdrawal from meds. Some GPs are more willing to work with the patient and learn knew things than others. That's why i wonder if the involvement of CITA would help--if they might contact teh GP by phone to provide contact info where the GP can consult while managing withdrawal (from diazapam), or with a letter that the GP can place in the patient's chart which provides him with a kind of coverage, showing that he is consulting with experts during the process. I think if i had ready access to CITA, i would seek out their help with my dependence. My GP is clearly not experienced, nor am i, in using the diazapam crossover method, that's why i sought out a specialist in addictioin medicine, but in retrospect, i didn't find his communication to be adequate for my needs, and maybe the options just aren't that many--i went off zolpidem onto diazapam but then found that i was so hung over from diazapam, it ruined the quality of my daily life in a way that zolpidem did not, so now i'm using the zolpidem to help me taper off the diazapam. My case is more complex because i recently learned i have an insulinoma which is a rare condition, a non-malignant tumor that is very tiny on the pancreas that secrets insulin into the blood stream, which removes glucose from your blood, causing you to be very hypoglycemic, which makes me very tired and lacking energy that glucose normally gives, so it's too hard for me to tell what is caused by diazapam and what's caused by the insulinoma, insulinoma is curable by surgery and i'm in the process of trying to get that scheduled, and then i can get back to the project of getting off my Z drugs, but it wasn't until my addiction meds doctor took my insulinoma evidence seriously that he got on the same page with me about getting off the sleep meds, we are waiting until the insulinoma is gone. I think CITA is a very good support option that can probably make a positive difference in most peoeple's withdrawal efforts.
Hi Anita,
My GP really didn't want to know. I had printed out a crossover method and all relevatnt info and he didn't even want to look at it, just said 'I'm a GP and I'm not qualified to deal with this, I need to refer you to a psychiatrist." Then he gave me a repeat prescription form so if nothing happens I can continue as is indefinitely!!!
I don't really have a lot of confidence in him helping based on previous interaction. Basically he deals with coughs and colds and not much more. I guess I shoiuld change doc but this is a small village and so not that easy.
Hi jaw,
its interesting what you say about diazepam and how that may not be the best route. I am really wondering if I should just stop the zops and put up with the withdrawal effects as it seems there is no help available. I don't think the doc would listen to CITA, I just don't think he really can be bothered to put his neck out and help, sad to say. All my life I've thought the NHS was a wonderful thing, but when I finally need its help,I find that is's just a lottery.
Hi Jaw
In response to your question about CITA they are listed by the Department of Health as a source of information and help to GPs ,nurses and other health professionals.It is true that a lot of GPs are not experienced in benzodiaxepine addiction and withdrawl .Although zopiclone like the otherZ drugs is not a benzo it effects on the brain are very similiar.Diazapan is as you say a long acting drug ,zopiclone short acting and because of this CITA believe that conversion to diazapine followed by slow withdrawal is the best way to come off the Z drugs.Diazepan is as addictive as the Z s but not more addictive.I hope this as helped a little i am not qualified on the drugs but learnt a lot from CITA about these drugs during my addictionSome are lucky to be able just to cut their dosage little by little to withdraw but for many like myself this way is just to painful with horrendous withdrawal symtoms that can occur.CITA are the best people to talk to and their are other similiar organisations but these were the ones that helped me.I have never looked back and at one time i never thought i would be the person i used to be because of my addiction.Its been over 3 years for me now and my life is as it was before i started taking this sleeping tablet.Reason for starting was at the time i was going through a very stressful divorce and was not sleeping.At the time i thought its just a sleeping tablet will stop when i feel better which as you know is not so straight forward.
Sorry about spelling mistakes , rushing to reply as cant always get back straightaway, work etc
Sorry again but also meant to say that CITA offer a Benzodiazepine Withdrawal Protocol , this letter of protocol introduces CITA and includes a tranquilliser reduction/ wirhdrawal programme that can be shown to your GP , i had one myself but didnt produce to GP as they agreed with my plan of action from the start
Hi I told you a few months ago I was giving them up well I failed I am back on them , and the price has gone up shame united pharm stopped them .
Hi Bren. I also tried giving them up but not out of choice, my gp stopped them. After one month of hardly any sleep i decided to get some of the internet. A UK company. I know american companys cant ship them anymore. When i received them they dont look like the ones you get that are prescribed over here and i dont think they are as effective. Sometimes i get to sleep, and sometimes i dont. What are your experiences of internet Zopiclone. Have you tried any others yet. Do you think the quality is the same.