Have you ever had a reaction to Zopiclone (sleeping tablet)?

[TheCatsPaws]

Was prescribed this in place of diazepam despite me using diazepam sparingly for about 7 years and working well with it. Due to severe anxiety causing insomnia I asked for some but got this instead.

Long story short, it caused me to have a hallucination and end up injuring myself. I have vague memories of what I did while on it but my partner has recounted to me that I went hysterical, violent and he had to physically restrain me. I am not normally a violent person at all.

Once the drug wore off, I was confused and really upset.

What I want to know is, has this happened to anyone else? I’ve been googling it and I can find vague reference to mood disturbances but nothing quite as severe as what happened to me.

I had a similar experience with a local anaesthetic when I was a teen (passed out, woke up and thought I’d been captured by the CIA, hallucinated people coming after me and started fighting people to escape), so fully aware this might me specific to me. But if so I’d like to know why.

Any ideas? Wasn’t sure where to post this so put it here for traffic.

Yeah, just taken one and it made me go to slzzzzzzzzzzz

Just actually wondering if I should take one tonight for the first time ever. Maybe I'll wait to see what responses you get.

Online everyone seems to love it, so it might just be me...

I personally will never take it again though.

I had episodes of memory loss. I had taken it for several years and one morning I woke up to find a facebook post that I had absolutely no memory of writing. I also ordered a couple of things from Amazon and found that I had been eating stuff during the night too!
It scared me so much that I stopped taking them immediately.

People do have different sensitivities and it sounds as if this kind of drug is a very bad idea for you.

Only reactions I've had to it are the slightly upsetting "blankness" when you fall asleep without drifting off and then the absolutely vile taste the next day.

Instantly knocked out and horrid metalllic after taste. Never again.

I have been using sleeping pills for 11 years. A big mess. It has casused me to have a stomach ulcer constant acid reflux and anxiety so bad that I don’t even recognise myself at times. I stopped taking them when I found out I was pregnant and went on such a withdrawal I thought I was dying (sick, shakes, headaches). I had no idea what I was doing to my body so bad :( please don’t take them.

Zopiclone is not a good drug. I was told that after 3 weeks of regular use the effectiveness for sleeping fades and it is extremely habituating. Most GPs now will not prescribe except for short courses

I had episodes of memory loss. I had taken it for several years and one morning I woke up to find a facebook post that I had absolutely no memory of writing. I also ordered a couple of things from Amazon and found that I had been eating stuff during the night too!
It scared me so much that I stopped taking them immediately.

The memory loss really frightened me. It worries me if idve taken it when I’d been home alone too.

I’m glad someone else has experienced something similar, not that I’m glad it’s happened to you but I’m glad I’m not some sort of medical marvel.

when I take them I have very vivid nightmares.

Hallucinations is on the list of possible side effects.
Personally it had no effect on me whatsoever.

I only had a short course, but the only effect I had was the horrid taste in my mouth. Even water tasted like drinking nail varnish remover.

I've had the occasional short course of zopiclone, and apart from the taste, have been fine. I took it just before I went to bed and was all ok.

All these types of drugs have a bad effect on me. I’m talking about a drug induced movement disorder from an anti psychotic (extreme reaction but it had to happen to me...!) and the habituation of diazapem and zopiclone after just a week. Having said this, Citalopram was a life saver but I’d only ever take this one again if I had to take anything and my mental health depended on it.

I’m going to say be very cautious in future about any psyotropic medication if you react like this to zopiclone. I’m not trying to scare you at all; just saying be careful - I was desperate for a ‘cure’ and quick fix for my insomnia two years ago, and ended up being prescribed an antipsychotic that I probably should never have been given. It is something I regret taking every day, but then hindsight is a wonderful thing.

Not personally but my mother had a strange hallucinatory experience after taking it once. She had gone to bed, and ended up texting a family member who she thought was in her house telling them to stop making so much noise as they were keeping her awake. Could recall nothing of this but had the message on her phone and family member (who was not in her house) somewhat confused too!

I think I googled at the time and it didn’t seem like a common or known side effect, but perhaps there is some way it interacts with the brain that causes hallucinations in some people.

I’ve had it a few times and found it worked remarkably well, but I don’t think she’s dared to take it since.

When I was in hospital 14 years ago I miss pernounced it Zombie clone it was quite appropriate really. First night I took it I had to be helped in to bed, slurring words.

One night I try and throw my CD player across the ward,not quite as violent as your describing.

Not a great drug

Not zopiclone but I have the same with diazepam and midazolam. Tried to do a 20ft jump from first floor in a t shirt and knickers on the former, God knows why, had a CPN on phone at 4am trying to calm me down. Took 36 hours before I was 'right'.

Midazolam I was extremely paranoid (so I'm told), combative and throwing whatever I could at medical stuff. Only later did they realise same had happened when I was a child before adenoids, apparently punching and kicking/screaming etc.

There's now a note on my files in hospital saying I'm not to have anything like that unless unavoidable. Said it might be that I don't metabolize it correctly or something

No unwanted effects on me, I took it briefly as a student for anxiety

But the important part is the effect it has on you. I’d suggest going back to the doctor, explaining what happened and asking for a different drug. If you’ve got on well with diazepam previously, it makes sense (to me, but I’m not medically trained) to stick with that unless it’s contra-indicated for another reason

Apart from the awful metallic taste they work fine for me. I get zopidem now though as they don’t have the nasty aftertaste at all.

I remember coming round off midazolam with 4 people holding me down talking very gently to me, that was very strange! I only have two flashes of shouting about poisonous gases (actually just oxygen) and biting through a sats probe..

Awful awful reaction when I took it (years ago now), it was a shirt course and I was in a bad place but although I slept on it it wasn’t a restful sleep at all and I had memory loss, zombie like state most of the day after, weird metallic taste and convinced there was someone in the room with me all the time, genuinely frightening and I would warn anyone to be wary. Obviously some people will be fine but I wasn’t at all:

I was prescribed this as a student after my Mum died and I was having trouble sleeping, and when I did I was having vivid and hallucinatory dreams about her.

I stopped it the moment I realised I’d driven myself to university for lectures but didn’t remember waking up, showering, dressing myself and driving an hour down the M40 for 9am lectures. Literally blank spaces of time I had no recollection of. I’ll never take it again.

But I am super sensitive to any drugs- can’t take codeine or co-codamol (it makes me very anxious and sick) and even Panadol with caffeine makes me feel like the worlds about to end!

Horrific stuff - was prescribed it following breakdown of my marriage. It gave me awful GI symptoms and pain. Only took it for a week before stopping and getting a different prescription.

First time I took them I had an ' experience', not sure if it was a hallucination or a dream or something else, but remember a dark figure coming across the room to me and lying their whole body on me, I could feel the weight. But because of the tablets I couldn't move any of my limbs so I just had to lie there and then I fell asleep.. very bizarre! And , of course, the horrible metallic taste in your mouth for the rest of the next day!