Drug info - Zopiclone (Imovane, Lunesta)

[~lostgurl~]

Zopiclone/Immovane only comes in 7.5mgs, I'm not exactly sure of Lunesta.

[drab4]

Here is another vote for vivid and unusual dreams when taking zopiclone

Zopiclone is the only benzo or derivative which I have experienced this on. Shame, as it works well for actually getting to sleep!

It does not have this effect when combined with large amounts of alcohol, I don't know if this adds to the discussion of REM sleep in any way, just mentioning it as a by-the-by

drab4 added 6 Minutes and 22 Seconds later...

Here is a study abstract on zopiclone with regards REM, in case anyone is still interested

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10672632

[samm2]

Since this thread is alive and well still, some comments:

Zopiclone is the racemic mix of straight zopiclone, whereas Lunesta is one racemic blend of zopiclone. An example of this is amphetamine whereby dexedrine is the d-amphetamine and staight amphetamine is a mixture of the d and l salts.Focalin is one racemic salt of methylphenidate whereas Ritalin is the mix of both. How a pharm co. can get a patent on one racemic salt of the same chemical is beyond me and total BS and following of Bushite retard policy.

[doublezero]

the taste the day after was fucking sick, especially wen you go to drink or eat something. If you stay awake and not sleep can make u feel a bit strange.

[~lostgurl~]

My gurl never dreamed while taking zopiclone, she never hallucinated either even at high doses. She did however get great night sleeps for years, she also had some "fun" times when taking high doses and pushing herself to stay awake, though she doesn't always remember these times. With her high tolerance it also worked for anxiety taking half a pill during the day when needed. The taste is grosser if you have to take half a pill because the pills are coated but at the time my gurl was a smoker so it was no big deal. And maybe my gurl was lucky getting minimal withdrawal (1 night of restless sleep and sweats, no noticeable effects during the day) but when my gurl came off 2mg / day clonazepam it took about 6 months or more because of the withdrawal effects, so if they are so similar why the big difference in withdrawal symptoms?

[~lostgurl~]

Maybe it is because of zopiclone's short half life that my gurl did not suffer from withdrawals? Her Dr also commented that its use for anxiety may be better than clonazepam because of its short half life, but because of its sedative affect most could not use it for this even at low doses.

[~lostgurl~]

My gurl didn't dream the whole time she was taking Zopiclone (approx 4 years) but if she napped during the day she would dream. She now dreams almost every night. Not sure if my gurl is the norm or not though, just her experience. She also never hallucinated.

[staples]

Originally Posted by ~lostgurl~

My gurl didn't dream the whole time she was taking Zopiclone (approx 4 years) but if she napped during the day she would dream. She now dreams almost every night. Not sure if my gurl is the norm or not though, just her experience. She also never hallucinated.

Perhaps this had a little more to do with the fact that you do not enter deeper stages of sleep if you do not need to, i.e, you cycle back up to REM sleep more often as you've already attained enough deep restorative sleep. Thus, during the day, when one doesn't need much rest yet, it may be easier to wake up from REM sleep and recall dreaming. This is another important point: not being able to recall dreams does not mean someone did not experience REM sleep during the night, it usually means they happened to wake up from a deeper stage of sleep.

I'm not sure what changed, such as why your girl would no longer needs zopiclone to sleep after 4 years, but there could be more factors than just zopiclone around whether or not she experiences dreams. I am the polar opposite of your girl, I suppose, in that I only dream when using medication to sleep (mostly zolpidem but I've indeed had dreams, nightmares rather, on zopiclone). This is probably due to the fact that I seem to naturally stay up for 2-3 days at a time without medication, so I would probably reach deeper stages of sleep on more cycles than normal, and thus the chances that I would wake up from deeper sleep are higher.

Though it's going a little off topic again, I can't help but wonder: How could your girl need Zopiclone to sleep if she could succesfully nap? That is an irritation of mine, that I've never really been able to take a nap.

[~lostgurl~]

I think the napping had more to do with her RLS, daytime is just easier for sleep. My gurl would also stay up all night one night then take Zopiclone the next night so she is similar to you in that way. She quit in rehab when her days became longer and fuller so she was actually tired at the end of the day and now she takes melatonin but also needs a bunch of other meds off and on to control her worsening RLS.

[Panthers007]

Dreams are not really just random events that happen during sleep - they are important messengers that relay material to the personal subconscious that the dreamer needs. As important material, they will get through - regardless of the dreamer staying awake. Or taking a drug that interferes with the transmission.

Dreams are composed of an ancient language - symbols. People have spent a great deal of time dissecting and analyzing these symbols - for better or worse. If you see a book on dream interpretation in the check-out line of the supermarket, don't bother. The works of people like Carl G. Jung come much closer to rendering a useful understanding.

If you take a drug that blocks this process, the dream will surface at some point. This could be when at an important test in college. Or, worst-case scenario, driving a car. I don't know if Zopiclone interferes with REM (dream) sleep. But if it does, this would explain why an afternoon nap would have dreams in it while the nighttime sleep was lacking. Barbituates do block REM, however, and were phased out of prominent usage years ago. One problem with barbituates, aside from extreme addiction and overdoses, was it drove people nuts. This, too, can happen if one blocks REM sleep for an extended period.

[staples]

That's quite the psychoanalytic perspective, but I've never heard of any verifiable 'language' or set of symbols that exist only in dreams... I do not contest that dreams aren't random, but they are subject to the specific experiences of each individual, so it really wouldn't make sense for there to be something universal to all dreams--only universal within a culture, perhaps.

Other than that, I thought it was generally accepted that dreams are simply a byproduct of REM sleep, and REM sleep serves to strengthen the most commonly-used synapses. REM sleep is not absolutely necessary, but beneficial, so I'm not convinced that REM sleep deprivation alone would drive people insane; In fact, after a few days, there's no distinguishable difference between those deprived of REM sleep and those not deprived of any sleep in a newly-learned activity, if I remember correctly.

[Panthers007]

Originally Posted by staples

Other than that, I thought it was generally accepted that dreams are simply a byproduct of REM sleep, and REM sleep serves to strengthen the most commonly-used synapses. REM sleep is not absolutely necessary, but beneficial, so I'm not convinced that REM sleep deprivation alone would drive people insane; In fact, after a few days, there's no distinguishable difference between those deprived of REM sleep and those not deprived of any sleep in a newly-learned activity, if I remember correctly.

I beg to differ. If one is in dream-state sleep with their body asleep as well - then REM becomes a factor that one can monitor for this state being achieved. But if one is awake, and starts to dream, then REM becomes meaningless.

Your argument, a very common one I might add, presupposes that REM is causative in the dream process.

[spacelord]

SWISp feels great when relaxing on zopiclone for an hour or so before going to sleep. Sleep is great, more refreshing than usually.

One question: Does plugging z-benzos make any sense? SWISp is basically an illiterate when it comes how which enzymes act in metabolising drugs.