Withdrawal from 'Z' Drugs

[rocksmokinmachine]

Withdrawal from zopiclone 15mg (Zimovane/Imovane), once nightly with diazepam substitution

Allthough not a true benzodiazepine, zopiclone is a short acting hypnotic acting on the GABA-BZD receptors (the same as benzodiazepines). Withdrawal is similar over prolonged periods, and so substitution with a long acting benzodiazepine such as diazepam is beneficial.

	night time	diazepam equivelent
starting dose	zopiclone 15mg	10mg
stage 1	zopiclone 7.5mg, diazepam 5mg	10mg
stage 2	stop zopiclone, diazepam 10mg	10mg
stage 3	diazepam 9mg	9mg
stage 4	diazepam 8mg	8mg
stage 5	diazepam 7mg	7mg
stage 6	diazepam 6mg	6mg
stage 7	diazepam 5mg	5mg
stage 8	diazepam 4mg	4mg
stage 9	diazepam 3mg	3mg
stage 10	diazepam 2mg	2mg
stage 11	diazepam 1mg	1mg
stage 12	stop diazepam	-

Reputation Comments on this post:

Very awesome information mate, seriously, very helpful. :)

[~lostgurl~]

My gurl came off a 4 year, 15mg a night Zopiclone addiction cold turkey and it really wasn't that bad. The first night she had cold/hot sweats and woke up many times but the second night she slept right through, and during the day she felt no withdrawal symptoms.

[rocksmokinmachine]

Indeed, some people do not experience withdrawal from this drug. It does appear in the ashton manual, though we cannot link to it unfortunately because it contains a forum.

I thought it may good to post this as some people have difficulty withdrawing from 'Z' drugs. The fact that it is a short acting hypnotic agent acting on the GABA-BZD receptors, it would be beneficial to switch to a long acting benzodiazepine.

[rocksmokinmachine]

Simple withdrawal from zolpidem 10mg (Ambien), once nightly with diazepam substitution

Allthough not a true benzodiazepine, zolpidem is a short acting hypnotic acting on the GABA-BZD receptors (the same as benzodiazepines). Withdrawal is similar over prolonged periods, and so substitution with a long acting benzodiazepine such as diazepam is beneficial.

	night time	diazepam equivelent
starting dose	zolpidem 10mg	5mg
stage 1	zolpidem 5mg, diazepam 2mg	5mg
stage 2	stop zolpidem, diazepam 5mg	5mg
stage 3	diazepam 5mg	5mg
stage 4	diazepam 4mg	4mg
stage 5	diazepam 3mg	3mg
stage 6	diazepam 2mg	2mg
stage 7	diazepam 1mg	1mg
stage 8	stop diazepam	-