PN Pain Relief??
 

I saw this posted on another site:
Zopiclone (Imovane) for instant relief of Neuropathic Pain

It sounds like a tranquilizer or sedative of some sorts.
Used as a sleep aid:
http://www.weknowsleep.com/Zopiclone...ORD=zopiclonee

Anyone know anything about this med being used for PN pain?

Maybe because it knocks you out, it's the drug marketed under the name "Lunesta"...

Lunesta is not doing well as a sleep aid. It sort of fizzled. Ambien has the market share.

Here is more info:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zopiclone

Beware of some internet sites that lure you in with big words...typically by international RX drug sales sites.

I find neuropathy listed as a side effect from Lunesta!
Its side effect profile probably is the cause of its poor sales.

The link, you gave Bob didn't work for me, BTW.

Mrs D,
Did you mean the link I gave?

I just tried it from here, & it works.
Its for WeKnowSleep.comhttp://www.weknowsleep.com/elements/spacer.gif

Oh, I AM sorry.... I will edit that post now. :o

I am having a bad day.... One of my fingers on my left hand has a painful lump on the last knuckle. It is hard for me to concentrate this morning. (this is in addition to 2 fingers on the right hand, which now have Heberden's nodes, as well, :Dunno:

I just tried the repaired link.... I don't see anything on it about neuropathy?

Maybe I better go back to bed?

Hi, I have been on Zopiclone, the generic of Imovane for insomnia for at least 7 years.

I personally have not found that it makes any difference to my pain level but that does not mean that it won't help others.

Des

Hi Mrs. D.
Thanks for that info. I was just going to ask my MD to change me from ambien to lunesta. I don't think I'll being doing that.
hopeful

After ambien, lunesta will do squat. Tried that....now I just sleep au naturale..like 2 to 4 hours here and there, mostly after 3am.

If lunesta causes neuropathy...how 'bout Ambien? I wonder about all this stuff we are all taking...hmmm.

If they are pushing lunesta as a pain reliever eeesh....either it doesn't put you to sleep or they figure, if you ARE asleep you don't hurt! If that moth came near me, I would flail around like crazy...those moths are huge in person! Bigger than a hummingbird. One scared the cr@p out of me once. I am not fond of moths....(some deep seated emotional issue, I guess.)

The sad thing is they rename some drug, remarket it and yes, people buy it. Ah yes, free market medicine. Maybe if I knock myself out my headache will go away.:hit-safe:

Imovane is the Canadian brand name. We use Lunesta in USA.
Many drugs have different brand names in other countries.

I use 3mg of Melatonin at night. Works for me.
If you do not take SSRI or SNRI antidepressants, you can try 500mg of tryptophan at night. It helps too...but takes several days to get going.

Oh, aha....different country, different name...even more confusing!

Whatever you call it, I never liked that moth either. The first time I saw it I said "Look! that moth comes into your room after you fall asleep, drops your stuff on the floor and breaks it!"

LOL, a bit off the subject but we get those moths in the summer. They are scary and I would not want it to be any where near my bed! I read one time that they do not have mouths. They don't eat, their sole purpose is to mate. They only live a few days... not a very good message for a sleeping drug... Anyways, it didn't do squat for me.

Mere

Moths don't have mouths....all those years of worrying about getting eaten by a moth!:Doh:

Well, it is a shame that Lunesta doesn't work for pain. Check another crappy pain drug off the list.

I don't know about all moths, actually I think most do have mouths, they have that curly straw thing that darts out of their mouths. It is just the giant and scary Luna moths that don't have mouths...

Now, you are really going to be scared when you think of the curly, straw thingy...

Sorry about that, Cyclelops...:hug:

Remember 'Mothra' ?
Japanese horror movie with an actor in a moth costume, sized to be as big as....
well..... 'Godzilla'. (I think there was a Godzilla vs Mothra movie.....
I think I'm getttin 'old-timer's' disease!)

My cat LOVED Mothra.... one Saturday we were watching Godzilla vs Mothra, and she became entranced with the TV and watched a whole long sequence of Mothra the caterpiller fighting with Godzilla. The part where Mothra bites Godzilla's tail and gets flung around...that was captivating for my kitty. (the kitty who is now currently on my siggie!.

We laughed so hard, that day...everytime I hear "Mothra" I think of that afternoon! Cat TV!

OK, so now my deep seated emotional problem has reactivated itself....not only a mouth but some big curly thing too??? Lord. I am under the covers...Mothra??? Maybe I saw that in some preverbal stage of my life?? I dunno. Just don't like the critters....they need to leave me alone and I will leave them alone.

I am not coming out til it's safe!

Mrs. D. your kitty is a beauty. I have three female bitc.y kitties. Two are half sisters and the other was a six week old stray. I have always had cats and do not know what I would do without them...they always amuse, delight and lately, help to keep my head on straight.

Cyclelops, it's safe, the Mothra has left, it is safe to come out now...

I dunno....you sure it's safe???:eek:

Cyclelops, I am sure, it's safe... wait a minute, here comes the Luna!!! Did you take Lunesta?

I don't understand why the female cats are so bitc.y. We had males years ago and they did not seem to fight at all. Every time I turn around, I hear HAAAAAA! Constant hissing. The little orphan gets it, by far, the worse. They get up on their hind legs and start boxing at each other. Ginger is the alpha, she can be downright mean to the others and she is large.

Mrs. D. Do you have females or a mix?

I had a cat at one time we called her mean molly. I had 5 at one time! Regular cat lady. We don't have any now...but we have 3 dogs. Hubby is very allergic to cats. I think it depends on the cat's personality...some are sweet, some are just plain ornery.

Wow! You are a cat lady! Such perfect creatures, even if they are ornery like Mean Molly and Ginger...:cool:

I have 2 dogs, no cats. Sorry. :D
I'm on Gabbapentin for the pain, and I can tell when I've missed a dose.
It's not 100% effective for me.
My Dr suggested Magnesium, so I'm up to 500mg of that, and I can tell the muscle pain isn't as bad, but it's still there.
Does nothing for the weakness, but the pain relief is wonderful.
At night things seem to get worse though, so I use Kaluha with some diet dr pepper to get rid of that, before I go to bed...It's not for everyone.

Pretty far upthread someone (I think mrsD) mentioned Lunesta vs Ambien. I have no experience with Lunesta, but I take Ambien CR every night, and have for about six months. It is the only non-narcotic I've taken that completely eliminates the pain, even when I'm awake. Sometimes I take it early, then fight to stay awake for a couple of hours just so I can experience what it feels like not to be in any pain.

I wonder if this drug that Bob asked about, which someone said is really Lunesta under another name, has a similar effect. Anyway, whatever it is in Ambien that gives me so much relief, I wish it could be identified and isolated (if that's possible) so I could take it in the daytime.

I take ambien and have noticed that is does indeed help pain. I find though, that I get a weird amnesia if I take it too early.

Mere

Ambien affects consciousness is some way not understood yet.

In fact it can bring people OUT of a coma, for example! This has been done already. So research is being done on it, I think.
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/OnCall/sto...2154940&page=1

It is problably disconnecting your perception of the pain. This is what the antidepressants are thought to be doing, distancing your attention away from the pain signals.

Yep, Mere, it does cause amnesia, but as far as I've noticed it only makes me forget things that happen from the time I take it to the next morning. I still remember things that happen during the day just fine. So I just watch TV during the time I'm "under the influence"...that way when rerun season starts, it won't bother me a bit!

There you go, LOL! That is interesting. Perhaps your neurologist would be sympathetic and give the okay for you to try on a regular basis.

Sometimes, a few side effects are okay if it works so well for your pain. Hey, we all deserve to have pain relief...

Very interesting indeed!

I am curious to know what your neurologist says.

Mere

I guess I'm lucky pain wise?
 

In that while I'm always in pain of some sort? I'm no longer medicated for it on a long or regular term basis. I'd given up on the anti-seizures only because they stopped working at a certain point. Now only take tramadol for extreme occasions, and even then it only takes about 10% off the top.
Luckily, my own constitution seems to fall asleep and stay asleep thruout it all, except when I was on Neurontin [but, that was only the first year].
Warm Milk and occasionally actually going into dream/sleep mode is truly the bestest cure for much!
Do not EVER tho! STOP one of these meds cold turkey! And, DO the TAPERING DOWN on a MONDAY! So you can get hold of the neuro later on in the week....Cannot stress this enuf. Safety first as these meds can be and are powerful treatments. Besides? Think of it this way...better to go to the ER on a Thursday nite AND get your doc on call..than the weekend?
I am looking for a single purr-box these days, but am waiting for that 'box' to choose me. It happens and I'm expecting this soon.
Hugs and hope to all! :hug::hug::hug:'s - j