Half-awake people eating, driving cars, or talking on the phone. Drowsy, clumsy people stumbling their way through the day. These scenarios might sound like a zombie movie, but they are reality. These things can happen when people take the sleeping pill Lunesta.
Lunesta is a brand name for the drug eszopiclone. Eszopiclone is a hypnotic drug. Hypnotic drugs change the way the brain functions to sedate people (make them sleepy). This sedation could cause them to fall asleep. Unfortunately, this sleepiness could linger throughout the next day. People can also abuse Lunesta, but Lunesta addiction treatment in California can treat this abuse.
Symptoms of Lunesta Addiction
Lunesta has been formulated to people sleep, which means it can produce changes in the brain.
Sometimes, Lunesta can produce changes symptoms of Lunesta addiction that are not welcome:
- drowsiness and dizziness during the day
- mood changes, anxiety, or restlessness
- behavior changes or aggression
- hallucinations
- thoughts of harming yourself or others
- mental or memory problems
- clumsiness
- chest tightness and breathing difficulties
- rashes
Lunesta can produce lingering effects, and make you tired the next day. This can be a problem for older adults. If they are dizzy or drowsy, they might be confused or unsteady. Older adults also have other conditions that can make them unsteady, which could put them at risk for falls and injuries.
Since Lunesta can cause drowsiness, dizziness, and unsteadiness, it is important to avoid taking it with other drugs that might produce the same results. This includes benzodiazepines, a class of drugs commonly prescribed to treat anxiety.
People should also avoid taking Lunesta with alcohol. Like Lunesta, alcohol is a depressant on the brain and the central nervous system. Using both together intensifies the effects. Lunesta addiction treatment in California can help treat people who suffer from signs of Lunesta addiction and other substances at the same time.
People taking Lunesta have driven cars, cooked, eaten food, had sex, and made phone calls when they were not fully awake. In fact, in 2008, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued special warnings about Lunesta and these potentially dangerous sleep behaviors.
Signs of Lunesta Overdose
One of the other signs of Lunesta addiction is an overdose. Lunesta overdoses can produce side effects that can be harmful, even fatal:
- depression of the central nervous system
- fluctuating blood pressure
- problems with breathing
- loss of consciousness or comas
People should receive emergency medical treatment if they experience these symptoms.
Detox of Lunesta and Withdrawal of Lunesta
Lunesta addiction in California can produce such severe side effects and overdoses. That is why it is a good idea to eliminate Lunesta from the body in a detox process. Still, it is not simply a matter of just stopping the drug abruptly and going on with daily living.
Detox takes some work and can be painful. Lunesta detox can produce some side effects:
- nausea and vomiting
- sweating
- shaking
- insomnia
- dizziness
- mood swings
- anxiety or depression
- exhaustion
- strange dreams
These signs can happen during the withdrawal of Lunesta from one’s body, and indicate just how dependent a person’s brain and body can become on such substances. Effective Lunesta addiction treatment in California can help counteract these symptoms by using drugs and other treatments to ease pain.
Addressing Lunesta Addictions
It might be hard to determine if someone is abusing Lunesta or other substances. Sleeping pill addicts can go to great lengths to hide Lunesta abuse. They might lie if someone asks them about it. There are ways to discover if someone has been struggling with a Lunesta addiction in California:
- Physical changes. Do they seem drowsier or more clumsy than usual?
- Mood changes. Are they angry or do they display dramatic mood swings?
- Behavior changes. Are they not showing up to work or school?
- Life changes. Do they seem less motivated than usual and not achieving (or even working toward) the goals they have discussed?
- Relationship changes. Do they spend less time with friends and family members? Are they spending time with new groups of people?
These changes illustrate how Lunesta addiction in California can be all-consuming. It can change the way a person looks and acts, and drive a person to make Lunesta the biggest priority in their lives.
Family and Friends and Lunesta Addiction Treatment in California
Lunesta abuse does not just hurt the people using it. The abuse can hurt users’ friends and family members as well. They might be worried about the harm this addiction has caused. They might be victims of such addiction if the users lied to them, stole from them, or even assaulted them. Or relatives and friends might be sick and tired of having to repeatedly help their loved ones deal with the consequences of their Lunesta addiction in California.
If people have loved ones suffering from Lunesta, there are things they can do to help. An intervention is one of the tactics they can try. Interventions are meetings in which relatives and friends meet with substance abusers.
The purposes of these gatherings are to talk about substance abuse and try to get users into treatment. Family members and users tell each other exactly how they feel about the user’s addiction. Interventions can be emotional, so it is important for loved ones to express their love and support and not accuse Lunesta users during such meetings.
A successful intervention leads to a person seeking Lunesta addiction treatment in California. Monarch Shores can provide such treatment. Monarch Shores provides a host of treatment options that can treat the physical and psychological aspects of Lunesta abuse.
