Lunesta Put Me In The Er

I'm 36 year old female. I've always had insomnia since childhood. This summer it got to the point I was getting zero sleep. My doctor prescribed 3mg Lunesta every night. She said many of her patients tolerated it very well, so I should have no problem.

Within the first five days, I lost my coordination and walked into furniture, making a giant bruise on my leg. I thought it was just a random accident. Then a few days later I got a staph infection in my inner thigh -- first time in my whole life. Dr put me on Keflex. Over the next week, my memory and concentration weakened. I felt like I was lost in fog. Then I got indigestion. I thought it was from the Keflex.

The Keflex ended, infection gone (not without leaving a scar), and still the weird symptoms continued to escalate. My entire digestive system was stopping. Food just sat in my stomach and did not process. I stopped going to the bathroom. I was always nauseous, always hungry, yet my belly was knotted up so badly that I couldn't eat. Even chicken broth was hard to get down. The only thing I could keep down was herbal tea. This continued well after the Keflex was gone. I was fatigued all the time, eating very little, and constantly sick. Every time I forced down food, I had an adrenaline rush that drove up my pulse. It got so bad one night that I was shaking.

Meanwhile, my brain fog was getting worse. I started to miss my turns and forget where I was going when I drove. It was getting harder to concentrate. I went to an urgent care center one day because I felt so bad. They x-rayed my abdomen and said I just had a little constipation. No one seemed concerned about the Lunesta. They told me to take a laxative.

Then I awoke one morning to the worst abdominal pain I've ever had. Cold sweats, tachycardia, feeling faint. Still couldn't go to the bathroom. Called 911. ER doctor gave me Bentyl and Zofran. I had four bowel movements at the ER. Then I thought, okay, that weird abdominal thing is over. Nope. Within a few hours it all started up again. More nausea, more adrenaline, more shakiness. Also I was starting to have disturbing mental images.

I took the prescription as my doctor ordered. No Xanax, no antidepressants, no other funny business going with it.

The Lunesta was helping me sleep about 6 hours a night, but I couldn't handle the side effects any more. All of this happened within three weeks. I stopped it cold turkey. My body did not create any dependency, in fact my body seemed happy to have it gone. I slept without it right away. The mental images stopped immediately. My appetite improved.

I'm still on medicine for nausea as my stomach recovers. Every day is a little better. The mental fog is breaking slowly.

I've taken a lot of prescriptions in my life, but I have never had an experience like this.

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I'm very sorry about what happened to you, I went through similar issues, when taking Zolpidem (Ambien). I had no idea what was wrong with me, but given how badly I react to a lot of medications, you'd think it would have dawned on me a lot sooner than it did. I was attending a music festival that I wait all year for, even buying my tickets far in advance, and I really didn't enjoy it much that year, thanks to the medication.

Unfortunately, according to FDA warnings, these side effects are fairly common, some people also experience full hallucinations, and engage in sleep actions.

How are you feeling, now? Are you still improving?

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I’ve just experienced the same thing. Last Friday I was in the ER. I was convinced I had MS. Last night I decided to skip a lunesta and this morning I feel NORMAL. I’ve only been on lunesta for about 2.5 weeks. Last night I barely slept but my head doesn’t feel like there’s a huge weight on it pressing down I to my spine. ?????

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