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Lucidity Abounds Zopiclone by HM42

Citation:   HM42. "Lucidity Abounds: An Experience with Zopiclone (ID 51303)". Erowid.org. May 26, 2006. erowid.org/exp/51303

I was recently prescribed a box of Zopiclone tablets in an attempt to treat my chronic insomnia. In England, Zopiclone is available in red/orange 3.25mg tablets, or white 7.5mg tablets. I took the recommended dose of 7.5mg (two 3.25mg tablets) at about midnight. Usually I manage to get to sleep around one or two in the morning, but recently I've been unable to sleep until 6:00 or 7:00am.

I decided to sit up and read a book until I felt tired, but after a while I found it extremely difficult to take in information. My eyes scanned the words, they were repeated in my head, but they failed to connect with any real meaning - this is very similar to experiences I've had with amphetamines, both Base and Ecstasy.

Overall, the general reaction of the drug was not unlike a mild dose of Ketamine, or a pleasant Myristicin experience. There was a small increase in the luminescence of my visual field, which I've come to associate with an increase of the sympathetic nervous system, coupled with high beta/gamma brainwave production. However, I quickly began to feel drowsy, rather than energetic, and my limbs felt incredibly light.

It was maybe an hour, hour and a half before I fell asleep. Normally I have a very limited capacity to visualise (my assumption is that since I have quite good vocal/logical/practical skills, most of my vocabulary is stored in my occipital lobe), but on Zopiclone I found myself experiencing very intense Hypnogogic imagery. In particular, I saw many geometric patterns, as well as images of hands (symbols more closely related to the brain's sense of self than the face).

The most intense aspect of Zopiclone was, by far, the affect it had on my dreams. I've been practising lucid dreaming techniques for about a year now, with moderate success, but on this drug I found I possessed incredible lucidity.

I was totally aware that I was dreaming, and the dreams themselves were incredibly intense. There was absolutely no difference between my sleeping world and the waking world - if anything, I'd say my dreaming seemed more real than reality.

My thought processes whilst asleep were absolutely no different to when awake. I could think logically, weigh up my emotions, use my imagination. I also noticed that I had the same song stuck in my head that had been in there all day.

My dreams seemed to last all night, far longer than the number of hours I was actually asleep, in fact. People have told me that Marijuana and LSD help them gain lucidity, but I've always found Marijuana puts me in too deep a sleep, and I found it impossible to sleep on LSD. Zopiclone is BY FAR the best drug I've found for achieving control of my dreams.

My doctor was initially unwilling to prescribe me anything for my insomnia, due to the fact that it's a lifelong condition, and she didn't want me to become dependent on drugs for sleep (a very good point, I felt), and I think she only gave me the Zopiclone to get me out of her office.

One negative side effect I did notice was that my muscles wouldn't tense properly - when I tried to flex them they remained partly soft.