Description
What is Lunesta 3mg?
Lunesta 3mg is a brand name for Eszopiclone, one of three primary drugs used to treat moderate to severe insomnia.
Lunesta 3mg (eszopiclone) is a sedative, also known as a hypnotic, and it is used to treat insomnia. It may help those who take it to fall asleep faster, and sleep for a longer period of time, for a more restful night’s sleep.
How Does Lunesta 3mg Work?
Sleep is a complex architecture of neurological messages that are nearly burned into our DNA. Your biological clock is a very real natural timepiece that modulates your body’s chemistry—psychological and physical—with the rhythms of each 24-hour period. This is known as the Circadian Rhythm. When your biological clock becomes disrupted due to insomnia you may simply need a boost to your inner sleep timer to get your sleep-wake cycle back on its natural track.
Lunesta, or eszoplicone, is an agonist for the brain’s GABA receptor (gamma-Aminobutyric acid), which means it binds to GABA, making more of this chemical available to your brain. The increase in GABA makes you sleepy, and is also the trigger mechanism in some anti-anxiety medications. The non-benzodiazepine hypnotics like Lunesta and Ambien are extremely fast-acting. You take one just before bedtime. The medication ensures your sleep latency, or the time it takes you to go to sleep, is shortened and that you stay asleep for a full 7 to 8 hours – enough time to wake up and be revitalized.
Dosage & Missed Dose
The typical adult dosage of Lunesta is 2 or 3 mg before bedtime. For people over age 65 the typical dosage is either 1 mg or 2 mg.
If you missed a dose before you went to bed and are unable to fall asleep, you should only take your dose if you will be able to stay in bed for at least 7-8 hours longer.
Storage Lunesta 3mg
Keep this medication in the container it came in, tightly closed, and out of reach of children. Store it at room temperature and away from excess heat and moisture (preferably not in the bathroom). Throw away any medication that is outdated or no longer needed.
Risks and Side Effects Lunesta 3mg
Lunesta 3mg is a controlled substance and a powerful sleep agent. The drug is licensed for short-term use among adults over the age of 18. One of the risks is that it can become habit-forming if used long-term and long-term is in excess of 2 weeks. At this point withdrawal symptoms are not uncommon and your physician should wean you off the medication beyond a 2-week regimen. Most side effects of Lunesta are light, but here are a few of the most common:
cold symptoms
chest pain
dizziness
loss of libido
As a controlled substance Lunesta is often abused and easily overdosed, making it a danger in the hands of an unsupervised patient. Other medicines like Fetzima can help also.
