Lunesta (eszopiclone) made by Sepracor, Inc. is a potent and effective drug to treat insomnia. It is capable of helping one fall asleep and stay asleep whole night through without frequent awakening at night. It is said to induce a healthy 7-8 hour sleep.
Lunesta is a non-benzodiazepine hypnotic drug. Although it differs structurally from benzodiazepines, it has practically the same action in the human organism. The medication is benzodiazepine receptors agonist, which enhances the activity of the natural body tranquilizer gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA).
Eszopiclone has a rapid onset of action, but its activity is short-term, which allows lessen the next-day grogginess and drowsiness – side effects observed in many other sleeping pills. The drug is reported to work well in patients with transient, as well as chronic insomnia. For the time being, it is mainly used as a short-term treatment option against sleep disorders; however, it has also been studied and showed positive results and good safety issues in the long-term treatment of insomnia.
This sleeping pill has a number of not serious side effects (headache, unpleasant taste and dry mouth, flu-like symptoms and infections, and upset stomach); however, it is said to be much safer in several respects than other non-benzodiazepines. Such adverse reactions as dizziness and drowsiness are much milder with Lunesta and occur in a very small number of patients. Moreover, tolerance does not develop with the prolonged use of the drug and its effectiveness is not reduced.
In addition, a great benefit of Lunesta is that the pill has miniscule tendency to cause rebound insomnia after stopping the drug. A few patients reported only about mild rebound insomnia symptoms and their short duration (in general, they lasted one night only).
However, in spite of the excellent safety profile of Lunesta a small number of patients may develop such rare side effects as depression (about 4% of patients), hair loss (less than 1%), weight gain, and decreased libido (about 3%).
The usual dosage of Lunesta is 2-3 mg immediately before bedtime without food. Seniors respond well to 1-2 mg of the drug, and this dose helps avoid side effects occurrence. Children under 17, pregnant and breastfeeding women are not recommended to use this medication. People with severe liver and lung diseases, with depression and sleep apnea, as well as those who consume much alcohol should avoid Lunesta. In view of possible drug interactions, a patient should inform his doctor about any medicines he is taking.
Lunesta is a relatively new drug, improved and safer than older ones; however, every person may react to it differently, thus, only a doctor should prescribe this medicine upon careful weighing of all the pros and cons. Only in this case treatment will be safe and effective.
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