{"id":2051859,"date":"2026-07-19T08:03:14","date_gmt":"2026-07-19T05:03:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2051859"},"modified":"2026-07-19T08:03:14","modified_gmt":"2026-07-19T05:03:14","slug":"how-i-discovered-the-truth-about-the-herbal-sleeping-pills-i-got-hooked-on","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2051859","title":{"rendered":"How I discovered the truth about the ‘herbal’ sleeping pills I got hooked on"},"content":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/1024\/branded_news\/abbf\/live\/f42e5940-8124-11f1-a31f-0bdda52711c2.jpg”]<\/p>\n

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\"FionaFiona Cameron<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Fiona Cameron found out the pills she were taking were not herbal<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Fiona Cameron has struggled to get a good night’s sleep for most of her adult life – but none of the medication available in pharmacies helped. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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She turned to Amazon and found a product called Hypno by Bhang, which was described as “herbal sleep aid supplements, for deep restful sleep”. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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They worked, so she bought more. But after a year, she discovered the pills were actually Zopiclone, a prescription drug designed for short-term use. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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In that time Fiona had developed a dependency and she suffered severe withdrawal symptoms when she tried to come off them. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulation Agency (MHRA) said it was investigating the products. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Amazon said it had also launched an investigation and had removed the sleeping pills from its store. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Fiona, a fiction writer who lives in Castle Douglas, Dumfries and Galloway, spoke to BBC Radio 4’s Your and Yours about her experience. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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She said: “I suffered from insomnia for a very long time – most of my adult life – so I’m always on the look out for anything new.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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On a good night, she can get four to five hours sleep. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“But sometimes I just can’t sleep at all, other times I maybe get two or three hours of sleep, so I’m not a good sleeper,” she said. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Her GP had offered to prescribe Zopiclone for a very short period but she refused and “soldiered on”. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\"FionaFiona Cameron<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Fiona bought the tablets online<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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In January last year she found the Hypno by Bhang “herbal” treatment on Amazon. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“It gave a list a of ingredients – I wouldn’t describe them as herbs – they were minerals like magnesium,” Fiona said. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“They were fairly standard ingredients that you found in a lot of sleep aids but I bought a packet to try and my goodness, they worked. So I bought more.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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She set up a subscription and bought more than she needed as they were often out of stock, spending about \u00a31,100. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“I realise now it’s because I was addicted to them – I wanted to make sure that I didn’t run out because they really work,” she said. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Then Fiona read some of the “very worrying” reviews of the product on Amazon warning that they were prescription drugs. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“I was horrified,” she said. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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That’s when she took matters into her own hands and sent an unopened packet to WEDINOS, a free drug-testing agency funded by Public Health Wales. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“Predictably it came back saying it was 100% Zopiclone,” she said. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Fiona went straight to her GP who offered her alternatives. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“Nothing was as good as Zopiclone so I did have a period of several weeks where I had ‘hyperinsomnia’.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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She described hyperinsomnia as feeling “wired” 24 hours a day. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Fiona believes she lost a year of productivity while she was taking the medication. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“I write fiction and I got no work done of that type over that year and looking back I think it was because I was just zonked out most of the time because I’d been taking Zopiclone every night.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\"FionaFiona Cameron<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Fiona said she was “appalled” by Amazon’s response to her complaint<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Laura Wilson, the director for Scotland at the Royal College of Pharmacy, said Zopiclone was normally prescribed for a week at a time.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Fiona took the drug for a year. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“That’s quite a significant period of time to be taking a medicine such as this,” Wilson said. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“When used appropriately it can be a really valuable medicine to support patients to get that good night’s sleep and get back into the natural sleep pattern.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“When used like that it won’t cause that dependence, but that is a risk when you’re taking it for extended periods of time.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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She said withdrawal symptoms could include “rebound insomnia”, anxiety, agitation and nauseousness. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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When it is prescribed to patients, medics have to consider how it could affect other health conditions and react with other medications. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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As it causes drowsiness, they also have take into account jobs like lorry drivers, train drivers and those who work with heavy machinery.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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‘I’m really horrified’<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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When Fiona complained to Amazon, they passed her on to a third-party loss adjuster called Sedgwick.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“I was appalled by Amazon’s response,” Fiona said. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“I got an email saying we’re not liable and passing me on to Sedgewick. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“Not a word of any apology. I’m really horrified by that.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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She bought the tablets from three companies using Amazon’s platform – Mollienet Limited, Bullwell Limited, and BITZ4U Limited. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The packaging states that they were manufactured by 5AAD Wellness Limited at an address in Greater Manchester. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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None of them have replied to questions put to them by the BBC. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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A spokesperson for Amazon said: “We take customer safety extremely seriously and are investigating this. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“While we can’t comment further on this customer’s case at this time, third-party sellers are independent businesses and are required to follow all applicable laws, regulations, and Amazon policies when listings items for sale in our store.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“We have proactive measures in place to prevent prohibited products from being listed, and those who violate our policies are subject to action including potential removal of their account.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“The highlighted items have been removed from our store.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n

[analyse_source url=”https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/articles\/cx2rnpy1vk7o”]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/1024\/branded_news\/abbf\/live\/f42e5940-8124-11f1-a31f-0bdda52711c2.jpg”] Fiona Cameron Fiona Cameron found out the pills she were taking were not herbal Fiona Cameron has struggled to get a good night’s sleep for most of her adult life – but none of the medication available in pharmacies helped. She turned to Amazon and found a product called Hypno by Bhang, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[35,226],"class_list":["post-2051859","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-bbc-com","tag-crawlmanager"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2051859","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2051859"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2051859\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2051859"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2051859"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2051859"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}