TOP Brit DJ Tom Zanetti has revealed his horrific six year sleeping pill addiction, warning fans against getting hooked.
The Celebs Go Dating star, 34, took to Instagram yesterday with an emotional post which saw him speak about his secret battle for the first time.
Having overcome his dependency, Tom reflected on how he began taking zopiclone and diazepam at 23 amidst grief and a hectic lifestyle.
While he didn’t name her in the post, the TV personality has previously spoken about his girlfriend’s death from a car crash, a young mother at the time.
Despite the relief the pills initially provided, the side effects and dependency led him to quit, facing withdrawal and anxiety attacks, he explained.
Tom wrote in full, “I was addicted to sleeping tablets for like 6 years. Yeah this personal, but now and again I thought about posting this for last year or two was just nervous as obvs very real.
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“I like to get real on insta now and again and drop an essay haha – come to the conclusion think it’s very important to share for anyone who is on them now as it’s a very slippery slope, and for the younger generation who follow me to stay away and never use an an option as there is literally an epidemic with ‘benzos’ right now.
“Every single night I would take zopiclone and diazepam, 1 literally couldn’t sleep without it. The people closest to me know this, but how it affected me personally and mentally they would never know.
“It started when I was like 23, I was working a very insane schedule and going though a phase of partying to escape being sober, feeling so bad after my girlfriend at the time passed away suddenly and I also having my son pretty much full time.
“I was adamant I never wanted any medication or antidepressants etc after I had been asked to try them over and over again I just wanted to persevere and keep busy – working constantly and / or binge partying (partying in grief is the worst thing you can ever do).
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“It got to the point I was doing shows almost every night in the week, but also taking my son to school every morning. I would get back at 5/6am then sit on the sofa downstairs until my boy woke up so l could make him breakfast and take him to school.
“I thought I would just sit it out all day and sleep at the night time so i could in a crazy way sort my sleeping pattern.
“At this point I’d still never touched ‘sleepers’ and began to get in a cycle where I was sleeping one night miss a night for months on end.
“With everything else going on after losing my girl and constant exhaustion I gave in, and with the doctors advice I was given a two week course of zopiclone.
“It put me straight to sleep, I couldn’t believe it and I finally I was up and about at a ‘normal’ time so I could have a day feeling productive and not completely finished all the time from actual sleep for so long it was so horrid.
“Anyway, as time passed and I came quite tolerant – the zopi still put me to sleep very quickly, but didn’t keep me asleep and began waking after a few hours then couldn’t drift back off to sleep then ended up feeling even worse as I was completely shattered but all also had an awful added hangover type grogginess all day from the tablet, to which i then introduced diazepam.
“They are slow release and keep u asleep all night. Zopi to spark me, diaze to keep me zonked. This was honestly an awful, and dangerous way to live but I had become dependant.
“There is a gland in your brain and when ur tired and relaxed naturally it switches off and u fall asleep. I had manipulated it that much that the gland pretty much didn’t work and I literally could NOT sleep without my tablets.
“Such a crazy lifestyle made it so much harder the more i needed the sleep the more I couldn’t haha. The anxiety, depression, exhaustion and more that this gave me was almost unbearable.
“I remember reading somewhere, take zopiclone for 14 nights MAX or u can start to feel ‘out of reality mental experiences’ haha, not even funny I was on them every night for 6 years and nobody knows how bad it made me feel.
“I got off them and that was equally as hard, and took a while of no sleep so was vicious circle, iv not taken a tablet for so long now but i had to do it and i will never take again.
“Behind closed doors I was suffering bad panick attacks and more, almost every day would be driving my car and when nothing to distract me like l’d start feeling such sudden anxiety and almost have to pull over and just breathe / calm myself down.
“I’m sharing this because so many people take sleepers and think it’s a cure for numerous things. I am now completely rid and haven’t touched one in a few years.
“I’m so much happier in myself, I can sleep and im lucky enough it didn’t damage my health or worse.
“Work on your sleep routine – there is so many things u can do to help so get on that and do not get on sleepers, also best thing is to try cut out any bad energy from people or situations, make decisions for yourself so u can go to sleep clear minded.
“You can do this in any addiction, just accept and work to overcome. Lots of love.
“Below is helpline for anyone with any type of addiction 0300 123 6600 and a number for also anyone who is suffering and needs to just talk to someone 116 123 you can also get free therapy sessions in the NHS and they really help.
What are zopiclone and diazepam?
The NHS bill for sleeping pills is £10million a year, and doctors are even described as ‘pushers’.
But they will only prescribe the ‘Z drugs’ for up to four weeks because of the risk of addiction.
Zopiclone
Zopiclone is a type of medication used to treat severe insomnia over the short term.
It aids in falling asleep faster and prevents nighttime awakenings by affecting the brain’s calming neurotransmitter, gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA).
Zopiclone is available in tablet form, and for those who have difficulty swallowing tablets, a liquid form is available but must be specially ordered by a doctor.
It is important to note that Zopiclone is only obtainable with a doctor’s prescription.
Diazepam
Diazepam is categorized within the benzodiazepine group of medications.
Its applications span the treatment of anxiety, muscle spasms, seizures, and alcohol withdrawal symptoms like sweating or insomnia, particularly in a hospital setting.
Additionally, it is utilized as a pre-medication to induce relaxation before surgical or other medical procedures.
Its mechanism of action involves elevating the levels of the calming neurotransmitter gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) in the brain.
Diazepam is strictly available via prescription and is offered in various forms including tablets, liquid for oral ingestion, rectal tubes for insertion, and injectable formulations typically administered in a hospital setting.
“It’s known that the most successful and / wealthy people in the world all use therapy, so do not embarrassed to seek help outside your normal circle.
“If you got mental weight on your shoulders, then talk and work to get it off. Have a good day!”
It’s not the first time Tom’s spoken candidly about life’s challenges.
In 2018, he opened up for the first time about his girlfriend’s death in a car crash.
Lizzie Pickavance was killed in 2010, aged just 20.
She had been returning from work in Manchester when she lost control of her car on the M62 near Gildersome and the vehicle smashed into a tree. She died later in hospital.
The DJ had been living in Belle Isle, near Leeds, with Lizzie at the time of the horror crash in 2010, along with their son Deaconn, who was born in 2006.
Tom revealed he eventually got through it and urged anyone going through a bereavement to ask for help.
He opened up about his late girlfriend on Celebs Go Dating, who was just 21 when Lizzie passed away.
“She passed away. She didn’t come home one morning,” he told agents Paul Brunson and Anna Williamson.
“She fell asleep at the wheel, she used to work nights, I used to wait for her every single night. So the only night I went to sleep, I woke up and she wasn’t there.”
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An emotional Tom added: “F***king hell, I tell this story a lot when people ask, I don’t usually get emotional. I think because of the pressure in the house and I’m opening up to you guys.”
In more recent years, he’s been romantically linked to Katie Price, Hayley Hughes and Sophie Hermann.
