How I discovered the truth about the 'herbal' sleeping pills I got hooked on

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, which was described as "herbal sleep aid supplements, for deep restful sleep".

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.

In that time Fiona had developed a dependency and she suffered severe withdrawal symptoms when she tried to come off them.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulation Agency (MHRA) said it was investigating the products.

Amazon said it had also launched an investigation and had removed the sleeping pills from its store.

Fiona, a fiction writer who lives in Castle Douglas, Dumfries and Galloway, spoke to BBC Radio 4's Your and Yours about her experience.

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."

On a good night, she can get four to five hours sleep.

"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.

Her GP had offered to prescribe Zopiclone for a very short period but she refused and "soldiered on".

In January last year she found the Hypno by Bhang "herbal" treatment on Amazon.

"It gave a list a of ingredients - I wouldn't describe them as herbs - they were minerals like magnesium," Fiona said.

"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."

She set up a subscription and bought more than she needed as they were often out of stock, spending about £1,100.

"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.

Then Fiona read some of the "very worrying" reviews of the product on Amazon warning that they were prescription drugs.

"I was horrified," she said.

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.

"Predictably it came back saying it was 100% Zopiclone," she said.

Fiona went straight to her GP who offered her alternatives.

"Nothing was as good as Zopiclone so I did have a period of several weeks where I had 'hyperinsomnia'."

She described hyperinsomnia as feeling "wired" 24 hours a day.

Fiona believes she lost a year of productivity while she was taking the medication.

"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."

Laura Wilson, the director for Scotland at the Royal College of Pharmacy, said Zopiclone was normally prescribed for a week at a time.

Fiona took the drug for a year.

"That's quite a significant period of time to be taking a medicine such as this," Wilson said.

"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.

"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."

She said withdrawal symptoms could include "rebound insomnia", anxiety, agitation and nauseousness.

When it is prescribed to patients, medics have to consider how it could affect other health conditions and react with other medications.

As it causes drowsiness, they also have take into account jobs like lorry drivers, train drivers and those who work with heavy machinery.

When Fiona complained to Amazon, they passed her on to a third-party loss adjuster called Sedgwick.

"I was appalled by Amazon's response," Fiona said.

"I got an email saying we're not liable and passing me on to Sedgewick.

"Not a word of any apology. I'm really horrified by that."

She bought the tablets from three companies using Amazon's platform - Mollienet Limited, Bullwell Limited, and BITZ4U Limited.

The packaging states that they were manufactured by 5AAD Wellness Limited at an address in Greater Manchester.

None of them have replied to questions put to them by the BBC.

A spokesperson for Amazon said: "We take customer safety extremely seriously and are investigating this.

"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.

"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.

"The highlighted items have been removed from our store."