Effect of Eszopiclone on Sleep Disturbance and Pain in Cancer

Pain and fatigue are the most common symptom complaints of cancer patients. Although dramatic improvements have come about in recognizing and treating cancer related pain, less progress has been made in treating fatigue. Interventions to improve sleep may offer benefit in terms of pain and fatigue.

One of the less commonly recognized side effects of opiate use is sleep disruption.

Experimentally-induced sleep disruption lowers the threshold for detection of painful stimuli. Thus, although opiates are obviously helpful for pain, they do so at certain "costs": they increase next day fatigue, constipation, and have other side effects; they disrupt sleep which further increases next day fatigue; and finally, by virtue of their sleep disruptive properties, they lower the threshold for pain stimuli.

Cancer patients requiring chemotherapy commonly require PCA because of oral mucositis. The objective of this study is to assess whether opiate usage may be reduced and complaints of fatigue and pain be lessened if patients had better sleep.

Inclusion criteria

• Male or female patients hospitalized for chemotherapy or blood/bone marrow transplant.
• Age 20 - 75
• Not currently regularly taking any prescribed sleeping pill more often than 4x/week.
• Can tolerate oral medication.

Exclusion criteria

• Patients with a current history of substance abuse
• Patients with a history of allergic response to Lunesta.
• Patient who require additional oral or parenteral opioids after starting PCA opioid treatment.