Clonazepam

turtlezen · Post by **turtlezen** » Mon Jul 09, 2007 11:06 pm

Regarding the clonazapam, I didn't realize it had such a long half life...scary. I take 1mg. at night (along with Mirapex) I wake up with no hangover effect and have as much energy as I usually do; sometimes plenty, sometimes none. Like today when I spend hours on the computer cause it's all I can manage to do.
A lower dose of clonazapam should help although if you have already switched to Ambien, that should solve the problem. Sleep well.

lizbestill · Post by **lizbestill** » Mon Jul 09, 2007 11:32 pm

Thanks, but my first night or two on Ambien hasn't been quite what I expected. The first night had no effect at all, the second night was somewhat better, but I still wake up alot. I started school today, I'm a Teacher Assistant in the 1st grade, so getting 20 little children situated, not to mention breakfast duty and bus duty this afternoon (90+degrees!) I should sleep tonight with no medicine, I'm exhausted!!! :lol:

Elynne · Post by **Elynne** » Tue Jul 10, 2007 6:43 am

Hello All,
I have been on Clonazapam for almost 3 months now. I take 1.5mgs every night. I have to take it good and early tho...around 8 pm if I want to be up and about the next day. I started with just a half pill,my legs were still going nuts....1 pill same thing...at 1 and 1/2 I finally am able to get some rest. If I take the darn thing past 10 pm then I am a zombie the next day.
I'm so relieved to finally being able to get some sleep. I was tried on Mirapex but it made me worse. They say that benzo's are habit forming, so I am trying very hard to stick to just 1 and 1/2 altho my DR. says I can up it to 2 if I need to. So far I've managed to stay away from increasing my dose.
Good luck to all you night-kickers out there...I can sure empathize having lived with this for so long. I hope you all can find something that will work for you.

Elynne · Post by **Elynne** » Tue Jul 10, 2007 6:51 am

Hi I'm Back already. what 5 minutes or so,
I just remembered reading something about clonazapam....it basically doesn't stop the leg and arm movements but allows you to sleep through. so my theory about waking up so tired is that we've been "sleeping" but our body hasn't stopped all night....it's like walking 10 miles but not being aware of it....no wonder we are still tired in the morning!!
What do you think?

ctravel12 · Post by **ctravel12** » Tue Jul 10, 2007 2:11 pm

Hi Elynne and welcome to this group. I am glad that you found relief for your rls and sleep. I too take clonazapem .75mg but also take mirapex .125mg but half that pill. So far both are doing fine.

Sometimes I feel tired but all in all it is not too bad. Please keep us posted on how you are doing.

You have found a wonderful supportive group.

Take care and have a wonderful day.

Post by **ViewsAskew** » Tue Jul 10, 2007 5:47 pm

Elynne wrote:Hi I'm Back already. what 5 minutes or so,
I just remembered reading something about clonazapam....it basically doesn't stop the leg and arm movements but allows you to sleep through. so my theory about waking up so tired is that we've been "sleeping" but our body hasn't stopped all night....it's like walking 10 miles but not being aware of it....no wonder we are still tired in the morning!!
What do you think?

Other people have theorized the same, so you are in good company! It makes sense.

apbann · Post by **apbann** » Sun Jul 22, 2007 6:43 pm

I took clonazapem once, and had the listed "elderly" (Yikes!! I'm only 55.) experience. I evenutally did sleep through the symptoms, and did get some rest, however, I missed my morning alarm for work by 6 hours, and when I woke up during the night to make a bathroom trip, I was literally bumping into walls getting there. I threw the remainder of the Rx out; I will not take that again. I might sleep more, but I wouldn't have a job any longer.

lizbestill · Post by **lizbestill** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 11:52 am

I went back to the 2nd neuro and she put me on Lyrica and Clonazepam. On Wed evening I took my medicine as I should, but I didn't wake up until 2:30 THE NEXT AFTERNOON!!! I am also so irritable I could bite a nail into, snappy towards my children. I am calling my md today to discuss a hysterectomy. Something has to stop, I want my normal life back. Elizabeth

walkindafloors · Post by **walkindafloors** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 12:20 pm

Maybe I'm just touchy with meds, but am having issues with all the above mentioned sleep aids. Ambien doesn't work long enough - 3-4 hours and I'm up again; Ativan (1 mg) make my kinda psychotic acting but only tried it once; Klonopin's half-life is proving true - took one Fri and two Sat night and am still hung over Monday morning! I haven't tried Valium ... like most of you, my medicine cabinet is over-flowing for no good reason. I've got to find something to ensure 5-6 hours per night for the weeks I'm not on call - call weeks I know I'm looking at an hour here and there... am I giving these meds a fair try? The ativan scared me so only took the one...maybe I should try this again? I can't deal with the long hang-over from Klonopin. :oops:

Post by **ViewsAskew** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 5:59 pm

Kim, I didn't have good luck with any of these. BUT, the one that caused me the least problems was the one the Dr B says is better because it's got a shorter half-life. But my brain is on 1/4 life today and I can't think of it - the brand name has a "wel" has part of it, I think. At any rate, find a chart of the half-life of the benzos - choose one that has a short half-life. If I can get my brain to work, I'll come back and type it in.

Then, take a week to two week break from it every month. That should resolve dependency issues.

Anneeg · Post by **Anneeg** » Fri Jul 27, 2007 3:23 am

Hi i have posted only once or twice. I find comfort in knowing tha this lifeline exists, and Im mad i need it. Ok on to my question, what does half life mean. I havenot undersood what the posts aare talking about? anneeg

D4 · Post by D4 » Fri Jul 27, 2007 3:33 am

I was on 1mg Clonozepam for about 3 months. It knocked me out fairly well (maybe too well), but then I needed to taper off it and start another drug. Even though I tapered off gradually, I went through horrible withdrawal when I finally got down to not taking it. I had read about people having bad withdrawal here, but I sure didn't know it would be that bad.

Post by **ViewsAskew** » Fri Jul 27, 2007 5:46 am

anneg - half life is how long it takes half of the drug to leave your body. So, if the half-life is 4 hours and you took 2 mg, in 4 hours, 1 mg will still be in your body. In 4 more hours, .5 mg will be in your body. In 4 more hours (12 hours after you took it), .25 mg will be in your body.

So, when the 1/2 life is 35 hours, let's say (which is clonazapam, give or take - different sites say different info), and you take 1 mg, after 35 hours, you still have .5 mg in your body. And, 70 hours after you took a dose, you still have .25 mg in your body.

That is one of the reasons it is a difficult drug for some people. You see, you take another mg 24 hours after the first dose, but you still have about 2/3 of it in your system from the first dose. By the time you take your third dose, you still have the 2/3 from the day before, plus about 1/3 from the first dose.

So, some docs feel that regarding this class of drugs that you are much better off with a drug that gets out of your system much more quickly. Restoril is one that Dr B says is preferable. Here is a list of half-lives http://www.benzo.org.uk/bzequiv.htm for the benzos.

And, regarding withdrawal, I also had no clue at all. I mean, NO clue. I was shocked at what I went through. No one mentioned a word at all to me about it. And, when I was in my doctor's office, vomiting, sweating and having the shakes like a herioin addict needing a fix, my doc was doing pregnancy tests. He was shocked - said he'd never seen such a thing. But, according to my research, it happens about 50% of the time. The other 50% have no problems at all. Too weird.

Post by **Polar Bear** » Fri Jul 27, 2007 1:35 pm

Ann, I was really interested in your link on the Benzodiazepines, cos I take diazepam 2mg as a sleep aid, nightly. And it is working very well.

Have I got this correct, in your link it appears that Diazepam has a half life of between 20 - 100 hours. ??? Have I got this wrong, or can you explain it to me. If it does have this half life there must be a really big 'build-up' in the system if taken nightly. i.e. If I tak 2mg, then the next night I still have 1mg in my system and take my usual 2mg, so therefore I have 3mg etc. etc.
Ta, Betty

SquirmingSusan · Post by **SquirmingSusan** » Fri Jul 27, 2007 4:36 pm

Actually Betty, it does have a really long half life, but Dr. B says it's only active in the body producing drowsiness for about 8 hours. I don't know quite how that works. All I know is that I took it for 10 years, and didn't have trouble with it making me feel like a zombie.

And maybe the long half life includes the metabolites? It's metabolized to oxazepam and temazepam...

Is it working for you?

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