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Clonazepam (Klonopin) Not Working

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Redtail

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I am on a prescribed does of Clonazepam (Klonopin) 1 to 2 mg a night to help me sleep. It seems that they have little or no noticeable affect. Night are my worse times of the day. I have never taken any drug other than pain killers after surgery. I am also on 50 mg of Pristiq (day 4). I have a little concern because of the benzodiazepine addiction angle.

Has anyone had similar result and found another medication that was more effective?

This is all new to me and trying to be comfortable again.
 
Different people have different levels of tolerance. There is almost no way that 2mg colonzepam would put me to sleep, but then again I am extremely used to it and have been taking it for years. I know it has a relatively long half life so the risk of addiction and the potential withdraw is not as bad as some other bezodiazepines. There is a sub lingual version of colonzepam and that might help in your case since it hits your system more quickly.

Xanax is also in the benzodiazepine category and has been effective for sleep for me in the past. I did not continue with Xanax because the addiction factor was huge for me.

You could talk to your doctor about one of the GABA agonist sleep medications like Lunesta or Ambien. Ambien is extremely effective and it does come in a generic now. Ambien CR is even better because it allows me to stay asleep (always a serious problem for me) but it is very expensive.

There are also a couple cheap, safe, all natural things I do that help regardless of the medication I am. The biggest one for me is a sleep mask which you can get for about $20 at your local grocery store. Just like full spectrum sunlight helps your body produce serotonin, full and complete darkness helps your body produce melatonin which can allow you to sleep. A very different solution which completely lacks scientific study but for some reason works for me is to lay down with my feet up and tell myself that I am not going to sleep... I just want to close my eyes for a second and relax. This seems to be a fairly reliable way to get to sleep (just ask my husband... LOL). My theory is that this works because stressing out about needing to sleep prevents my body from allowing me to sleep.
 
I have to take 3 of those pills a day. 2 at night, and 1 in the morning. I don't think it's goal is to really help you sleep, I think it's more like a calming medication. Like a tranquilizer. "Clonazepam is used to treat seizure disorders or panic disorder."

I can be awake part of the might while I took the stuff, but I walk around like I'm drunk. It's kinda of funny actually.But I'm a little worried I might actually hurt myself.



Talking to your doctor might help you if you want to up the dose, but try other things too. Like this ends now said.
 
I've been on 1 mg of clonazepam for almost two years. I've become tolerant, so it's a maintenance dose to keep the anxiety manageable, but by itself it doesn't make me sleepy. As This Ends Now and Ayesha have pointed out, people respond differently to different medications and dosing schedules.

Augmenting the clonazepam with another med might be effective. I take a low dose of Seroquel and/or Imovane as needed to get a normal night's sleep most nights, but a low dose of Elavil/amitriptyline (a tricyclic antidepressant) also works. You mention that you haven't taken any other sleep drug, so I agree with Ayesha's suggestion about talking to your doctor, or to a psychiatrist who probably knows the ins and outs of prescribing medications off-label in the context of an anxiety disorder. Can you alternate with a different medication?

Generally speaking, don't underestimate the psychological techniques to getting a better night's rest. My own sleep issues have been especially difficult to treat, but many of us do find a use for relaxation strategies or ways to distract yourself out of the mindset that "I can't fall asleep, I need to fall asleep soon, this is frustrating." Personally, I sometimes find it easier to fall asleep when I'm resting in a different area of the house or in a different bedroom. The meds are usually necessary, though.
 
Thanks for all the input, I have T tomorrow and will address what I have learned here and see if another medication will help.
 
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