Posted by Cam W. on March 17, 2000, at 20:48:20
In reply to Serzone/clonazepam combination, posted by bryan on March 17, 2000, at 17:33:18
Bryan - Recent studies have shown that taking Serzone in the morning and again at noon or early afternoon is still as effective as taking the doses 12 hours apart. Taking the Serzone earlier in the day may help with sleep problems. Ask your doctor about this. How long have you been taking the Serzone? These sleep problems usually resolve as your body adjusts to the drug. Actually, many people find that after the initial sleeplessness the Serzone actually improves sleep.Taking Serzone with Clonazepam can be done, but the Serzone does interfere with the metabolism of the Clonazepam. Therefore, you should use lower doses of Clonazepam to avoid oversedation. For the techies out there - Serzone inhibits cytochrome P450-3A3/4 (CYP-3A3/4) decreasing the amount of hepatic (liver) enzyme available to metabolize the Clonazepam. Thus, Clonazepam is cleared more slowly from the body, resulting in higher blood levels. Therefore, if you take the Clonazepam for sleep you may be running the risk of "hangover effect" (you will be still groggy in the morning). Perhaps Zopiclone would be a better choice as it is metabolized by 3 different pathways, decreasing the chance of build-up. Ideally sleeping medication should only be used short term if possible and other methods (eg changing time of Serzone) should be tried first. Hope this helps - Cam W.
poster:Cam W.
thread:27373
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20000312/msgs/27397.html