Posted by SLS on May 8, 2000, at 10:29:23
In reply to Re: Neurontin for sleep?, posted by JudithC on May 8, 2000, at 7:10:18
> > My pdoc has had me on a million things to replace Ativan, which I am currently addicted to for insomnia. I have severe Irritable Bowel Syndrome, which causes serious discomfort at night. Sedatives, antipsychotic meds have all either failed or had bad side effects. Is neurontin a possibility? Will he prescribe it? thanks.
>
> Danny,I have no suggestions as to just what med to use to replace the Ativan;however,I can and do suggest that you only take small steps at a time to get off of the Ativan. Go very slowly.
Danny,Does the irritable bowel gets worse when you try to discontinue Ativan or other sleep medication?
When I stopped taking Ativan, I weaned off of it very slowly. I forget what sort of schedule I used, but I'm sure you already have plenty of suggestions. At some point, the smallest dosage could not get me through the day without encountering withdrawal. So what I did was to nibble off a tiny piece of Ativan from the tablet on an as-needed basis. I would often let it dissolve under my tongue. I would wait until I began to feel withdrawal symptoms coming on before taking some. These symptoms would include anxiety, tremors and sweating. Obviously, you want to identify them as soon as possible. Try decreasing the size of the piece you nibble off. Ativan works fast, within minutes, so you need not be too afraid of allowing things to get out of hand. The intervals between the onset of withdrawal became longer and longer. However, I reached a point where I observed no further progress, and I then stopped taking it altogether. The final withdrawal period was not terribly long or severe. Anyway, it seemed to work for me.
Perhaps you could use very small amounts of Klonopin (clonazepam) as a sort of bridge once you get down to the smallest regular dosage of Ativan that no longer prevents withdrawal. It may help because the half-life of Klonopin is much longer than that of Ativan.
I can't imagine you haven't tried trazodone to help with sleep.
One thing that you may want to try is Sinequan (doxepin). A tricyclic antidepressant, Sinequan is often prescribed for sleep and anxiety. An added benefit is that it might also help with irritable bowel.
- Scott
poster:SLS
thread:32732
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20000508/msgs/32765.html