Posted by Viridis on August 3, 2003, at 18:40:41
In reply to New on Klonopin, posted by Susan the Curious on August 2, 2003, at 8:08:45
I take Klonopin every morning for anxiety, at a pretty low dose (1 mg), and Xanax occasionally. I do use Xanax once in a while for insomnia, which my pdoc says is fine, but although he's comfortable with prescribing benzos for anxiety, he discourages regular use for sleep disorders. His argument is that benzos can interfere with sleep architecture (i.e., you don't go through the normal and necessary sleep stages), and that they lose their anti-insomnia effect rapidly. So (he says) this is where people are most likely to get into the pattern of escalating doses to get the same effect (for sleep), although the antianxiety effects seem to remain using the same dose for extended periods of time.
He prefers trazodone (Desyrel) for insomnia, and says it's extremely effective for many people without the problems described above. I didn't like it (it left me groggy in the morning), and since being on regular Klonopin I rarely get the anxiety attacks that prevent me from sleeping anyway. On the rare occasions that I do, Xanax does the trick for me.
Some people here have reported success with Neurontin for RLS and other sleep-related disorders. It's generally a very benign drug, and might be worth a try. It sounds like you're working with a good doctor, but given the concerns about long-term use of benzos for sleep problems it may be worth experimenting with alternatives.
poster:Viridis
thread:247545
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030802/msgs/247855.html