Posted by mattdds on August 28, 2003, at 9:07:28
In reply to Klonopin for Parnate Insomnia, posted by Budgie on August 27, 2003, at 2:33:07
Hi Budgie,
I was recently put on Parnate as well. I'm up to 30 mg. I've had negative experiences with all other AD's but I want to see what this one does. Kind of my little experiment. My pdoc is kind of an old timer, and likes to use older drugs like the tricyclics, MAOI's and he's a big fan of Klonopin and Xanax.
I also take Klonopin 1.0 mg daily, and Ambien 10mg.
Initially, Klonopin is a good sleep inducer, but tolerance to that effect builds rather quickly, but I still do get the "soothing" antianxiety effects from it.
On the other hand, I have used Ambien for over a year and have not gone above 10mg. My experience has been that it does *NOT* form any sort of dependence. I've gone off after months of continuous use with no problem. It's a wonderful sleep agent, especially for *inducing* sleep, but not so much for maintaining it (unless you get up and take another).
Parnate is not helping my sleep, as seems to be the problem for you. My problem seems to be more getting throught the night, rather than initiating sleep. This is where Klonopin might be more effective. As I said, it is not very good at initiating sleep. But recently, I have been taking Ambien 10mg, and Klonopin 0.5 mg right before bed, and it seems to help a lot!
Bottom line for sleep meds:
1. Ambien - great for inducing sleep, no withdrawal, not so great for maintaining sleep
2. Benzos - good initially, but tolerance builds
quickly to this effect. They still help me maintain sleep though.
3. Trazodone - many people swear by this, but I don't like the antihistamine-type effect. Definitely worth a try.Best,
Matt
P.s. Let's keep each other informed about the Parnate trial! So far for me it's very tolerable compared to SSRI's, TCA's.
poster:mattdds
thread:254616
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030828/msgs/255009.html