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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 6 of 6. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Danny on May 8, 2000, at 1:18:31
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.
Posted by JudithC on May 8, 2000, at 7:10:18
In reply to Neurontin for sleep?, posted by Danny on May 8, 2000, at 1:18:31
> 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.
Posted by tina on May 8, 2000, at 7:44:51
In reply to Neurontin for sleep?, posted by Danny on May 8, 2000, at 1:18:31
Hey Danny, Tina here. You're not alone in the IBS department, I've suffered for years. I've always thought it was related to my depression/anxiety but all the meds that I've taken for "nerves" haven't helped with it. My doc just keeps saying relax, it's all in your head. There isn't anything physically wrong with me and that makes it worse I think. If everything that is wrong with me is in my head I'm just wondering if there's any room in there for anything else.
I've often wondered too if the IBS is caused by the depression or if the depression is caused by living with IBS? If you find something that works for you I'd LOVE to hear about it. Just wanted to let you know you're not alone. Keep in touch--Tina> 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.
Posted by Cindy W on May 8, 2000, at 9:11:08
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.Ask your pdoc if melatonin would be OK for you. I've been taking it so I can sleep (am on Effexor-XR) and it helps.
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
Posted by FP on May 8, 2000, at 23:39:48
In reply to Re: Neurontin for sleep? - Sinequan?, posted by SLS on May 8, 2000, at 10:29:23
> > > 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.
> >
Neurontin (600mg before bedtime) sure puts me to sleep. Not so crazy about waking up in the morning, though. I do think the poster who suggested Klonipin has a good idea: half life is long, and there doesn't seem to be much of an addiction potential - and I would have found out if there was - most likely the hard way.I too found Ativan very addicting, BTW.
Temazapam is also great for sleep - a sledghammer blow right between eyes.
But ultimately, this is for you and your pDoc to decide.
Hope this helps. Also, sometimes the major tranqs are used on benzo withdrawel - but the side effects are yucky, to say the least.
Keep us posted. We want you to beat this thing.
FP
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