# Klonopin to sleep



## dredd (Jan 19, 2011)

I do not know much about this med besides it is suppose to be for anxiety but my doctor prescribed it to help me sleep. Does anyone else use it for that purpose? For those who use it on a daily basis or just for certain events, can I ask how do you function? This med really does knock me out.

:thanks

Donna


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## CopadoMexicano (Aug 21, 2004)

I take. 05 mg daily for the past five years and has helped quite a bit for my panic attacks I also take 1mg as needed when I can't sleep


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## InThe519 (Sep 21, 2009)

dredd said:


> I do not know much about this med besides it is suppose to be for anxiety but my doctor prescribed it to help me sleep. Does anyone else use it for that purpose? For those who use it on a daily basis or just for certain events, can I ask how do you function? This med really does knock me out.
> 
> :thanks
> 
> Donna


Hey there - Well I was put on 0.5mg for my anxiety and to help me sleep too. I was on it for a few months then stopped. But then for the last 3 years straight I've been back on it. It works great, with little to no side effects (for me anyway) I did find a little dry mouth, but that's about it.

However, depending on the dose and length of time on it, coming off the drug I hear is a rough experience. I personally have just dropped down to 0.25mg for the last 10 days. No real withdrawal, a little nausea, agnstiness and feeling tired. But nothing like others on higher doses have discussed.

I took it everyday/take it everyday - What has your doc said to you?


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## dredd (Jan 19, 2011)

He started me on 0.5 mg. Sometimes it helped but sometimes it didn't so he changed it to 1mg. He recomended I just use it when I could not sleep, not everyday. I have not had to use it much, haven't noticed any side effects. I guess I was wondering if or how I could use it during the day to deal with anxiety. I think it would be hard to function if I did.


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## dredd (Jan 19, 2011)

*Quote: "I take. 05 mg daily for the past five years and has helped quite a bit for my panic attacks I also take 1mg as needed when I can't sleep" *

So you use it during the day? How does it effect you?


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## CopadoMexicano (Aug 21, 2004)

dredd said:


> *Quote: "I take. 05 mg daily for the past five years and has helped quite a bit for my panic attacks I also take 1mg as needed when I can't sleep" *
> 
> So you use it during the day? How does it effect you?


Yep during the day and feel calm but I do get mild short term memory problems like become more forgetful


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## d829 (Jul 29, 2010)

dredd your doctor punked you by giving you this for sleep it's not a sleeping pill. ask him how long do you have to take it and how are you going to get off it.

don't become dependent on a dangerous pill like this

people here who defend klono are on so much dope they don't know what the ***** they are doing...


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## Akane (Jan 2, 2008)

Benzos are often used for sleep. The zdrugs more commonly used these days are based off of and very similar to benzos but do not have as wide of an acceptable dosage range so a lot of people start on the zdrugs, find them too weak, and end up going to benzos that doctors will prescribe at higher dosages. I've used lorazepam and temazepam for extended periods of time because no one would prescribe over 10 mg regular 12.5mg cr ambien and that is like taking a sugar pill for me. I've talked to people that actually tested it and found it took 100mg of regular ambien to help them sleep. 2-4mg of lorazepam is the usual dose for insomnia but some doctors won't go over 2 since that's normally the upper limit for using it for anxiety disorders before it causes side effects. Those side effects happen to be things like drowsiness which is exactly what we are aiming for when using it for sleep disorders but trying to argue that with doctors who are overly benzo cautious is a worse use of time than arguing with people on the internet. Lorazepam and temazepam are used more commonly for sleep than klonopin. Now I'm back on lunesta just because it has some interaction with seroquel that I've never seen documented but have experienced and thoroughly tested. Lunesta also impacts more gaba receptors than other zdrugs or benzos making it working better for me and with less tolerance even though it still does absolutely nothing if not combined with an antipsychotic for me.

Klonopin is one of the longer lasting benzos and is often only taken once or twice a day. It varies a lot by person (half life of 18-50hrs) so even though it is prescribed for sleep and you take it at night it may have some impact on you during the day anyway. A lot of people take such meds at night specifically because it makes them sleepy right after taking it and then have it work throughout the day. It just depends on the individual. Personally I found it lasted pretty much exactly 23hrs before I'd have a sudden crash right before my next dose. I switched off it because in order to avoid crashes I had to be a zombie all day. I have better luck with shorter acting benzos and even temazepam was borderline and eventually led to me stopping it and only using lorazepam. If you are only using it as needed (best not to take benzos every single day or they usually quit working quickly) you should have extra pills but I would be cautious taking klonopin several times in 24hrs without doctor supervision. Some people do need it 3-4 times a day instead but for some people they will end up so drugged they don't know up from down and it's hard to run your own med experiments when you can't remember what happened yesterday.


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## 49erJT (Oct 18, 2010)

..


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## d829 (Jul 29, 2010)

hey buddy your'e a victim if you use these pills as a way of life...chemical imbalance BS - people who had thyroid problems and hormone issues were wrongly given these pills before they found out what was really the problem. 

stay away from psychiatrists they go by ****ing opinions not a diagnostic test(s).


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## CopadoMexicano (Aug 21, 2004)

d829 said:


> hey buddy your'e a victim if you use these pills as a way of life...chemical imbalance BS - people who had thyroid problems and hormone issues were wrongly given these pills before they found out what was really the problem.
> 
> stay away from psychiatrists they go by ****ing opinions not a diagnostic test(s).


Yes and no there are some psychiatrists like neuropsychiatrists who do a full blood work urine and other tests


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## Arisa1536 (Dec 8, 2009)

klonopin IS bad long term because withdrawal is so horrendous
granted the withdrawal is not as bad as coming off an SNRI/SSRI but its still hellish and over time they stop working for sleep or sedation 
Towards the end, i needed 6mg to feel calm and sleepy for goodness sake 
Yes i brought it on myself, i could have stuck to my 2 mg and so on but its very difficult to do that when the sedating effects wear off week by week and you feel you need a higher dose to achieve the same desired effect.

There are better alternatives to sleeping medication out there
Trazodone, or Zopiclone for example even a very miniscule amount of TCA like 10-50 mg for sleep is good


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## d829 (Jul 29, 2010)

anyone taking klono for sleep is ignorant - it's not a sleeping pill.

yes I guess trazodone would be better but still it's not a long term
solution and when it comes to sleep I don't know what is it was never
my issue.

here is how i got ****ed by a shrink

I was taking 2mg Valium as needed for a few years
I moved....got new shrink who said Valium is bad
Ativan is better...biggest mistake of my life the witch
gave me 1mg Ativan which I thought OK it's a less amount
WRONG it's 10x stronger...or so. I became dependent on it
pretty quick instead of as needed like my Valium I had to take
it everyday. I am now almost 75% off the ****e.

I tapered last year 50% then held for 6 months and now I 
and tapering it again and it's going better since I know more
of what is involved and I have some skills. 


Having to go through this damn right I am going to warn people
these pills are not for long term, I am just a victim like everyone
else.

I am lucky I was not on a huge amount but it was still hell to get to 50% for me
and I am not off and who knows how I will feel off the dope.

good luck to all


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## nmpennea (May 16, 2011)

I was on it for anxiety/panic attacks, but all I did was sleep. So it has the possibility of just making you want to do nothing but sleep.


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## Akane (Jan 2, 2008)

For some people taking pills to sleep is the only option. I've had several sleep studies who show the problem but no one can determine the reason. It is a physical problem and the only solution given current medical knowledge is to alter neurotransmitters. 

I would be thrilled if a benzo is all it took to sleep. I'd be so happy if I could take a benzo only instead of things like trazadone, amitriptyline, mirtazapine, antipsychotics, mood stabilizers... and especially usually multiple of those at the same time. Benzos are tame compared to what I will probably be taking for the rest of my life and getting off lorazepam or temazepam was a hell of a lot easier than trazadone. It took me 6 months to fully stop trazadone because every drop in dose led to sensitivity to sunlight and complete rebound insomnia for several days before I could drop it again. I'd have to spend a day or 2 in my bedroom with blacked out windows right after dropping the dose and take extra of something else like adding a benzo back on in order to get any sleep. Then I usually wanted a few days or week of functioning and not taking the benzo before I lowered the dose some more and spent several more days doing nothing except surviving withdrawal symptoms.

All the meds can be hard to come off of and all of them can develop tolerance. Using a benzo daily is not a smart idea because it probably won't work well for long but using it as needed instead of something you have to take daily is a better option in many cases because it won't be as hard to get back off it and tolerance will not build as quickly. While I do suggest trying to find ways to improve sleep or anxiety symptoms without meds sometimes you have no choice. I doubt very many people are on meds by choice. It's either a temporary solution to get you by while you work on something else or it's your last ditch attempt cause you've already tried everything else.


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## 49erJT (Oct 18, 2010)

..


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## 49erJT (Oct 18, 2010)

..


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## d829 (Jul 29, 2010)

49erJT said:


> Why are you trying to taper with a drug that is so rapidly metabolized (Ativan)? You are probably experiencing inter dose withdrawal on top of withdrawal from reducing the med.


I tried switching to valium at 5mg and it was too much for me 
I am going to try and switch again to 2mg when I get a little lower.
I am hoping I can get back to where I was on 2mg Valium and just
ease off- you're right I do have bad interdose withdrawal everyday 
around 5pm I am shaking and burning....

The Valium made me have a knot in my gut and depression like
I was covered in a blanket of gloom and doom. That went away 
when I ditched the valium...I am hoping 2mg won't do that plus
this happened in the gloom of winter so that didn't help.

I see my doc at the end of June I should be low enough on the Ativan
to switch over to 2mg Valium at that time.

thanks for your concern.

good luck to you too.


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## Marcellla (Jul 27, 2013)

I am prescribed 1 mg as needed of klonopin for my anxiety. It helps lower my anxiety when it comes on and I have Also noticed it makes me drowsy so I most definitely take one before bed and in about 30 minutes I can fall asleep so calmly. Completely normal


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## AlexP7 (Apr 5, 2013)

I was given Klonopin to take once or twice a day about 10 years ago after a terrible panic attack sent me to the hospital. To this day it remains the only medication aside from Xanax which has completely helped my panic attacks when I took it. But I cannot get any doctor to listen to me now.


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## Gadbackagain (Jul 27, 2013)

Wow definitely some klonopin bashers here. I have been on it for a few years now .5mg twice daily and have never increased my dosage. It has really helped me keep my anxiety under control. Just my two cents!


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