Klonopin

[potsgirl]

Sorry Everyone, but I have one more drug question. Does anyone else get severely sleepy during the day when they take Klonopin as a sleep aid at night? My drugs are:

15 mg Paxil (taken it for about 10 years for anxiety)

75 mg Trazodone (also about 10 years for sleep/anxiety)

.5 mg to 1 mg Clonazepam (generic of Klonopin, about 6-7 years primarily for sleep)

I was taking .5 mg of Clonazepam and .5 mg of Xanax about 2 months ago. Since Clonaz and Paxil are from the same drug family, my doctor and I decided I should go off Xanax, which I did by increasing my Clonaz by .25 and then .5 mg, since they equal each other pretty closely (.5 Xanax = .5 Clonaz). I was on 1 mg of Clonaz for about 6-7 weeks, but lately I seem to be a lot more tired and somnalistic than usual. I don't know if it's due to my heart pushing me towards congestive heart failure again, or the Clonaz. I decided to back down on the Clonaz to see if it makes a difference, so I've taken .75 mg the last three nights, and will try to get back to .5 mg.

Does this sound familiar to anyone? What are other people's experiences with Klonopin and what dosages do you take?

Thanks so much for any advice/responses you have!

Cheers,

Jana

[firewatcher]

I take .75mg Klonopin (total) in three divided doses. It has never sedated me, but then most anesthetic-grade sedatives have little effect on me either. If I don't take it with food, my eyes won't quite track right, but that's it. Combined with Propranolol, it has done wonders for me. They seem to work better together. If you are getting fatigue from a drug and there is another drug that does not have that side effect, I'd take the other one.

[Rachel]

I tried Klonopin for sleep a while back. It worked well for helping me sleep, but I was always too sleepy the day after taking a tablet. I had 0.5mg tablets, but even if I cut it in half it still made me too sleepy the next day.

Rachel

[kayjay]

Klonopin does not make me drowsy in the AM. But Lexapro did. I switched to Cymbalta over a month ago and I am much better in the morning. Good luck. You could try taking it at dinner time to see if that helps. I know beta blockers make you sleepy I don't know about Paxil but Lexapro really drug me down ( no pun intended). K

[Broken_Shell]

I don't have personal experience, but klonopin can make you gradually more drowsy and sedated overall regardless of the time of day you are taking it. I hope you can find a better combo of meds. Dizzy and drowsy are not a good mix!

~ Broken_Shell

[potsgirl]

Thanks for all the replies so far! What I really need to do I think is make sure it's the medication and not my POTS or heart problems getting worse. I had been on the 1 mg Klonopin dose for about 6-7 weeks without the extreme fatigue...that's only occurred in the last week or so.

You all are terrific!

[Rene S.]

Hi Jana,

I'm certainly in the minority. I take .5mg of klonopin three times a day, and it never makes me tired. Sorry - I wish it did. Sometimes I actually think I'm having a paradoxial effect - it revvs me up! This happened the one and only time I took a small dose of xanax.

How I wish I could find something to make me sleepy!

Hope you are doing better today. I'll email you later. Sorry you are having a hard time.

xoxoxo

Rene