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Klonopin & Gabapentin for sleep
Sleep Health | Last Active: Oct 1 8:49am | Replies (85)Comment receiving replies
How long do you intend to stay on the Lunesta? I've read it's meant for short-term use and can cause rebound insomnia. I tried 7.5mg Remeron one night, and slept but was severely groggy for 3 days so stopped taking it. I've had severe insomnia for over two years since a bout of Covid triggered fibromyalgia and haven't had a good nights sleep since. I don't know what to do as I'm afraid of most of the drugs, especially the "hypnotic" ones with the side effect of sleep-walking activities that you won't remember the next day. However, this lack of sleep is having severe effects as I'm always so tired and I know it's not good for my health. I take 75-100mg Trazodone and 3.5mg Melatonin before bed, and sometimes a CBN/CBD sleep gummy. Most nights I fall asleep but always wake up about 4 hours later and can't get back to sleep, which I know is from my fibro. My Dr recommended 100mgs of Gapapentin 3X a day. I only tried it a couple days and it didn't seem to help. The possible side effects of long term use scared me. I'd be open to any advice you might be able to offer.
Replies to "How long do you intend to stay on the Lunesta? I've read it's meant for short-term..."
If you believe it's the fibromyalgia that is waking you up after 4 hours, try taking 1 Aleve tablet and 2 Tylenol (Acetaminophen) before bed....you can take both at same time. Helps pain alot! But also don't be afraid of the "hypnotic" drugs.... very rare to have sleepwalking as a side effect. And they are the most effective sleep meds out there. Glad the Lunesta is helping!
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The only advice I can give you is to find a reputable sleep medicine doctor who knows the medications and can guide you to find a solution. All the sleep meds say "short term use" but with primary long-term insomnia, sometimes the benefits of staying on it outweigh the risks. Trust me, if I could sleep without help, that would be amazing, but having tried everything imaginable, and still was not sleeping, I'm ok with taking it long term. I did not have any major issues with Klonopin and it was great for sleep. It was terribly addictive but I didn't know that until I had to taper off, because I never increased my dose or craved it. Stopping just about any sleep aide is going to result in rebound insomnia. Only some people have the sleep walking side effects with hypnotics - I have had no issues at all. If I wake up in the night for any reason and need to get out of bed, I feel perfectly fine, and falling back to sleep is fairly easy. Any drug you take could have side effects, but it might not. For example, I took Ambien for several weeks and it put me to sleep well, no night-time shenanigans, but I had the side effects of morning nausea and daytime anxiety, so it was not a good fit for me. Everyone is different. Listen to your doctor and if you don't like what they offer, find another one. My psychiatrist (who I was sent to when primary care would not prescribe benzos at all anymore) felt it was better to not sleep at all than to take sleep medication. He made me come off Klonopin without a good exit plan, leaving me with terrible insomnia and anxiety. He also told me not to take CBD and said, " Stop looking for something outside of yourself to help you sleep". Remeron did very little, if anything for my sleep issues, while it makes other people very groggy, like it did you. Best of luck to you!