Klonopin & Gabapentin for sleep

You are definitely not alone. We live in a classist, judgmental society where so many suffer needlessly from abuse by those in "superior" positions. I do what I can to try to change things and have found that writing letters to those in power--if I'm not getting what I feel should be proper care from the VA, I first contact my VA health care team, then move on to the VA medical center's chief of service; the next step is to write to/send proper forms to the medical center's patient advocate. I also write to my state representatives. So far, I have been able to get good results from my mailings. I may not be able to get my needs met, but somewhere down the line, the younger veterans will benefit.

The Klonopin was good at first I should’ve quit the first four weeks here. I am six years later it eats up your brain memory and I have not heard anyone who has gotten off of it. What can we do?

So happy to hear someone point out the obvious - that whatever harm Klonopin may do to our brain, it's nothing compared to zero to little sleep. That's to say nothing about the effect on balance!

Hello fellow strugglers with sleep. I've posted about my experience on other threads in the forum, but felt I should comment on this one since I have taken both Klonopin and Gabapentin in the past. When I tapered of 1-1.5mg of Klonopin at bedtime, because a young psychiatrist forced me to when I was turning 65 years of age, I spent 9 months sleeping very poorly and sometimes not at all. Tried CBT-I (all the behavioral modifications), over the counter sleep supplements, gadgets, recorded meditations, acupuncture, etc. until I finally threw up my hands and sought the help of a Neurologist who specializes in sleep medicine. She confirmed my anxiety around sleeping and was "tempted" to prescribe Klonopin again. I declined because as much as it helped me sleep consistently for 12 years, I did not want to go through the long process of getting off of it again. She also said that the things I had tried - Vistoril and Remeron - were not likely to help with my level of insomnia. Tried Ambien first, but it caused morning nausea and daytime anxiety. Switched to Lunesta two weeks ago, and for now, it is working well. I cannot put into words how different my life has become now that I've had good sleep night after night. She also confirmed that not sleeping at all comes with its own set of problems, and is not acceptable when there are medications to help. I do feel mentally a bit sharper and steadier on my feet since being off Klonopin, but there are times I miss the calm at bedtime. As for Gabapentin, I only took it for a few months - felt groggy and foggy and gained weight, so I stopped. Good luck to everyone on this journey. People who rarely experience sleep issues do not understand.

I expect they are more worried about hoarding of the pills from someone who might be suicidal.
A pill safe would not be effective to prevent someone from hoarding.
A twelve hour time release pill would be good if there is such a thing.
I’m wondering if the morning pill puts jdtay to sleep during the day? I would think so if waking at 2:00 and unable to go back to sleep.
All of this would certainly get the sleep cycle turned around.

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.

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!

Maybe. But this really gets me! I don't need the government or pharmacy policing how I take my medication, this is ludicris! If someone is suicidal it won't matter if they've been prevented from hoarding controlled meds or not. Plenty of other meds are just as deadly overdosing on and plenty of ways to take your own life if that's what someone has decided to do. I have 2 drawers full of different pills mostly psych meds they handout like its candy and just as fatal if you take enough. My pediatric specialists used to bring me grocery bags full of medicine after I turned 18 and no longer covered on my dads policy. This included enough prednisone and sus-phrine vials/ syringes, terbutaline and other meds to last quite awhile. He was a professor of medicine, head of his dept and very much admired physician who today would end up in prison for making sure I had what I needed. He taught me at 18 that it's my responsibility to know what I'm taking and how to find that information in a PDR which is what every capable adult should do.

Thank you for doing all you do. It's very much needed.

You are Exactly Right about the lack of sleep being most harmful!