Klonopin & Gabapentin for sleep

I've had 2 sleep studies at the same clinic. Both diagnoses were "severe sleep apnea" and he suggested a CPAP. I stopped using it because it seemed to make no difference upon waking but made it even harder to get to sleep. But my son and my roommate say they couldn't possibly do without the CPAP.

Am not familar with the meds you mentioned. Due to all the comments re: addiction, I guess I will not look into either. Thanks for educating me. I just turned 70

I take clonazepam 2 mg before bedtime, and it has worked wonders for me. No cognitive decline, no other issues. I need for anxiety and sleep. I also take melatonin, 5 mg before bedtime, and 200 mg of gabapentin. You are at such a low dose of Clonazepam, don't worry. The doctor s are just covering their asses. If you need an additional OTC sleep med, try the Sleep Aid that Costco offers which is doxylamine succinate. It works great, but start slowly with one quarter or one-half tablet, so you don't have a hangover in the AM. Slowly, you will get accustomed to taking a full tablet before bedtime without carryover effects into the AM. Good luck! (They always add these caveats. ....."side effects such as dizziness, drowsiness, confusion, and difficulty concentrating. Some people, especially the elderly, may also experience impairment in thinking, judgment, and motor coordination." ) I'd say, ignore them, they love to use them as warnings for the very few people who ever experience them. If you could get your doctor to prescribe Ambien (Zolpidem tartrate), that's good for sleep too.

I started klonopin a few years ago. At first it was great. Now it makes me snore and wake up unable to breathe I take 1mg at night. I can’t stop taking it because it is unbearable. It keeps me awake now instead of helping me sleep. I will talk to my doctor about possibly taking another benzo in the morning and possible a sleeping pill at night.

I did a very slow taper of 1mg of Klonopin over a 10 month period last year. It was hell, but I made it to the end. The worst part was the insomnia, and the psychiatrist who tapered me off would not give me anything for that. He discharged me at the end of the taper because I was turning 65 and their practice did not treat Seniors. I felt totally kicked to the curb. My primary care dr. prescribed Remeron, which I took for 4 months and it did not help. I tried over the counter, CBT-I, and found some relief with CBD/THC gummies. I finally got a referral to a sleep medicine specialists, who was the only one that confirmed that it was not acceptable to have this level of insomnia and prescribed Lunesta. She was also willing to re-prescribe Klonopin but I declined because it was so hellish to get off it. I have to say the Klonopin worked better for a solid night's sleep, but I also had some stupid falls, which I no longer have. I feel that for me, Lunesta is the better choice overall.

Wishing you all the best. I think you made a wise decision not going back to the Klonopin. Although it helped you sleep it also has many long term side effects which are too concerning. I despise that medication.

It's unbearable because almost everyone becomes dependent on the medication, they just don't realize it, nor do most of the idiot doctors who prescribe it. They truly do not understand what this medication does to someone long term, I am being sincere about that, physicians really don't understand what they dish out.

@arthur57
Klonopin is a very beneficial medication and helps a lot of people with seizures and other problems. Perhaps not the drug of choice for you but if you decrease your dose EXTREMELY SLOWLY you probably won't have any trouble. As long as you have withdrawal symptoms take it in even smaller doses. Perhaps using a bridge would help you but I'd try the smaller doses first. You wouldn't want to get hooked on a second drug.
Best of luck to you,
Jake

Jake, maybe it's fine for folks who have seizure issues, I have no idea, but if it keeps them from having these episodes, I'm happy for them. For me, it was an idiot sleep doc who thought I needed klonopin to help with a sleep disruption issue, that to this day, nobody can explain. No, I don't have sleep apnea, but 3 other sleep docs failed to understand giving me klonopin? That said it only took 4 to 6 weeks for me to begin developing body tremors, body buzzing, eye twiching etc. It was obviously messing with my CNS but idiot doc said it couldn't possibly be the blame. After 7 months I stopped it cold turkey as I couldn't take the issues anymore and why not stop it cold turkey, it was already screwing me over. Yes, it took months but my body buzzing stopped, my eye twitching stopped within days, but I still deal with very minor tremors only at night but they are slowly improving. Saw a neurolgist just to make sure and he found nothing wrong with me but also failed to understand the klonopin? Talked to a retired pharmacist friend of my brothers who basically called klonopin crap. Said he couldn't believe they were dishing that stuff out, said it was a treatment from decades gone by - his words. It is only to be dispensed for short term, (maybe seizure patients are an outlier) not long term as you definitely become dependent, thus the withdrawal issues that it creates. Best to you as well!

Do you still take these?