1mg at bed turns off this nightmare and gets me a full night of rest, paired with 800mg valerian (probably not needed but read some good stuff about long term deep sleep studies using it). It's sad but i look forward to this part of the day because it's so effective.
Anyways I hate pharmaceuticals, but it works and the alternative is sitting up all night in total agony until the sun comes up then I am totally sleepless and hell starts all over again.
How harmful is this stuff longterm? I know withdrawal will be bad, but I've quite opiates and cigarettes and assuming ever get these diseases under control I can handle that.
What does one do here
Posted by radfaraf (Member # 11909) on :
You most likely wouldn't be able to mantain the benefits of it helping you sleep for more than a week or so. After a while you will get used to it. I take clonazepam 1-2 nights a week to keep from getting used to it or having to deal with withdrawals.
It has been working without dosage increase for about 2 years for me now by taking it only once in a while. When I try to take it longer it quickly stops being helpful and I start getting rebound insomnia.
Posted by venus (Member # 16991) on :
A number of us are like you and hate being on these things. Ativan is the only thing that has helped me sleep for 18 months. I haven't had to increase it in the last year.
You may have to deal with getting off it when you are well, but in the meantime you need your sleep.
Just my opinion. Others will disagree.
Kathy
Posted by kelmo (Member # 8797) on :
I agree with Kathy. Sleep is vital. My daughter is on 1mg. Has been for several years.
She would like to someday get off of it, but her body can't take that withdrawl stress right now and try to do school.
Posted by Toppers (Member # 20083) on :
ok thanks guys. I'm going to try to keep it at .5 mg and when times get rough 1 mg.
Posted by hiker53 (Member # 6046) on :
I have been on 3 mg per day for over 3 years to control my seizures and I only weigh 95 pounds. I am not ramping down with no trouble at all. Every two weeks I drop 1/2 mg. On Wed. I will be at half the dose I started with and will stay there until I am sure the seizures will go away for good. If the seizures go away then I will continue to ramp down as my doctor says by 1/2 mg every two weeks.
I do sometimes have trouble falling asleep, but I was having that even when on the clonazepam, because I built a tolerance to it.
Best wishes. Hiker53
Posted by losferwrds (Member # 19741) on :
You will get dependent/addicted with daily use, and it takes at least 4-6 months to taper off, but it works well for me.
I was able to quit twice, for 4 years and 2 years, but it is a physically and mentally addictive drug that needs to be slowly tapered to get off of
I currently take a 1 mg a day.
Google it, many call it the devil and poison so ya have to make your own decision.
Posted by CD57 (Member # 11749) on :
Getting off it is fine. I got off 1 mg in a month, after using for 2 years. don't let the addiction stories scare you out of using it. I've had four docs tell me benzos won't hurt you, and they are very useful meds.
Posted by MariaA (Member # 9128) on :
what does addiction feel like with this drug? I'm taking slivers once in a while- and for a while was taking them (1/4 tablet or less) every day. During this time I got sicker and got worse insomnia unless I took the drug, but I don't think it's related to taking the drug. but I've wondered what it's supposed to feel like when people have addiction problems with it.
Posted by Selection10 (Member # 19578) on :
Clonazepam doesn't cause addiction, it causes physical dependance -- two very different things.