rowan77 Posted January 8, 2016 Share Posted January 8, 2016 Over the past number of weeks I have been very stressed, quite irritable, anxious and have not been able to sleep due to a traumatic event...long story. This became particularly bad last weekend so I rang pdoc to see if he would see me. He had a cancellation on Wednesday so I saw him then. He was concerned that the lack of sleep might tip me into mania so he put me on 20 mg temazepam. However my sleep didn't improve much and I was still feeling really bad so I rang him today and he has put me on 1 mg clonazepam instead of the temazepam. I didn't know it was used as a sleep aid. He also put me on 0.5 mg in the morning. Has anybody used this as a sleep aid? I would have thought that temazepam would have been a stronger medication. Anyway I suppose or hope that my pdoc knows what he is doing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aura Posted January 8, 2016 Share Posted January 8, 2016 I've taken clonazepam as a sleep aid. It doesn't knock me out so much as calm me down so I can do things that promote good sleep hygiene. Does that make any sense? I still take it sometimes when I feel really worked up at night and need to slow down. I don't take it directly at bedtime, but a little earlier so that I can relax first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jt07 Posted January 8, 2016 Share Posted January 8, 2016 I agree with Aura. The only thing you can pretty reliably count on is that it will calm you down. I took 1 mg of clonazepam three times a day for three years for anxiety and it didn't put me out. Temazepam which didn't work for you is a hypnotic (sleep inducer) which clonazepam is not. However, if you can get your anxiety under control, perhaps you will be able to get to sleep. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melissaw72 Posted January 9, 2016 Share Posted January 9, 2016 Clonazepam makes me not as anxious and calmed down, which in and of itself helps me fall asleep (the anxiety) easier, because my mind is not going in so many directions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wonderful.Cheese Posted January 9, 2016 Share Posted January 9, 2016 I take 1 mg klonopin at bedtime and 0.5 mg morning too. I suppose it helps me sleep but mostly by relaxing or helping the anxiety like others have said. It doesn't knock me out by any means. But i am able to sleep. I hope it works for you!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rowan77 Posted January 9, 2016 Author Share Posted January 9, 2016 Slept all night apart from 2 trips to the bathroom. But I fell back asleep straight away. Felt very calm but not sedated when I woke at 8am ( 3 hrs ago in Ireland ). However am getting a little anxious now so should probably take the 0.5 mg dose now to prevent things getting any worse. Thank you all for taking the time to reply!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wonderful.Cheese Posted January 9, 2016 Share Posted January 9, 2016 Glad to hear you got some good sleep!! I hope the morning dose helps. It helps me in the morning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rowan77 Posted January 9, 2016 Author Share Posted January 9, 2016 (edited) Another question. Is the morning dose of clonazepam 0.5 mg supposed to keep the anxiety/irritability/agitation at bay all day?? I took it at about 10am this morning and it really helped but by 5pm I started to feel my symptoms returning. My next dose is 1 mg at bedtime but it's only 7:30pm here and bed times is a few hours away. Maybe I should take it early?? Edited January 9, 2016 by rowan77 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReallyImFine Posted January 9, 2016 Share Posted January 9, 2016 I was taking clonazepam .5mg in the morning and night before bed. It helped some with sleep but not enough. My pdoc gave me 30 mg temazepam prn for night time use. I tried it a few times and it had absolutely no affect on me. She then put me on seroquel at night and moved the night time clonazepam to the afternoon. That worked really well for a while until the seroquel just stopped working altogether rather suddenly. I increased the seroquel from 50mg to 75mg and even 100mg and it never did start working again. I have since tapered it off all the way. I'm still not sleeping better but at least I don't have the side effects of the seroquel (which were worth it when it worked). Something I never understood and could never get a good answer from my pdoc or tdoc is how do I take a medication at night to help me sleep prn? I never know if I am going to have a (really) bad night until after the fact. As hard as I try to be aware and journal changes and my moods etc.. I could never find anything that would indicate that I would have a bad night or not until after the fact. I guess the real point is that temazepam doesn't work for everyone. Oh, one more thing, you might try adjusting the time you take the clonazepam in relation to when you go to bed / have problems with sleep. I found that when I took it right before I went to sleep it worked the best, I needed to push the maximum effect as far into my sleep as possible. I didn't have trouble getting to sleep or staying asleep until about 4 hours after I fell asleep. Clonazepam goes to work pretty fast and peaks after about 5 hours if I remember correct. I always tried to get it to peak around the time I would have trouble with waking up. Good luck, sleep well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wonderful.Cheese Posted January 9, 2016 Share Posted January 9, 2016 I don't take an afternoon dose. Honestly, I could use an afternoon dose but I am afraid of becoming too sedated during the day because I have sleep disorders too and become fatigued very easily. I used to take 1 mg three times a day though. Now I just take it morning and night. By evening/night I tend to panic about everything and anything really. So I take my bedtime dose and am already in a bad state, but the bedtime dose helps me calm down enough to sleep usually (sometimes I need a lunesta to sleep). I usually take my morning dose around 7-8 AM and my bedtime dose like 7:30-9 PM if that helps? I would give it a chance and if it keeps on wearing off for you maybe call your pdoc and ask for an afternoon dose? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReallyImFine Posted January 9, 2016 Share Posted January 9, 2016 9 minutes ago, rowan77 said: Another question. Is the morning dose of clonazepam 0.5 mg supposed to keep the anxiety/irritability/agitation at bay all day?? I took it at about 10am this morning and it really helped but by 5pm I started to feel my symptoms returning. My next dose is 1 mg at bedtime but it's only 7:30pm here and bed times is a few hours away. Maybe I should take it early?? Our posts crossed in the either so I didn't see this. I find that taking the clonazepam at 7am helps get me through to about mid afternoon. I take my afternoon dose at 2pm and that gets me through to late evening when things are calmer anyway (kids settled in, wife around to help with stress etc..). If my pdoc doesn't have another suggestion for a sleep med I'm going to ask about taking a third clonazepam at bedtime. I also take 20mg of Lexapro daily in the morning, fwtw. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReallyImFine Posted January 9, 2016 Share Posted January 9, 2016 5 minutes ago, Wonderful.Cheese said: I don't take an afternoon dose. Honestly, I could use an afternoon dose but I am afraid of becoming too sedated during the day because I have sleep disorders too and become fatigued very easily. I would give it a chance and if it keeps on wearing off for you maybe call your pdoc and ask for an afternoon dose? I have not had a problem with clonazepam causing sedation but I am only taking .5mg. I love my 2pm dose, adding that was a very significant positive change for me. Only behind adding the clonazepam in the first place, it works wonders for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wonderful.Cheese Posted January 9, 2016 Share Posted January 9, 2016 Hmm...you've given me something to think about. Thanks ReallyImFine. Maybe at my next appointment I could ask for an afternoon dose. I think that would be helpful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rowan77 Posted January 9, 2016 Author Share Posted January 9, 2016 Thanks for your input everybody! Maybe I will take my night time dose earlier tomorrow. I have just taken it a few minutes ago (just after 10pm here) I have an appointment with my pdoc on Monday so will chat to him about it then Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melissaw72 Posted January 9, 2016 Share Posted January 9, 2016 3 hours ago, rowan77 said: Another question. Is the morning dose of clonazepam 0.5 mg supposed to keep the anxiety/irritability/agitation at bay all day?? I took it at about 10am this morning and it really helped but by 5pm I started to feel my symptoms returning. My next dose is 1 mg at bedtime but it's only 7:30pm here and bed times is a few hours away. Maybe I should take it early?? I would ask your pdoc about allowing you to split the bedtime dose so you are taking the 0.5 mg in the morning, 0.5 in the afternoon, and 0.5 at night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wonderful.Cheese Posted January 10, 2016 Share Posted January 10, 2016 20 hours ago, rowan77 said: Thanks for your input everybody! Maybe I will take my night time dose earlier tomorrow. I have just taken it a few minutes ago (just after 10pm here) I have an appointment with my pdoc on Monday so will chat to him about it then I hope your appointment goes well tomorrow! Keep us posted! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rowan77 Posted January 11, 2016 Author Share Posted January 11, 2016 23 hours ago, Wonderful.Cheese said: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rowan77 Posted January 11, 2016 Author Share Posted January 11, 2016 4 minutes ago, rowan77 said: 23 hours ago, Wonderful.Cheese said: So sorry I have made a real balls of this thread. Saw pdoc today. He put me on 0.5 mg clonazepam in morning and afternoon and the usual 1 mg at night. So I too the 0.5 mg this afternoon and am a little sleepy hence the mess with posts. I was trying to quote wonderful cheese. Anyway I might be a little sleepy but am so relaxed and glad that my pdoc changed the meds Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wonderful.Cheese Posted January 11, 2016 Share Posted January 11, 2016 I'm glad to hear you got a afternoon dose! I'm glad it's helping too! Yay! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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