Question
I have been on clonazapen for 13 of the last 18 months and take .5mg 2x a day. My doctor is thinking of trying an anti depressant instead, I get a lot of anxiety when I don't sleep so the clonazapen helps. Would the anti depressant be less addictive and easier to stop, I went off clonazapen on my own by decreasing the dosage.
Answer
Unfortunately there is no way to telleveryone reacts differently however even with the antidepressants you need a gradual withdrawal, there is a medication called ativan to help counterreact the withdrawal but must used only when withdrawal gets so bad. Im no md but you can ask your md about it. With antidepressants you need to gradually reduce the dosage as well. here are also tips for insomnia to help feel free to email again karel
You must reset your sleep clock. Do the following religiously for
4-6 weeks though many have seen changes in as little as 2 weeks.
You must go to bed and awaken the same time every day regardless
of how much or little sleep you got the night before. This starts to
reset your sleep clock. 3 hours before bedtime stay away from
tea, coffee, caffeine, caramel colored soda like, coke,pepsi, ginger ale,
or root beer, chocolate and exercise .All these make for restless sleep.
Make sure room is quiet and dark. When you go to bed if you start to
twist and turn or if you wake up in the middle of the night and cant
go back to sleep, twist and turn for only 20 minutes, then get up, go
into a different room and read a book or magazine only! No computer!
When you start to doze immediately go back into the bedroom.Do this as
many times as you awaken during the night.It will lesson.This retrains
the brain into thinking that the bedroom is for restful sleep only.
30 minutes before bedtime take a hot bath and immerse hands under the
water.Latest research states that the palms of the hand when immersed
in hot water send signals to the brain to relax. 15 minutes before bedtime\
drink a glass of warm milk. Milk when heated contains tryptophan, a
natural amino acid sleep inducer. Go to sleepnet.com click on disorders
insomnia for more tips. Feel free to email again , Karel
