Clonazepam (Klonopin, Rivotril)

I have heard the same info on melatonin, 1 mg is enough. It's a hormone and should be used with care. I don't think your suppose to use it for more than 2 weeks at a time also. Together I'm not sure. Whenever in doubt about combining meds I call a pharmacist. Better to be safe than sorry.

 

First of all, you can take clonazepam and melatonin together. Clonazepam is also NOT addictive. There can be dependency if you take it for too long but that just means that you would need to reduce the dose slowly over time when you decided to stop taking the clonazepam. The issue is 'risk' versus 'benefit'. If your tinnitus is long term and the clonazepam gives you some relief, then you may not want to to stop taking it - therefore, 'dependence' is not an issue, as in many other chronic conditions such a high blood pressure or diabetes. Regarding melatonin, most people take too low a dose. The effective dose can be between 5-10mg and you can use it as long as you need to. After all, not sleeping is the worst possible thing for tinnitus sufferers. I am a treating physician and not only have tinnitus but have been treating other sufferers for more than 16 years.

 

I should add that I take lorazepam (Ativan) 1mg + melatonin 5mg + diphenhydramine (Benadryl) 25mg every night and sleep 7-8 hours without wakening.

 

Dr. Ancill, thank you for your the clarification and your input. It's nice to have a physician on TT forum to share facts about medications that are beneficial for those of us with sleep issues. Thank you again.

 

Thank you for a most comprehensive answer....Having someone speak with certainty and knowledge makes the advice all the more useful...especially since its what I wanted to hear...many thanks...However...5-10 mg seems incredibly high for melatonin

 

Ive heard several differing opinions about Clonazepam. Some studies and websites claim it is useful in lowering tinnitus...others say its ABSolutely a no no drug as it makes or causes Tinnitus...what are you thoughts?

 

When it comes to benzodiazepines like clonazepam, always be very wary to ever develop any sort of dependency on the drug - people dearly underestimate how serious dependency can become and how serious withdrawal symptoms are, tinnitus is an often reported side effect from benzo withdrawal. You only need to take a quick look at a site like the benzobuddies.org forum to see how many people struggle with withdrawal symptoms.

The drugs have their place definitely, but only in the short term and when used sparingly. They're often over prescribed and no guidance is given to the patient on proper dosing and how to appropriately taper if they've been using it long term. Many doctors are actually quite ignorant about tapering procedures and rush their patients off their medicine too fast.

Just be careful and responsible when it comes to benzodiazepines, if possible try other approaches like CBT and natural supplementation with stuff like melatonin before relying on stuff like clonazepam. Tackling tinnitus without relying on benzos will be far more beneficial long term imo. This is coming from someone who has had years of dependency on the drug Zolpidem (Ambien/Stilnox) and while it's labeled a 'nonbenzodiazepine', it basically works exactly the same way and I often wonder how much my dependency on the drug has had an influence on my tinnitus and hyperacusis development.

 

Actually, benzodiazepine withdrawal had been hyped in the media for 25 years. In 30% of patients who just stop taking the drug, there is no measurable withdrawal effect. Some patients do have serious problems though and that is why withdrawal should be slow and supervised and can also occur with a wide range of non-benzodiazepine medications. I do agree that many doctors rush this withdrawal. As I have said in an earlier post, this is all about risk versus benefit. Well-meaning but untrained people should refrain from giving medical and pharmaceutical advice and some sufferers, who anxious enough already, will be scare off valuable treatments. Much of it is based on their own idiosyncratic experience or what they read on the Internet. If you believe all that stuff, I know a Nigerian prince who wants to give you a million dollars.

 

Im going thru without question the worst 3 months of my life and in spite of Accupuncture, chinese herbs beyond belief, and traditional medicine, I need to keep using the Clonazepam for a bit of rest from the relentless noises in my ears and head.
Ive had tinnitus MANY years but it never bothered me....I took small bits of clonazepam thru the years...With the ears suddenly so severe the clonazepam is my friend BUT...
I READ CONFLICTING reports on its safety. Some places say its bad for tinnitus but MANY sites say that studies show it to be great for tinnitus sufferers!! Please...whats the answer...if I take a half a pill, and wake up with the noise worse, I always blame my friend Clonazepam and yet since it never bothered me for years why would I assume it would make things worse? Does anyone have educated info on whether it destroys the nerves in ear more?? thanks....

 

Thank you so very much Markku...I see you are very knowledgeable and contribute a great deal on this forum....Thanks for the info...i will read it all...Luisa

 

Thanks Karen...ABout the melatonin...it seems to make one very sleepy and dragged out the next day!....I have a good companies 3mg tablet that I actually break in half...Sometimes, I take a small piece of the clonazepam a few hour later....I can feel very drugged in the morning!...Is melatonin really that strong?

 

Louisa, I don't like to take anything anymore due to my T. I am very careful now. I use passionflower extract that works like valium and does not make me feel drugged at all. I can use it during the day for anxiety or at night for sleep. I take 1/2 the dosage (25drops) suggested for sleep and maybe 1/2 (10 drops) that if I experience anxiety during the day. It is in my Arsenal to cope with T. It was suggested to me by my Nurse Practitioner. You don't want to use it with other anti anxiety drugs however, but it is great in place of.

 

Hey everyone,

When my tinnitus fist spiked last year I was in a terrible state of panic and sustained anxiety. I worked with my psychiatrist and I started taking .5 mg of Clonazepam once a day at night before bed. It has helped me deal with anxiety to be sure (I also take escitalopram and buspirone as well). Long story short, I am very hesitant to continue taking the medication (I have spoken with my doctor about this) because I consider myself to have an alcohol problem. I don't currently drink, and I have not in nearly 2 years, but given the possibility of dependence on benzodiazepines for people who also have alcohol problems, I'm very concerned about it. The trick is, stopping taking it. I am currently at about .5625 mg a night... I cut them up into small pieces.

Long story short, I want to stop it all together because I hate feeling dependent on something. It helps, and my doctor is not concerned about my usage, even though I have told him with my alcohol problems in the past, given that I have not abused the medication in any way so far. Either way, I'd like to hear peoples' experiences cutting back or tapering off of it. In no way am I going to stop cold turkey, that's crazy. My doctor has suggested cutting back a little bit and seeing how I feel and going from there. That's the best idea I think. I want to stay away from those benzo forums, those places are enough to cause a panic attack in and of themselves.

Thanks for the support!

 

Hey there! So yours seems similar to mine! Bout the clonazepam Ive been on it for two years way before my tinnitus started takin .5 twice a day as needed... And my doc also perscribed me lexapro 10 mg once a day cause I have panic and generalized anxiety disoder. I still am on the lexapro which i will probably be on the rest of my life and I still take the clonazepam when i need to.. I can go three weeks to 6 months without taking one if im feeling okay with no withdraw or concern which is weird cause it seems alot people go through withdraw but since this T ive been takin 1 or 2 when I have like a spike scare and I know they can cause T or make it worse but mine was caused from loud exposure so im not too worried to keep takin them as needed. Plus they help sooo much calming me down and Id rather be calm then freaking out! Not sure if im any help but seems like your doctor is right with cutting down real slow until you can stop it all together. Do you think you would be able to keep it incase of like a panic? Or would that make you want to take it regularly again. With my own experience with anixety before this T stuff started Im like really bad lol and now with this T im like so much worse so my whole thing with it is i will prob be on benzos all through out my life as needed and like i said that could mean going without it from 3 weeks all the way to 6 months but just like to have them just incase.

 

Idk if anyone else experiences this.. But i take long hot showers and i noticed while doin that on 1 mg of klonopin that its like my t went completly away.. I have real mild T so i can only hear it when i plug my ears.. But ive been pluggin them for the past half hour and theres nothin at all but silence... Really weird but i kno the lil ring a lings will come back later or in the mornin.. But even if so its not that audible.. Just curious if anyone else takes anxiety meds and thats happened before?

 

It's definitely not uncommon for benzodiazepines to lessen the severity of tinnitus because of how it affects the GABA receptors in the brain. Basically it enhances the brains ability to create calm and ease anxiety, but prolonged and excessive use can lead to the opposite as a tolerance begins to build - so be careful! I've taken valium for a short while in the past and it did calm my tinnitus a little. I have also been on zolpidem long term, which works nearly identically to benzodiazepines and used to experience big drops in tinnitus perception, not so much now because of my tolerance.

http://www.bcnc.org.uk/howtheywork.htm - some good reading on how benzodiazepines like Klonopin work.

 

Grace your so lucky to have Tinnitus that is low in volume.. I really wish i had your Tinnitus.. 1 mg of Klonopin is quite a lot in my opinion.. Maybe you should think about reducing the slowly over a period of weeks..
Yonkapin thanx for the intresting link on Benzos .. Some years ago now i was terribly addicted to Xanax .. Thing is no two people react the same to Benzos so extreme caution is advisable.. Micky

 

1mg is the maximum dose recommended by the brain clinic in belgium for tinnitus, so you're still within safety limits

it's only 10mg of diazepam, the problem is you'll build a tolerance very quickly...

 

I've been on 1 mg of Klonopin for years, sometimes twice a day, long before I ever noticed constant tinnitus. Maybe it's time for a switch.

 

@Grace:

1mg Klonopin and a hot shower is my remedy, too! I only take the Klonopin twice a week, however, as I do not want to build up a tolerance. Often, I wake up with no tinnitus at all if I take it the prior evening.

The shower definitely helps. Even without the Klonopin, I am sometimes able to extinguish my tinnitus completely with a loud, hot shower.

-Golly

 

I believe it the range of sound that a shower provides that can lessen the T

 

I saw an earlier post about Klonopin, and a lot of great replies with super good info! TT rocks!!

Anyhow I have been on 1mg Klonopin (at night) for about 8 months and my Psych recently added Remeron to help me sleep (my T is outrageously high pitch and high volume so sleeping is a big challenge!) Anyone have any intel on how these two work (or don't) together?? I have done some research and there is apparently a "moderate" interaction between the two. But I haven't yet really noticed anything, but it's only been a week.

Any thoughts????

THANKS!!

 

I dont know about remeron but i take klonopin also and it makes me feel on top of the world lol i sleep like a baby when i take it but adding remeron would probably even be better too so good luck!

 

Ive been on it for two years now.. But no need to taper down cause i rarely use it.. I could see someone using 1 mg EVERY day then yeah that could cause a dependence on it but i take mayb .5 to 1 mg a week if i even do that so totally fine in my case.. But two years ago pre T i was perscribed .5 to 1 mg a day to deal with anxiety and panic and was on them for about 1 year taking them everyday with no withdraw or anything so i guess it depends on the person.

 

And also 1 mg is very Very low dose according to my doc... She sees people takin 2 mg to 6 mg a night which is considered pretty high.. And that would be hell to get off! As long as your not taking them everyday and abusing and just quit cold turkey then you should be fine!

 

Meaning? We understand you can lose affect of the drug but what do you mean by the opposite?

 

The website I linked explains it better than I probably can:

Basically, long term benzo use is bad on the brain because you produce less of the neurotransmitters that calm the brain down, so you find that you need the drug to function and without it your brain goes into overdrive mode. This leads to all sorts of withdrawal symptoms that vary from person to person.

I've brought this sort of stuff up before here because tinnitus (and hyperacusis) are (arguably, I guess) pretty common withdrawal symptoms. I think it's important for us to be aware about this stuff because doctors are too happy to hand out scripts to keep patients placated but don't advise them of the possible complications that come from long term use. I think my own use of hypnotics over the years has probably had a negative effect on my tinnitus and probably worsened my hyperacusis, which is why I try to give everyone a little heads up here.

Anyway I'm babbling now, keep in mind what I've mentioned applies to long term, daily use. So occasional users don't really need to worry, but it is a slippery slope that people need to be aware of.

If you're interested in this stiff, check out the following links, they'll do a way better job of explaining this stuff than I can.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benzodiazepine_withdrawal_syndrome
http://www.benzo.org.uk/manual/
http://www.bcnc.org.uk/howtheywork.htm

 

I went back on my anti depressant today, I know it will be a few weeks for it to help. I have taken klonopin a few times when the noise ramps up and it really helps for a few hours. Do you think I can stay on a regular few pills a day to help with the overwhelming anxiety until the AD kicks in. I know it is only a band aid right now but I really need help. I am also not sleeping well, I am trying masking but basically I just stay with my eyes closed and trying to stay as relaxed as possible. I am trying to live life but this month with T has been very challenging. I went to my sons basketball game last night, as much as I didn't want to leave my bed, but it actually was not too bad. Got home at 9 and had dinner with my family and by 12 my head felt 10 times louder than ever and I got zero sleep?