Ativan for Sleep after Klonopin

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Has anyone gone on Ativan for sleep after coming off a benzo/antidepressant for a while?  I am in desperate need of consistent sleep. (meaning some sleep without panic attacks or adrenaline surges, night terrors, etc.)  I can deal with all the other horrific symptoms but I need to have sleep to do this.  I know because I have done this before.  When I got off Xanax, I used Remeron for a few years and Klonopin for a few months and they gave me sleep each night. I was able to manage everything else (although it was tough - I did it).  My doc is now suggesting Ativan for sleep because I have never tried it before.  Is this a completely bad idea? The other non-benzo drugs like Seroquel, Neurontin, Visteral, Phenergan, etc. don't work. She doesn't really want me to do it but she doesn't want to see me suffer like I am anymore... Thoughts???

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Please do not go on Ativan.  I was on klonopin, then switched to Librium then Ativan..  Look at the side effects on Drug.com.  It totally took my memory away.  I do not know the days, months or seasons.  Everything is blank when I try to think about it.  It is so scary and my doctor says its permanent.  I can't live like this.  Ativan is so addicting and hard to come off of.  One of the many side effects is anger, hostility, irritability, depression, crying and amnesia.  It makes me have all all of those.  It makes me angry and I'm not like that.  I'm a calm and happy person,  Now, I may never get my memory back!  It's the worst drug ever!  Please, please, please steer clear of this drug.

 

 

God bless you,

Deborah

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Oh my gosh, Deborah.  I am so sorry to hear that.  I will be praying for you daily and believing your healing will come soon.  My doc also suggested Librium but preferred Ativan.  I had no idea about it.  I just want sleep so badly I feel like I will do just about anything.  Thank you for your feedback.  It will definitely make me rethink that option.

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Thank you for your prayers they mean so much to me!  I'm praying for you, too!  Merry Christmas!

 

 

 

God bless you,

Deborah

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I personally would not use a benzodiazepine for sleep because of not getting any sleep because of benzodiazepine withdrawal. It just does not make sense to me. I think it is a very bad idea.

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I don't know what else I can do. I'm so depressed and in pain without the sleep.

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Don't do it.  It'll give you that sleep you're so desperately wanting for all of about two weeks, then the tolerance sets in.  Then you'll have twice as much trouble sleeping as before, and then you'll just be needing more and more of it to sleep.  It's a nightmare.  Then eventually you will have to get off it again and go through the same withdrawal hell.  It's really not worth it at all.  Benzos shouldn't be used for sleep because after a period of time, they're ineffective.  It sounds weird but I would suggest gabapentin.  After I quit benzos, I tried that and it's worked wonders.  It doesn't "knock me out" but it keeps me calm enough throughout the day so I can function, and I'm calm at night so I can sleep.  It's a really subtle, yet effective drug.  And playing with the doses really helps.  One person can be really benefitted by a small dose, yet others need large doses.  The cool thing about gabapentin is that while is can cause dependence, it's non addictive and if you use it right and don't "depend" on it, you won't have a difficult time getting off it.  I've personally been on it for two and a half years (I was on it while on benzos, but just binged all of it the first few days to "add on" to the benzo feeling) and some days I take my full dose, some days I take none, and never have withdrawals or never feel like I'm going insane.  I'd give it a try at least.  Try the safer alternative before the more dangerous ones.  You can pm me if you need advice.  I've been through the EXACT same thing

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I agree with the others, bad move to introduce Ativan at this stage.

 

And Snow, I don't think it was a very competent thing to say your memory loss is permanent by your doc. That's a nasty thing to say 

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Chiming in on gabapentin to help with sleep for sleep. I have been on this drug for almost 5 years. Was originally prescribed to help with my benzo taper. For me gabapentin has been far worse than ativan or valium. I started tapering well after I was healed from benzos and I'm having a hell of a time. If you look around the internet, there are lots of people out there having similar experiences on this drug.

I'm especially sensitive to psych meds so you might not have the same experience but, I would do my homework before asking for a script for gabapentin.

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Navita,

 

Thanks for commenting on what my doctor said.  It's so hard to hear what she said.  She says she has many patients that never got their memory back.  I have to try and get off and let God heal me.

 

 

Ativan is pure poison!  I'm having a nightmare of a life. 

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Eventually natural sleep will return but in my case it took 6 months. I took magnesium pills to help me sleep plus started doing rigorous runs on a treadmill. Exercise made the whole process of becoming benzo free easier to tolerate and my sleep returned.  January 1st will mark 2 years clonazepam free for me. You just have to preserver and eventually it will get easier.

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Thank you all for the replies.  I spoke with my doctor yesterday and told her I didn't feel comfortable with the Ativan.  She understood and told me to follow up with her next week for further discussion.  I have been on Gabapentin several times.  I actually have a bottle of it in my house right now but I never take them.  I was on it when I was on and coming off Xanax.  It never really helped me with sleep but paired with other things (like Remeron or Klonopin) it helped a little.  I never had to wean much on it because I only took 100-200 mgs of it and never took it long.  I felt that it did relax me during the day but didn't have much luck with it at night.  The larger doses were too much for me to take.  Thank you all again for responding to me.  It has helped a lot. 

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Thank you all for the replies.  I spoke with my doctor yesterday and told her I didn't feel comfortable with the Ativan.  She understood and told me to follow up with her next week for further discussion.  I have been on Gabapentin several times.  I actually have a bottle of it in my house right now but I never take them.  I was on it when I was on and coming off Xanax.  It never really helped me with sleep but paired with other things (like Remeron or Klonopin) it helped a little.  I never had to wean much on it because I only took 100-200 mgs of it and never took it long.  I felt that it did relax me during the day but didn't have much luck with it at night.  The larger doses were too much for me to take.  Thank you all again for responding to me.  It has helped a lot.

 

Hey good for you. You've made a good decision I think.

 

A Sleep Medicine doctor is who took me off my benzos.  Benzos don't actually help you sleep, especially not after a few weeks.  They can actually see this: sleep efficiency goes down, REM and deep sleep suppressed, among other things.  So, you may sleep longer, but not actually feel more rested, when on a benzo like Ativan or Klonopin.

 

Most sleeping problems are PHYSIOLOGICAL, not PSYCHOLOGICAL.  So, if you can't sleep, you may need to see a sleep medicine doctor. 

 

Biggest thing is make sure you are practicing good sleep hygiene.  Go to bed at the same time every night, wake up the same time every morning, avoid backlit displays after dark, get exercise during the day, eat right, careful of lights in the room, make sure room is quiet, keep the room cold and use a blanket, etc.

 

This is written for a particular crowd (so some of the jokes won't make sense), but, the information is VERY good (better than a google search), give this a solid read:

http://i.imgur.com/QJxQxHG.jpg

 

For getting to sleep, I recommend counting down from 100..  A lot of people count up, I like down.  100, 99, 98... each count release anxiety and relax your muscles..

 

Good luck.  And don't take anything for sleep, train your body through behaviorism!  I swear it works!  I had TERRIBLE insomnia before I really put an effort into this. 

 

Take care and proud of you for turning down the Ativan.

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I find running helps me sleep as it burns off my nervous energy and mellows me out...as does a glass of wine. I've also taken up meditating before bed to clear my mind and concentrate solely on my breathing.  If you can stop your mind from wandering, then you are more likely to fall and stay asleep. 

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Thank you for your replies.  I do practice extremely good sleep hygiene.  I have been to several sleep doctors who refer me to counselors.  My counselor works with me but thinks it is more biological.  So, I have gotten bounced back and forth.  I was doing better with sleep for a while.  Now, in a little disruption again.  I am hoping this pattern straightens out quickly, and I get back to getting a nice amount of sleep each night.