Clonidine for Withdrawal Symptoms.....

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I am going through a nasty Wave and am thinking about going on the Clonidine Patch that my doctor gave me to bring my bp down and help with withdrawal symptoms.  Has anyone recently used Clonidine and does it help or are there issues of it making things worse or binding with the Gaba Receptors?

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My doc tried to get me to get on clonadine too, I said no, then researched it and found out it is another dangerous drug.  My bp was high during withdrawal but now, a year later after some serious exercise my bp is the best it's been in 15 years, and I don't have to worry about tapering clonadine or having serious heart problems from stopping it abruptly.

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Clonadine is not a dangerous drug. I mean, that statement is 100% your opinion. Clonadine is not habit forming, does not make changes to the brain and can really help with many of the physical symptoms we suffer during withdrawal. 

 

Now here is my OPINION on clonadine.

 

I take o.2mg every night.  I find it makes me a little sleepy and it helps tremendously with the night sweats. There are many reasons to consider clonadine or propanolol during withdrawal. 

 

Neither one is going to impact or slow the healing, but both can provide much needed relief. Look, there is no magic bullet, but clonadine brought down my blood pressure, which went high in w/d, it slowed my rapid heart beat, helped with the terrible sweating I had and helped calm me a bit.

 

I took 0.2mg x4 a day during my first two months in w/d. I am now in my 8th month and I'm down to only 0.2mg at night.  I had no trouble at all cutting back. No taper, I just stopped taking it except for at night. 

 

Try if for yourself, and if it doesn't do anything then stop.  Clonadine can not make things worse, so you have nothing to lose by giving it a shot.

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They gave a lot of patients clonidine in the treatment facility I was at.  It seemed to knock them on their butts but it helped with anxiety.  It can cause dizziness.  I do well with hydroxyzine.  Try Benadryl if you're in a pinch. 

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Eric,  that was what I was worried about with Clonidine....my doctor gave me a patch which works for a week.....but my concern was the spike in bp after I stopped using it....he combined it with Flexeril and since I am 75 and live alone I thought it not a good idea to have two drugs in my system that would make my drowsy....such a balancing act......good luck to you and thank you for your advice.

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Thank you Irishman,  I think that every drug works differently on different people, I actually took Clonidine in the past pre dental surgery with no problem....actually the patch that the doctor prescribed is just .2mgs......I may give it a try as just desperate to bring my bp down and stop the muscle cramping and get a good night's sleep.  Thank you for your comment and good luck to you with this awful monster.

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Thank you HCH, I will take a look at Hydroxyzine, Benadryl gives me tachycardia.......so many drugs out there.....Good luck to you.