Klonopin

[Crazy-Leggs]

Hello everyone, has anyone had any luck with adding Klonopin ? It's a benzo and I currently take Lorazepam which is in the same class of medication. I've heard that the Klonopin works better and lasts longer. When the rls gets really bad and my anxiety goes through the roof I find the Lorazepam helps a little. I also take low dose hydrocodone, Gabapentin and Requip which I'm attempting to slowly lower the dose of that nasty stuff.I'm so happy to have connected with all of you fellow sufferers. Helps me not to feel so alone at 3 am.

[SueJohnson]

You don't need both. Klonopin has a long half life of 48 hours so will make you tired the next day.

[Crazy-Leggs in reply to SueJohnson]

Thanks for your reply. I've taken it in the past and am aware of the half life of all of my medications but it's been several years. I wasn't planning on taking both but absolutely nothing makes me tired. I have a ridiculously high resistance to things that make most people sleepy or tired. Maybe it's the 1800 mg of Gabapentin I've taken for 12 years. When I've had procedures done at the hospital and they say we're going to give you something to relax you I make them go over my medications, then they always say "let me go make some adjustments" because what would knock most people out have little affect on me.

I was just wondering if anyone has had any luck with it. I have noticed when I take a Lorazepam and half of a low dose hydrocodone 325/5 that it settles my legs for a short time. I was thinking the Klonopin would maybe work a little better especially when I start reducing the Requip by small amounts.

[SueJohnson in reply to Crazy-Leggs]

That's interesting. Then sure, try the klonopin.

[marsha2306 in reply to Crazy-Leggs]

I was told by the doctors when I had surgery, to space lorazepam and hydrocodone (or other narcotic) by 1 hour.

[pookiebyrd]

The best thing I ever did was get off requip. I took it so long that it made my symptoms worse. They call it augmenting. I am now on a very low dose Suboxone film, (it is an opioid. It's 2mg buprenorphine and 0.5 naloxone films) take 1/4 film at noon and 1/2 film at 8 pm and am pretty much symptoms free. It has been a miracle drug for me

[Bieler in reply to pookiebyrd]

May I ask how long you’ve been on the same dose of suboxone? Have you ever had to go up in dose for same effects? Thank you.

[pookiebyrd in reply to Bieler]

I started on it about 3 1/2 years ago and have increased my dose 3 times and recently added the noon dose for all day and night coverage. The Dr states that I am still on a very small dose.

[tagaxel]

I used Valium for 14 years and it controlled my RLS perfectly. I wish I never got off it.

[Bieler]

Have you ever tried Tramadol? Only thing I need and symptom free for years. Helps many in this forum but may not be for all.

[Crazy-Leggs in reply to Bieler]

Hi Bieler, I alleric to Tramadol. I'm allergic to a lot of things, especially opioids. I can tolerate 1/2 of a 325/5 mg hydrocodone 4 times a day and that actually helps. Any more that and I'm throwing up badly. The anti nausea drug makes me throw up! I hate being so hyper reactive to everything. Most doctors don’t believe me or don't understand. It's so frustrating!

[Insomniak]

Hi, I am in the process of coming off Requip myself. I was on 4mg per day for the last 10 years and was experiencing both augmentation and increased impulsivity. My neurologist then insisted that I reduce my Requip with the plan to transfer to Pregablin. It took me about 3 months to reduce to 1mg per day at which point my RLS was 24/7 and I was using not only Pregablin but 30mg per day of cocodamol. That was just before Xmas and as I wanted to enjoy my Xmas I stopped pushing myself to reduce the Requip and actually went back up 1 step to 1.25mg per day. This made a huge difference to me and I was immediately getting more continuous sleep. I have stabilised at that dose now and feel able to consider reducing again. I will reduce my Requip down really slowly now (I have read case studies were people have taken 3 months to get from 4mg to 1mg and then another 3 months to get from 1 to zero. That is my plan anyway. Best of luck with your own challenges and I’ll think of you while I am wandering around my house at 3am (GMT).

[violetta254]

There does not seem to be a lot of RLS talk about clonazepam but from my perspective, just DON'T! Benzos are very dangerous and were not the right drug for my RLS. And they stopped working after a while and were hell to get off of. The withdrawal took 6 months and left me with severe RLS instead of a mild case. In my case, methadone was a life saver and I have not had to increase my dosage above 10mg for a few years. Gabapentin did not work at all probably because of augmentation on Mirapex. But does seem to work for many others.

[marsha2306 in reply to violetta254]

I take .5 mg lorazepam before bed and it does help me go to sleep at night. This is in addition to 600 mg gabapentin at 8 pm

[Sappington]

Good morning. I was prescribed Gabapentin two years ago with a view to it replacing the Pramipxole that I have been using for many many years, with the occasional usage of Madopar Rapid when needed. I have been through many ups and downs over the 50 years with my RLS. My usage of Pramipexole had got to thew stage where I was going to have to up the daily does to 2.5 mg per day to keep the RLS . I was able to reduce my usage of Pramipexole to 1 mg in the afternoon to reduce the onset of the RLS to a minimal interference with my dail and evening toutine. I then took 900 mg of Gabapentin later in the evening with a further 900 mg ( forgive me if I have the description of the conent of the tablets). My sleep patterns just got worse over the last two years as the Gabapentin needed that topup to keep the RLS at bay. I now only sleep with just over 5 hours of broken sleep every night. Drowsiness sets in every day by 11.00 a.m. and by late afternoon I have total and utter fatigue. Climbing the 19 steps of our staircase is a real challenge. If I lay down I just go straight to sleep, and then wake up for my first dose of Gabapentin.

Sorry about the prolonged intro here.

I do not feel that the Gabapentin is really working very well to suppress the RLS and that the daily fatigue is caused by it. What I have found is that taking a full spectrum Vitamin B tablet with the Gabapentin has improved my sleep level somewhat but am still restricted to less than 30 minutes deep sleep every night. If I manage to remain asleep after 4.00 a.m. on any morning I see that as a bonus.

In summary, I am not impressed with Gabapentin as a RLS symption reducer, I believe that it is the cause of my now chronic fatigue with the result that I have increased my afternoon dose of Pramipexolle back to 1.5 grams.

I believe ( hopefully) that thye Vitamin B is helping me. Have you, or anyone who may this my lengthy post, tried using Vitamin B as a help to reduce the daily curse of RLS?

[SueJohnson in reply to Sappington]

Gabapentin can cause sleepiness but so can with drawing from pramipexole . And the gabapentin won't help you while you are on pramipexole. I suggest you reduce the gabapentin by 100 to 200 mg every 2 weeks until you are down to 900 mg and then wait until you are off pramipexole for several weeks and your symptoms have settled.

1) If the sleepiness is not bad at that point you can try increasing it by 100 mg every couple of days until your symptoms are controlled. Take it 1 to 2 hours before bedtime as the peak plasma level is 2 hours. If you need more than 600 mg take the extra 4 hours before bedtime as it is not as well absorbed above 600 mg. If you need more than 1200 mg, take the extra 6 hours before bedtime. If you take magnesium even in a multivitamin, don't take it within 3 hours of taking gabapentin as it will interfere with the absorption of gabapentin and don't take calcium within 2 hours for the same reason

2) If instead at that point you still have excessive sleepiness then continue reducing as you will need a low dose opioid. I believe you said you had one but didn't say which.

[Sappington in reply to SueJohnson]

Hi Sue. Thanks for your response which I am now looking at. The treatment of RLS is so complex. I do have Tramadol available to me BUT my neurologist warned me about overuse ( that is daily use) of that particular medication.

I have checked with the Vitamin B that I am not taking any magesium so I do not affect the Gabapentin.

My problem is " How do I manage without the afternoon dose of Pramipexole" to hopefully stop the RLS starting up which it can do anytime after midday if I sit down for too long or around 3.00 p.m. every day. I could subsitute the Pramipexole today with Gabapentin as I do not think that I am able to wean myself off Pramipexole and do wihthout anything to replace it for several weeks before starting on the Gabapentin.

It is funny sitting here at 10.50 a.m. local time writing about the RLS and I can now feel it wanting to crank up in my right lower leg where it comes alive every day .

To date nothing else has worked. I could try the Trama and Vitamin B today and see what happens but again the Trama has not been prescribed for me to take every day.

I am now going to take the dog for a walk to hopefuly stop the RLS from an early start today.

[SueJohnson in reply to Sappington]

I'm curious where you live from your comment about the time.

Do not take the Madopar as that although not technically a DA acts the same and is even harder to come off of.

You can take tramadol every day as many on this forum do. Doctors think you will get addicted but people with RLS do not.

You don't need to change when you take pramipexole - it was the gabapentin I was talking about.

You don't need to do without anything to replace pramipexole for several weeks before starting on the Gabapentin. If you don't have the excessive sleepiness after getting down to 900 mg gabapentin then stay on that. And if you do then after you are off gabapentin you still have your tramadol and can increase it as needed.

Of course then the problem will be convincing your doctor that taking a low dose opioid is OK. Here are some things you can show him.

Mayo Clinic Updated Algorithm on RLS Https://mayoclinicproceedings.org/a...

jcsm.aasm.org/doi/pdf/10.56...

relacshealth.com/blog specifically relacshealth.com/blog/will-...

[Sappington in reply to SueJohnson]

Good morning again to you Sue from the state of Tasmania, Australia. Thanks again for your helpful advice and research material for me. I shall acquaint myself with the info there so I may be better informed next time I see my neurologist.