Hi

I use Klonipin for my seizures, problems with memory loss, headaches and before I went in for a craniotomy.

This is a very potent drug, my advise is to be supervised on your dosage and use. I did like this drug for anticonvulsant reasons. Please check with your doctor on consistent use. This was used for my seizure disorder and has severe side affects when dosage is inconsistent or stopped. Please check with your doctor. I am not a doctor but have experience taking this medication.
O-

As someone who has taken clonazepam for about 8 years I'll support that statement: there are severe side affects if you stop taking it abruptly or miss a few days. It has a very long half life, so it can be misleading. I've been trying to get off of it for a long, long time. I stopped oxycontin cold turkey at a pretty high dosage, and that SUCKED. I could never manage that with klonopin, it's MUCH much worse stopping it. Having taken it for so long I've, inevitably, had 2 or 3 times where I ran out and for one reason or another didn't have any for a few days, with the worst being for 10 days. On one hand, I feel like I'm lucky I survived those ten days, and on the other, I regret EVER starting to take this med. It CANNOT be stopped suddenly like opiates. Withdrawals suck, but with benzo's such as klonopin, one nasty side effect can be death. Seriously. I'm not saying don't take it as prescribed, it sound like it helps you a lot. It's helped me immensely as well. But seriously consider whether you want to move to taking it all the time; it's easy to become a 'lifer' (take it for the rest of your life) and it will affect your emotions, feelings, and how you act, eventually. It tends to have a 'numbing' effect. Kinda takes the fire outta your pants. Not good if you are a motivational speaker or something =P

Sorry if I make it sound bad, it's been a rough road for me. Good luck and trust your doctor. Oh yeah, it potentiates opiates too, which means if you take it regularly, you will have an increased effect from your pain meds, slightly.

JWM

Oh and your doc is more likely to increase your maintenance meds, your oxycontin, as an increase in your continuous pain control should result in an evening out or decrease in your need for breakthrough meds. Definitely a question for your doctor, but if I had to guess, I think the most they would do is maybe move you to 40mg oxy twice a day and 10/325 norco(slightly stronger than your 7.5s and less tylenol). 3 times a day dosing is what did it for me with oxycontin, regardless of dose; 2 20s, 2 40s, 2 80s, never held the pain until i tried 3 40s a day and that was spot on. Good luck and don't overdo it, oxy is some strong stuff. Goodnight! (or morning.. can't sleep...)

Ive read alot about klonopin and its addictive nature, as much as It helps I am reluctant to become dependant on yet another drug. Ive tried flexeril, skelain, Zanaflex, none of them helped like klonopin. I was in a car accident 2 yrs ago and began taking the klonopin as needed when I was a passenger in a car. I freak out and cannot go anywhere without it. Any other advice for muscle relaxers that are not so addictive?My script says 2 per day but I never take it every daybut when I do I sleep great and the pain is actually decreased. I am very happy with the oxycontin and I will ask to increase that and my dr actually advised the norcos if the vicoden es didnt work. He is very good and not afraid to prescribe meds.

from experience, yes, klonipin can be taken daily. I think JWM had a pretty good take on it. Withdrawals from that stuff ain't fun. That is one experience i hope never to go through. But I wasn't weaned from it. Due to complications w/doc and insurance, I was abruptly stopped after taking it for 7 years. But if it is helping you, I would consider it but under close doctor supervision. Hope this helps and doesn't scare you too much.

i have been taking klonopin daily in the evening for over 10 years and i have no side effects except drowsiness and some jerking in my hands. i will take your words to heart about going off of it. good luck in your search for the appropriate medication. Jenny

Definitely try the norco, they do help a little bit over the vicoden es. As for other muscle relaxers, have you tried Soma? It has dependency warnings like all muscle relaxers but personally, I've taken it for a year straight and then stopped suddenly with zero issues. I still take it now. I've had accidental days where I had no pain meds but just 2 somas, and they made a significant dent in my pain level for those days. Similar to your klonopin, Soma potentiates(increases) opiates as well, so you may experience a similar decrease in pain when taking Soma, as you do with Klonopin. It's for that reason that some or many doctors are reluctant to prescribe soma and norco together; if you take them together you can get a rush from it, and it's one of the more common reasons for vicodin abuse.

Where does that leave us? As always your doctor is the one to ask =) but it sounds like your occasional use of Klonopin is fine, and i'd leave it where it is, personally. You need it for anxiety/panic, and that may not change soon. Once you take it a lot and every day the benefits diminish greatly. I still think a slight bump to 40mg oxy 2xdaily or the 30mg 3xdaily is worth considering, as well as a switch to norco (same # tablets per day) and maybe two soma a day at most. If you get the soma, try to take it at least 45 minutes apart from your vicodin/norco and save one for bedtime. It sounds like your doctor will be fine with this, and you'll likely be very pleased, or at worst, well, it's cheap and side affects are slim.

I feel like I give too much advice on medications on here, but really, it's all of us that know how the meds work by feeling and results, sometimes better than our doctors. We are the ones that take them after all. Oh and one more thing.. If your doc has a problem with Soma, ask him why. I've had several doctors try to get me to switch or tell me it was very bad for me, but with extensive research I haven't been able to find anything to support their positions. Soma is actually not even a scheduled drug, but it metabolises into meprobromate, which is a schedule 4 (low) medicine (in other words, they can write it with 5 refills if they so please, whereas they cannot with your oxycodone). Just educate yourself on it a bit before you go in; it's a really good idea. I tried ALL of the other relaxers like you as well, but came back to soma, it's the only one that gives me positive results.

Take care,

JWM

Never too much on advice here JWM. I certainly appreciate it. My last PM Doc said she refuses to give Soma to anyone. She was terrible anyway. I will discuss all these options on Tuesday with my Doc, thanks everyone!

Ive taken it for two years now.

My doseage has ranged from 1mg a day now
to 3 mgs klonipin and 8 mgs ativan.

I find both of them to be superior to flexeril. especially for spasm and headaches and it helps greatly with my pain helps to relax but doesn't "wipe you out" the way a standard muscle relaxant would.

Definitely; clonazepam definitely works, and pretty well at that. I just dont like getting off of it =(

My Dr increased my oxycontin to 40 mg twice a day. Vicodin ES and zanaflex 4 mg up to 3 a day. He also gave me some samples of Lunesta. I am very happy with these meds. I also had an epidural injection last Wed. I feel AWESOME! best ive felt in 4 yrs. I actually was totally pain free for about 4 days after the injecttion. I LOVE my new paim management team. They re rock stars!Im so happy to have my life back.

So glad your new med regimine is working for you so far!!
Sounds like you have a great team of Drs.

Could you please send them to NYS??!!!

Keep us up to date on your progess!!!

Im in the Phila suburbs. Go Eagles! If anyone would like the names of my Dr's please ask. Its thanks to everyone here that I found my new Dr's. You all gave me the courage to seek the best care available and not to give up.