Klonopin for sleep apnea treatment?

http://www.everydayhealth.com/forum/sle ... treat.html

here is one knowledgable description of klonopin's treatment of central apnea- I've found this to be true, it really is a wonder drug especially when used with a machine. maybe it treats my PLMD, twitching?

the only thing is people say there are bad withdrawal and memory problems long term

I've been trying a lower setting on my asv since I get bloating and it seems like even 15cm is too high for someone a little overweight at 190 pounds

Ive found klonapin to be a bit of a wonder drug to mediate my central and autonomic nervous system. It hasnt obviously corrected any medical
problems but made severe problems like agitation better.

From what ive picked up, its widely used even by people with MS. I dont know about centrals, actually ive heard that too much of it can
worsen sleep apnea.

Apparently its just a highly individualized drug, some people are helped, others not. For me, Ativan makes me feel horrible, but in hospitals
its the drug of choice for making patients less anxious or sending them off to sleep.

Dont use any more klonapin than you need, start low and see if its enough. I use mine as needed, 90 percent of the time during the day when
im having an event related to FM or immunilogical agitation. Dont drink alcohol with it and make sure about not mixing wrong meds. Some
doctors prescribe something like effexor to replace klonapin more long term.

I only take it for sleep and it seems to stop central apneas and PLMD, seizure type twitching- I guess I have some anxiety/worry about money and rent.

it is the only thing that has really helped- cpap and bipap didn't help at all, I felt exhausted and couldn't read/remember one sentence after a while of sleep apnea.

I'm just worried I'm permanently brain damaged by klonopin and sleep apnea. is there a safer drug like xanax or restoril/temazapem or ambien. ambien also works for me but is less effective (it is a shorter duration)

I take Klonopin for seizures, but was first put on it for PLMD & RLS. I was taken off it for a couple of years, then put back on it for part of my 'seizure drug cocktail', and it does help with sleep some. I would rather not be on it, because is is a benzo & they cause more long term problems, IMO than they fix. However, my seizure problem is unique to me and I'd rather put up with taking this & some other drugs than with the problems of constant seizures (falling, broken bones, having multiple ER visits from falling, etc). If I could choose, I'd rather be on something else than a benzo, but my situation is unique and this piece of the puzzle works for me.

I take Mirapex for RLS & PLMD also, and it does a good job. Took it during the couple of years I was off Klonopin & found it very effetive just by itself. Mirapex is gentle & helped me fall asleep & stay still while sleeping, the CPAP kept me asleep once the drug did its job & kept me still, sleep became very restful for me. If your dr would let you try Mirapex, then it might help instead of Klonopin.

Before you stop taking Klonopin, you need to know that you will have to 'wean' yourself off this drug slowly, it is quite addictive, and stopping Klonopin is nothing to mess with yourself, your dr will need to help you with a schedule of decreasing doses.

Good luck whichever path you decide to take,
Jen

I use klons for anxiety. it helps me sleep. I have a very racy thoughts mind. I cant shut it off. so sleep is hard to find me. But with klon. I am tko in less then 30.

I don't know what I have- I keep having twitching in my arm/leg before falling asleep and klonopin helps that. maybe zoplicone is better

on one sleep study I had normal oxygen but I took 1mg restoril and then the morning after I had a MSLT daytime test and failed that- was severely exhausted. I'm sure I have sleep apnea or some sleep disorder because I'm always exhausted since I developed sleep apnea/asthma- I never have restorative sleep, deep sleep

Benzos have a lot of long-term problems, unfortunately. If you want to use it for a year to find better solutions, great. As something to be on for life? Very problematic. There may be some people's nervous systems who can handle them, but many people get what's called "tolerance withdrawal", where they experience withdrawal symptoms (opposite of treatment effects: ie anxiety, insomnia...) on a stable dose, because their body is developing tolerance to the drug. Only by increasing the dose can they maintain the effects.

I highly encourage you to read up on benzo tolerance and withdrawal before staying on these drugs for years (like, read the bible of benzo withdrawal how-to: http://www.benzo.org.uk/manual/). But I admit that this sample isn't fully reflective of the breadth of patient experience - maybe there are lots of people out there who have been on stable doses of benzos for 10+ years with no problems, and I just don't hear about them bc they don't have online support groups bc they don't need support groups.

thanks! wow that's terrible but then I couldn't read a sentence/remember one because of sleep apnea- many of the sleep specialists I saw were against benzas except the one at a faculty practice and he said it can help normalize breathing.
I'm really upset by this disease and don't know if it's related to narrow airways from asthma?

I take all of my asthma meds regularly except I should use the nebulizer more. I don't feel as rested on Ambien, restoril about the same, not as good as klonopin. I don't really have klonopin withdrawal, but I read you can get memory problems/slowed thinking. I have slowed thinking now and low energy but don't know if it's from klonopin or sleep apnea? I take 0.5mg of klonopin so it doesn't seem like it would cause this
isn't slowed thinking/energy from sleep apnea?

I remember once a year I can get decent sleep on a setting of 12/8, but the doc titrated me on epap 5, ps min5, max 15- so a ipap of 20cm I think. on sleepyhead my ipap graph was constantly jumping up to the max 20cm and sometimes a straight line at 12cm. but since I'm slightly overweight it doesn't make sense that I would need 20cm??

is mirapex a good drug for PLMD/RLS? I get twitching and don't know what causes central apnea? is central apnea caused by the neurenteric brain cyst I have in the clivus or is it a seizure disorder?
ambien also helps but is less effective as klonopin, maybe lunesta might be better?