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Re: Given Neuronton to get off Klonopin « Bobby

Posted by 2sense on August 10, 2002, at 8:45:38

In reply to Re: Given Neuronton to get off Klonopin « Bobby » 2sense, posted by Squiggles on August 9, 2002, at 14:45:20

I had the grand mal seizure GOING OFF THE KLONOPIN/CLONAZEPAM * COLD TURKEY *, along with sleep deprivation, and increased caffeine -- 4 neurologists (and the DMV) decided it was due ONLY to the cold turkey (GOING OFF OF the Clonazepm (generic version of KLONOPIN). I went right back on and am being weaned. I have read of being weaned .025 per week -- I am being weaned at 0.5 (I just started 3.0 mg this past Thursday -- I started at 4.0g mg). Since I have not had any dramatic side effects just ones that could be attributed to many things, I suppose I count myself lucky.

It was being on the 4 mg. for 5 months and then not having it to take, that is the cold turkey, and it produced the grand mal seizure. It you do a search on grand mal (I lost consciousness for about 1 1/2 -- I do not remember ANYTHING). Before that I was lying on the bed, reading, thinking I might nap before the family came in (it was around 5:45 PM on Good Friday they were expected around 7 PM). When I woke I was on the ground next to our bed my husband was holding me and there were paramedics and police officers in my room -- and my husband was asking me questions like, "What is your name?, Who am I? Where are you? Who is the president? What day and month and year is it?" I found all the questions really annoying and was greatly annoyed, having thought I fell asleep and fell off the bed and hit my head (I had a small gash on the side of my face when I fell off the bed and the night stand drawer was open and I hit the sharp corner of the drawer) -- I thought everyone was over reacting. I remember asking my 12 (she was 13 on Easter) year old daughter to see if we had any lozengers since my throat hurt (the family had had the flu -- ask they seem to every year in dominoes, one gets it and then two days later another and so on -- they went on to all get strep at the end of each of their flu runs -- I never get the flu or strep I have "mother's immunity" :-). Anyway my daughter went downstairs to look for them, found none, and came back up and was standing in the doorway when she described the following: Mom sat up, sang (this is a 'loud' cry from the lung having to do with the seizure) she said I stood up (which doesn't jive with the injuries, minor as they were) later she said I was on the bed just sitting up really straight -- my fists were clenched -- I was look straight at her but could answer no questions then fell off the bed (by this time -- this happened very fast and I may be getting some of the things wrong but everyone classified as a grand mal seizure) my husband told my daughter to get our 6 year old to the backyard and distract and redirect her, told our 15 year old son to call 911 and he took over holding me while I clenches and shook -- or whatever the two things that go on -- the foaming at the mouth happened -- this is bile from the lungs -- a seizure of this kind is very intense for the body they think I went from partial (maybe they say it started partial and then converted to a grand mal) -- I didn't lose control of my bowels, etc. which does happen -- basically there is an electrical storm in your brain and your body is controlled by your brain and reflects (crudely I am writing this going to an epilepsy site and reading the description of a grand mal (forget the partial) and subtract the lose of bladder and/or bowel control and that is what happened. When I woke I couldn't answer my husband's questions, and the paramedics took over and by the time I was on the stretcher with the neck thing on and they were carting me down the INSIDE stairs I was calling up to my husband, who was behind them who I was, who he was, where we lived, the day, the date, the time and as the paramedics were carting me on the stretcher down the OUTSIDE steps is when the family pulled in the driveway and this is when I was calling to my husband who the president was and going back as far as I could until the ambulance doors shut -- the paramedics could tell it was a serious seizure since I was conscious, very minor injuries (not even really a headache) my vitals were okay (my electrolytes where off but that had to do with the hysterectomy I had (kept my ovaries so no instant menopause with two teens and a husband turning 43 at work at a fledging startup plus a precocious 6 1/2 year old didn't need it. To add to the mix I have tachycardia and had a heart procedure done after an episode (not dangerous if aborted and I have had the episodes heart races up to 250) -- I had severe anemia from the previous year of hemorrhaging before the hysterectomy. You can see that a lot was and had been going on and I trusted this doctor to at least renew the script since I had called him 3-4 times. I hope that answers some of your questions. I will try to answer anything else that does not make sense. I have not been up long, we had company, and am still nursing my first cup of coffee. There are generically (I do and did a lot of research about seizures and have a friend who is a true epileptic due to massive head trauma -- so I had her NY epilepsy neurologist look at all reports (MRI, EEG, C-scan, and everything else; along with 3 other neurologists).

The Mayo Clinic’s definition of a grand mal seizure is: A grand mal seizure is a common type of seizure, characterized by loss of consciousness, falling down, loss of bowel or bladder control, and rhythmic convulsions. Seizures result from an abnormal synchronized electrical discharge in the brain. Other types of seizures include petit mal seizure and temporal lobe seizure. The causes of seizures can vary. Many times the cause is unknown. Sometimes seizures run in families. Repeated brain seizures characterize a seizure disorder known as epilepsy. Statistically it has been shown, that 10 percent of the ENTIRE population will experience a single seizure episode during their lifetime. Approximately 2 million Americans have epilepsy. The previous paragraph came straight from this site: http://www.mayoclinic.com/findinformation/diseasesandconditions/invoke.cfm?id=DS00222&;

The doctors termed my grand mal as a PROVOKED versus a non-PROVOKED. Mine was provoked due to the cold turkey of the benzo: Clonazepam given the length of time I was collectively on it, the length of time I was on 4 mg (which is considered a high dose) – w/drawl from many drugs and/or long term use of alcohol can cause seizures. 10% of the entire population will have a seizure in their lifetime (I am fortunate to know as much as one can, why I had one) most people will never know. Many people go on to have more and then are classified as having seizure disorder or Epilepsy (there is NO difference between the two) – having one means instead of 1/10 statistically once having a seizure one goes into the 1/5. They do not believe, unless I recreate the circumstances that I will have a seizure. It was very scary for my daughter and all the medical diagnosing, etc. and I was put on another non-benzo (Tegretol/generic: Carbamapezine) for a time which caused havoc on my thyroid (it depresses the test results when in reality with Hashimoto’s disease causes hypothyroidism (one of the major side effects of that is depression) so I was weaned off of that – it was never needed in the first place – the first neurologist spent 10 minutes and his findings where at best 5% correct when weighed against the other 3 neurologists, my internist, etc. I suppose all one can ever do is ask questions and read, read, and research and ask more questions.

Best of luck – let me know what happened with you if your are comfortable.
Again, Just my 2sense


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