Posted by Squiggles on April 4, 2006, at 19:55:24
In reply to Re: drugs for epilepsy » Squiggles, posted by blueberry on April 4, 2006, at 19:16:21
> Wow, 20mg klonopin?
>
> Some antidepressant monographs showed that they used 3mg during the 1st 2 weeks of antidepressant to counter side effects of jitteriness and insomnia. Even 3mg to me sounds like a lot, not to mention 20mg. Yikes.
>
> My doc says klonopin will soon get FDA approval for unipolar depression. Weird, considering it seems so depressing to many people.
>
> Hey I'm curious. You said you have a low opinion of it for insomnia, anxiety, restless legs. Why is that? I have some but haven't tried it yet. I was going to use it for all the things you mentioned. I take xanax once in a while but I hate its short half life because when it wears off, oh my, anxiety is way worse than it was to begin with.
>
> I know we all respond differently, but I was curious to hear your experiences with it.
>
>URLs:
http://www.aesnet.org/Visitors/PatientsPractice/aed/aedtable.cfm?drug=Klonopin
(max dose 20mg)http://neuroland.com/sz/anticon/before_93.htm
(max dose 20 mg)http://www.rxlist.com/cgi/generic/clonaz_wcp.htm
(max dose 20 mg)From the Internet Mewntal health site:
a smaller maintenance dose (10) is recommended:"Dosage:
Must be determined individually according to clinical response and tolerance and depends primarily on the patient's age.
Children:
In order to minimize drowsiness, the initial dose for infants and children (up to 10 years of age or 30 kg) should be between 10 and 30 mcg/kg/day and should not exceed 50 mcg/kg/day given in 2 or 3 divided doses. Dosage should be increased by no more than 250 to 500 mcg every third day until a maintenance dose of 100 to 200 mcg/kg has been reached, unless seizures are controlled or adverse effects preclude further increase. Whenever possible, the daily dose should be divided into 3 equal doses. If doses are not equally divided, the larger dose should be given before retiring.Adults:
The initial adult dose should not exceed 1.5 mg/day divided into 3 doses. Dosage may be increased in increments of 0.5 to 1 mg every 3 days until seizures are adequately controlled or until adverse effects preclude any further increase. Maintenance dosage must be individualized for each patient depending upon response. A recommended adult maintenance dose is 8 to 10 mg/day in 3 divided doses. Dosages in excess of 20 mg/day should be administered with caution.The use of multiple anticonvulsants may result in an increase of depressant adverse effects. This should be borne in mind whenever clonazepam is added to an already existing anticonvulsant regimen.
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Supplied0.5 mg:
Each cylindrical, biplane, scored tablet, edges bevelled, contains: Clonazepam 0.5 mg (orange, with {RIVOTRILover0.5} engraved on one face, single-scored on the other with ROCHE above and C below score). Also contains lactose, microcrystalline cellulose, cornstarch, sunset yellow FCF aluminum lake, magnesium stearate.2 mg:
Each cylindrical, biplane, scored tablet, edges bevelled, contains: Clonazepam 2 mg (white, with {ROCHEover2} engraved on one side and cross-scored on the other). Also contains lactose, microcrystalline cellulose, cornstarch, magnesium stearate.Energy: 2.4 kJ (0.6 kcal). Gluten-free, paraben-free, sodium-free, sulfite-free and tartrazine-free. Bottles of 100 and 500. Keep in a tightly closed, light-resistant container. Store at 15 to 30°C.
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ResearchThe research information is available separately on Internet Mental Health."
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Granted, for the treatment of seizures, most start at 1.5 and increase according to need per day - kind of vague - do they increase and stick
to the increase; do they stop and increase, do
they give as needed?
You say your dr. thinks it may be good for
unipolar depression? Perhaps if you have
anxiety as well, then it may be. All the other disorders you mention are definitely alleviated by
this drug. The problem is that if you forget
one or if you try to get off or reach tolerance,
without your doctor catching that and increasing the dose, the side effects are truly gruesome. For older people I think they may even be fatal.I know that it has its advantages - low
tolerance, but I think that a less potent
benzo under supervision may be an alternative;
heck even alcohol may be better.Squiggles
poster:Squiggles
thread:628825
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20060403/msgs/628891.html