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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 8 of 8. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by zeugma on January 8, 2004, at 18:29:15
Does anyone know how, or whether, Klonopin affects serotonin? I ask this because one disturbing s/e of K (and I take a tiny dose, .25 mg in the am) is that it has caused a return of my hypnagogic hallucinations/ sleep paralysis, but with a twist: somehow the sensation is less dreamlike and more electrical. Like I stuck my head in an electrical socket and the currents were running through my body. This is similar to what I have read about the Effexor/Paxil "brain zaps." The difference is that mine occur only when falling asleep: at those times when most prone to have a hypnagogic experience, when overtired from lack of sleep and trying to get an early rest, only to have it blocked by these painful sensations centered in my head and running through my body. Now I have a headache and an aggravated feeling of being 'too tired to sleep.' Does anyone have any insight on what in Klonopin's pharmacology could be causing this? My conjecture was that K blocks slow-wave sleep, hence causing the early onset REM associated with narcolepsy and sleep paralysis, but that doesn't explain, as I said, the less 'dreamlike', more 'electrical' quality of the experiences. Also I get definite images that are not dreamlike at all, and that are more like the afterimages one gets when staring a long time at a brightly lit object then turning off the light. Insight, anyone?
Posted by Ame Sans Vie on January 8, 2004, at 23:37:17
In reply to Klonopin and serotonin, posted by zeugma on January 8, 2004, at 18:29:15
Sorry I can't really be of much help, but I do know that Klonopin mildly increases the effect of serotonin (through which mechanism, I don't know... agonism, reuptake inhibition, potentiation, or indirectly... nor do I know which subreceptors or areas of the brain it's most active in). Xanax is the only other U.S.-marketed benzo that I know also affects serotonin, though Deracyn (adinazolam -- not sure where it's marketed) is a benzodiazepine with marked serotonin reuptake inhibition properties and is used as an anxiolytic/antidepressant.
Have you experienced this problem on any other drugs that influence serotonin, SSRIs primarily?
Posted by starrlight on January 9, 2004, at 9:57:46
In reply to Klonopin and serotonin, posted by zeugma on January 8, 2004, at 18:29:15
You are the first person I have ever heard describe this electrical feeling. It is exactly what I am feeling. The lighs an all. I take klon. also to help me sleep, but these things happen during the day also while awake. I also had them before taking klon. Do your lips tingle also for a couple seconds when you feel this elec. ?
I am looking forward to any other responses to your post.
Posted by zeugma on January 9, 2004, at 16:08:14
In reply to Klonopin and serotonin, posted by zeugma on January 8, 2004, at 18:29:15
Starrlight and Ame,
Thanks so much for your responses. Ame: I believe I might have had a response like this to Zoloft which I tried years ago. I had a starter pack and I think I only took a SINGLE dose before getting some severe side effects that might well have been sleep-related. The effects were so bad that I was literally incapable of taking another dose. This was long before I pieced together the fact that I had some kind of narcolepsy-like condition. I did know at the time that I had a sleep disorder. However, when I went to the sleep lab to do a study, I couldn't sleep! I suppose that's fairly common. There was no other drug that I was only able to take one pill of. I tried Wellbutrin a few days later, and did get through most of the starter pack, although it caused severe light sensitivity, dizziness, and lack of coordination, and I decided to quit it because those were the days when i was driving to school and I was afraid I would have a traffic accident.
The only other SSRI I have tried was Prozac when I was 18. It made me severely nauseous, and caused me to lose a lot of weight, quick, which caused the docs to yank me off it (same thing happened with stims, minus the nausea, and with the difference that stims made me feel better overall while the Prozac didn't). That was before I developed narcolepsy when i was 23, so maybe that doesn't count.
Starrlight: Have you had this reaction only to Klonopin? or to any other meds? How long after starting Klonopin did the problems appear? They started for me the day i took my first pill. Have you described your symptoms to your doctor? When I told mine he simply told me to stop taking my afternoon dose. It's upsetting for me because klonopin is the only thing that has made a dent in my severe anxiety, social and otherwise. When I get these shocks I feel like I'm damaging my brain. Of course, I had a preexisting problem that was similar, but it's different now and I'd like to get to the bottom of this.
Posted by zeugma on January 9, 2004, at 16:37:31
In reply to Re: Klonopin and serotonin, posted by starrlight on January 9, 2004, at 9:57:46
> You are the first person I have ever heard describe this electrical feeling. It is exactly what I am feeling. The lighs an all. I take klon. also to help me sleep, but these things happen during the day also while awake. I also had them before taking klon. Do your lips tingle also for a couple seconds when you feel this elec. ?
> I am looking forward to any other responses to your post.I do feel "unsettled" for a couple of hours before having these occurrences. Last night, there were multiple episodes, and the last time it happened, I was not asleep, and I felt like my brain was shuddering, and I tried to force myself fully awake, but another series of jolts was starting and I was getting the electrical images, then I opened my eyes and the jolts stopped.... I wonder what disorder the Klonopin could be setting off since I don't have the attacks of uncontrollable sleep that are diagnostic of classic narcolepsy.
Posted by Maxime on January 10, 2004, at 16:10:28
In reply to Klonopin and serotonin, posted by zeugma on January 8, 2004, at 18:29:15
Klonopin chemical properties:
3-hydroxy benzodiazepine
BZD agonist
5-HT increase
Maxime
Posted by BobS. on January 12, 2004, at 12:54:26
In reply to Re: Klonopin and serotonin, posted by Maxime on January 10, 2004, at 16:10:28
Posted by Maxime on January 12, 2004, at 14:50:06
In reply to Do you have a similar breakdown for Xanax? (nm) » Maxime, posted by BobS. on January 12, 2004, at 12:54:26
Yes, Xanax properties are:
BZD agonist
5-HT releaseI actually use the following web site for this information as I find it quite useful myself. It is:
http://sl.schofield3.home.att.net/medicine/psychiatric_drugs_chart.htmlYou can search the drug by generic or trade name.
Maxime
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