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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 4 of 4. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by mikepittsburgh on August 2, 2005, at 12:37:12
Hi,
i've taken klonopin for several years due to severe tinnitus. worked great as a sleep aid & dealing with anxiety. last year my gp thought i was on the med to long & wanted me to stop using it. i followed his advice & stopped using it (c/t). due to severe w/d I went back on the med 6 days later.
in short i've been a mess since then. i now have very severe intrusive tinnitus & don't sleep well. this has been going on for over a year now. since going c/t, my system is now very sensitive to alot of stuff, food, meds, etc. i've tried many a/ds over the past year & my system can no longer tolerate any of them or they have the opposite effect.
i also have hyperausis which was made alot worse by going c/t. up until now i was just barely survivng. unfortunitely, i've been exposed twice over the past year to two very loud noises that have made the t alot worse. the last sound exposure was about 10 days before the 4th of july when someone launched a firework that sounded like a stick of dynamite when it went off. the blast was deafening & further damaged my ears. i was in shock. not only was it early for people to start lighting off fireworks, but also people in the neighborhood have never used the very loud fireworks in the past. especially the kind that are shot up in the air.
not sure what the klonopin is doing. i've been on it now for seven years and i am addicted to it. not an option at this point to taper off of it.
the tinnitus, anxiety & stress are very bad now. not sleeping much has just about pushed me over the edge. during the past month i went to the emergency room, the best neurologist & ear specialist in the area. all totally blew me off. appears that no one wants to work with a benzo mess.
i've tried sticking it out, hoping my brain would adjust to the louder t. but it's been 5 weeks now & the insomnia has steadily gotten worse.
my gp prescribed ambien. due to some fda thing, i'm only allowed 14 pills per month. i need to take something every night and probably long term.
i did some research on the web for sleep aids & came across lunesta. as much as i don't want to take a sleep aid (especially if there's a good chance it may poop out in several months or years. or if realistically you only get 4-5 hrs of sleep instead of 6-7.) i'm at the point where i need to take something to hopefully help me sleep so i can function & better cope with the severe intrusive t. lunesta sounds inviting but it is new.
i also have concerns about taking ambien on a 'as needed basis' because it is closely related to benzos. therefore there is widthdrawal concerns if not taken on a daily basis. especially in my case since i'm basically in long term protracted widthdrawal from going c/t on the klonopin. (personally i don't beleive in protracted widthdrawal. i think what can happen when going c/t, is that there is functional damage to the brain. in time (years) some, if all, the lost/impaired function may return.)
sorry to babble on. in short, i'm on klonopin, have severe intrusive tinnitus due to going c/t, the t & h have been made worse by recent exposure to loud noise (fireworks explosition).
anyone have experience/advice on using klonopin with ambien or lunesta on a long term basis?
thanks
Posted by ed_uk on August 2, 2005, at 14:26:45
In reply to Insomnia - Klonopin, Ambien, Lunesta, posted by mikepittsburgh on August 2, 2005, at 12:37:12
>due to severe w/d I went back on the med 6 days later.
Are you taking the same dose of Klonopin now as you were before you went c/t?
~Ed
Posted by Sonya on August 2, 2005, at 15:17:07
In reply to Insomnia - Klonopin, Ambien, Lunesta, posted by mikepittsburgh on August 2, 2005, at 12:37:12
Hi, Mike
Sorry to hear of your problems. My husband has bad tinnitus and takes Ambien every night, and has been for several years. I've been worried about his dependence on the drug but he takes the smallest dose possible. However, he cannot sleep without it. This doesn't seem to bother him, but I worry.
I also have tinnitus but I've gotten accustomed to it. I even sleep with earplugs so I can't hear my husband's snoring! Have you tried white noise machines while you sleep?
BTW, I took Klonopin as needed for a number of years so I understand what you're going through. It's a tough drug to stop. I'm not a big fan of the atypical antipsychotics but Zyprexa and Seroquel helped me break the benzo habit (not sure if that was trading one habit for another, though).
Peace....Sonya
Posted by mikepittsburgh on August 3, 2005, at 22:41:24
In reply to Re: Insomnia - Klonopin, Ambien, Lunesta » mikepittsburgh, posted by ed_uk on August 2, 2005, at 14:26:45
Hi Ed,
no. I only took .75mg at bedtime prior to going c/t. after c/t, i had to take it 3 times a day & bumped up the dosages until i got somewhat stable. I'm now on 1.5mg daily dosage.
after finally getting stable, i still had very severe intrusive t and moderate insomnia. going c/t really messed up my nervous system. my shrink at the time didn't know much about t & was a real jerk.
a friend recommended a local ent who was supposely an expert on t. i went to him primarily to manage the k.
first and only visit to him they wanted to do the standard hearing tests. one of the tests was a tympanogram. i thought they were doing a tympanogram test only. to my surprise the test was actually a combination tympanogram/acoustic reflex test. prior to that i wasn't aware that there was a acoustic reflex test.
at the time i only had t & h in my right ear. my left ear was normal! when they started the test, the probe was sealed over my left ear. the sudden, very loud & relatively long high pitched sound emmitted during the acoustic reflex test left me with t in the left ear & further damaged my right ear.
sound was bouncing inbetween my ears & i couldn't even watch tv for about a week because my hearing was so messed up from the test. tried adding more k, but it didn't help, actually seemed to make the t worse. i was shocked that an ent/audiologist would perform such a test on a person with my ear problems. i carefully explained to them the t & h & especially how loud sounds had made the t & h worse.
after the testing. the ent couldn't get me out of his office fast enough. said what i really needed was to see a shrink. said he was didn't beleive in treating t with meds.
This is the end of the thread.
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