Thread: clonazepam

Originally posted by Titaniumranger21
does any know if clonazepam can stop me from having lucid dreams? because i take that at bedtime

Yes it can! Klonopan or the generic version clonazepam can decrease dream recall. In return this decreases your abilility to LD.
BUT!! It does not necisarally stop you. It may make it more difficult.

Clonazepam is in a class of drugs called benzodiazepines. Clonazepam affects chemicals in your brain that may become unbalanced and cause seizures.
But many people take it for social anxiety.
In either case it is ill advised to stop taking it all at once.
Maybe you could talk to your doctor and see if you could take it in the morning. Depending on how many miligrams you are on and if it affects your work.

I found this in webmd.com:

SIDE EFFECTS:
Drowsiness, dizziness, blurred vision, muscle pain, excessive hair growth or loss, change in sexual desire, weight change, increased saliva production, sore gums, or cough may occur. If any of these effects persist or worsen, notify your doctor or pharmacist promptly.

Tell your doctor immediately if any of these serious side effects occur: loss of coordination, mental/mood/behavior changes.

Tell your doctor immediately if any of these unlikely but serious side effects occur: slowed breathing, easy bruising/bleeding, unusual eye movements, unusual fatigue, fast/pounding heartbeat, unusual muscle movement, one-sided weakness, slurred speech, trouble urinating.

If you have several different types of seizure disorders, you may experience a worsening of seizure activity at the start of using this medication. Consult your doctor immediately if this happens. The addition or dosage adjustment of other anti-seizure medications may be necessary to keep seizures under control.

A serious allergic reaction to this drug is unlikely, but seek immediate medical attention if it occurs. Symptoms of a serious allergic reaction include: rash, itching, swelling, severe dizziness, trouble breathing.

If you notice other effects not listed above, contact your doctor or pharmacist.

Yep its one of those drugs that falls in the same group as Xanax, Valium, and Ativan. It is physically addictive when used daily and can have effects on your memory depending on the dosage and synergistic effect when combined with alcohol.

Well, I hope no one takes this as an encouragement to take Clonazepam, but I have to say, it actually increased my lucidity tremendously.

My doctor has prescribed me to take .5mg's twice daily. I've been on it for a couple months now, and it has dramtically enhanced the vividness of my dreams, although at the same time I have much less recall than usual.

About 3 weeks after starting on the drug, I began experiencing lucid dreams in continuous chains, one after another, for up to 3 hours every morning for 5 days straight! Even if I completely woke up and changed positions, I would instantly return to a lucid dream state as soon as my head hit the pillow. This was by far my greatest success with LD'ing I ever had and I wasn't even trying.

Of course, it's been over a month since then with no lucids to speak of. So apparently the effect was only temporary, but it definitely has the potential to increase LD frequency, at least in some people, some of the time.

However, considering it's addictive, dangerous, and probably won't be much fun to withdraw from, it's hardly feasible as an LD supplement. I strongly suggest no one try it just "for kicks."

But I felt obligated to share my experiences for the record.

8)

this family of drugs isn't good "just for kicks" anyway. 2 mg of ativan proliferated no noticeable effects for me, then when I added cannabis to the mix I ended up not remembering anything except for a (very) short and vague montage of a few things I did that night and the day after.

my friend took 4 klonopan and then cannabis and when he woke up he thought it was 2 days previous. We woke up in the woods and he panicked because he thought it was a school day.

and, of course, we had 0 dream recall during the forgotten periods.

Based on the disasterous effects on our short term memories I wouldn't count on any of this drug family being any good at all for lucid dreaming. the memory loss can't be attributed to just the ativan or klonopan, but it stands to reason that it might have at least some effect on short term or dream memory.

I agree completely. I believe my experience was something of a fluke, and just a phase I went through in the process of getting used to being on the drug on a daily basis.

I really, REALLY don't recommend Clonazepam to anyone who doesn't need it according to their doctor.

But for the sake of keeping accurate accounts on substances, I felt obligated to share what happened.

Originally posted by MarthaM
I found this in webmd.com:

SIDE EFFECTS:
Drowsiness, dizziness, blurred vision, muscle pain, excessive hair growth or loss, change in sexual desire, weight change, increased saliva production, sore gums, or cough may occur. If any of these effects persist or worsen, notify your doctor or pharmacist promptly.

Tell your doctor immediately if any of these serious side effects occur: loss of coordination, mental/mood/behavior changes.


If you have several different types of seizure disorders, you may experience a worsening of seizure activity at the start of using this medication. Consult your doctor immediately if this happens. The addition or dosage adjustment of other anti-seizure medications may be necessary to keep seizures under control.

A serious allergic reaction to this drug is unlikely, but seek immediate medical attention if it occurs. Symptoms of a serious allergic reaction include: rash, itching, swelling, severe dizziness, trouble breathing.

If you notice other effects not listed above, contact your doctor or pharmacist.

I would like to say with all due respect , that we have been down the road of the \"webmd\" scared sh**less league ourselves many years back.

A good Dr. or pharmacist will tell you , that these possible side effects (for most drugs) pretty much never occurr, and must be listed by law, as in testing , even if 1person in 1000 tested showed these side effects it must be documented .

If you really want to see the facts try a site that lists the actual studys and results , as in number of test subjects , percentage of those who had the side affects , as well as the percentage of those who had the side effects who were given a placebo.

Much more accurate information, and again just because it is there does not mean it is common.

The mood and behavior changes are going to be listed with any benzo family type drug , after the lawsuits and problems with xanax, halcion etc.

If your doc prescribes something say that doesn't re;ate to your weight , as my wife has experienced many times, the effects can be at least doubled.

An example of the seizure scare in the above warning.

the number one drug in ambulances (at least here) supplied for seizures is IV Valium, a super close relative of clonazepam, and this is regardless of what seizure meds the patient is on.

This very drug is what we give to my wife for seizures, that occurr regardless of her regular seizure medication. Valium has such a fast tolerancy build up that this drug was one of the only and best answers ever in the last 8 years. (even if it must be crushed and placed undef the tongue).

Reagarding what Dangeruss said:

my friend took 4 klonopan and then cannabis and when he woke up he thought it was 2 days previous. We woke up in the woods and he panicked because he thought it was a school day.

and, of course, we had 0 dream recall during the forgotten periods.

Based on the disasterous effects on our short term memories I wouldn't count on any of this drug family being any good at all for lucid dreaming.[/b]

This medication comes in strenghts up to, at least 2 mgs as my wife takes. take 4 of them and your friend deserved what he got, and is lucky he wasn't involved in a felony or dead. I mean you are talking about multiple qualude (methaqualone) doses here!

I don't understand how abuse of this drug has anything to do with it's actual value to so many people who have actually benefitted from it.

I have stated before and begged people in the past, please don't alter your chemistry unless there is no other way to function. And make sure ypou are not dealing with a doc who passes out scripts for a living.

A competent one will start you on a very weak drug, and you may have to tolerate a lack of sleep for a very disturbing , (even longer )amount of time than you had planned on, but at least when the proper drug-dosage is recognized , you and your Dr. will know it. he might even ask you if you are still having dreams.

Pandragon said:

Well, I hope no one takes this as an encouragement to take Clonazepam, but I have to say, it actually increased my lucidity tremendously. [/b]

Mine as well, and I may not always have lucid dreams , but at least 20 to 50% of the time that I have used this drug , for my insomnia which worsens with my health problems, I at least get to dream about what I choose to. As well as waking up feeling really rested, and that is something that just does not happen with me .

I don't advocate the drug, and am by no means a Dr. I am only stating my opinions here and experiences.

Every one is different.

And to be entirely honest , when one my organs is not functioning properly and my labs are out of whack, I have taken this drug and it made me energetic, and entirely unable to sleep at all!!

P.S. Marha M, I am sorry I cut part of your quote. I was attempting to shorten it, but looks like I did the opposite anyway.

Terry

I would like to say with all due respect , that we have been down the road of the \"webmd\" scared sh**less league ourselves many years back.
[/b]

Zipperhead, I was not aware of any problems with webmd. I understand that warnings are just that - warnings.

And all of your other statements are absolutely correct. Altered States of conciousness are best acheived without benefit of chemical assistance. It may take more dedication, work, commitment and training but it is definately worth the effort.

There is no problem with webmd.
It's the idea that you are not getting the refined info.

Just like I explained about the studies, and the results of them. You are not seeing that in these "warnings".

That is why I specifically relayed the info about clonazipam being used for seizures , and I did neglect to mention that after at least 10 Drs. in the last 8 years or so not one ever mentioned one word about any reaction with other seizure meds. Nor did any of the pharmacies we have used and they very often will be able to, and are more willing to than your Dr. ever will.

As well as the ambulance crews using valium with no questions asked, and there's almost no difference in reactions to those benzodiazapine based drugs.


Look at it this way (and this is really extreme) ever see a sign on any roads near a mountainous region , that says:
"fallen rock zone"?

You don't very often see the rocks you are being warned of right? At least hopefully not too often.

Better yet see if your pharmacist doesn't laugh when you try reading the list of warnings you have listed above.

That has actually happened to me, and it was followed up with, "we get too many people with these drug books , and now the internet to deal with, the chances for so many of these warnings are probably 1 in 2 or 3 million".

Check out the actual studies and you'll see for yourself. Get a PDR, go to the web sites that tell the study results regarding placebos etc.
I will locate some good sites if you would like, I have them filed all over the place , just have some real memory problems here lately, but I can find them.

I forgot to mention a perfect example earlier of what I am trying to say,
that is, any benzodiazapine derivative drug is , going to relax the central nervous system, (as several other drugs) and therefore the companies would be completely at fault if they did not put out a warning regarding a possibility of breathing problems possibly developing. This is because certain persons already taking meds , or illicit (illegal) drugs such as opiates , are not going to tell their Drs. , and other people are already on them, and then you also have the very , rare person who has "central apnea" such as my wife for example.

Where either one of the groups of muscles in the diaphram that do the breathing for you ,
if not both sets of muscles (the ones that expand the diaphram, or the ones that constrict it , or both) can become paralyzed at any given time due to pressure on the brain stem, and can lead to death.

Well, with this type drug , (and believe me I was on the phone with the pharmacist(s) when she recently got on the ambien with it's strength) as I said , before these comapnies would be to blame if for any reason, someone's central nervous system, became in a relaxed enough state that the person stopped breathing all together and died.

The warning , clears them of any blame for just this type of case, or anything similar.

If they say central nervous system depressant, that's what that means and you better know or talk to someone who does , if you are on meds that already depress that system, if it says alcohol can increase this effect, they mean it. Some of these drugs have a simple reversal type drug available to emergency staff if someone were to imbibe alcohol, with them, for some of the drugs there is no reversal drug.

I was thinking ambien may be one of these drugs, but I can't remember.

So the "warning" was a legitimate warning , concerning say ambien, when I called several pharmacists, as she already is on , a couple of narcotics, as well as the clonazipam , for siezures, and or stress since she not oonlky has seizures but also pseudo seizures. Just as bad and as real, but set off by any emotional or other triggers.

I got the info I had already read verified, and knew would have to be awake to make sure I heard her monmitor , or if she started seizing due to shallow breathing in which the monitor is not sensitive to go off over (you'd think a baby monitor would be sensitive enough to detect somerhing that can make you die or become permanantly damaged beyond repair) since she can become oversaturated with CO2 and lose brain cells left and right.

Well she stopped once the first night , and after that, she has adjusted and she can sleep, I can sleep(better) and she is doing great in the sleep, and breathing depts.

But... the Dr. knowing every single drug and condition never asked nor batted an eye when prescribing, nor even wanted to hear back in a week as is instructed for the Drs., she'll see him again after the month is over.

The pharmacist never said a word when filling the script foir them, and they fill all the rest of the drugs that interact with it , that could have ended her life.

So yes a warning is a warning.

How serious you take it, and how serious others take it, is a roller coaster ride if there are any reasons for you to be concerned.

Had I freaked out over the warnings and said no way is she taking this and us risking her stopping breathing again, etc., we would only have to possibly look forward to , another episode of severe sleep depravation in which she , hallucinated being covered with bugs, injured herself trying to kill them, and ended up being found next to a very busy road a few blocks away, lying on the ground , seizing and not breathing again, and waking up with a memory loss again...

I don't know if our son or I could have dealt with much more of that stuff.


I got more help in talking with a pharmacist who agreed with me that this may be a hairy situation if I didn't stay up and have the experience and equipment to breath for her etc., and yes he agreed he would not want to be me , making that decision, and he spoke with me for almost 20 minutes as I asked him to go over all literature available to him that I may have missed.

So yes a warning is a warning, but you have to use common sense, and seek knowledge /help when you need it.

If you disagree with any of this , that's your right, but I ask you to please call some pharmacists regarding these extremly vague warnings before carving your decision in stone about those vague warnings.

They are meant to scare some people , and for good reason.

I hope I have not offended in any way as it most certainly was not my intention. If I have I apoligize.

And as always it seems , for the length.

Thanks for understanding,

Terry