Is Klonopin as strong as they say?

May 4, 2009 4:12 PM

Seeking first-hand experiences with Klonopin for muscle twitches but also for other reasons.

I have a severe ongoing eyelid twitch. I was prescribed Klonopin, but am concerned about side effects and haven't taken it yet. Especially looking for people's experiences with Klonopin as taken to relieve muscle twitching, but other first hand experiences are helpful too.

posted by ishotjr to health & fitness (22 comments total)

God, I just read that and I'm sorry that it's written so poorly. This frustrating eye twitch is making computer-use and sense-making more challenging.

To be more clear- I'm prescribed it for an eye twitch, and I want to hear if it's helpful for that symptom if you don't have any other issues going on, but any experiences with the drug's side effects or lack of are helpful, too. My doctor said it's very addictive and can make it unsafe to drive or basically to do things that involve concentration. I may need to take it at work and want to see if others have had a hard time with the mental-related side effects.
posted by ishotjr at 4:29 PM on May 4

I take it as a sleep aid. It is likely that Klonopin will make you sleepy. What were your dosage instructions - are you taking one a day? If so, take it at bedtime.
posted by crazycanuck at 4:38 PM on May 4

I take Klonopin for an unrelated reason. It pretty much makes me a coherent vegetable, so when/if I take one, I'm out for the day. Absolutely don't drive while taking it, because the way it affects you one day may drastically change to the next. If it affects you the way it does me, you may find it's easier to live with whatever reason prompted you to take it in the first place. Of course, IANAD and YMMV.
posted by sephira at 4:40 PM on May 4

I'm prescribed to take it as needed, so just when my eye is having a spasm/twitch.
posted by ishotjr at 4:56 PM on May 4

I have taken Klonopin for occasional anxiety attacks for several years. It was very sedating at first, but not now. The body develops a tolerance. It still works to fix my anxiety, but no longer puts me to sleep. I take it only as prescribed, never more often ar at a higher dosage. Used properly it's a good drug--if you're not prone to addiction.
posted by RussHy at 5:00 PM on May 4

I take it for panic attacks and sometimes restless leg syndrome. I was told to take the first couple doses on a day I'd planned to spend at home, so I could see how sleepy it'd make me. If I take it on an empty stomach, without any caffeine, it does indeed make me pretty sleepy, though I'm still functional. Personally, it has vastly improved the quality of my life and is worth the occasional bout of drowsiness. Drowsiness is the only side effect I've experienced. I think addictiveness depends on the individual, as I've been on the stuff on an as-needed basis for 3 years and can still do without it for days. Occasionally it is hard to sleep without it, but that's me. For me, it's worth it.

Do not drink alcohol within hours before or after taking it. I have blacked out this way.
posted by desjardins at 5:04 PM on May 4

Seconding the idea that your first dose or two should be taken when you have no other plans. This will help you see exactly how you react to it. I took it regularly for many years for other reasons than muscle spasm. What is the mg? I started at .5 mg and found that my tolerance increased fairly rapidly. The first few weeks it was quite sedating for me and I definitely avoided driving. After that, I was fine, it was just relaxing and no longer sedating. Do be careful with you you take it. K'pin is highly addictive and is a bitch to come off of once your body is used to it. Eventually, your tolerance will go up and it will need to be increased. Make sure you keep good communication with your doctor about this.
posted by Lullen at 5:22 PM on May 4

I took both Xanax and Klonopin (at different times) while ago. The first time I took one I made the mistake of going to work and doing some pretty detail-oriented work and I ordered about $1500 of incorrectly designed parts. After that I only took it in the evenings or when I didn't need to work.

I took it infrequently - once or twice a week at most and had no problems with dependency or tolerance. I think I was prescribed 0.5 mg tablets of Klonopin but found that often 0.25 mg was preferable to not be too zonked out.
posted by pombe at 5:30 PM on May 4

IANAD and YMMV. I have known people who had very bad experiences getting off of Klonopin. In short, it did not have the desired effects as a medication after a period of time, but they were on it long enough that they were physically dependent. (Daily doses, not terribly high, but more than some other posters here are mentioning.) Some degree of tolerance is inevitable with it and higher doses (once you're up past 1 or 2mg daily) are much more difficult to come off of.

Not everyone has bad experiences getting off of klonopin, but for those who do need to get off of it and react badly, it's a harrowing experience. What I saw in my friends' cases was the danger of shallow consensus. Doctor after doctor said, "Oh, getting off klonopin is easy. It takes a week or two." They had a handful of patients for whom that was true in the past, and that became the operating assumption. But the evidence would suggest that there's a spectrum of responses to it and you should treat it accordingly. Sean Levert's death was attributed in part to withdrawal from Xanax, a close cousin to Klonopin. This is not to say that you'll die if you start taking a benzodiazepine, but rather that they're serious drugs and need to be treated as such. Be sure that you're getting the best medication for your condition and not simply one that your doctor is familiar with (you'd be surprised and disappointed). Take as little as possible, don't stay on it longer than necessary and watch your responses to it carefully.
posted by el_lupino at 6:03 PM on May 4 [1 favorite has favorites]

Thanks for all of the input. Took it on a quasi-empty stomach. Fell asleep. Woke up. Ate food. Now feel much the like "coherent vegetable" described above, but with an eye twitch. For how groggy I am, I can't believe it had no effect on the eye twitch, even after sleeping for 30 mins. Sigh.
posted by ishotjr at 6:28 PM on May 4

Oh, I took .5 mg. I forgot to answer that question earlier.
posted by ishotjr at 6:28 PM on May 4

It's not really stronger than any other benzo but it's hard to tell what you really mean by the word "strong". Naturally, dose and tolerance have a massive effect too. The main danger is that it is long-lasting but takes a while to kick in so it's easy to take more than you really need.
posted by turkeyphant at 6:29 PM on May 4

I take it to relax me / make me less anxious & help me sleep I started off on .5 mg, moved up to 2mg, and now i'm thinking of tapering down - I sometimes take 1 or 1.5mg instead, and it still seems to help me sleep. I don't take it every night, probably about 5 nights a week This has all been discussed with and approved by my psych, by the way.

When I first started taking it (a couple months ago), it made me a little loopy and a lot sleepy. Now, it has less effect. It doesn't make me fall asleep, but it helps me to stay asleep. My psych says that people usually develop a tolerance fairly quickly, so hopefully if you continue to take it the sleepiness will might wear off after a bit, but it will fix the twitch.

Do be careful with alcohol. Even one drink will have a substantially larger effect on you, and is likely to leave you feeling sick the next day.
posted by insectosaurus at 7:09 PM on May 4

I had a hellish ten year long battle with Klonopin. It worked to relieve anxiety for a couple of years (with increased dosage), but the point of tolerance comes where you can take 3mg and feel not a thing; it just as well had been aspirin at that point. But trying to taper off was hit and miss....too fast...then too slow...then hold steady.....then awful symptoms that required an increase. Rinse and repeat.

Benzos are great for short-term treatment of extreme anxiety/trauma, etc. But long-term treatment for anxiety is hell .

If the Klonopin hasn't helped your muscle twitches, (which I'm not surprised it hasn't), ask your physician about Flexeril - which is nothing more than the old tricyclic antidepressant Cyclobenzaprine. Of late it has proved its worth as a muscle relaxant that is very good in treating spasms and these kinds of twitches. Though frankly, they eventually go away on their own except under very rare circumstances.

Good luck to you!
posted by Gerard Sorme at 7:14 PM on May 4

If .5 mg knocks you on your ass, you could try cutting the pill in half and taking .25 mg. I can generally get away with taking half the recommended dose of most over the counter drugs.
posted by ladypants at 8:09 PM on May 4

From past experience, Botox injections in the eye area will eliminate eye twitches. My eye twitched for over two months before I broke down and had a doctor friend give me a tiny injection and HOLY CRAP it was immediate and magical. Hasn't returned since.
posted by banannafish at 8:29 PM on May 4

I took Klonopin for a number of years as treatment for a hearing disability I have (hyperacusis - overactivity of the auditory nerve).

For me, taking one pill would definitely make me sleepy, but not always necessarily so much that I couldn't drive / focus on getting something done. That said, I did shy away from taking it during the workday. I didn't find it very addictive, but more annoying - always being tired when I took it (although it did have the positive effect of relaxing my auditory nerves and reversing the overload there). I quit taking it after I saw a new doctor who pointed out that the Klonopin may be treating the symptom of the problem, but is probably not helping adjust the problem itself. In your case that may mean that the eye-twitch may mean that you have too much computer use, or something else in your life, causing this. Consider seeing an optometrist and getting a full exam and a second opinion.

I'd also second the idea of halving the pill with a razor blade if the full pill is too much for you - I did that as well and it worked relatively well.
posted by allkindsoftime at 8:53 PM on May 4

I've taken Klonopin for anxiety, for which it works very well, and for restless leg syndrome, for which it was totally ineffective.

Yeah, it's going to make you groggy, but not nearly as bad as Xanax or Halcyon or Ativan or other things I've tried.

For the RLS, I switched to Mirapex. It worked really well, and I had no side effects after the first couple of days. I believe it's prescribed for muscle twitches and spasms as well.
posted by lunalaguna at 9:35 PM on May 4

Klonopin has never made me the slightest bit tired and I'm perfectly coherent when I take it.
posted by IndigoRain at 10:24 PM on May 4

Hum, interesting. I've taken Klonopin for anxiety, but my left eyelid started twitching feverishly at odd intervals about a month ago, and I think it is related to starting treatment for ADHD. Kinda curious to hear how this Klonopin path works for you down the line, or any solutions you do come across, cuz this eye twitch business is annoying and unsettling.

On the Klonopin, be mindful of when you take it if possible, as I become unusually suggestible and loquacious soon after dosage and well on into my day - not always a good thing. Also, the headaches are not fun. Finally, there's a good chance you will get verrrry sleeeeepy (oh, as you've already discovered!)

Good luck to you. May our twitchy eyelids be at peace.
posted by xiaolongbao at 11:19 PM on May 4

My doc recommended magnesium without calcium for my persistent muscle twitches. You still want to get calcium in your diet, but calcium tends to activate muscles and magnesium relaxes them, so when you're in the throes of a twitching episode the magnesium is more helpful.

And she gave me Flexeril for the really bad episodes, but I find a steady intake of magnesium has reduced the need for that.
posted by rhiannon at 10:11 PM on May 5

I'm with banannafish. Talk to your doc about Botox. It's much less invasive than brain drugs. I had a twitch for almost 4 months that was finally fixed once and for all with a tiny injection.
posted by acorncup at 9:55 AM on May 6