Oral use - Clonidine (Catapres) for insomnia?

SWIM is looking to get away from Benzos to treat insomnia, they are just too easy to get dependant on and SWIM does not want to get addicted to them. SWIM heard his doc mention CLONIDINE during one of his visits. This is a med that is normally used for high blood pressure, but is sometimes used to treat insomnia. Has anyone tried it before? Does it work? Is it relatively safer than Benzos as long as it’s not taken everyday? It seems that every medication used to treat insomnia that really works can be very addictive and habit forming, but not being able to sleep is torturing SWIM and he needs something that works, yet he wont get hooked on.

[~lostgurl~]

SWIM is prescribed Clonidine for Restless Legs Syndrome so that she can sleep. She thinks her dose may be too low though because she has not noticed any significant improvement when taking it alone. SWIM's dose is 2 X 25mcg tablets at night. She has taken up to 10 in a night but still did not feel any noticeable effects. SWIM's RLS comes and goes though so maybe it is helping but at times other things are contributing to the RLS worsening.

For the moment Melatonin and Clonidine are the only sleep aids SWIM can use as every other sleep aid seems to aggravate her symptoms.

In the past SWIM has used Zopiclone (almost identical to Lunesta) and it worked for her for years with barely any withdrawal symptoms. SWIM had one night of sweating and multiple awakenings, but the following night she slept like a baby. It took SWIM ages to bite the bullet and stop taking Zopiclone because she was convinced she would not be able to sleep without them and she was expecting a milder version of benzo withdrawal but that just didn't happen.

SWIY could always use a bunch of different sleep aids, prescription, OTC and natural, rotating them so that SWIY is not taking any of them for more than a couple of days in a row. Just to name a few: Benzos, Zopiclone, Melatonin, Clonidine, Valerian, Chamomile Tea, GHB, phenergan, Diphenhydramine etc.

Good luck, SWIM agrees, not being able to sleep when you're exhausted can be absolutely torturous!

Thank you for the input, interesting that SWIM did not experience any withdrawals when stopping Lunesta, SWIM is afraid he would become too dependant on that, but maybe it is worth a try. SWIM is going to ask his doc if he can try Clonidine, I don’t think she will have any objections, she prescribes SWIM ativan, and if it works then great if not o well, on to something else. SWIM has tried a bunch of OTC stuff Diphenhydramine makes him fell horrid the next day, Valerian no real effect, Melatonin seems to work sometimes but no too effectively. SWIM thinks the problem is that all these OTC drugs make your body feel tired, but don’t help the mind relax, at least in his case, and the racing thoughts is what keeps him up. Thanks again for the suggestions though.

Well SWIM went to the doc today, he got Clonidine, SWIM has not picked it up yet, but once he does he will post what he thinks of it as a sleep aid. SWIM also brought up Ambien/lunesta, but she does not like to prescribe those, she thinks they are too new to the market and the long term effects are unknown.

[tayo]

Clonidine is frequently prescribed for opiate withdrawal and certainly helps those in misery to fall asleep.

SWIM has tried this stuff a few times now, the first time he stupidly took .01mg at 3 in the afternoon, after an hour all he wanted to do was sleep and he became a grouchy asshole because of that fact. After this he figured it would work good. But SWIM has tried taking a pill and a half (.01mg pills) and while they do make him very drowsy, they don’t seem to relax his mind, so he finds himself not tossing and turning so much, but still not able to fall asleep. Its hard to explain but for SWIM his body is so tired and it feels almost like he is asleep but he is not fully there, .05 of ativan with .01 of Clonidine works wonders though, but again SWIM wants to get away from benzos for sleep.

Another thing SWIM noticed that is nice, is while they seem to have zero recreational potential (unless you maybe take a ton, which SWIM does not plan to do), they seem to take the edge off if SWIM is feeling really antsy, almost like a benzo does. So when SWIM has been feeling really anxious, he has been taking a half or full pill of clonidine instead of taking ativan, its not quite the same but it does help and SWIM likes the fact that the risk for dependency is much lower with clonidine than with benzos. SWIM has also been doing Oxy’s too much for the past few weeks, so he is stopping before it gets out of control, and while he is not too worried since he was taking one small dose a day (10-20mg), he hopes that if he does encounter some of the horrid WD effects that the clonidine will help.