Clonazepam for Insomnia User Reviews (Page 2)

• Mille...
• June 8, 2013

"Thank you everyone for your helpful comments. I've been suffering from insomnia since I was practically born, and it's gotten worse about 3 months ago, leading to depression. So I've been introduced to the best sleeping medication ever, and for the first time in my life, I'm actually sleeping like a baby. I'm taking half of 0.5mg a night, and I'm no longer the grumpiest girl in the morning that I've always been!"

• Anonymous
• Taken for 10 years or more
• July 13, 2023

"Wow finally some good news about clonazepam. I've been on it for over 30 years & I've tried going off here & there & finally decided I feel better staying on it! It saved my life over 30 years ago as I could not drive or work because of severe panic disorder & PTSD from childhood. I recently got down to 0.5mg in the morning & at night and it's been 9 months & I'm miserable. Cannot sleep, restless leg syndrome, anxiety, depression etc! I plan to go back to 1mg at night & 0.5mg in the morning & possibly up to a total of 2mg a day. 30 years ago I took 1mg 3 times a day for decades & 2 years ago I went to 1mg in the morning & evening. I need my sleep & my life back. I thank God for this medicine & my cognitive function is great. I do a lot of puzzles & brain games. Hallelujah!"

• MJano
• Taken for less than 1 month
• January 26, 2020

"I have chronic insomnia now for the past 5 years due to a vehicle accident and severe injury to my left wrist and hand. I have been on every sleep medication available, and eventually, a tolerance builds. Most recent is Quetiapine 100 mg increased to 300 mg before bed, as I have been on it a year and it stopped working altogether. Saw a new psychiatrist/neurologist, and he prescribed 0.2 mg of Klonopin with Doxepin. Did not even phase me. Did not sleep at all and was up to 7 AM the 1st night. Out of sheer exhaustion, I took a Quetiapine. Day 3 and the same results. I am not an addictive personality at all. I will call my doctor to advise my lack of reaction to these medicines and see what now he will do. Chronic insomnia is no joke. Sleep is needed for your body to thrive, period. Tired of feeling sleep deprived and zombie-like."

• Jane...
• September 28, 2015

"I have been using Clonazepam for insomnia and mild anxiety for the last 4 months, and I can say that it is working miracles for me. I have been using a very, very small dose - 0.25 mg in the evening for the first 3 months, now I am taking even less - 0.15 mg in the evening. I have 0.5 mg pills that I use to break into small pieces. The dosage is so small that I have no fear of becoming an addict. Even so, if my sleep and peace of mind mean being an addict, then I'm more than happy to be one."

• Pill...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• July 30, 2012

Klonopin (clonazepam) "I have severe and chronic insomnia that has caused me little (if any) sleep per night, leading to confusion and irritability in the morning, leading to delirium, if prolonged exposure to sleep deprivation was to happen to me. My doctor first prescribed me Seroquel (quetiapine) for my insomnia, which worked a little bit TOO well, as it was too heavily sedating, and left me with too many 'morning-after' effects. At my doctor's reluctance (due to substance abuse history in not me, but my family) I was given a prescription to a starting dose of 1 mg a night of Klonopin. This was amazing. As opposed to being forced to sleep by Seroquel, Klonopin lulled me to sleep. It's a wonderful medicine."

• Pheonix
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• July 25, 2021

"Tried almost everything for helping me sleep: Melatonin, Trazodone, Quetiapine, edibles, valerian, chamomile, L-theanine, lavender, no caffeine, exercising intensely, yoga/walking, alcohol, 5 HTP, meditation, cold temperatures, weighted blankets, and journaling. In 2017, I had become a therapist and started seeing clients. I showed up for my client with body aches, poor digestion, blurred vision, trouble concentrating, irritability, depression, anxiety, and trauma of not sleeping well. In May 2021, I found a health center, and my first session I cried halfway through, exhausted, embarrassed, and totally to the point of give me anything. I was prescribed 5 mg of clonazepam. According to my Fitbit, I was asleep by 9:47 PM, and then woke up at 6:30 AM refreshed! Now? I walk every morning before seeing clients for 45 minutes and do 15 minutes of yoga/stretching. Clonazepam has literally saved my practice as a clinician and changed my life."

• BobB
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• December 29, 2013

"After four spinal fusions, I have chronic pain and chronic spasms. I've tried almost everything out there. My doctor suggested 0.5mg of clonazepam twice a day for spasm and sleep. It's worked wonders. Being able to get rest makes everything else tolerable."

• June...
• Taken for 10 years or more
• September 20, 2018

"For 10 years, I took 0.5mg chewed up for sleep. If I took more, the effect would be reversed and wake me more. I quit once years ago as I noticed I became forgetful. Then gradually started with 1/4 of one mg at night time only. Moved up to 0.5mg only. At 75 years of age, I noticed double vision and memory failing me often with names, etc. I feared Alzheimer's. So, for 3 nights, 1-2 hours of sleep, but noticed my sight was better and my old 250 strength glasses worked again, with the double vision in the evening gone. Names immediately sharpened. Tried melatonin 5mg, but no help. I fear the danger of no sleep yet treasure my eyesight and memory. All brains work differently. I have been a light sleeper most of my life. Now I wonder if I will ever be able to sleep without clonazepam. I cut out sweets in the evening and am so stressed with no sleep for 3 nights. I love seeing others' comments. Thanks."

• KrMz
• November 29, 2017

"I have been taking 2mg for 2 years. My initial dose was 0.5 mg, but until I took 2mg it would not help me sleep. If I have an extremely stressful afternoon/evening, my doc said I could take 2 tabs (4mg), as long as I don’t take that dose more than twice a month and not on consecutive days. I get between 6 1/2 - 8 hours of great sleep per night and feel very rested and energetic each day. I am a very active, athletic person and feel no hangover effect from it. I just feel like I have my life back after sleeping no more than 3 hours per night for 8 years. I have a friend who has taken it for 8 years with the same results as me. Neither of us take any other medication."

• Renee
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• January 1, 2020

"Have taken clonazepam at a dose of 0.5 mg once daily at night for insomnia caused by anxiety. I’ve been on this 3 times in my life. The first was for 9 years, the second was 1 month, now about one and a half years. I was weaned off the first time over 3 months, not a problem. The second time was 6 years later and was easy after only one month. This time is harder than the first time. It’s taking months down to 0.125 mg after 4 months. The 0.125 has only been a few days. I slept the last two nights. I’m taking gabapentin to manage symptoms and can get off gabapentin much easier than benzodiazepines. I like how clear my head feels, I like the idea of being med-free. I never increased my clonazepam dose, but had breakthrough panic attacks, signals a need for more (no thanks) or time to taper off. Side effects negative were dependence and breakthrough panic, withdrawal if taper too fast, memory problems sometimes, IBS, and feeling controlled by the meds. Positive has been no panic in general, sleep. But hey, it’s addictive."

• Anonymous
• April 10, 2012

Klonopin (clonazepam) "Klonopin is the only medication that works for my insomnia. I've been on pretty much every medicine for insomnia at one point or another. I have OCD, and the reason I can't sleep is because the obsessive thoughts won't stop ruminating in my head. When I take Klonopin, the thoughts are no longer intrusive."

• Lindy...
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• February 7, 2015

"My rheumatologist feels that this medication allows me to sleep without extreme nighttime pain. If I do not get sleep, I am unable to function during the day. This medicine allows me to sleep without pain causing tears every time I turn over. Sorry, I have had none of the side effects except for the ability to sleep for 8 hours—the reason I agreed to take this medication. Quality of life trumps pain and the chance that I will have any of these side effects."

• Anonymous
• September 15, 2013

"Recently, I'd experienced insomnia for 4 weeks. It'd made me literally nonfunctional at work and very easily irritable. My doctor prescribed 0.5 mg clonazepam per night. I have been taking it for 5 days now and it is doing miracles. My only concern is it's being habit-forming. I am not sure how long I should continue taking it. Regardless, I am very satisfied with it so far."

• Rob
• December 6, 2015

"I started with a low 0.5 - 1 mg dose and would take it as needed for insomnia/anxiety. I hated the thought of being dependent, so I fought taking it consistently. I also started taking higher doses. All of that caused me to have bad days and good days... but not worth the dependency. Eventually, I quit cold turkey. It took 10 awful days to get off it, but then I was okay. The problem was I wasn't sleeping again. The insomnia was making my life miserable. I revisited Klonopin and decided to take the same small dosage every single night of 0.25 per night, and the results have been amazing. The dose is so small that I have no negative side effects, and I have been sleeping great for 6 months now. I'm probably dependent now, but it's worth the sleep."

• Anonymous
• January 15, 2012

Klonopin (clonazepam) "I am a 48-year-old woman and for the past couple of years, I either never went to sleep or only slept a couple of hours each night. I am not a person who likes to take medication but found myself desperate because lack of sleep was interfering with the quality of my life. I am a teacher and mother, so being sleep deprived was hard. I tried melatonin with little luck. A doctor prescribed Ambien, but I felt so groggy the next morning. Finally, a doctor prescribed Klonopin 0.5 mg and even though I was reluctant, I was desperate and tried it. It worked the first night. I am able to get up in the middle of the night with my children if I need to. I awake feeling refreshed. It has changed my life. I do worry about long-term use but will continue for now."

• Will
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• May 10, 2019

"Have had insomnia for years. The doctor tried trazodone first - side effects dried my mouth and throat out to a crispy numbness, and major zoned out the effect the next day. Next was Ambien - side effects of duh and short-term memory blanking out. Next was temazepam - only worked a couple of nights before taking a break and caused irritability mood swings. So now take clonazepam 1 mg for my insomnia, and it works. Calms my mind down at night, and I sleep more solidly with less waking up, and I don't have side effects the next day. I still toss and turn, but not as bad. My issue of insomnia is more so my mind doesn't calm down easily. I may need 1.5 or 2 mg the next annual checkup."

• 70...
• Taken for 10 years or more
• April 18, 2016

"I have taken Klonopin for twenty years. Sadly, over the years I became resistant to the lower doses. I am extremely dependent on it and it became 'necessary' for the dosage to be steadily increased over the years. I was all of the way up to 5 mg at night. This had disastrous side effects...extreme confusion being the most alarming. It was difficult to start to titrate down slowly. After many months, I was down to 3 mg. and then down to 2.5 mg. It was not easy and there were many restless nights filled with anxiety. Over the last 6 months, I have decreased down to 1.25 mg. I am struggling but determined to get off within the next year. Do NOT let this happen to you!"

• JohnS...
• Taken for 5 to 10 years
• March 11, 2024

"This medication got me out of a horrible time in my life. Nothing else worked. Over 20 failed medications later and finally tried 2mg of clonazepam, I was able to sleep again. Been on this for 6 years. Don't ever let people scare you about this drug. If you need it, you need it! People wonder why they have horrible withdrawals from it. Well, when you don't taper (duh), that's when you have issues. My method has always been to take as little as I need. I constantly take less and less until I have a bad night. Then I may take 1mg. For a long time, .25mg was working perfectly. Never had withdrawal issues when I go down on the medication. I read every one of these reviews and of course when I was in the worst time of my life, I only seemed to pay attention to the horrible reviews. Refused to take it for the longest time. Take everything into consideration but know, you'll be fine. Don't quit cold turkey when you decide to come off of it."

• Alexa...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• May 4, 2015

"For years, I've been waking up up to 40 times at night. No issue falling asleep, but would wake up constantly and remember my dreams extremely well. Often unpleasant. I was totally exhausted and had to face busy days as a working mum. I was sent to a neurologist, put on antidepressants, finally had a polysomnography showing I had an irregular REM sleep. For an unknown reason (still unknown until this day), I wake up for a few seconds and go back to sleep constantly. The doctor put me on Hypnovel, which didn't make much difference. I've now been on Clonazepam for a few months (from 0.25mg to 1mg now). It allows me to stay asleep deeply for up to 4-6 hours on good days. It is not perfect but definitely helping. No side effects either. I feel much better."

• docbl...
• February 23, 2018

"The idiot doctor who prescribed this to me for a sleep aid. He told me nothing about the dangers, and he had me taking this for three years and eight months. He never said anything about having to taper from this until the end, when he refused to renew my prescription because he said I 'was no longer his patient.' I said I don't have enough pills left for a taper. All he said was that I better find a new doctor soon. That was in December of 2012. By then, I was out. I found a doctor who would give it to me for a taper. I tapered for 8.5 months. But it was too late. I got tinnitus in the third month, and then two weeks later the derealization began. I have been living in hell since then. That's right... I have been in a complete horror show of derealization now for a little over five years. And it is worse today than ever. That alone is so hard to fathom because all of the days are a horrifying hell. Good luck to all who are suffering with this terror."

• Nanna...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• December 11, 2021

"I've had insomnia and depression most of my life, been on most antidepressants which work to a point but never help with insomnia. Clonazepam works for me, I'm trying to get this new doc to prescribe more than half of a 0.5 mg dose. I've also had burning mouth syndrome for two and a half years, it's honestly the worst thing. I've been on Lyrica, Endep, and Mirtazapine, but none of them work, so I'm now coming off them all slowly, but not the Clonazepam, that I'm taking for as long as I can. I don't usually suffer any withdrawal symptoms coming off any meds, but I will take it as long as I can. I don't see the point in suffering long hours staring at the ceiling just to prove I can go without! That's like expecting a diabetic to stop taking insulin. If we need a bit of help in life, it doesn't mean we are failures at all!"

• jpsousa
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• April 13, 2013

"I've been using Klonopin for about 4 years. I take it when I awake in the middle of the night and can't get back to sleep. 0.5 mg gives me about 3 hours sleep and much more if I've not been taking it for a few days. Recently, I've been weaning myself by reducing the dosage to 0.25 mg. This weaning would be more difficult if I weren't retired so that I can get more sleep just by staying in bed longer. Not sleeping is much more adverse to my health than taking a moderate dose of Klonopin."

• McAgent
• May 19, 2010

Klonopin (clonazepam) "My psychiatrist prescribed this for me less than a week ago because for way too long I was sleeping approximately 4 to 5 hours and was up obsessing for the rest of it, making me sad and tense and fretful and hopeless feeling -- not to mention tired -- each day. WHAT A DIFFERENCE ON THE FIRST TRY! Taking 1 mg at bedtime not only relaxes me enough to fall asleep, when I do wake up during the night I'm calm, smiling even, and can't wait to go back to sleep -- which I do easily. Then the whole next day is just generally better. I feel like I used to when I was younger and less 'hyped out' in general. And no kidding, this has only been 6 days. Lucky me. Klonopin where have you been all my life?"

• Roscoe
• Taken for 10 years or more
• November 27, 2019

"Been using clonazepam for over 10 yrs. Started when my son became critically ill. Was having anxiety and insomnia. I take .25 MG every night, and when I am having some anxiety problems, I'll take another .25. Been out of town for a few days without the medicine, no side effects other than not sleeping as well. Very pleased with the meds."

• Cumulus
• February 20, 2019

"I have been taking this medication for 8 years, it was originally prescribed off-label for restless leg syndrome at 0.5 mg at night. It had the added bonus of helping a lot with my insomnia and tooth grinding. So, my doctor put me on 0.5 mg twice daily. Eight years on, it is still effective, although due to tolerance, my dose is 3x 0.5 mg daily. I suffer no daytime sedation or other side effects. It is a strange benzodiazepine, as I have never really noticed I've taken a dose, I only know I'm taking it when I have had to stop taking it for a few days. The withdrawal symptoms are very unpleasant. I'm in the UK and am amazed that I still get prescribed a benzodiazepine for off-label use after all this time. I have never felt the need to increase my dose over the three times a day."