Titration beginner questions - Insomnia and other symptoms

More newbie questions.

So had a really bad night, insomnia - zero sleep, sweats, muscle spasms, just generally very alert and wired.

I did my catch up dose mid day yesterday because I'd taken too low a dose the night before. Followed up last, night took my regular full dose. .7mg (70ml).

Now I know since I'm just beginning to take daily doses - after taking K sporadically for 1.5 years - I expect the on ramp to this Titration plan may be bumpy. (FYI -I'd always taken it strictly at night.)

But got me thinking...

Should I be splitting this dose up in 3 doses throughout day: .23/.23/.23 - would that help to minimize likelihood of rough night time symptoms?

Is there a general consensus to what symptoms mean? Dose too low or too high?

thanks for thoughts.

K has a half-life of 30-40 hrs; multiple doses are probably not necessary.

If you have sleep problems, I would take all, or most, of my dose in the PM.

More newbie questions.

So had a really bad night, insomnia - zero sleep, sweats, muscle spasms, just generally very alert and wired.

 

I did my catch up dose mid day yesterday because I'd taken too low a dose the night before. Followed up last, night took my regular full dose. .7mg (70ml).

Now I know since I'm just beginning to take daily doses - after taking K sporadically for 1.5 years - I expect the on ramp to this Titration plan may be bumpy. (FYI -I'd always taken it strictly at night.)

 

But got me thinking...

Should I be splitting this dose up in 3 doses throughout day: .23/.23/.23 - would that help to minimize likelihood of rough night time symptoms?

Is there a general consensus to what symptoms mean? Dose too low or too high?

 

thanks for thoughts.

K has a half-life of 30-40 hrs; multiple doses are probably not necessary.

 

If you have sleep problems, I would take all, or most, of my dose in the PM.

I disagree with Builder on this one - something that doesn't happen often.  Just because half life is 30-40 hours does not mean multiple doses won't help.  Most people on K need at least two and three is also common.

I doubt your symptoms are from too much K.  I think they are from not enough.  I would do the three even doses and give it time for stability to come, but we don't know yet if .7mg is enough.  Your symptoms certainly do sound like what happens when there is a shortage.

Thanks all.

Even when I was taking 2mg at night on sporadic basis I would sometimes feel wired and have insomnia anyway (tolerance building up I suppose). Even if the K did eventually get me to sleep it was always preceded by feeling wired and alert - then suddenly I'd be out - no drifting off.

I think I'll try the staggered doses - since it seems keeping doses near my bedtime is no guarantee that I'll sleep anyway. And yes to the not knowing if the 7mg is the right dose. If I tried to maintain on the 7mg, would I eventually even out - or is inching up to whatever my baseline is the only way to achieve an equilibrium?

thanks

How do you feel?  How difficult is it?

I would not try to tough it out if symptoms are too bad.  You need to find your baseline as quickly as you can, which is tricky because you are also trying to give each dose time.  But I think it is more important to get rid of/reduce symptoms as soon as possible.

The insomnia has gotten significantly worse I think due to tolerance buildup of the 2mg.

Even with the 2mg per night - 10 nights a month - I would still average at least 1 sleepless night a month.

In the last 3 weeks I've had 4 completely sleepless nights, big up tic.

This is what made me realize the Klonopin was likely the cause - that I was in withdrawal and/or tolerance buildup. I knew I needed to start weaning as I certainly don't want to increase the dose. Insomnia, tics, twitches - muscle spasms are the worst of it. I had some anxiety associated with one of the nights of insomnia - and some irritability with my kids during the day - but all in all I'm ok. I can function without a night of sleep, but it's certainly not fun. If the insomnia stretches into more then one night then I know I'm in trouble. Benedryl, Valerian, Melatonin, HTP, Chamomile - no effect at all.

I should also write a post in the 'other med' support page - as I'm on the steroid Hydrocortisone to treat Adrenal Fatigue and wondering if I should ease back on that a bit - as maybe I've got too much adrenaline - not sure what K does to adrenaline.

I'm upping today's dose to 8mg so will average: (26.6ml/26.6ml/26.6ml). Hoping to hold steady there, but we'll see based on . I'm not into suffering and would love this process to be smoother. Thanks much for the support.

The insomnia has gotten significantly worse I think due to tolerance buildup of the 2mg.

Even with the 2mg per night - 10 nights a month - I would still average at least 1 sleepless night a month.

 

In the last 3 weeks I've had 4 completely sleepless nights, big up tic.

This is what made me realize the Klonopin was likely the cause - that I was in withdrawal and/or tolerance buildup. I knew I needed to start weaning as I certainly don't want to increase the dose. Insomnia, tics, twitches - muscle spasms are the worst of it. I had some anxiety associated with one of the nights of insomnia - and some irritability with my kids during the day - but all in all I'm ok. I can function without a night of sleep, but it's certainly not fun. If the insomnia stretches into more then one night then I know I'm in trouble. Benedryl, Valerian, Melatonin, HTP, Chamomile - no effect at all.

 

I should also write a post in the 'other med' support page - as I'm on the steroid Hydrocortisone to treat Adrenal Fatigue and wondering if I should ease back on that a bit - as maybe I've got too much adrenaline - not sure what K does to adrenaline.

 

I'm upping today's dose to 8mg so will average: (26.6ml/26.6ml/26.6ml). Hoping to hold steady there, but we'll see based on . I'm not into suffering and would love this process to be smoother. Thanks much for the support.

Saying you are generally okay is good to hear.  And I think going up to .8mg is a good choice.  Keeping to a steady dosing schedule is important.  I hope your sleep improves.

9to5er,

I also started out on an as needed basis taking K at night.  That evolved into 1 mg at night every day.  I believe it's best to start micro-tapering from a dose that is stabilized in your body.  I suggest that you take a consistent dose (e.g. 1, 1.5 or 2 mg/night) for a 5-10 days and then start tapering from that point.  Insomnia and other symptoms are par for the course.  I would be reluctant to keep increasing dosage to find a place where you are symptom free.  I think you may be experiencing waves of symptoms because your dosage is not consistent.  Hopefully taking a consistent dose will allow you to experience symptoms at a tolerable baseline.  I always have symptoms, but have adjusted my taper rate to keep them in a range that is tolerable.  I would be hesitant to start splitting doses unless you are certain that you are feeling withdrawal effects in between daily doses.  I like having to deal with dosing just once a day and am glad I never got involved with multiple doses throughout the day.

Ben800 thanks for input. I'm was 7mg yesterday, 8 today - multi-dosing and I was thinking of going up to 1mg, starting tomorrow and just working from there, so you read my mind. Just trying to get in front of this is grueling. I'm certain my body is not appreciating all the mixing up I've been doing, and I'm paying for it in symptoms.

No withdrawal effects in between doses just the weird alert feeling after I take a nightly dose. I was trying multi-dosing to minimize that affect. I wonder if the alertness that I'm feeling isn't the K aggravating my adrenal fatigue symptoms - giving me a pulse of adrenaline - at night - just when I DON'T need it. I need to do more HW on that and was going to cross post about it in the forum regarding folks taking other meds.

I know you are correct about finding a baseline and working from there. Hopefully this will get smoothed out soon. Thanks again for support. I'll keep you all posted.