Dosing time frame - does it matter?

Please forgive me this very stupid question, but if the daily dosage of a benzo is the same and you are not in a taper, does it matter how the dose is divided between hours?  For instance, any difference in effect between a quarter of a 0.5 mg Klonopin every 8 hours OR an eighth of a Klonopin every 4 hours?

 

Sorry, I'm new to all this.  Your thoughts appreciated! 

 

clearbluesky

For me, it did make a big difference. When I got down to low amounts, I had to shift from three doses a day to four. Spreading out the small amount I was taking, especially at the end, made a real difference and enabled me to get off benzos.

 

I believe the reason dividing up the doses helped was because I was having interdose withdrawal. I'm sure I still had that but for shorter durations but maybe more often but still easier to handle.

Lilyann, that's fascinating!  I think I will try dividing my daytime doses.  Thank you!

 

But I have noticed sometimes I feel less depressed as a dose wears off.  Other times more anxious.

I'm having some trouble making sense of all this.

 

clearbluesky

It may not work the same. K is a longer lasting benzo versus Xanax. Xanax takes effect quicker and has a shorter half life. Still, I think dividing it out might smooth out the cycle. Could be worth a try. You could go back to three doses if it doesn't help.

I really don't know what I'm doing.  My 3x day schedule is 10:30 am, 6:30 pm and 2:30 am.  I have a middle-of-the-night dose cause I commonly wake up about that time anyway and hopefully the dose helps me get back to sleep.  But while the middle-of-the-night dose may help me get back to sleep eventually, it first makes my heart speed up and raises my blood pressure, and my Wellue sleep monitor indicates drops in O2 and sleep apnea the rest of the night.  I am not sleeping well at all.  I don't like having to experiment with dosing myself like this and fear harming my health.  Where can I find medical advice and supervision???

You could ask your GP about a sleep specialist. They conduct sleep studies to see what is going on when you're asleep. For sleep apnea, there is a CPAP machine that forces more air through your nose. Works great for a lot of people.

 

Just a heads up . . . insomnia is very common during tapers. A ton of people here at BB deal with that issue. It does suck for sure. The "fix" for that really seems to be time. As the GABA receptors begin to heal once off benzos, sleep returns and regulates.

 

I still have sleep issues at a year out but not near as bad as during the taper.

Thanks, Lilyann.  My GP recently recommended a sleep study because I have COPD.  I filled out a sleep center questionnaire, had an initial interview, just didn't follow through.  Tomorrow I will call for sure.  My sleep quality and quantity, pulse and O2 drops have all gone downhill since this Klonopin schedule I put myself on.  I'm not sure sleep centers would consider benzo management their purvue, but please tell me what medical professionals do? 

 

Here's a comment I read from someone on Drugs.com, it's a good warning.....

 

Comment from Chris499 on Drugs.com:

 

"Klonopin is a CNS depressant that causes shallow breathing while asleep.  Taking it before bed can cause sleep apnea with drops in oxygen levels.  This can cause you to suddenly wake up with a racing heart along with high blood pressure.  I had no history of sleep apnea prior to the use of Klonopin.  I now use a CPAP machine, a blood pressure cuff on my bed, along with a recording pulse oximeter that I upload to a computer.  Klonopin use puts you in a scenario that causes a vicious cycle of cleep deprivation which aggravates anxiety.  Most people respond by taking more Klonopin.  I've done many sleep studies and I can tell you as a fact that an increase in Klonopin equals lower oxygen drops during sleep which in turn leads to sleep deprivation and more anxiety.  If you're on Klonopin, you should be using a CPAP machine to compensate for the depressed breathing side effect.  Otherwise you'll be miserable and stuck on Klonopin forever."

 

 

 

 

Lilyann, I'm sorry, I should have asked at the very beginning!  How did you break doses down to 4X a day without having to get up at night to take doses?  Did you skip night doses or take something else at night to help you sleep? 

 

THANKS for helping me with this topic!

That information you shared is interesting. I'd not thought about the benzos being related to the sleep apnea. That makes sense though.

 

As for my four doses, I took them at 7 and 11 a.m. and 7 and 11 p.m. So, I did have an eight hour stretch during the night hours.

 

Right before bed, I sometimes took Benadryl or herbs. Some nights those seemed to help a little bit but not always. It seemed to work best if I waited a few days between taking anything that might promote sleep.

Thanks, Lilyann.  Did you find you had breakthrough or rebound anxiety during the 8 hours without doses?

 

My schedule was .125 mg at 10:30 am, 6:30 pm and 2:30 am.  Total daily: 0.375 mg.  I've been advised to hold.

 

Problem is that middle of the night dose seems to be causing me jumps in blood pressure and pulse, drops in O2 and sleep apnea.  So I've tried to come up with a new schedule.  Not tapering, just trying to even out dosing and reduce middle-of-the-night dose:

 

7:30 am - .0625 mg (1/8 of a 0.5 mg pill)

10:30 am - .0625 mg

1:30 pm - .0625 mg

4:30 pm - .0625 mg

7:30 pm - .0625 mg

OPTIONAL if I wake up 1:30 - 3 am as usual - .0625 mg

 

SO it's still .375 mg/daily (3/4 of a 0.5 Klonopin pill.)  Just intended to reduce stress on overnight. 

 

What do you guys think?

 

Thanks,

 

clearbluesky

 

PS......I'm calling the sleep center for a sleep study this morning .

 

 

I'm not sure if I had interdose w/d anxiety. The night hours tend to be anxious for me just in general. Even now, I'll wake up multiple times per night feeling anxious. The anxiety is not even close to the level during tapering, but it apparently is just part of who I am. The level now is annoying versus terrifying as it was during taper.

 

If you can easily divide up your doses, I can't imagine that it would be harmful. You could try it and see. If it isn't helpful, then you could go back to your original dosing or try another schedule. I did play around with the timing of my doses during tapering.

Thanks, Lilyann!  My sister the math lover tweaked my version to be more evenly timed with less gap overnight:

 

7 am:  .0625  (one-eigth of a 0.5 mg pill)

10:30 am:  .0625

2 pm:  .0625

5:30 pm:  .0625

9 pm:  .0625

likely overnight waking 1 or 2 am:  .0625

 

It's around 5 pm now and so far today I'm not impressed with my new schedule.  If anything I've had more anxiety, depression and painful chest tightness than usual today.  Cutting 0.5 mg pills into eighths could mean substance is lost to powder and doses inadvertedly lowered.  Is it possible to get 0.25 mg pills?  It would be easier to divide them.  If I've screwed up I'm afraid I'll be walloped in a few days. 

Yes. I am pretty sure you can get .25 in K. I used Xanax, and it was available in .25. That does make dividing easier, although I did a liquid taper from .5 down.

Lilyann, thank you so much for your advice.  Sounds like you've done it, it's over for you, and the only reason you're here is to help others like me.  A salute to your success, your strength and spirit, and blessings to you for the generosity of your kindness.

 

clearbluesky

Blush. That was such a nice message. Yes. I do check and see if there are any questions I can answer or moral support I can give. I still, very clearly, remember how hard and scary this journey can be. It is worth it, and it is do-able though. Hang in there. If you think of anything where I can help out, let me know.

I hate to say it, but my schedule isn't working.  Painful breakthrough anxiety, usually dawn or mid morning, sometimes into early afternoon.  If anyone has better ideas, please let me know.

 

thanks,

 

clearbluesky