Posted by SLS on March 15, 2012, at 6:35:17
In reply to Prescribed Clonidine for Parnate insomnia, posted by g_g_g_unit on March 15, 2012, at 0:07:54
> Since short-acting benzos produced excessive depression and rebound stimulation the next day, I asked my psychiatrist if I could try Prazosin for sleep. He wasn't entirely comfortable prescribing it, since he'd never heard of it before, but gave me clonidine instead. I should thank this board, since I came up with the idea based on Chairman_MAO's recommendation.
>
> I've actually found that 15mg of Valium at night curbs the excessive irritability and overstimulation I experience on Parnate, but also cancels out any anti-ADHD benefits, so it's not ideal..
>
> Given clonidine has a shorter half-life, I'm hoping it might allow me to reach a higher dose of Parnate, as insomnia is the biggest obstruction right now.I should think that clonidine is better for insomnia than prazosin. Clonidine is a more potent sympatholytic (anti-flight-or-flight) than prazosin. They work on different parts of the nervous system.
clonidine = NE alpha-2 agonist
prazosin = NE alpha-1 antagonistAlthough I am not the drug's biggest fan, Gabitril (tiagabine) is sometimes used to treat insomnia. It enhances slow wave sleep and sleep maintenance. Gabitril is unique as a reuptake inhibitor of GABA. Personally, I think the drug is unpredictable interindividually. It can be agitating for some people. However, if it works well for a given individual, it should keep working well.
Please keep us updated. I am very interested to see how clonidine affects you.
Good luck.
- Scott
Some see things as they are and ask why.
I dream of things that never were and ask why not.- George Bernard Shaw
poster:SLS
thread:1013094
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20120302/msgs/1013110.html