Clonazepam \ Diazepam for ATN

1

hi

for now the only thing that seem to help me is Clonazepam

i need about 2 MG per day to control the pain

my doctor give me 0.5 mg per day , i am working on getting more .

i would like to know for witch one of you the Clonazepam or Diazepam also help ??

what are the dose you takes ??

which one Clonazepam or Diazepam is better for your pain if you tried them both ??

i am a little afriad from start taking large dose of this drug for the next 30 years beacuse it is very sedactive drug as my doctor told me .

i have the same frighten from opioid that i am also consider to try

in the end we need to decide http://youtu.be/h8YKEwt3wO0

i decide to get busy living but for that i need to take dose drugs and i need yours Support

also if i could show this Discussion to my doctor it may help !


thanks for any help

big love to you all

tomey.

2

me too …it really helps me the valium

3

Hello, Tomey.

While I was misdiagnosed with TMJ for 7 yrs., the ONLY medication I was on for relief of, what I know now was Atypical TN, was Diazepam.

Diazepam remains part of my medication regimen to this day.

I so not know about Clonazepam. I've not tried them on a long-term enough basis to have an opinion.

4

Stef can you tell me more about Diazepem and what kind of pain you take it for?? Please. Min

5

The clonazepam helps me with the burning aspect of the pain. It's nice because it's also anti-anxiety, and it's one of the longest acting benzos. I take 1mg, 2-3 times a day.

Diazepam is good too, but mostly just for anxiety. And it works a little fast than clonazepam.

I believe either are good because if you're calm, you're nerves are calmer. But Clonazepam is the better choice for me because it helps so much with the burning pain. My doctor has me suck on it and swish around for three minutes and then swallow. This is because my teeth are my main problem, and apparently this is a better way. Not sure, I haven't really noticed a big difference yet. Also, he said not to do it with the dissolvable type because they dissolve too fast.

6

Thx crystal,

Its nice to hear it in layman's terms... Im in need of an additional medication and was going to see the neurologist next week... Ive already been through so many > elavil, tegretol, amytriptalline, eppillim, gabapentin, verapamil... Ive taken them in various mixtures along the years and am overdue a new medication as the current regime is not adequate. I was taking Lyrica, along with my gabapentin, these past 2 months as well but it is the culprit of a rash on my abdomen and back !... a small rash, but i dont want it to get worse...

Ill ask my neuro about clonazepam ! :)


crystalv said:

The clonazepam helps me with the burning aspect of the pain. It's nice because it's also anti-anxiety, and it's one of the longest acting benzos. I take 1mg, 2-3 times a day.

Diazepam is good too, but mostly just for anxiety. And it works a little fast than clonazepam.

I believe either are good because if you're calm, you're nerves are calmer. But Clonazepam is the better choice for me because it helps so much with the burning pain. My doctor has me suck on it and swish around for three minutes and then swallow. This is because my teeth are my main problem, and apparently this is a better way. Not sure, I haven't really noticed a big difference yet. Also, he said not to do it with the dissolvable type because they dissolve too fast.

7

Hi, Min.

In the beginning, before my ATN had progressed to the point that it is now, Diazapam would leave me pain free for as long as 2 hrs. sometimes. This was in 2003.

By 2009, I was no longer able to work, losing my personality completely and constantly rubbing my face bilaterally (onset right side in '03). It occurred to me one day, that I was no longer fit to be raising children, and that my fiance should move on. The pain was more than the Diazepam could handle, and had been for quite some time. I was still under the impression that this was "nerves", or somehow "in my mind", as my then, new Primary Care Doctor was telling me.

One evening, while surfing the web for stories of TMJ, I ran across "Atypical Trigeminal Neuralgia". I will never forget that moment. As I read, the pieces of my condition fell into place! The condition had progressed to a point where it was so acute, the Diazepam were not doing much to stop it. I knew then that I must get to a Pain Management Clinic. Once there, I dared not speak the words "Trigeminal Neuralgia". It was the doctor who suspected it. This was later confirmed by a Neurologist, more specifically classified as "Atypical TN".

To cut to the chase, the Diazepam are now prescribed to me 10 mg. x 5 daily. I do not always take all that I am prescribed. You can imagine that my tolerance is quite high after all of these years. However, when taken simultaneously with my Roxicodone (Oxycodone w/ no Acetaminphen) 15 mg. x 3 daily, or my Morphine 30 mg. x 3 daily, they seem to help the medications last longer than when I take the analgesics alone.

I cannot explain the logic of above mentioned benefit.

I obtain the Valium/Diazepam from my long-time Psychologist.

Two days ago, upon my visit to the Pain Clinic, I told my Nurse Practitioner that I was thinking of weaning off of my Diazepam/Valium. I asked her if I would have increased pain. She paused at my question, then nodded "mmm-hmmm", she responded. This leads me to believe that she would prescribe them, if they were not already prescribed by my Psychologist for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, which my Psychiatrist believes I suffer from due to the loss of my husband in 2006. At least, I hope she would if they help with the pain.

Given my Pain Management Nurse's response, I will continue with the Valium/Diazepam. I do not want to rock the boat!

Apologies for the lengthy answer, but the reason why I still take them. Perhaps they help with the anxiety caused by chronic pain.

Blessings to all,

Stef

8

Thanks Stef, I believe, stress can play an intricate roll in the pain that we have. I do have anxiety from a number of issues growing up. It is always good to hear more rather than less, so please tell me as much as you want. Thanks again, and I hope you are feeling better today… Min

9

Diazepam is the only thing that works for me as in it takes the edge of the pain. I only take it when I can't handle the pain anymore...wich is about 2 or 3 days a week. I take 10 to 20 mg.

I've been doing this for two years now and wonder what would be best. take it everyday or only when the pain is too much.

Anyone any thoughts on his?

10

Both are benzos.... I accidently discovered the other day that lorazepam which is a benzo anti-anxiety, in conjunction with a vicodin can break the pain faster when at a 7 or 8 pain level. How did I discover this? I was in a full on flare, laying there in pain, waiting for the pain meds to kick in and started having a panic attack. (for the past few years I have had them during huge times of physical and emotional stress). So on top of the huge pain, I could not breathe and had feelings of impending doom.... so I took a lorazepam. Within 20 minutes, the pain was at a 4, within an hour it was down to what it always is, which is occasional annoying breakthrough pain.

I plan to talk to the GP about this at my next appointment because I don't want to intentionally mix drugs without the medical advice. I did know that the two were prescribed for my TMJ, so I knew they were safe to take for that purpose.

11

Hi Tomey.

I, too, take Clonazepam to help break a pain cycle. It often works better than the other break-through medications I have. Clonazepam is the longest acting med in the benzo family. I do get very sleepy when I take it but I don't use it on a daily basis as my other break-through meds normally do the trick. The only irritating side effect that I have experienced with Clonazepam is leg cramps and sometimes body aches when it wears off. I take an extremely low dose of Clonazepam as I am very sensitive to medications and I don't need much to get the benefit I need from taking it. I take .25 mg to .5 mg when I need to. Due to the drowsiness I only take it when nothing else is working for me. I also have an anxiety disorder and that is another reason that I take this medication on occasion. My anxiety increases when I have severe pain and that leads to an increase in pain as others have mentioned below.

A side note... for me, the shorter-acting benzo's lead to increased emotion for me, for some odd reason. So, I have chosen to not take them anymore. I had this experience while taking Lorazepam, 3-4 mg per day, several years ago. However, this is MY experience and not indicative of any overall side effect.

I have not taken Diazepam, so I can't comment as to the pros or cons of this medication in comparison to clonazepam.

I hope you're able to find relief soon! I cannot imagine not having Clonazepam in my arsenal of medications as it does work well to break pain cycles for me. Best. Johanna

12

My doctor recently prescribed clonazepam/klonopin and is having me slowly increase the dose. Since starting this med, I haven't had any horrendous pain spikes, which could just be coincidence, of course, but I am grateful nonetheless.

Crystal, my doctor is having me follow a routine similar to yours. He is having me actually chew the tablet (I let it soften up a bit first) and then swish it around so that I benefit from the topical application directly to the area that hurts.

I hope you are all doing well.

Chris

13

Chris, I hope this is working for you... I have my good friend amitriptyline now. I will keep my fingers crossed for you.. Min

14

Chris, glad to hear it -- hope it helps you.

Min, I'm so glad you're having success with amitriptyline. It's been the best thing for me.

15

Lisa, do you still take this for breakthru pain?

Lisa (iamrite) said:

Both are benzos.... I accidently discovered the other day that lorazepam which is a benzo anti-anxiety, in conjunction with a vicodin can break the pain faster when at a 7 or 8 pain level. How did I discover this? I was in a full on flare, laying there in pain, waiting for the pain meds to kick in and started having a panic attack. (for the past few years I have had them during huge times of physical and emotional stress). So on top of the huge pain, I could not breathe and had feelings of impending doom.... so I took a lorazepam. Within 20 minutes, the pain was at a 4, within an hour it was down to what it always is, which is occasional annoying breakthrough pain.

I plan to talk to the GP about this at my next appointment because I don't want to intentionally mix drugs without the medical advice. I did know that the two were prescribed for my TMJ, so I knew they were safe to take for that purpose.

16

Min and Crystal, thanks for your kind thoughts. I am hopeful that this med will be beneficial and am pleased with the results so far. The prescription process was very thorough. My doctor brought in a colleague of his (whose area of interest is neuropathic orofacial pain and who has taught clinical pharmacotherapy of the management of orofacial pain) to help determine which medication to prescribe. They drew charts of my pain patterns and questioned me for quite a while about the specifics of my pain before deciding on clonazepam. So, I feel that they made every effort to customize the medication to my condition. That said, my doctor told me that there is often a degree of trial and error in prescribing meds and that everyone responds differently, so there may be some fine tuning involved. It seems like there are a lot of people with similar symptoms to mine who have been helped by amitriptyline, so perhaps that will be another option for me if the clonazepam doesn't do the trick.

I'm so glad that I can compare notes with all of you. It's really invaluable.

17

Chris, amitriptyline saved my life! I tell everyone who hasn't tried it, that they should -- that's if you have the 24/7 aching pain. Once I got to 100mg/day on the amitriptyline, I regained some quality of life. It REALLY helped me. I could go on for hours about how strongly I feel about this med....

18

Crystal, that is so awesome! I am so happy that you found the right med. Not only am I pleased for you, but I find it so encouraging for the rest of us as well.

I don’t have 27/7 pain myself (just for most of my waking hours). I am committed to giving clonazepam a fair go, but I am keeping an open mind and will definately keep amytriptyline on my list of meds to consider down the road if need be. May I ask if you take a combination of meds? Or just the amytriptyline?

Thanks so much! I really appreciate your input.

19

I take them both. It's my combo, plus an opiate for breakthrough pain. Klonopin isn't normally prescribed by itself for TN/ATN -- it's more of an add on med. Feel free to ask me anything you want to know about it, here, or via private message. :)

20

Thanks Crystal. I knew from this site and from other research that clonazepam was an unusual choice, particularly when it is the first medication I am trying. There were three doctors (one was an intern) discussing the options, and they did consider the more commonly prescribed ones first. As they started charting my pain patterns and asking me very detailed questions, my doctor and his colleague discussed the nuances of each medication's process in terms of what would be the most beneficial for me. I do have a muscular component to my pain that is secondary to the tooth pain but affects my pain levels nonetheless. Perhaps that played a role in determining what to prescribe. I will be able to ask more questions at my follow-up appointment, but I'm mostly just glad that I seem to be having a positive response so far and happy to have some other options to potentially add to the mix down the road. It is so kind of you to share your experiences with me. It has been so helpful and I am very grateful. :)