Using Clonazepam for Pain for arthritis (tmj) moving in neck and and shoulders

[Thome]

I have been taking tramadol, lortab, and flexeril for arthritis for tmj for a injury I recieved form getting hit by a car when I was younger. I also suffer from from chrons and migraine's and take topamax and asacol and robinul and reglan. My doctor started me on clonazepam for 3 weeks to give my liver a rest form the lortab, but I already have been getting some side effects that scare me like moody ness, feely depressed and not feeling right. My pain is getting worse since I stopped taking the lortab ( which I only took 1 tablet(s) 3 times a day.

I know I should give the clonazepam a chance but I work in a pharmacy and already I don't like the way I'm feeling. My chrons is acting up today and I don't know if the new medicine is what is making me get stomach cramps more and going to the bathroom more. But already the pain in my jaw and shoulders is bad and I'm trying to ride it out. I don't abuse my medicine because working in a pharmacy I know how drugs can harm your body if you mix your drugs too much. my nuero a month a ago put me on soma twice a day to ease the cramping in my shoulders and between my nuero and my gastro they are checking for rhemerthoid because of the swelling I've been getting in my joints in my right shoulder and in my hips.

I have lost 30 pounds in 6 months and only weight 100 pounds and right now I worry with the feelings I've been getting with the clonazepam over the last 3 days. Is it normal to get chest pains also with the drug? I feel like a 65 year old lady in a 44 year old body. When I saw my gastro 2 weeks ago, I was told i need to gain weight or I could die because my body fat has dropped down to 11 percent and my heart can only support my body so long. I take ensure plus to supplement my diet because I have trouble eating but with the pain sometimes I can't eat because the pain is so intense. Should I be concerned on the clonazepam?

[Roger Gould, M.D.]

Klonopin is used for anxiety and tends to cause a depressed or slowed down mood, some fuzzy headedness, and a feeling of being disconnected or not caring.  Those are the symptoms you described so I would think they are a direct result of the klonopin, and if so, it sounds like you should ask your doctor about getting off of it...

[goldiealg]

I was prescribed Klonipin for four years for depression and anxiety and I can tell you that what the doctor described here is the absolute truth.  I started weaning off the Klonipin in August and I can tell you that I feel much happier, clear headed and now care about life again. My point is that I also have TMJ and it was not helped at all in the four years of taking Klonipin.  I ground my teeth so hard at night that I broke a dental implant (the screw broke in half and I had to have it surgically removed).  This is while I was taking Klonipin.  What is your doctor thinking?  A very good non pharmecuetical intervention may be a dental guard.  My dentist made one for me that I can sleep with and guess what?  No more jaw pain, no more headaches...Might be worth trying, but pay to get the dentist to make it for you...the ones you buy in the drug store are horrible

[The student]

I'm surprised that you doctor would prescribe clonazapam for pain. I take it because of tremors caused by multiple sclerosis and I take as little as I can get away with because I really hate that yucky feeling.  It sounds though like your taking a lot of medication, are there alternative therapies that you could look into for your kneck?  It seems to me that all those meds would bring anyone down. Not dismissing the way pain brings you down.  Just a thought.