Member Comments are provided by individuals and reflect their personal opinions only. Under NO circumstances should you act on any advice or opinion posted in this forum.  ALWAYS check with your personal physician before taking any action regarding your health! MedHelp International and our partners, sponsors and affiliates have no obligation to monitor any comments posted on this site, or the content and/or accuracy of such exchanges. MedHelp International does not endorse the views of any user.
 | 

Sleep jerks

by Markwain, Jan 28, 2008 08:07AM
About three months ago I started jerking violently in my sleep throughout the night - all muscle groups were affected from toes to eyes.  I also get small twitching feelings and discomfort in my legs in the evening and suppose I have restless leg syndrome.  I've been on clonazepam (Klonopin) 0.5-0.75mg per night for two months and this has reduced the jerking although I still get woken by particularly big spasms.  I have two questions.  Firstly, I was using benadryl (called Nytol in the UK) as a sleep aid just before the jerking began and I wondered if the jerks could be a side effect of this drug?  Secondly, the clonazepam leaves me feeling drowsy during the day and I have also been depressed which may be caused by the clonazepam.  Does anyone have any experience of any other alternatives to clonazepam such as valproate?  Thank you so much for any help you may be able to give.
Member Comments (1)

by Abhijeet Deshmukh, MD, Jan 30, 2008 08:04AM
To: Markwain
Hello.

To start with clonazepam alternative, valproate is not used as a sleep inducing or anti-anxiety agent. It is an anti-convulsant drug.

Clonazepam does not lead to depression. Please consider the possibility of an independent depressive disorder. In depression, the sleep architecture, in terms of the REM and NREM phases, is disturbed, many times manifested by jerks.

It seems you had problems sleeping. This is an integral part of depression. Please observe for more symptoms of depression, like sadness of mood for most part of the day, feeling tired easily,  loss of appetite for food, not feeling like going out much, not socializing much, etc.

Please keep me posted.

Regards
Post Comment
To
Comment
Post Comment
Recent Activity
Jules77733 is still sick and is slowly being covered by a rash of ...
Blood Pressure Tracker: Stupid BP
1 hr ago by Me967
Dante7 is ... in pain.
choo_choo commented on Stupid midterm stress...
2 hrs ago
Lisa33167 commented on Worth considering
8 hrs ago
jude2008 added the Pain Tracker
9 hrs ago
Me967 commented on Where do I start?
9 hrs ago
boaz1 Brother passed away from complications of his ESRD and CHF
RSS Expert Activity
H1N1 and Our Pets
Nov 05 by Thomas Dock, Vet. Technician
In the ER: A Unicorn's Journey
Nov 03 by Jon Geller, D.V.M.
Doctors Resign Over Coca-Cola Fundi...
Nov 03 by Adam Tanase, D.C.
Community Members