re:methodone answer.

[reno346]

My dr. prescribed me xanax & neurotin. What is the difference between xanax & clondipine? Also I am waking up with these horrible headaches. I am thinking it is either the xanax or neuroyin, which I am only taking for sleep asistance. I will never go back on pain meds again, nor will I go on suboxen. I have read that suboxen is just as hard to get off of then methodone or any opiate, so that is not an option for me. I do not want to stay on these other meds for very long either, because I don't want to trade one addiction for another, I just need assistance to sleep at night until I can do it on my own.

[J T Junig, MD PhD]

You read the wrong things about Suboxone-- I encourage you to make that decision after reading the literature, not anecdotes.  I could list a dozen examples of 'sure things' in medicine-- things that were sure, anyway, until blinded tests showed them false.  One big example?  Sugar and hyperactivity in children.  A series of large clinical trials have put that issue to rest-- sugar given to preschoolers does not cause hyperactive behavior when measured by people who didn't know who-got-what.  But the mothers were different-- if they THOUGHT their kid got sugar, she rated him as 'more hyperactive'-- even if in fact he got a sugar-free placebo.  The reverse was true as well.  Anecdotes are interesting reading, but they are worthless for drawing conclusions.

Xanax (alprazolam) and Klonopin (clonazepam) act at the exact same receptor, and have identical actions in the body and brain.  The differences are in half-life and in speed of uptake.   Xanax comes on fast and wears off in 3-5 hours-- so people 'feel' it.  Clonazepam comes on over 1-2 hours, and half is still active in the body after 24 hours!  So clonazepam 'stacks up' in the body over time.  Xanax is more addictive, because it is 'felt'-- and that is what us addicts like.

[reno346]

Thank you for your assistance. I just went to my regular MD, & asked her to keep me on my xanax, because it had helped me to lower my methodone doses when I was taperring. I had heard from a friend that neurotin was really helpful for the restless leg syndrome, so I asked for that, which has been very helpful. I wish she would have been better at advising me as far as the xanax goes, & put me on the clonidine instead, but I am only using my xanax to help me sleep, I am not taking it anymore during the day, because I don't want to become dependant on it. I hope after a few more weeks & more exercise I will be able to fall asleep naturally. Do you think that this late in the game, which again has been just over 3wks. off methodone, I would still benefit from the clonidine? I heard that it was only good in the first week or so?