Joe,

Some notes from a repeat offender in the sleep trenches.

Xanax is a short-acting benzodiazepine compared to Clonopin which has a much longer half-life...something to discuss with your doctor.

Ambien and/or Lunesta in combination with a benzo can create a kind of feedback loop in the brain and cancel each other out; something my last doctor warned me about. Ambien kept me out of deep wave sleep and in a weird REM state, or just plain sleepless.

I still take my clonopin daily in divided doses...I've added some OTC stuff in between such as standardised green tea extract (good for those stiff muscles!), and kicked up my fish oil and vitamin D. Had success with low dose of melatonin for a while.

Methylcobalamin form of B-12 is a must for me. I'm deficient (not uncommon for head trauma survivors) and I do best taking it around noon 1/2 hour before food.

Coffee makes me sleepy some days. I've gotten to the point after all these years where I have a good sense of what kind of day I have going on and what supplement or food to raise or lower.

I looked at having a sleep study in an accredited lab, and most of the true sleep specialists want me washed out of all meds for a period of weeks. Not an option for me.

Hope this helps,

Jeff