Thanks for the links – I will check them out for sure. I am concerned about Clonazapem and its addictive properties, as you have noted. Currently -and for nearly a year - I only take 1MG a day...Not 2. Just one 0.5 in the afternoon & one 0.5 at bedtime. -- Compared to the 3 MG a day I used to take four years ago – I’m well on my way off of them. I did extensive research on Clonazapam and had several serious talks with 2 psychiatrists and 2 neurologists about it. I was prescribed and already on Clonazapam long before I got PN for around 4 years. This was originally for a chemical imbalance in my brain and for anxiety. In that time, I went off of them for months – then went back on them at a much lower dose.

I was actually off of them for a while, even when the PN was bad, but I couldn’t handle the stress of being in pain – plus the last time, I went off of them too fast as well. Clonazapam is prescribed as a pain management drug by the Center for PN in Chicago and others – it’s the most weak and less dangerous one compared to Elavil, Neurotin and Cymbalta. In fact, Clonazapam is prescribed to deal with anxiety but not to stop the pain itself. However, my doctors believe that it does help relieve pain, by calming down rampant electrical signal/activity in the brain, and thus causing a lessening of pain. Everybody’s system is different, but this seems to work for me.

It is my goal to be off of not only Clonazapam in the future, but also ALL medications of any kind. If I were not plagued by PN pain, I would already be off of them.

In fact, I have an ordered plan with my doctors when this occurs. At the point when this PN fades or goes away – they will put me on Melatonin therapy to slowly wean me off of the drug. They use Melatonin for this very same reason – much so in elderly communities. According to my doctors, this should take no more than a few months at best.

In my own personal experience, I went cold turkey on it once and was affected badly with withdrawal systems, but I did get over it. Indeed, withdrawal has a lot of symptoms similar to some PN – but I have to say NOT the nerve pains – just the jitters, anxiety, tremors, and psychological effects.

I went back on it on advice from my Neurologist, who said that taking nothing for PN pains would only push me over into the mental breakdown zone. Though prescribed to me at times for PN: I refuse to take Neurotonin/Gabapentin, or Cymbalta. According to specialists, they are far worse than taking Clonazapam, because they can cause permanent damage to your nerves – the very same affliction that PN horribly causes in the first place.

Basically, I won’t take that risk. …And frankly I can’t, since the Clonazapam I take already has some effect on my GABBA in my brain – and adding another medication that would affect the same region simply isn’t wise.

Also, Clonazapam withdrawal is NOT permanent – just really uncomfortable. The concern with Clonazapam is the potential for addiction to the drug – but even this addiction is not permanent.

I am feeling a bit better every day so far - thank God. I truly hope I get to the point soon where I can get off all drugs. I'm certainly not an advocate for Clonazepam or any other drugs for that matter. As it is, the Clonazepam is the ONLY drug I’m on now and compared to others in my mental health group, the 1 MG dose per day is a pretty small dosage compared to the other strong meds they are taking and at such higher daily rates. Still, I look forward to the day, when the only pills I take are carefully chosen vitamins.

...besides the Clonazepam issue here -what did you think about avoiding the B6?

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