Treatment Clonidine and blood pressure

[Juicewrldfan]

So I started Clonidine yesterday because I wasn’t sleeping and also had akathesia. It does what it’s supposed to but too well. I took it at 3pm yesterday and never took my second dose because I was out until 430am. I haven’t been sleeping for about two weeks but it got increasingly worse to where I didn’t sleep Thursday and Friday. So I guess I may have needed the sleep but I didn’t feel tired at all before.

I figured it’s my BP too low. I wasn’t going to take it today but I checked with the pharmacist and they said I’m fine. Yet my bp is now 92/44 and I’m due for my second dose. I asked her for a cut off level and she didn’t give me one.

Wouldn’t it be risky to take my second dose? I don’t take it for blood pressure but my BP usually runs 130/80. So 92/44 is really low and that’s just with one dose. I’m nervous to go to sleep even if I skip this dose because I know my bp will drop again.

Thoughts? Thanks ya’ll

 

[AngelsandFairiesarereal]

So I started Clonidine yesterday because I wasn’t sleeping and also had akathesia. It does what it’s supposed to but too well. I took it at 3pm yesterday and never took my second dose because I was out until 430am. I haven’t been sleeping for about two weeks but it got increasingly worse to where I didn’t sleep Thursday and Friday. So I guess I may have needed the sleep but I didn’t feel tired at all before.

I figured it’s my BP too low. I wasn’t going to take it today but I checked with the pharmacist and they said I’m fine. Yet my bp is now 92/44 and I’m due for my second dose. I asked her for a cut off level and she didn’t give me one.

Wouldn’t it be risky to take my second dose? I don’t take it for blood pressure but my BP usually runs 130/80. So 92/44 is really low and that’s just with one dose. I’m nervous to go to sleep even if I skip this dose because I know my bp will drop again.

Thoughts? Thanks ya’ll

Hi juicewrld,
When I was reading this I thought maybe try taking it again tonight & see how you feel tomorrow. Maybe your body just needs to get used to taking it
Either way I hope it helps I understand insomnia for sure

 

[Jabberwocky]

Yet my bp is now 92/44 and I’m due for my second dose.

this must be a false reading dude.... I'm pretty sure you would be dead at 92/44... that's below the blood pressure of a healthy newborn infant at 9oz.

if you are conscious and awake & not dizzy, I doubt your BP is in danger of going too low from too much clonidine

 

[Juicewrldfan]

this must be a false reading dude.... I'm pretty sure you would be dead at 92/44... that's below the blood pressure of a healthy newborn infant at 9oz.

if you are conscious and awake, I doubt your BP is in danger of going too low from too much clonidine

90/60 is the minimum for healthy ranges according to the Mayo Clinic fir my age group (41). My concern is it dropping when I go to sleep again. BP already drops significantly during sleep ime.

I suspect you all are right though about the safety. I’m overthinking it. If I have a pharmacist and people I trust saying the same thing then it’s likely safe and with a drug like Clonidine. Not a high risk med. I must be overthinking.

Edit: what it is too is I ODd on lucemyra years ago and my bp would get too low while sleeping and with epinephrine onboard. It was in the 40s on the bottom when they’d wake me up and say I have to stay awake

So makes me nervous I guess. Then again I’m taking this as prescribed. I took a whole bottle that day so yeah I’m overthinking must be

 

[Jabberwocky]

How are you checking your BP? A lot of those at home devices are inaccurate

 

[Juicewrldfan]

How are you checking your BP? A lot of those at home devices are inaccurate

Yeah a lot are that is true. This one was provided by my old doctor when they moved to virtual only and they told us to keep them when we moved on so maybe they are cheap.

I checked it three times tho and it may have varied 1-3 points each time but that’s it. And I do get the dizzy feeling when standing up but I expected that.

It’s probably fine. Idk tho I might just smoke some weed to see if that will put me to sleep tonight. This Clonidine sedates me. Too much it seems

 

[Jabberwocky]

I love clonidine, I wish I had a permanent script

I prefer being sedated 24/7

 

[AngelsandFairiesarereal]

I love clonidine, I wish I had a permanent script

I prefer being sedated 24/7

Yea clonidine’s one of the good ones

 

[Conky]

this must be a false reading dude.... I'm pretty sure you would be dead at 92/44... that's below the blood pressure of a healthy newborn infant at 9oz.

if you are conscious and awake & not dizzy, I doubt your BP is in danger of going too low from too much clonidine

Actually, 92/44 isn't that bad and certainly isn't dangerous

Last year, when I was eating low calories while in ketosis, my BP dropped to 60/25 one day and I had to go to the ER to get pumped full of saline and norepinephrine. I had severe dizziness with blurred vision and kept fainting. I wasn't even on clonidine or any other BP lowering meds either. I was actually on meth, lol.

 

[Juicewrldfan]

Actually, 92/44 isn't that bad and certainly isn't dangerous

Last year, when I was eating low calories while in ketosis, my BP dropped to 60/25 one day and I had to go to the ER to get pumped full of saline and norepinephrine. I had severe dizziness with blurred vision and kept fainting. I wasn't even on clonidine or any other BP lowering meds either. I was actually on meth, lol.

It’s not bad at that but say you were due for another dose that will drop your blood pressure again and about to go to bed at the same time. How far will your BP drop after you dose and then go to sleep and it drop further and it’s already below minimum.

That’s what my concern was. I’m about to bite the bullet and take it tho I can’t sleep apparently without it x

 

[snmfmy]

So I started Clonidine yesterday because I wasn’t sleeping and also had akathesia. It does what it’s supposed to but too well. I took it at 3pm yesterday and never took my second dose because I was out until 430am. I haven’t been sleeping for about two weeks but it got increasingly worse to where I didn’t sleep Thursday and Friday. So I guess I may have needed the sleep but I didn’t feel tired at all before.

I figured it’s my BP too low. I wasn’t going to take it today but I checked with the pharmacist and they said I’m fine. Yet my bp is now 92/44 and I’m due for my second dose. I asked her for a cut off level and she didn’t give me one.

Wouldn’t it be risky to take my second dose? I don’t take it for blood pressure but my BP usually runs 130/80. So 92/44 is really low and that’s just with one dose. I’m nervous to go to sleep even if I skip this dose because I know my bp will drop again.

Thoughts? Thanks ya’ll

No, don't take it.

And clonidine is not a good idea to get started taking as help for insomnia.

You will get withdrawal from clonidine if you take it regularly and that withdrawal will cause horrible rebound anxiety and rebound blood pressure and rebound insomnia.

Find something else.

Perhaps Librium

 

[OceansState]

I recently got a script for Clonidine to help ease withdrawals. I follow some info i found online about dosing for inpatient detox. It says if BP is above 90/50 and heart rate is over 50 its ok to start Clonidine. I have a home BP monitor I use before taking Clonidine. My BP is around stage 2 levels for the past year, so Clonidine helped lower it. Withdrawaling it was all over the place but the lowest I recorded was 91/59. I was taking the .1 pills, 5 pills max per 24hr.

 

[Antares]

No, don't take it.

And clonidine is not a good idea to get started taking as help for insomnia.

You will get withdrawal from clonidine if you take it regularly and that withdrawal will cause horrible rebound anxiety and rebound blood pressure and rebound insomnia.

Find something else.

Perhaps Librium

Not WILL. COULD. The dose he's on and how long he's been taking it matters a lot for the likelihood of that.

Also why in the WORLD are you recommending he take a benzo over clonidine on this site? Whatever withdrawal you get from Librium is going to be a thousand times worse than what you get from clonidine.

OP, what dose are you on? And your doctor wants you to take it throughout the day even if it's just for sleep, or did I misunderstand something? I take 0.1 mg once at night for sleep (very low dose, I'm guessing yours is slightly higher). I also feel like even at my dose, there is a lingering lowered blood pressure. Maybe you need halve your current dose, or if you are taking it throughout the day, just take it once for the sleep instead. I hope by now you've called your doctor about your concerns.

 

[snmfmy]

Also why in the WORLD are you recommending he take a benzo over clonidine on this site? Whatever withdrawal you get from Librium is going to be a thousand times worse than what you get from clonidine.

Because you are incorrect.

There's almost no librium withdrawal.

Clonidine withdrawal is so bad, intelligent doctors will not prescribe it unless there's no other substitute.

And rebound withdrawal from clonidine can occur after one or two days. It was a doctor who actually clued me in to this when I asked for a little bit to help me sleep after being detoxed from alcohol.

I said they gave it to me in rehab, and he said and you had a horrible boomerang blood pressure and sympathetic nervous system issues didn't you? And I said you know what I did.

Librium, on the other hand, is active at very low doses and almost never causes withdrawal if taken only for a few weeks.

 

[snmfmy]

this must be a false reading dude.... I'm pretty sure you would be dead at 92/44... that's below the blood pressure of a healthy newborn infant at 9oz.

if you are conscious and awake & not dizzy, I doubt your BP is in danger of going too low from too much clonidine

Actually that's what clonidine can do when people take it that don't have high blood pressure.

If your blood pressure is below 110 over 70, you are advised not to take clonidine.

 

[snmfmy]

Not WILL. COULD. The dose he's on and how long he's been taking it matters a lot for the likelihood of that.

Also why in the WORLD are you recommending he take a benzo over clonidine on this site? Whatever withdrawal you get from Librium is going to be a thousand times worse than what you get from clonidine.

OP, what dose are you on? And your doctor wants you to take it throughout the day even if it's just for sleep, or did I misunderstand something? I take 0.1 mg once at night for sleep (very low dose, I'm guessing yours is slightly higher). I also feel like even at my dose, there is a lingering lowered blood pressure. Maybe you need halve your current dose, or if you are taking it throughout the day, just take it once for the sleep instead. I hope by now you've called your doctor about your concerns.

Will get rebound hypertension. It's not a question of could. It's will. The only issue is the degree of rebound hypertension.
"
After sudden cessation of clonidine (900 microgram daily) almost all of the patients showed an excessive increase of the heart rate and blood pressure."

Clonidine withdrawal. Mechanism and frequency of rebound hypertension - PMC

1. The frequency and pathophysiology of the clonidine withdrawal syndrome was studied in fourteen hypertensive patients on chronic clonidine therapy. 2. After sudden cessation of clonidine (900 microgram daily) almost all of the patients showed an ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Doctors have known this is an issue since 1979 when this paper came out. They just haven't had a better option for blood pressure for certain patients until the last decade or so, so they dealt with the adverse effects.

 

[Antares]

Yes, and after how much time did they suddenly decide to go off of the clonidine? It mentions some doses (way higher than the lowest dose clonidine can be effective at), but not length of time (I suspect long term considering they were treating a chronic condition). Again, both of those things are important factors for clonidine withdrawal. Did I not say that?

And no, you're actually wrong about librium. It's a benzo and it's not some type of ~magical~ benzo that doesn't have the capability of causing potentially life-threatening benzo withdrawals. You know, seizures, extreme rebound anxiety/insomnia, all that great stuff. You're telling him he shouldn't trust his medical professionals and instead he should take fucking librium for sleep instead of clonidine because clonidine has withdrawals. Do you not understand what this website is for?

 

[thatmf]

I'm only taking 0.05mg clonidine at the moment but it's helping my anxiety a lot. A little bit of daytime sleepiness but I'm going to consult my dr and probably start taking it a bit earlier (I take it at night). Compared to benzos that I've taken it's actually HELPED the anxiety without any of the withdrawal symptoms that build up quickly with benzos. From my understanding librium is still a benzo. I haven't had a huge drop in blood pressure since the clonidine. Or rebound.

 

[snmfmy]

Yes, and after how much time did they suddenly decide to go off of the clonidine? It mentions some doses (way higher than the lowest dose clonidine can be effective at), but not length of time (I suspect long term considering they were treating a chronic condition). Again, both of those things are important factors for clonidine withdrawal. Did I not say that?

And no, you're actually wrong about librium. It's a benzo and it's not some type of ~magical~ benzo that doesn't have the capability of causing potentially life-threatening benzo withdrawals. You know, seizures, extreme rebound anxiety/insomnia, all that great stuff. You're telling him he shouldn't trust his medical professionals and instead he should take fucking librium for sleep instead of clonidine because clonidine has withdrawals. Do you not understand what this website is for?

I've actually been on both medications.

Librium is actually the least potent or second to least potent commonly prescribed benzodiazepine. It's about half the potency of diazepam with the same 200 hour half life. It's not Xanax, it's not midazolam, it's not Ativan it's not diclazepam, it's not bromazepam or any of those.

And yes, it pretty much is a magical benzo that doesn't really cause dangerous withdrawal syndrome. Because of such a long half life. If it's used as prescribed and not abused, you don't even get withdrawal.

I got withdrawal from Xanax, I got withdrawal from clonazepam, I got a mild withdrawal from diazepam because I was on 45 mg a day.

I've never had a smidgen of withdrawal from Librium and this is with doses of 300 plus milligrams a day tapering down to 25 over 2 weeks on the back end of a alcohol detoxification. Or even 6 weeks starting at 150 mg a day and tapering at 25 mg a week for post-acute withdrawal insomnia.

If you don't abuse chlordiazepoxide and take it as prescribed for short term sleep, induction and maintenance, you don't get withdrawal.

Low dose Librium is better for sleep than clonidine.

Amitriptyline is better for sleep than clonidine.

Diphenhydramine and hydroxyzine are better for sleep than clonidine.

 

[snmfmy]

I'm only taking 0.05mg clonidine at the moment but it's helping my anxiety a lot. A little bit of daytime sleepiness but I'm going to consult my dr and probably start taking it a bit earlier (I take it at night). Compared to benzos that I've taken it's actually HELPED the anxiety without any of the withdrawal symptoms that build up quickly with benzos. From my understanding librium is still a benzo. I haven't had a huge drop in blood pressure since the clonidine. Or rebound.

Have you ever had Librium? Most people haven't because it's so mild with such a long half life.

Funny how it's the go-to medication PERIOD for ACUTE and post alcohol detoxification anxiety and insomnia management.