Afraid To Take Clonidine?

Hi all.
 

I must first say that my blood pressure values are and most of the time had been on within normal range (before ever taking clonidine or other meds). im started taking clonidine as an attempt to reduce the palpitations and the sensation of "no air", which mostly occurs within mornings just before waking up.

I started to take clonidine lately. 

I started from a very low dose:

0.025 (took it 2 days) - no effect.

then took 0.05 (also for 2 days) - no effect

during these times I checked my blood pressure 2 - 5 hours after taking the medication (at plasma concetration peak times) and my blood pressure seems to be at normal values.

now the thing is that I've been having heart palpitations and stuff for years and I guess I developed this awareness with my heart rythm and\or the way each beat "feels".

so - even if i took clonidine at the morning, when im going to sleep I become aware to the way my heart beats. when I can't feel my beats I get afraid that my heart is working to slow\weak and that it will stop. I know it make no sense because my blood pressure did not change at 2 - 5 hours after taking the drug. but what can i do, its my brain  

-did anyone in here had this sense of fear? ill be glad to know how he\she reacted.

-and, is it OK to take clonidine, even though my blood bressure is within normal range?

Thanks

I had the same history when I started clonidine but it was a relief to me NOT to be able to feel my heart pound through y chest. As long as your bp is OK you shouldn't have a problem. The very lowest bp is when you wake up in the morning before you even get out of bed. You might put you bp cuff next to the bed for tomorrow morning and check it then,

Yes, it is OK. That is why the slow start up. This gives your heart a chance to adapt to the new med. I did the same slow start up and my bp stayed within normal range. Just keep monitoring your bp and you should be OK.

By the way the standard dose for clonidine is 0.1 mg once a day or 0.05 mg twice a day. Once you get to that level you should see improvement within 25 hours typically.

Same experience for me as FH ... clonidine worked wonders for me ... I started even lower than the 0.1 minimum dose -- 0.05 (by splitting the pill in half) .. and gradually worked up ... at the worst of the anxiety and "heart pounding out of the chest" sensations, I was taking the maximum dose of 0.2 mg twice a day ... 

Then, after about a year off the crapalta, I was able to dose down on the clonidine ... I've been off it for about 6 mos now, but still have it handy "just in case" ... have needed to take it again (lowest dose) a couple of times ... and it did the trick ...

Far better (for me at least) than the benzos ever were ... and, no addiction / tolerance ...

thanks alot guys.

i will try to continue with it today.

i mostly afraid that my heart will stop during sleep (or that i will have a sudden huge bp drop). i know it is related only to my anxiety, but still...

was thinking to purchase that continuous bp pressure monitor but:

1. it is expensive (2000 dollars)

2. im afraid that my anxiery will only get worse when ill have the bp and heart rate data from each night.

i mean i havnt heard of anyone who is purchasing this kind of device for personal use. usually dr's give it when needed.

so i don't know if its "healthy" to buy such a device.

i mean on the one hand i do want to have it so i would be able to have a look of how my bp\heart rate is each night (having years of insomnia and lack of good night sleep because of that over reaction of sympathetic system) but from another hand my bp values are all within range when i check and i might just get more anxious having no dr around but only me to analyze the data.

arrrrr...going crazy

Go easy on yourself, Zivcha .... be at peace... a $2,000 bp monitor is a bit excessive ... actually, obsessive ... worry .... I'm saying that because I, too, have gotten into that mode at times .... had a spell of it during the worst of my withdrawal ...

What helped me the most with this was yoga ...the breathing exercises ... once learned, they can be done anywhere, anytime .... the release of the built up anxiety in my body was tremendous ... and with that, my irrational fear about this evaporated ...

Perhaps this would help you? If you cant take a class, there are some great youtube vids of how to do the breathing exercises ...

Zivcha

I think they have constant pulse monitors cheaper than that and they have an alarm setting too.

How are you doing / feeling today, Zivcha?

Hey FN,

thank you for asking.

not that good actually. i slept like s**t. couldnt relax. tense muscles, the usuals i guess...

but im taking it slowly. hope to see some improvement soon.

God bless.

and as for the Yoga - thank you for the offer. ill see if it works for me.

sport is something that really helps. yesterday was my first day at the gym. it felt good

Bravo on the gym ! 

Sleeping like sh*t is par for the course ... 

And the yoga might (would likely) help with both the tense muscles and the sleep ... the gentle stretching, combined with the focus on breathing, really releases tension and stress ...

You're doing great Zivcha, just hang in there ... time is the real healer in this whole process ....

thank you very much FN for all the support.