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Suggest Treatment For Bipolar Disorder And Anxiety

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Posted on Wed, 11 Feb 2015
Question: I have bipolar disorder and anxiety problems I take 3 milligrams of klonopin nightly along with 400mg of trazadone. I also have sleep apnea and I use a CPAP machine. I am an insulin dependent diabetic. Recently I have been experiencing difficulty breathing when I lay down to sleep it feels like I have taken too much medicine but I have been on this dosage for several years. Do you have any suggestions. I have spoken to the psychiatrist about this but he did not seem concerned
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Answered by Dr. Dr. Chintan Solanki (3 hours later)
Brief Answer:
Two possibilities, either medicines or sleep apnea worsening

Detailed Answer:
Hello XXXXXXX

Thanks for writing to us.

3 mg klonopin is high dose of benzodiazepine. It is used for sleep disturbance in such dose.
Trazodone in 400mg also cause quite sedation.
Klonopin itself can worsen sleep apnea if someone is already suffering.
Trazodone alters sleep pattern as well as cardiac system and by these can affect respiratory system.

Considering all above factors these medicines can worsen your sleep apnea and cause breathlessness while you go to sleep.

However based on your description, I assume you were stable on these medicines since several years and problem started suddenly. This suggest your sleep apnea itself worsened probaby due to some other factor. In such circumstance, the next step of action will be to undergo cardiac and respiratory check up to rule out other cause.

If everything in check up regarding to sleep apnea come normal, ask your psychiatrist to reduce your dose gradually up to the level which does not cause breathlessness.

Hope I have answered your query, I will be happy to help further,

Regards,
Dr.Chintan Solanki.
Note: For further guidance on mental health, Click here.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Prasad
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Answered by
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Dr. Dr. Chintan Solanki

Psychiatrist

Practicing since :2007

Answered : 2407 Questions

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Suggest Treatment For Bipolar Disorder And Anxiety

Brief Answer: Two possibilities, either medicines or sleep apnea worsening Detailed Answer: Hello XXXXXXX Thanks for writing to us. 3 mg klonopin is high dose of benzodiazepine. It is used for sleep disturbance in such dose. Trazodone in 400mg also cause quite sedation. Klonopin itself can worsen sleep apnea if someone is already suffering. Trazodone alters sleep pattern as well as cardiac system and by these can affect respiratory system. Considering all above factors these medicines can worsen your sleep apnea and cause breathlessness while you go to sleep. However based on your description, I assume you were stable on these medicines since several years and problem started suddenly. This suggest your sleep apnea itself worsened probaby due to some other factor. In such circumstance, the next step of action will be to undergo cardiac and respiratory check up to rule out other cause. If everything in check up regarding to sleep apnea come normal, ask your psychiatrist to reduce your dose gradually up to the level which does not cause breathlessness. Hope I have answered your query, I will be happy to help further, Regards, Dr.Chintan Solanki.