Does Clonazepam help for MAV?

It has been a godsend for me. I was started on Klonopin back in March. It has decreased the intensity of my migraines immensely. My vertigo is very infrequent. When it does happen it is gone in a flash. The ground rushes up for less than a second and then it is over. I have stopped recording them in my migraine journal because they are so minor they don’t seem worth mentioning. I hope you get the same relief as many others.

I am on a very small dose of .125 twice a day.

I have been taking Clonazepam for a long time (5 years): .5 mg three times a day. It has helped me a LOT with my vestibular symptoms- not my migraines. Unfortunately, however I have noticed in the past few months that I have been getting dizzier again. :frowning: Dr Hain does not want to increase my dose, so I guess I will have to live with this-or find another answer for the dizziness.

Claudia

I take it when needed, and actually I take it almost every afternoon 0.25. It helps me allot. But what concerns me is, if the vestibular system is not recovering because I take it. Does anyone know about that?

I just visited a neurotolgoist today after having seen an ENT, my PCP, and a neurologist. The neurologist diagnosed me with MAV, but I wanted to get a second opinion by visiting the neurotologist who has a good reputation in my area. Anyway, the neurologist prescribed nortriptyline at 10 mg for the first week and then 20 mg for 2nd week and then up to 30 mg. In the meantime, my PCP had prescribed me xanax(.5 mg 2x a time) to help as well. At this point, there has been improvement(before just taking the xanax did not seem to do the job but maybe the combo of the 2 is working). The thing is that when I visited the neurotologist, he suggested not going up on the nortriptyline and also suggested switching from xanax to clonazepam instead at a lower dosage. He suggested taking it at night; I guess it stays longer in your system than the xanax. Anyway, at this point, I am tired on the xanax and a little nervous about going up on the nortriptyline, but I really am not sure what is the best route to take. I would appreciate any suggestions from those who have tried both xanax and clonazepam and anyone who has taken nortriptyline. Thanks! :smiley:

I would suggest not going up on the nortriptyline to soon. Im at 10mg and although im not at a 100% Im doing much better.
Stay on 10mg for at least 4 weeks to see if that does will help. If there is NO sign of it helping, then maybe go up at 3 weeks.
But 1-2 weeks I think is to soon. I found a doctor that actually said to go slower and didn’t recommend upping it so fast. Many
reasons why, but I wont get into that. :smiley:

Thanks for your reply. Would going up on it cause a lot of side effects? I have been feeling better, but oddly, the past 2 days not as good as I had been previously. How long did it take to feel improvement? I want to get to the point where I do not need to take the xanax anymore and the dizziness/vertigo is just gone, but I am not there yet. The other thing is that I have been on zoloft, and my dosage is being reduced since going on the nortriptyline(so that may be why he wants to increase the dosage) so that I am still getting some of the anti depressant benefits of the nortriptyline as well. Did you take a benzo drug with the nortriptyline as well? Thanks.

I was just rx’d xanax and valium. I only take it when I really need it.

I saw improvement in the first couple of weeks. It helped my dizziness. Going up on the nortriptyline
can cause more side effects, but if your doing pretty good now, then they maybe minimal. Maybe
a little extra dizziness, constipation, dry mouth. That SHOULD go away in the first week. I type in caps
because everyone is different. if you get extra dizziness, just take your xanax and dont get upset about it.
Remain calm and just know its normal and should go away.
If the dizziness doesn’t go away, you can go back down to your starting point for a couple weeks and then
go up slower. Some have gotten liquid nortriptyline and have gone up 2mg at a time.

Just remember, nortriptyline is a great drug that you can combine with a few other things. hang in there.
Kayera.

Wanted to thank you for your reply. I have contacted 2 of my doctors to get suggestions. i am supposed to go up again on the nortriptyline tonight and wondering if that is the best thing to do because today I was actually feeling dizziness even after having taken the xanax(and that had not happened since I have been on the nortriptyline). As I mentioned, the neurotologist recommended just staying at 10 mg…why do they all have different recommendations? Anyway, I will see what they say. Thanks for your help!

Lauren it has been awhile since you have actually posted back on here wondering how it is going and what you decided to do. I’m in your same boat (that’s always rocking) and it is 24/7 for me too my spells of vertigo have come and gone mostly lasting about 4-5 weeks then recently towards the end of May I got it again and here we are almost into October and I still have it. I was diagnosed with MAV around early July and have been on .25 Clonazepam each morning since. I feel better than I did but still not 100% maybe between 65-75% of how normal I used to feel before all this started. I have had a few days that I felt around 90-95 and those were wonderful days. I’m jut wondering what you ultimately decided to do or what you are trying now. I have yet to begin a migraine preventative and I keep hearing conflicting information that the Clonazepam is not letting my vestibular system heal do until I stop this medicine will it actually work its way out of my system completely. Or that it is helping my vestibular system calm down so my body can fix what is going on and then when I feel like my old self I can come off this medicine. Any new update would be nice!!