I am in no way an expert in this field but am wondering if anyone knows if the latest studies by Marcie and Marc Zinn, in which they show do quantitative EEG's to show that the brain waves in ME/CFS patients, specifically delta waves, are increased during waking hours and are directly related to brain fog and cognitive fatigue, are impacted negatively by taking clonapin. Apparently clonapin reduces delta sleep which the Zinn's have found people with ME/CFS already don't get enough of and are then making up for it during the day. It is this delta wave activity during waking hours, instead of when you are sleeping, that makes one feels cognitively like a zombie.
From Wikipedia: Certain substances, such as benzodiazepines (e.g. Ativan, Valium, Klonopin) seem to have the reverse effect on the time spent in SWS ( short wave sleep) .Instead of lengthening SWS , they are known to shorten the time. While these sedatives can increase sleep duration or shorten the time it takes before sleep-onset occurs, they tend to deprive patients of deep sleep.Slow-wave sleep (SWS), often referred to as deep sleep, consists of stage 3 and 4 of non-rapid eye movement sleep, according to the Rechtschaffen & Kales (R & K) standard of 1968.As of 2008, the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) has discontinued the use of stage 4, such that the previous stages 3 and 4 now are combined as stage 3. An epoch (30 seconds of sleep) which consists of 20% or more slow wave (delta) sleep, now is considered to be stage 3.Sleep deprivation studies with humans suggest that the primary function of slow-wave sleep may be to allow the brain to recover from its daily activities. Glucose metabolism in the brain increases as a result of tasks that demand mental activity. Other functions slow-wave sleep can affect include the secretion of growth hormone. It is always greatest during this stage. It is also thought to be responsible for a decrease in sympathetic and increase in parasympathetic neural activity.
The two studies below, by the Zinn's, were presented at the IACFS/ME Conference on San Francisco in March, and were one of the highlights of the 4 day event.
EEG Peak Alpha Frequency is Associated with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: A Case-Control Observational Study
Marcie Zinn, Ph.D., Mark Zinn, MM, Jose Maldonado, MD, FAPM, Jane Norris, PA-C, Ian Valencia, BS
Cortical Hypoactivation During Resting EEG suggests Subcortical Pathophysiology in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome as Revealed by Exact Low Resolution Electromagnetic Tomography
Mark A Zinn 1§, Marcie L Zinn1, Jose R Maldonado2, Jane L Norris1, Ian Valencia1, Jose G Montoya1,3
1Department of Infectious Diseases and Geographic Medicine, Stanford University Medical Center, Palo Alto, CA, USA 2Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA 3Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, US.
Read Searcher's Report about it here: http://phoenixrising.me/archives/24553
I am particularly interested in this since I was prescribed Clonapin a year ago, by a neurologist, because I was not only having insomnia but also waking up with a migraine almost daily. He felt that I wasn't get enough sleep, a typical ME/CFS problem. For the first 3 months I felt great. I was falling asleep instantly and having solid, heavy, 8 hour sleeps every night ( still had migraines however). Then I started to go downhill and have worsening brain fog, cognitive fatigue and overall decrease in activity levels. I didn't really attribute this to the clonapin until after I went to San Francisco and heard the Zinn's talk. Once home, I happened to come across an article about how clonapin works and when I saw that it reduces delta wave sleep I realized that this was a big problem. I have slowly decreased and have now been off it for a week and I feel so much better. I can't believe how "drugged up" I was and how much of the fatigue, brain fog and just plain coma-like feeling I have been in for the past year were due to this drug. I basically had a sleeping pill "hangover" every day for the past year and was assuming it was because my ME/CFS was getting worse.
After searching on the net for similar experiences I now am finding many horror studies about sleeping pills. I know they work for some people but perhaps this kind, in the benzodiazepine class, is not good for us, after all.
From Wikipedia: Certain substances, such as benzodiazepines (e.g. Ativan, Valium, Klonopin) seem to have the reverse effect on the time spent in SWS ( short wave sleep) .Instead of lengthening SWS , they are known to shorten the time. While these sedatives can increase sleep duration or shorten the time it takes before sleep-onset occurs, they tend to deprive patients of deep sleep.Slow-wave sleep (SWS), often referred to as deep sleep, consists of stage 3 and 4 of non-rapid eye movement sleep, according to the Rechtschaffen & Kales (R & K) standard of 1968.As of 2008, the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) has discontinued the use of stage 4, such that the previous stages 3 and 4 now are combined as stage 3. An epoch (30 seconds of sleep) which consists of 20% or more slow wave (delta) sleep, now is considered to be stage 3.Sleep deprivation studies with humans suggest that the primary function of slow-wave sleep may be to allow the brain to recover from its daily activities. Glucose metabolism in the brain increases as a result of tasks that demand mental activity. Other functions slow-wave sleep can affect include the secretion of growth hormone. It is always greatest during this stage. It is also thought to be responsible for a decrease in sympathetic and increase in parasympathetic neural activity.
The two studies below, by the Zinn's, were presented at the IACFS/ME Conference on San Francisco in March, and were one of the highlights of the 4 day event.
EEG Peak Alpha Frequency is Associated with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: A Case-Control Observational Study
Marcie Zinn, Ph.D., Mark Zinn, MM, Jose Maldonado, MD, FAPM, Jane Norris, PA-C, Ian Valencia, BS
Cortical Hypoactivation During Resting EEG suggests Subcortical Pathophysiology in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome as Revealed by Exact Low Resolution Electromagnetic Tomography
Mark A Zinn 1§, Marcie L Zinn1, Jose R Maldonado2, Jane L Norris1, Ian Valencia1, Jose G Montoya1,3
1Department of Infectious Diseases and Geographic Medicine, Stanford University Medical Center, Palo Alto, CA, USA 2Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA 3Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, US.
Read Searcher's Report about it here: http://phoenixrising.me/archives/24553
I am particularly interested in this since I was prescribed Clonapin a year ago, by a neurologist, because I was not only having insomnia but also waking up with a migraine almost daily. He felt that I wasn't get enough sleep, a typical ME/CFS problem. For the first 3 months I felt great. I was falling asleep instantly and having solid, heavy, 8 hour sleeps every night ( still had migraines however). Then I started to go downhill and have worsening brain fog, cognitive fatigue and overall decrease in activity levels. I didn't really attribute this to the clonapin until after I went to San Francisco and heard the Zinn's talk. Once home, I happened to come across an article about how clonapin works and when I saw that it reduces delta wave sleep I realized that this was a big problem. I have slowly decreased and have now been off it for a week and I feel so much better. I can't believe how "drugged up" I was and how much of the fatigue, brain fog and just plain coma-like feeling I have been in for the past year were due to this drug. I basically had a sleeping pill "hangover" every day for the past year and was assuming it was because my ME/CFS was getting worse.
After searching on the net for similar experiences I now am finding many horror studies about sleeping pills. I know they work for some people but perhaps this kind, in the benzodiazepine class, is not good for us, after all.
