Can Alprazolam And Clonazepam Be Taken Together?

Posted on Tue, 8 Jul 2014

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Tue, 8 Jul 2014 Answered on

Wed, 30 Jul 2014 Last reviewed on

Question : I have Parkinson's disease and had been experiencing nightmares. My neurologist prescribed clonazepam, 1 and a half .5 MG at night, and this has been fairly effective in stopping the nightmares for about 4 weeks. Tonight however, I had only 1 pill left to take (before picking up my refill tomorrow) and am finding after 90 minutes or so of sleep, I am awakened by dreams and feeling anxious about going back to sleep. I do have Alprazolam tablets, .5MG, available but I think I was told not to mix the two drugs at night. Could I safely take one of the Alprazolam tabs now since it seems the 1 clonazepam is not enough to help me sleep without horrible dreams?

Answered by Dr. Abhishek Kapoor (21 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
Take clonazepam 2mg

Detailed Answer:
Hi
Thanks for using healthcare magic. I, Dr Abhishek Kapoor, would help you in this query.

Alprazolam and clonazepam both are benzodiazepine and acts on benzodiazepine receptor. If you use two drug together, then one drug would not able to show its effect. In that case, you should use only one drug and there is no need to mix them. Better to increase the dose of clonazepam up to 2mg at night rather than adding alprazolam with it.

In case, you need further help, you can ask.

Regards
Dr. Abhishek Kapoor
Psychiatrist

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar