My experiences with Klonopin (1 mg every day)

[soManyProblems]

About 6 months ago, my anxiety was really bad. I had two bad panic attacks two days in a row, which was unusual. My agoraphobia was so severe that I didn't plan to go to work or even buy groceries in the foreseeable future. I knew I needed to do those things eventually, but I was living in this awful panicked state where it was hard to imagine how I would ever go to work or the grocery store again.

I called my psychiatrist on the phone, and he gave me permission to start using Klonopin (clonazepam) on a chronic and continuous basis. I already had a bottle which I was using as needed. He told me to take 0.5 mg when I woke up and 0.5 mg 8 hours later, for a total of 1 mg per day of Klonopin.

For the first 6 weeks, it was like utopia. My anxiety was down 90%, my nausea was down 90%. My acne even got significantly better. I gained weight, I caught up with responsibilities at my job. I cleaned my bedroom. I took two trips out of state (only about 110 miles), but they were the least terrifying trips I had taken in my whole life. I have always hated traveling, I even hated field trips in elementary school.

Then after 6 weeks, I had my first panic attack on Klonopin, and it was a bad one. That immediately eroded my confidence and abolished some of the placebo effect.

Now I have been on 1 mg per day of Klonopin for the past 6 months, and I think it is still helping, but I am honestly not sure. I have definitely gained some tolerance.

My psychiatrist (the one who writes my prescriptions) is very opposed to giving me a higher dose of Klonopin, but a number of psychiatrists whom I know socially say that I clearly respond very well to Klonopin, and it is time to up the dose to combat tolerance. Klonopin tolerance is not infinite, it does not grow without bound. They say that maybe I would be stable and happy on 2 mg per day.

I have very mixed feelings. My sister is an oncologist, and she is strongly against the idea of me using more Klonopin. I feel like if I take more than 1 mg per day, I will probably be stuck on it for the rest of my life. But I have certainly had anxiety for my whole life, and I really don't foresee it going away ever.

Is anyone else on chronic and continuous benzodiazepines? What drug and what dose? How do you feel about it?

[djfreon]

Hi. I have been on 3mg of kpin as needed for about two years now. I take 1mg everyday and 2 as needed for panic attacks. You have to not only take it, you have to believe in it. Manage it through different methods like meditation and breathing exercise. But the kpin will calm your nerves.I do believe that 2 more milligrams as needed would give you more piece of mind even if you don't take it, as I have done.

[soManyProblems]

My psychiatrist used to prescribe 0.5 mg as needed, but once I started using Klonopin every day (6 months ago) he strongly urged me to very, very rarely exceed my routine dose. I would definitely like the freedom to take extra rescue doses for above-average anxiety and panic. As it is, I am only allowed to take extra during rare and severe emergencies.

[guyleecocoa]

I have been off and on ativan for 3 years now...was off 6 months ago but back on now for the past 6. I take 3 mg per day. 1 mg in the am and 2 at night. My Dr just switched me to Klonopin .5 every 8 hours. Im tired but the night time anxiety is awful again. So after asking him about the dose he said he was out of the office foto the e.r. omg they put me back on the ativan and now Im out of it til tomorrow when I see my Dr again. Im horribly anxious...should I take a Klonopin to to relax even if it just helps a little??

[Dahila]

yes, it will help on top of ativan. Calm down you get the meds tomorrow. I am on klonopin aka clonazepam 0.5 once a day, the time is to me to decide. I am on it for over 8 months and I do not need to up it. with such small doses you will be ok for years.
Ativan does help, but after years on it , I do not like it. I feel like zombie after that

[GeneAllen]

Klonopin works well. I don't get the take as needed idea though. Get a routine of taking the same amount everyday, stick with that. Xanax is as needed drug, as it pees out fast. Klonopin stays in longer and works best this way. I began on three, knocked back to one, then added a half this year. I do Effexor xr as well. As anxiety settles and I know when that happens I cut back again, and have eliminated Effexor xr for years. Effexor (non XR) does nothing for me. I've been taking this regimen many years. Well since you were in second grade anyway. The idea is to incorporate meditation therapy, CBT, as well as hypnotherapy, or brainwave technology as you can as well. As you begin to feel better you will know when you can cut back. I don't recommend bedtime benzo use, only during very difficult times then schedule them mid afternoon as you get some balance. I avoided all medications for 30 years, scared the hell out of me, then went to a neurologist/psyschiatrist and he said would you like your life back? I said yes, he then gave me these pills. I reluctantly took them, and can say my life and the quality of it was as never before.

Peace

[Dahila]

Klonopin works well. I don't get the take as needed idea though. Get a routine of taking the same amount everyday, stick with that. Xanax is as needed drug, as it pees out fast. Klonopin stays in longer and works best this way. I began on three, knocked back to one, then added a half this year. I do Effexor xr as well. As anxiety settles and I know when that happens I cut back again, and have eliminated Effexor xr for years. Effexor (non XR) does nothing for me. I've been taking this regimen many years. Well since you were in second grade anyway. The idea is to incorporate meditation therapy, CBT, as well as hypnotherapy, or brainwave technology as you can as well. As you begin to feel better you will know when you can cut back. I don't recommend bedtime benzo use, only during very difficult times then schedule them mid afternoon as you get some balance. I avoided all medications for 30 years, scared the hell out of me, then went to a neurologist/psyschiatrist and he said would you like your life back? I said yes, he then gave me these pills. I reluctantly took them, and can say my life and the quality of it was as never before.


Peace

This is exactly what happened to me. Now I know that I am alive again, even enjoying the life )

[Kabukicho]

I am currently dealing with increased tolerance to Xanax, and am going to try to get my pdoc to switch me to Klonopin. I am getting rebound anxiety during the day from the Xanax and it isn't working great for its original purpose anymore (sleep.)

Benzodiazepenes are the ONLY drug out of the MANY I have tried that have done ANYTHING for my anxiety, so I wholly support their use. I just don't know what the right type / dose is for me.

And tolerance / withdrawal is scary.

[Ritch]

Benzo's for me can provide a huge relief from symptoms and are a good idea in the short term, but as you are discovering you build tolerance and their effect is less noticeable over prolonged periods. I can appreciate not wanting to stop benzo's because they make life easier, but having to increase the doses/swap to another when does it stop?

I'm not condoning the use of them as I was dependent on them for over a year, but they only address the symptoms for a limited period of time and do not address the causes in anyway shape or form.

Drugs do not treat anxiety, they treat the symptoms of it. Unfortunately society pushes drugs in our face as quick solutions but sometimes we have to do the hard things to reap the rewards.

My advice would be to continue to use them for a short while longer, but in the meantime practice techniques such as meditation to help you deal with the anxiety and also get some therapy that will put in a much better position to cope when you come off of them

[soManyProblems]

Kabukicho, how much Xanax do you take? How many mg and how many times per day?

In general, longer-acting benzos like Klonopin are better for continuous and every day use.

Regarding tolerance: Drug tolerance is a natural physiologic response to repeated drug use, it is not inherently "bad", and it is not infinite. Gaining tolerance does not mean you are using too much of the drug, it is just a thing that happens. People may need one or two benzo dose increases because of tolerance, but they will not need infinite dose increases. People often get the wrong idea about tolerance because of what opioid addicts go through. Opioids are rather unusual drugs because the level of tolerance that is possible is extremely high. Heroin addicts, when given free and unlimited heroin, will usually max out at 50-fold tolerance. That means they take 50 times more heroin than novice users. People in severe pain (e.g. from terminal cancer) often have even higher opioid tolerance, sometimes more than 100-fold.

Opioids are an exceptional case, and benzodiazepines are not opioids. Benzodiazepine tolerance grows much more slowly and hits a ceiling much sooner.

Benzodiazepine tolerance can actually be a good thing, especially for anxiety sufferers. Benzos make many people drowsy for the first few days, but tolerance to the drowsiness sets in much faster than tolerance to the anxiety relief. This is a boon for anxiety sufferers who want to be functional during the day and drive safely, but this is a bad thing for insomniacs.