a week of klonopin kicked my panic cycle in the ass!

[homebird]

Thank you klonopin!

I was stuck in the panic-anxiety-panic cycle that I couldn't seem to get out of (I was already on lexapro). Doc told me to take 2 .5mg klonopin a day for a week and see if it would snap me out of the cycle.

It worked! I have never been so relieved. Yesterday was my last pill and I feel great today, like nothing ever happened.

I'm obviously not fooled into thinking this is the last time this will happen, but I'm sticking with my lexapro and I started therapy on Monday, so I'm feeling hopeful.

Hooray for small victories. :)

[alankay]

GREAT to hear. Yes. Klonopin is a fine drug. I have taken it and it also worked very well for me. I am glad you are both going to therapy and staying with the lexapro. It's nice to know's if needed there's a med that will nuke that panic/high anxiety!

[PanicCured]

Unfortunately, any effects Klonopin has only lasts for a few hours. After a few weeks of taking it regularly, a lot of the hypnotic effects wear off. Before you know it, you are addicted and then the withdrawal causes anxiety and then you become another Benzo victim. Although, until you get to the stage where it doesn't effect you strongly, it is fine and can stop panic attacks in the short term. I was taking 2 mg at a time. But it is by no means a cure for anxiety even in the least bit and it is playing with fire.

I don't understand this doctor's advice? Take Klonopins 2 times a day to snap you out of a cycle? I think I am not the only one here who thinks this is bad advice, and lacks an understanding of what anxiety actually is. Does anyone just "snap out of" anxiety? Wouldn't everyone just do that?

It would be nice if the world worked that way, but this instant gratification attitude, in my opinion, just perpetuates the problem.

[homebird]

I'm sorry you feel that way. Thanks for the positive words though, that really helped. *eyeroll*

Are you a doctor? Or a psychiatrist? I don't mean to be rude, but just because you don't understand why my doctor and I made the decisions we did doesn't make those decisions wrong. I am certainly not dependent or addicted to benzos after a week of taking them and I am not experiencing any withdrawal effects.

It didn't snap me out of my anxiety disorder. I don't think I ever said that. It "snapped" me out of a panic cycle I was stuck in (which you'd know if you read any of my other posts). It was necessary because I couldn't eat or sleep (I was losing weight rapidly and couldn't go to work or take care of my daughter) and my doctor wanted to see if this worked before he changed my lexapro dose. I'm not taking the klonopin long term, it was just a temporary thing. Lots of people use benzos occasionally without developing a dependency or addiction.

I've read some of your other posts and you seem very negative about the use of any medicine/benzos. Which is fine, if that works for you. But I'm dealing with it in a way that works for me (medication/therapy) and I am happy with how things are progressing. Why do you feel the need to come into a positive post with such negativity?

And by the way, telling someone who has anxiety that taking medication is going to make them a "benzo victim" is a seriously bad idea. Thank goodness I'm not that sensitive, but I would think saying something like that would cause some people to panic. Perhaps you should be more careful what you say.

[homebird]

And actually, I don't think I'll be coming back to this forum because I feel like dwelling on the fact that I have an "anxiety disorder" is making it worse. I'm going to focus on my health and therapy and my great life/family. Thanks for those of you that gave me good advice and support. I wish you the best of luck!

[alankay]

There is definitely a time and place for benzos like klonopin(no doubt). Many folks can work via counseling without or with an ssri. Other need the addition of a benzo. There is "no one size fits all" anxiety strategy as different people have different forms of anxiety, in different life situations, different levels of anxiety, different tolerances to anxiety, etc. Some may have suffered for many years before seeing dr. and others get help earlier for various reasons(thus different treatments, including perhaps a benzodiazepine). Therefore what was right for me, may not be right for you, etc, etc. That is why we work with, confide in and trust our docs and counselors. I use valium about once a month for air trips, dental appts, tense meeting, speeches, etc, and know many folks with anxiety do. That is medically acceptable(granted, might not be the "ideal"). I have not been able to get past those anxiety provoking events without it(damn I have tried). And that's OK. Others use valerian root, other never go to the dentist(worst scenario I think). Medicine has yet to give us better answers with regard to anxiety treatments but they are working on it as they are other maladies and afflictions. Some day they will just "adjust the gene" that has the problem to fix it but until then, we use what we have as best as we know how for the individual with the goal of relieving suffering(benzos?) and working on the cause/longer term optimal treatment(ssri, CBT, psychotherapy) and it's ALL therapeutic(in a healing effort for both long and short term balancing doing no harm with doing nothing and allowing suffering to continue). Indeed an imperfect science but it what we have folks. Support each other!!!!:)

[PanicCured]

I think I was very clear repeatedly that meds have their place and should be used when needed, but benzos are extremely dangerous in the long term, not the short term. Obviously nothing bad happens after one week. But many people take it for the short term which turns into the long term and end up addicted, like me.

I don't know what the argument is since you said "Doc told me to take 2 .5mg klonopin a day for a week and see if it would snap me out of the cycle.

It worked! I have never been so relieved."

That means you think it snapped you out of your cycle, but I am telling you, that if it was that easy wouldn't everyone do this? I said that to help point you in the correct direction for long term health. But yes, there is a time to take Klonopns so I am not against it. I used it, and it served its purpose for me. But doctors saying Klonopins is the way out of anxiety, is unfortunately, wrong information. Klonopins, Valium and Zanax are highly addictive if you take them long enough.

People here do not need to agree with me on this, but it is my personal belief, that most MDs way of treating anxiety, is incorrect and offers no long term benefit. Handing out addictive drugs like it's candy would be ok, if it went alongside the proper non-drug therapies hand in hand. The MDs approach is very immediate relief, and the non-drug therapies would be for long term benefit to eventually get off the drugs. But how often does this happen? How often do we just see doctors give out drugs and tell you to go home and relax without any options for therapy, CBT, meditation, herbs, supplements, breathing techniques, fear conquering practices, etc.?

[homebird]

That means you think it snapped you out of your cycle, but I am telling you, that if it was that easy wouldn't everyone do this?


I'm not really sure what I'm supposed to say about this. Apparently it DID work for me because I'm not having panic attacks right now.

You seem to make a lot of assumptions about my doctor and how we are dealing with my anxiety. Of course, that's not entirely your fault because I didn't give the whole story in this post. My doctor did not say Klonopin was the way out of anxiety. He said it was short term relief for this particular panic cycle. That is why I'm on lexapro and starting therapy. I'm also taking some vitamins/natural supplements and learning about breathing techniques, doing some CBT, learning how to deal with worry/fear/panic etc. And I am not taking klonopin anymore, nor do I have any plans to. My long term goal (and my doctor's long term goal for me) is to wean off the lexapro and be drug free. But unfortunately I can't do that right now.

My doctor's first choice isn't to prescribe medicine (he's very cautious), and we tried other things to stop the panic attacks before he tried the klonopin (again, he was trying to stop this particular attack, not "cure" my anxiety long-term). I made this post to celebrate a very small victory in my battle against anxiety. The fact that I woke up yesterday and today without having panic attacks and debilitating anxiety made me feel happy and I wanted to share that with everyone. That's all.

[Razzle]

I am one of those benzo victims - took Xanax for 4 weeks and took me 24 months to recover. My doctors told me I was a rapid tolerance builder - some people are not but you never know. My anxiety was 1000 times worse after stopping Xanax and the recovery was hideous. Please be careful.

My doctors never give anyone a benzo prescription longer than 2 weeks now which is what the FDA and PDR recommend

[jessed03]

And actually, I don't think I'll be coming back to this forum because I feel like dwelling on the fact that I have an "anxiety disorder" is making it worse.

I think thats a pretty good idea in truth. We'll always be here if you need to vent some frustration, or want advice, or even want to advise others. Focusing on positive things will definetly help you gain a new outlook in life. It seems some people get stuck in the anxiety habit, and it doesn't become an illness anymore, but part of their identity. Sometime's it takes that relief from anxiety to know that it isn't who you've become, but just something that's happening to you. From your other posts regarding therapy and reading and stuff, your on that path to recovery. I'm sure in time you'll build on that and incorporate more healthy habits to make your life that much better. I wish you the best:)

[PanicCured]

Benzos are not like guns. Everyone knows guns can kill people, but doctors usually do not explain to people how dangerous Benzos can be, and many of the doctors don't even really know. Doctors still don't believe the SSRI, Zoloft is addictive, since the pharmacetical companies lie to them. The brain zaps and other symptoms people get from trying to stop Zoloft has now be coined, "Discontinuation Syndrome", because god forbid they say "Withdrawal".

With regards to Benzos, The risk far outweighs the benefits for a lot of people. If you are the type of person who can take it for a few weeks then never again, then obviously it's fine, but the nature of anxiety is it lasts continuously unless the person cures it themselves. How many people can really get anxiety free in 3 weeks? So think of the millions of people who go years and years on Benzos, then after some time they return to their doctors saying their anxiety is back, then the doctor just says take more. 5 years on huge doses, then what? Try stopping them. At that point your whole life will be devoted to getting off Benzos. If I could do it all over again, I still would have taken Klonopin, but I would have spaced it out more than I did, and stopped sooner than I did, but it creeps up on you fast.

Your post doesn't make a lot of sense. Klonopin helped break you out of your anxiety cycle. I don't even understand it. All that matters is you are feeling better and it sounds like you are not depending on a pill to save you, but you are doing many things to save yourself, which is good.

Anxiety is not a disease. You aren't going to die. Why treat it as a disease?

[jessed03]

Anxiety is not a disease. You aren't going to die. Why treat it as a disease?

I got to a point where I had had enough, and wanted to die. Being a young, healthy male, this obviously didn't happen, and I became suicidal. Luckily I received good help, and managed to get a grip on things just in time. But there are many who don't. Yes, my recovery involved benzo's. Luckily only short term, as they became problematic, but suddenly I felt life was back in my control. Not because of the benzo's, but because there was something out there that could stop my suffering if it got too much. Just knowing this meant I could cut down, and see they weren't helping, and in a way were making me worse. I tell you this though, walk into any hospital, and take a man in serious pain, tell him the morphine he takes is addictive. I highly doubt at the moment he cares. Sometimes people need urgent relief. It's a doctors job to make it known that benzo's are a VERY short term relief tool. But sometimes, just that relief can allow a person to gather the strength again to resume the fight. I did go through withdrawls, and it was very rough and upsetting on the people around me seeing me suffer, but if you ask my mother which one she would take, 6 weeks of temporary pain, or a son in a graveyard, i know 100 out of 100 times which she would choose. I do agree with you regarding the spacing out of benzo's though, I just think you've coined the word 'anxiety' to mean heart palpitations or dizziness. The mental implications of severe anxiety are very serious. Being robbed of dignity, of independence, or rationality. Having severe mood swings. I guess we can never know a persons case. Sometimes the cycle needs to be broken, just for us to know that it actually can be. Something doesn't necessarily have to kill someone for it to take their life.

Anxiety does kill, daily.

[homebird]

I didn't realize this post was going to start a big discussion. I understand the danger of benzos (long-term), thank you again for reminding me. I am not relying on them to fix my problem, and I do not plan to take them again unless absolutely necessary. I am relying on other things to help me "heal". I feel like I'm a broken record here, but I am on lexapro (with a goal to wean off in a few months) and in therapy/counseling. I'm also taking supplements, exercising and trying other natural methods to deal with my anxiety.

And you are completely right about SSRI's being addictive. I'm on lexapro right now and I am very dependent on it (if I stopped cold turkey I would experience withdrawal symptoms). So I agree with you there.

I'm sorry you don't understand my post (or how a benzo could snap me out of my panic cycle), but you don't really need to understand why or how it worked for me. Not all anxiety is the same (neither is anyone's experience with it). So just because it wouldn't work for you doesn't mean it didn't work for me. CLEARLY it did. I still have occasional mild anxiety, but I am not experiencing multiple panic attacks a day. I can eat and sleep. I can go to work and take care of my child. Before the week of benzos I couldn't do any of those things. The point was that I'm feeling better and I'm happy about it.

As for the rest of your post (anxiety not being a disease) I'm not even going to touch that.

[PanicCured]

Forwells some of my comments that you commented on wasn't meant for you. Sorry. I was mostly addressing the OP. You are saying a lot of things to me that make me feel very misunderstood by you. I don't expect you to read everything I write, but it doesn't sound like you are getting what I mean. I don't think a lot of the things you are saying I am trying to say.

The facts of the mater is, let's say Klonopins really do help people get back to their normal life. But since after 2-3 months one becomes an addict, then they have no true value in the long term. So basically, they are simply a 1-3 month vacation. I think guns don't kill people is a different argument. Look at the statistics of pharmaceutical drug abuse and death by pharmaceuticals. It is staggering.

I don't agree anxiety is a disease. Anxiety is a term used to describe a person's behavior pattern and symptoms caused by his nervous system, over active adrenals, fear, etc. The Dis- Ease is not anxiety, but the root cause or causes that is creating symptoms we label as anxiety.

[PanicCured]

I got to a point where I had had enough, and wanted to die. Being a young, healthy male, this obviously didn't happen, and I became suicidal. Luckily I received good help, and managed to get a grip on things just in time. But there are many who don't. Yes, my recovery involved benzo's. Luckily only short term, as they became problematic, but suddenly I felt life was back in my control. Not because of the benzo's, but because there was something out there that could stop my suffering if it got too much. Just knowing this meant I could cut down, and see they weren't helping, and in a way were making me worse. I tell you this though, walk into any hospital, and take a man in serious pain, tell him the morphine he takes is addictive. I highly doubt at the moment he cares. Sometimes people need urgent relief. It's a doctors job to make it known that benzo's are a VERY short term relief tool. But sometimes, just that relief can allow a person to gather the strength again to resume the fight. I did go through withdrawls, and it was very rough and upsetting on the people around me seeing me suffer, but if you ask my mother which one she would take, 6 weeks of temporary pain, or a son in a graveyard, i know 100 out of 100 times which she would choose. I do agree with you regarding the spacing out of benzo's though, I just think you've coined the word 'anxiety' to mean heart palpitations or dizziness. The mental implications of severe anxiety are very serious. Being robbed of dignity, of independence, or rationality. Having severe mood swings. I guess we can never know a persons case. Sometimes the cycle needs to be broken, just for us to know that it actually can be. Something doesn't necessarily have to kill someone for it to take their life.

Anxiety does kill, daily.

I think you are talking about suicide. That is obviously not what I was referring to. Wouldn't that be from depression? Do Benzos prevent suicide? If so I see your point. Like I said, Benzos are playing with fire, but they should be used when it's necessary. It's the method that they are handed out, that is a big problem though.

What I meant was anxiety and panic in themselves do not kill you, like a stroke, heart attack or cancer can.

[PanicCured]

I didn't realize this post was going to start a big discussion. I understand the danger of benzos (long-term), thank you again for reminding me. I am not relying on them to fix my problem, and I do not plan to take them again unless absolutely necessary. I am relying on other things to help me "heal". I feel like I'm a broken record here, but I am on lexapro (with a goal to wean off in a few months) and in therapy/counseling. I'm also taking supplements, exercising and trying other natural methods to deal with my anxiety.

And you are completely right about SSRI's being addictive. I'm on lexapro right now and I am very dependent on it (if I stopped cold turkey I would experience withdrawal symptoms). So I agree with you there.

I'm sorry you don't understand my post (or how a benzo could snap me out of my panic cycle), but you don't really need to understand why or how it worked for me. Not all anxiety is the same (neither is anyone's experience with it). So just because it wouldn't work for you doesn't mean it didn't work for me. CLEARLY it did. I still have occasional mild anxiety, but I am not experiencing multiple panic attacks a day. I can eat and sleep. I can go to work and take care of my child. Before the week of benzos I couldn't do any of those things. The point was that I'm feeling better and I'm happy about it.

As for the rest of your post (anxiety not being a disease) I'm not even going to touch that.

Don't worry, you are understood. I think everyone just wants to talk in further details about the subject. I just don't know how a few hours on a Benzo snaps someone out of anxiety for good. To me, Klonopins just gave me a few hours of relief. But I don't have to understand. What matters is you are better, and getting better and that is great!

[jessed03]

I didn't realize this post was going to start a big discussion

What would an anxiety forum be without a benzo discussion :) It's one of the most controversial, debatable topics regarding anxiety! I also think it can benefit those on the fence or looking in. Just as long as it stays friendly and amicable :P L.O.L...


I think you are talking about suicide. That is obviously not what I was referring to. Wouldn't that be from depression? Do Benzos prevent suicide? If so I see your point. Like I said, Benzos are playing with fire, but they should be used when it's necessary. It's the method that they are handed out, that is a big problem though.

What I meant was anxiety and panic in themselves do not kill you, like a stroke, heart attack or cancer can.

Suicide occurs when a persons pain exceeds their threshold. It doesn't really matter what causes that pain. Anxiety makes people very unreasonable. I think for me; I was doing everything: Relaxation, I was healthy, doing therapy, taking an AD, and I still felt awful. I didn't know what more to do. The mental anxiety is far worse than the physical symptoms. I really believed I had broken, my mind couldn't see a way out. My days were truly unbearable. It was so exhausted it begun harming itself. I think benzo's made me realise I hadn't broken, 'I' was still there, I was just in a deep hole, but there was a way out, just a very long one. Upon realization of that, my benzo use stopped, and as mentioned, I do agree with you regarding long term benzo use. I think only 1% of takers should be taking longer than a week or two and those are the ones who are in extreme circumstances (i.e. domestic abuse, physical illness etc)

On a side hote however: I never specifically thanked you for recommending the Buteyko Method: Fantastic method! Over breathing was just something I couldn't get on top of, I never imaged such a method existed. It seems so simple in hindsight. Though doesn't everything. :)

[homebird]

I don't mind discussion. I guess I'm just a little sensitive about the subject. I was so freaking hesitant/scared to take the klonopin in the first place, and I was so relieved when I got some relief.

I noticed after scanning the boards that benzos are a much discussed topic. :) I had no idea, so consider me clued in now, lol.

[VinnyFromGermany]

Always go to other people's funerals, otherwise they won't come to yours.

[alankay]

Wow guys. I'm surprised by some of the attitudes here. My gosh these meds are used and legal in every country in the world and big pharma doesn't get much any more since almost all are in generic now. If used/prescribed properly for acute anxiety states or in longer term(occasional/minimum use) under supervision, they have their place. No question. Sure docs shouldn't hand them out like candy and patients cannot rely on these SOLELY(they must use/try ALL means CBT, psychotherapy, progressive relaxation, self-help books/techniques, etc) and for those who need these(used properly) to live a fully functional/productive and happier lives, so be it. Until some therapy or meds comes about that gives patients and docs a better/safer therapy anyway. Some patients don't need them, others just short term while they work on the causes of their anxiety, start an ssri and/or develop skills/knowledge that takes some time to acquire, to manage their anxiety. Others will use the techniques they can and still need a benzo for certain situations where, although they've tried, cannot get their anxiety under control(air travel, dental visits, stressful meetings for me anyway). And that is OK. Like others I used to have some self loathing(I think some here do too) since I couldn't just "beat" anxiety and needed to use benzos occasionally, but compared to the alternative, I've become OK with it. If prescribed and used properly(use only what you need no more, only when you really need it). As for the folks who want to just gobble these down and not learn the other things that can reduce/eliminate anxiety outside the pharmacological route and get the very possible nasty side effects of high doses, no thanks. I wouldn't advise that at all. No way. I wouldn't advise unwarranted fears either but a respect for how to use benzos when needed and to work with the doc on that(keep it to a minimum for the most part). Just my opinion. Be well!

[PanicCured]

Yeah, no need to have anxiety about taking anxiety meds. Just don't get addicted or dependent on them. Benzos you have to be smart about, but that doesn't mean you can't take them when you need them. If you are on SSRIs then plan one day, when you are ready, to be able to get off them and when you do, taper off very slowly to reduce "Discontinuation Syndrome". Understanding the risks is important, but no need to be anxious about them. Just be smart.