Is anyone on Klonopin (Clonezapam)? I'm finding that the amount that I used to take for my anxiety attacks isn't working nearly as well. Has anyone experienced that, after being on it (or any other benzodiazopines - valium, ativan, Xanax) for a while, that your tolerance increases and you require more to calm you down? I know these types of meds can be addictive, so I don't want to take more unless I need to. And I tried talking to my doc about it a few weeks ago, but he just said "let's re-evaluate it next time"...) Well, I'm having anxiety NOW. Arrrrgh.
Mental illness is no different than any other disease. Just as the diabetic did not ask for diabetes, or the leukemic did not ask for cancer; we did not ask for this disease. But we must fight it just as we would fight any other medical diagnosis and accept that it is not our fault that we fell ill. We, too, can survive.
I am currently on 4mg Klonopin/day and I used to take 0.25mg/day and that put me to sleep. Currently, the 4mg barely calms me down (although I take it throughout the day in 1mg doses, not all at once). Yes, you do develop a tolerance to it... and yes, you do get addicted to it.
I have been on Ativan but that made me get "rebound anxiety" since although it works a lot faster, its half-life isn't as long and so the anxiety comes back much, much more quickly. I'm happy with my Klonopin although some people are worried about the amount I'm on (?).
Hope that answered your question... sorry if it was just waffling!!
RYL family: Doikers is my brother
All changes, even the most longed for, have their melancholy; for what we leave behind us is a part of ourselves; we must die to one life before we can enter into another! - Anatole France.
I sort of take it off and on (PRN)- when I was having to take it daily I found I needed to at least double dose (not reccomended without doc's permission) to get any kind of relaxation. I believe they do build up a tolerance over time, its pretty normal and they aren't usually intended for everyday useage. But now its a once in a blue moon drug 0.5mg works nicely. Are you anxious quite a lot? If so, would it maybe be worth looking at beta-blockers or something? I'm not sure, but I think they're a more regular thing, and don't build up a tolerance in the same way benzos do.
Wake me up before I change again
Remind me the story that I won't get insane
Tell me why it's always the same
Explain me the reason why I'm so much in pain.
Thanks for your response. Ativan didn't work for me either. I do like that Klonopin stays in your system longer. I take 1mg at a time now, but it's as needed, not scheduled...maybe if I took it on a regular basis it might help.
Thanks again.
I've never heard of beta-blockers for anxiety (which, yes, I chronically suffer from). I also have SVT (supraventricular tachycardia - where my heart rate can just jump to 155 beats per minute out of the blue), so it might help with that, too. I think I will ask my doc about it. Thank you!!
Last edited by Miss Grace : 26-03-2010 at 07:57 PM.
Reason: Second Post
Mental illness is no different than any other disease. Just as the diabetic did not ask for diabetes, or the leukemic did not ask for cancer; we did not ask for this disease. But we must fight it just as we would fight any other medical diagnosis and accept that it is not our fault that we fell ill. We, too, can survive.
Your probably best to talk to your doctor/counsellor about it and try to find strategies both via medications but also from psychologcial point of view (like CBT, maybe desenstization) to help cope with your anxieties. Coz as u probably know, it's probably best not to be long term benzodiazapines. PRN meds also might help, at least you might not build tolerance to it as regular meds. Good luck with it, hope that helps a tad?
I hate this med, tbh.
I was addicted to it, left on it for 8 years. I didnt know; trusted my doc.
he then pulled me off it, cold.
Not pleasant, to say the least.
I still crave it, years later.
Not wanting to scare you, but be careful of it.
