Posted by scott-d-o on January 26, 2004, at 19:27:40
In reply to 1st-time poster - Adderall, Klonopin, and Paxil, posted by selphdestrucht on January 26, 2004, at 6:12:20
> Hi everyone,
>
> First time poster here. I've browsed the site for a while but feel I need to ask this question as it's impact on my life is huge.
>
> I've been taking Paxil (30mg/day) for about a year and a half for depression and anxiety, and I've been taking Adderall(10mg/2x/day) for about the same amount of time, for ADHD. For a small time I thought the Paxil might be helping to relieve some of my anxiety symptoms, but I feel like it's not having the intended effect regarding anxiety. I still struggle with depression but my anxiety is a much more dominating force in my life. Recently, a friend of mine gave me some Klonopin, which he takes for anxiety. I found many posts that said Klonopin worked wonders for anxiety and a few (http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030214/msgs/200435.html) that even said that Klonopin + Adderall together was an extremely effective combination. I tried taking .5mg klonopin with my regular daily dosages of paxil/adderall and I have found the adderall/klonopin combination to be great. I felt "normal" and felt like I could actually be myself for once again.
> I just saw my pdoc this past week and told him I might want to try a benzodiazepine for anxiety, and he said that he would not prescribe Adderall with a benzo. He gave me no real reasons or contraindications as to why he would not do this, but basically told me that if I want to try something like that, I would need to get off of the Adderall first. Let me say that Adderall does help me with my ADHD symptoms, and I have found it quite useful over the past couple years in helping me to focus. He asked me which was the bigger issue, the ADHD symptoms or the anxiety. The anxiety is truly the more impairing of the 2, which I told him. He said that the Adderall could also be causing the anxiety, and I told him that even on days where I don't take Adderall (medication breaks) such as weekends and days I have to just relax, my anxiety remains and is just as impairing as when I'm taking Adderall. He suggested that I stop taking Adderall for 1 month and come back and let him know if the anxiety persists. Well its been a week now and I am still locked up with anxiety. Fortunately, my friend gave me several Klonopins so I have been taking them occasionally (.5mg).
>
> My apologies for writing such a long first post and putting people to sleep, but I'm finally to my question. I have searched the internet rather
> unsuccessfully to find any information about Adderall and Klonopin being used together. The only things I have found have been on this site (see link above).
>
> Can anyone please give me some information, references, or perhaps personal experiences/recommendations for this drug combo? My pdoc seems insistent that he will not give me Adderall and a benzo together, but I don't know enough about it and cannot seem to find any useful resources online for it.
>
> Much thanks for listening, and any responses would be greatly appreciated.
>
> -selphdestrucht
>I'm sure he realizes they are not contraindicated for any reason. Hell, just go to www.adderall.com or www.fda.gov and download the prescribing info for the drug and anyone can see benzodiazepines aren't even listed under drug interactions. I'm sure his concerns are that you will abuse them together, since on the street benzo's are sometimes used by stim abusers to take the edge off. If this is the case, there is really nothing you can do b/c the more you try to convince him that your not an abuser the more he is going to see you as a desperate addict.
I'm currently take dexedrine spansules and klonopin together w/good results for dysthymia, inattentive add, and social phobia. The dexedrine takes care of the dysthymia/ADD and the klonopin kills the social phobia so they complement each other nicely for me. Unfortunatly, there is prob no advice to give you if ya feel a benzo is what you need except to change pdocs.. if you do so, just take copies of your old adderall scripts w/you to your new doctor, that way you will have less problems getting back on the adderall, then ask for "something for anxiety" and see what happens.. i do agree it's rather odd that he will prescribe a stim or benzo but not both together, and he is probably unique in this regard. btw, I went thru 3 pdocs (only 1 appnt with each) that would only prescribe SSRI's before I settled on my current doctor. unfortunately, these days most of them and are driven by marketing hype (toward meds that are under patent) and hysteria surrounding drug abuse (mostly propagated by the govt and/or rival pharmaceutical companies), not by fact or reality. BTW, asking for a drug *by name or by class* i.e. "benzo" or "klonopin" will get you a dirty look and a bullsh*t diagnosis at least 75% of the time.. just a heads up.
poster:scott-d-o
thread:305521
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20040122/msgs/305815.html