Posted by jasmineneroli on February 18, 2005, at 18:15:04
In reply to Re: Newly on(and ?s)about Zoloft and Klonopin » aphexonset, posted by SLS on February 15, 2005, at 10:07:25
>hope anxiety sufferers respond.
Well, that would also be me!
I have GAD, that also comes with periodic, soft depression & some OCD (as a way to deal with my worries).
I take Klonopin .5mg per day and I've taken it for about 20 months with no problem. I started at 1mg per day and found I was easily able to taper down to a level(.5mg) that continued to work for me. For a while (when I was also on Celexa) I was able to manage on .25mg per day, with an extra ,25mg per day, as needed, in stressful times.
I gave up Celexa due to side effects. I have none to Klon.
I think doctors often prescribe an amount that is too high for general type (continual) anxiety. It seems to me, from reading posts for over 2 years on this board, that quite often, anxiety-only sufferers do well with low-doses.
IMO Klonopin should be taken every day, in as low a dose that is effective, then add an extra tiny bit, as needed, for higher anxiety situations.
It would also seem that, by nature, anxiety sufferers tend to be too "worried" to abuse benzo's. And I prefer to use the word "abuse" rather than addiction, because there always seems to be a lot of confusion over the definitions of addiction, dependence and the symptoms of discontinuation/withdrawal.
I encourage you to try a daily low-dose Klonopin regimine, if your anxiety is uncomplicated by other disorders. Do some research and present it to your doctor.
My own Pdoc is completely unconcernd about my Klonopin use, because he knows I'm almost a drug-a-phobe (having tried 9 different meds...and counting, none of which have worked as well as Klon. and most have given me S.E's, unlike Klon).
Initially, he wanted to try to replace it with something else, but now sees that it works for me.Everyone is different in their response and also in their attitudes to different drugs. As Philippa said (I think!!), you just have to keep on trying.
All the very best,
Jas
poster:jasmineneroli
thread:458022
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20050217/msgs/460108.html