Posted by laima on February 8, 2007, at 9:35:28
In reply to Re: Benzo Confidential ), posted by Squiggles on February 8, 2007, at 9:25:24
Here’s what medline says:
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/medmaster/a682279.html“Tolerance may develop with long-term or excessive use, making the drug less effective.
They don’t mention seizure risk or say much of anything about withdrawal, though.
Another source does mention seizures:
http://www.mentalhealth.com/drug/p30-r04.html“Abrupt withdrawal of clonazepam particularly in those patients on long-term, high dose therapy, may precipitate status epilepticus. Therefore, as with any other anticonvulsants, gradual withdrawal is essential when discontinuing clonazepam. While clonazepam is being gradually withdrawn, the simultaneous substitution of incremental doses of another anticonvulsant may be indicated.”
Drugs.com also warns of possibility of seizures:
http://www.drugs.com/clonazepam.htmlDo not stop taking Clonazepam suddenly if you have been taking it for several weeks. Stopping suddenly could cause seizures and withdrawal symptoms. Talk to your doctor if you need to stop treatment with Clonazepam.
Wikipedia is always interesting, and includes this tidbit:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clonazepam“Up to 30% of individuals treated on a long-term basis develop a form of dependence known as "low-dose-dependence". These patients do not develop a tolerance, and do not need increasingly large doses to experience the euphoric side effects of the drug.”
(So what does that mean?)
Wikipedia also has a link to the official package insert for clonazapam.
And here’s a link to the ever-controversial Heather Ashton’s detailed withdrawal tables and advice. I’ve actually personally found much of her information to be quite helpful, and thought some of it sounded exaggerated.http://www.benzo.org.uk/manual/bzsched.htm
I realize these are not hard-hitting science sites, but why gamble with chances?
poster:laima
thread:730516
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20070207/msgs/731066.html