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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 23 of 23. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Linda from Sweden on September 14, 2002, at 12:27:19
Hi, I am a 28 year old female who have been fighting panic and depression ( had a panic attack the first year at university) with SSRI for almost 10 years now…Celexa (the best for me) and Xanax as needed made it possible to finish education and I have now a very good job with a lot of responsibility……that was not in my mind 10 years ago when anxiety and the depression along with it almost drove me into suicide!
Due to some sleep problems I tried 1,0 mg Klonopin at night (Rivotril here) for the first time a month ago, and my constant worrying was gone! I felt myself again! So know I think my condition has developed more to GAD with some panic and social phobia symptoms, and maybe some depression because of that. I stopped 20 mg Celexa in just 2 weeks with no withdrawal.
But I am so scared to take Klonopin regularly! Should I be that? Any advise and experiences on use and withdrawal from Klonopin is highly appreciated!
Linda
Posted by Phil on September 14, 2002, at 13:10:38
In reply to Klonopin too good to be true?, posted by Linda from Sweden on September 14, 2002, at 12:27:19
Linda, I've been taking Klonopin for 5 years or so..2-3mg a day. I've no reason to stop it because it is very effective.
You will become dependent on it and will have to taper very slowly if you decide to stop taking it.
You will read a lot of horror stories about trying to stop but if you taper over a period of months, you should be fine.
It's one of the best drugs I've taken so I have no plans of stopping. At my dosage and the length of time I've been on it, I would probably taper over 6 months or so if I had to stop. At 1 mg a day, it would be much easier. I think it's worth it as do many people on this board.Phil
Posted by Linda from Sweden on September 14, 2002, at 13:31:01
In reply to Re: Klonopin too good to be true?, posted by Phil on September 14, 2002, at 13:10:38
Do you get depressed from it? I actually felt my mood was better, leading me to think that I only suffer from anxiety, not depression. But I crave coffee and cigarettes to keep alert, maybe I can reduce the dose a bit. Without meds, one cup of coffee and a cigarette gives me serious anxiety.
BTW, here we have Xanax XR, any experiences?
Linda
Posted by Phil on September 14, 2002, at 13:56:32
In reply to Re: Klonopin too good to be true?, posted by Linda from Sweden on September 14, 2002, at 13:31:01
I haven't heard of Xanax XR but I haven't been looking. I'm also drinking "a lot" of coffee but not smoking as much...weird.
You're success story is one I hope many others here read.
Xanax is a great drug for sleep and quick acting relief from anxiety. Feel like putting it into the coffee pot at work!
Oh, do I get depressed from it? I don't think so, but if I'm having money problems, Klonopin allows me to think instead of totally freak out.
In that way, it's very helpful for dep / anxiety.Nice chatting with you.
Phil
Posted by Arthur Gibson on September 14, 2002, at 14:39:04
In reply to Re: Klonopin too good to be true?, posted by Phil on September 14, 2002, at 13:56:32
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Posted by Guy on September 14, 2002, at 15:15:26
In reply to I think you two should meet!!, posted by Arthur Gibson on September 14, 2002, at 14:39:04
After years of horrible anxiety, I'm just starting on clonazepam. My shrink wants me on 2 mg. I'm looking forward to getting some relief. Many on this board have taken clonazepam for years with good results. My shrink says if I encounter problems down the road, there are other options to deal with this. It's time to get a life instead of constant suffering...I've been suicidal for about six years and I just can't take it any more. I didn't ask to be born with this screwed up nervous system. I have a deep mistrust of meds and doctors but I'm just going to have to get over that.
Posted by Arthur Gibson on September 14, 2002, at 15:28:47
In reply to Re: I think you two should meet!!, posted by Guy on September 14, 2002, at 15:15:26
Good for you. Take the meds and THEY WILL work. You will get hold of your problems and sort them out for good.
You will look back and realise how idiotic suicidal thoughts are, like I did.
It will get better, I promise. And when it does get better - it will be GREAT for you.
Posted by Guy on September 14, 2002, at 17:49:06
In reply to Message to Guy ..., posted by Arthur Gibson on September 14, 2002, at 15:28:47
Thanks for the encouragement, Arthur. Im at the point where I would rather enjoy life for a few years than live the rest of my life in agony. And as you say, this may all sort itself out over time. Anxiety and pain have a tendency to snowball.
Posted by Squiggles on September 15, 2002, at 13:10:36
In reply to Klonopin too good to be true?, posted by Linda from Sweden on September 14, 2002, at 12:27:19
Hi Linda,
I'm glad to hear that the Klonopin is
helping you. It is a mid-to-long life
benzodiazepine drug. That might help keep
you steady unlike the short-life ones, such
as Xanax which are given for acute panic
attacks.I think i was given Klonopin for GAD if
my memory serves me well. In the past 15 yrs.
or so of taking it, it was only raise once;
so if it is addicting it has a very long
tolerance stretch.I have no trouble with the drug (minor fatigue,
and some edema, some inhibitory stuff on
reflexes, sometimes vertigo) BUT i did find
it impossible to withdraw from, and i don't
think i ever will be able to after so many
years of taking it. Infact, i had to raise
it after trying to withdraw.So, i would say it is a good drug as long as
you stay on it.Squiggles
Posted by shar on September 15, 2002, at 14:12:23
In reply to Re: Klonopin too good to be true? » Linda from Sweden, posted by Squiggles on September 15, 2002, at 13:10:36
S-
Is Klonopin something that is still useful to you? I take it, and was concerned that when you went to get off of it you couldn't.Are you taking it now because you couldn't get off of it? That sounds like a silly question, but I can completely understand how that could happen; what choice would you have? Or does it still have a medical benefit to you, like for GAD or something?
Shar
Posted by Squiggles on September 15, 2002, at 15:05:23
In reply to Re: Klonopin too good to be true? » Squiggles, posted by shar on September 15, 2002, at 14:12:23
Those are good questions.
I'm afraid I cannot answer with certainty.
On the one hand, it seems that my withdrawal
was so severe it almost killed me, on the
other hand, my doctor neither objected nor
approved of getting off, and to complicate
matters, i don't know what it was prescribed
for - bipolar or gad (there seems to be a
controversy on the net now about why anticonvulsants
are given to bipolars, i.e. because they
share some features of epilepsy).But i don't rightly know. I do know that
it was impossible to get off it (though i have
heard that getting off with Valium would have
been successful).Nor do i know what I would have been like, had
i gotten off it; if it was GAD it was prescribed
for (which i recall it was) then it should not
have made a difference; if it was for bipolar
(epileptoid status) then i need it.
Squiggles
Posted by alan on September 15, 2002, at 15:33:47
In reply to Klonopin too good to be true?, posted by Linda from Sweden on September 14, 2002, at 12:27:19
I have remarkably same diagnosis and med experience as you! I am on bzd monotherapy now and feel as though I should have just skipped the AD's for anxiety...
As far as taking bzd monotherapy full time is concerned, I'd read:
http://panicdisorder.about.com/library/weekly/aa031997.htm
Your dosage will probably stay the same or fluctuate up or down depending on how you anxiety waxes and wanes. I augment with ativan PRN for breakthrough anxiety which works really well.
The unfounded fears of "tolerance escallation" is simply a misinterpretation of the need for more medicine to trace your medical symptoms. The vast majority of the panic/anxiety population stays at the theraputic dose or decreases over years.
good luck
Alan
Posted by Guy on September 15, 2002, at 17:52:06
In reply to Re: Klonopin too good to be true? » Linda from Sweden, posted by alan on September 15, 2002, at 15:33:47
I'm wondering if clonazepam actually continues to work in the long run, or if people stay on it just to avoid withdrawal symptoms, and thus are only under the illusion that it is still working.
Posted by Squiggles on September 15, 2002, at 17:54:53
In reply to Remain effective or just to avoid withdrawal? , posted by Guy on September 15, 2002, at 17:52:06
I answered that to "shar";
basically I don't know what it
would be like off it; i could not
get off it - i had a seizure/stroke;Squiggles
Posted by Phil on September 15, 2002, at 19:12:21
In reply to Remain effective or just to avoid withdrawal? , posted by Guy on September 15, 2002, at 17:52:06
Klonopin remains effective w/o having to up the dose. There is no illusion about it working. It's a subtle drug but if I have anxiety, I take 1 mg, 30-45 minutes later I'm fine. I don't feel any different except the anxiety is gone.
Usually I take 3 a day and anxiety doesn't even stop at my door.
Also, I wouldn't stay on any drug that didn't work.
Posted by shar on September 17, 2002, at 1:17:48
In reply to Remain effective or just to avoid withdrawal? , posted by Guy on September 15, 2002, at 17:52:06
I take clonazepam to sleep, and after a few years now, it still helps me sleep (though sometimes I am so depressed I'll just crash without it). So, I'd say it's still working. I don't think a placebo effect (or an illusion) could accomplish helping me sleep on a regular basis.
Shar
> I'm wondering if clonazepam actually continues to work in the long run, or if people stay on it just to avoid withdrawal symptoms, and thus are only under the illusion that it is still working.
Posted by Disillusioned on September 18, 2002, at 3:30:49
In reply to Klonopin too good to be true?, posted by Linda from Sweden on September 14, 2002, at 12:27:19
Clonopezam is very addictive. Discontinuing it will cause you great misery! And the after effects of taking it are not pretty. You may end up with physiologic symptoms that last the rest of your life!
Posted by Essence on September 18, 2002, at 6:28:52
In reply to Re: Klonopin too good to be true?, posted by Disillusioned on September 18, 2002, at 3:30:49
Posted by Squiggles on September 18, 2002, at 6:49:11
In reply to Re: Klonopin too good to be true?, posted by Disillusioned on September 18, 2002, at 3:30:49
Amen
Posted by Dinah on September 18, 2002, at 6:57:21
In reply to Re: Klonopin too good to be true? » Disillusioned, posted by Squiggles on September 18, 2002, at 6:49:11
Klonopin keeps me from self injuring on a regular basis. And has probably kept me alive more than once.
It does a better job of reducing agitation and anxiety in me than any drug I have ever taken. And with no side effects at all. I raise and lower the dose as needed. Usually 1 mg a day, sometimes 1/2, never more than 2. I have never had any problems doing this. I've been on it for over 5 years, quit taking it about a year and a half ago (again with no problems) but went back on it a few months later, because it works.
Just my own experience, and everyone's experience is different.
Posted by Squiggles on September 18, 2002, at 7:22:26
In reply to Re: Klonopin too good to be true?, posted by Dinah on September 18, 2002, at 6:57:21
I don't know why but my experience was
getting on - fine - the drug is great;
but getting off - exceedingly difficult -
could it be the time ( i was on very long 12-15
yrs); i agree that it is a good drug while on.Squiggles
Posted by Alan on September 19, 2002, at 22:09:56
In reply to Re: Klonopin too good to be true?, posted by Disillusioned on September 18, 2002, at 3:30:49
> Clonopezam is very addictive. Discontinuing it will cause you great misery! And the after effects of taking it are not pretty. You may end up with physiologic symptoms that last the rest of your life!
=========================================
One may want to read this link if they are concerned about the "A" word....
http://panicdisorder.about.com/library/weekly/aa031997.htmBecoming medically dependent on a medication for a medical disorder is a fact of life for many, psychotropic or not...and now including the ssri's as it turns out.
It seems to me that to want to come off of a medication that one claims to be working for them is more about having not accepted the disorder and actually having less to do with complaints about being on the medicine. The disorder is always primary, the medication secondary. One may want to be off of medicines but if their medical condition calls for it, of course it would follow that it would be hard to come off and be off of it.
This is not to say that some people don't have bad reactions to some drugs, but in the case of the bzds, if prescribed and managed properly, statistically speaking it's relatively easy for a sizable majority of anxiety suffers to taper off of bzds. Of course statistics mean nothing in individual cases.
It's just that statements such as the above need to be considered in perspective with the cost/benefit ratio. Bzd's are still by far the most successful in terms of efficacy to treat anxiety disorders for the general population.
Alan
Posted by Squiggles on September 20, 2002, at 6:11:36
In reply to Re: Klonopin too good to be true? » Disillusioned, posted by Alan on September 19, 2002, at 22:09:56
I read the post and agree entirely. The
problem rests not in the efficacy of these
drugs for the appropriate ailment; the problem
rests in prescribing them carelessly: (i.e.
not increasing the dose when tolerance is
reached, not recognizing the w/d symptoms
when the dose is not adjusted, and worst
of all not recognizing the cause of the anxiety
through "differential diagnosis".Squiggles
This is the end of the thread.
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