Anyone had success with Klonopin?

[yikespanic]

Hi all,

Been having a hard time dealing with anxiety, Dr gave me Klonopin wafers 0.25 mg to be taken at bedtime. Took the first one last night. Felt very sleepy this am and a little doppy. After going online and reading alot of sites, some scarry!, I'm feeling a little cautious about taking this med. I don't want to have another problem. Like having to have withdrawls or a bad time when I might want to stop taking it. I have enough to deal with as it is. Do any of you take or have taken this med. What has been your experience?

Kim

[Guest Belinda]

I think it all depends on the person..but I can tell you I did quite a bit of research on benzodiazapenes and Klonopin is on e of the easiest to withdraw from at least clinically that is what is indicated.

It has a longer half life so you don't have to worry about it going out of your system so quickly as xanax,ativan etc. So you don't get as much high's and low's.

Good luck with it. I was on it but in my case I didn't react well to any of the benzo's.(Lost 38 lbs. in a period of 4 weeks). Plus I kept getting switched on and off of them this was last yyear when noone knew what was wrong..

Belinda

[futurehope]

My experience (low dose .5 mg, then 1 mg, at night):

Great! Loved it! Quit working after a few weeks. Didn't want to increase dose. Stopped taking it. Was "not myself" and didn't sleep well (worse than before the pill) for quite some time.

I still have them laying around, but I have to think really long before I create the above scenario again.

I find that ANY pill affects my nervous system. So, there you have it.

Remember, everyone is different. There's no predicting how you will respond.

[Gena]

I take a 1/2 of a .25 mg klonopin at night before going to bed. Sometimes if I wake up with tachy, anxiety or can't go back to sleep then I might take another quarter.

It really seems to help me. Once you take it a couple of times your body does not get so groggy or loopy on it anymore. That dopy feeling went away for me within a few nights of taking it.

I weaned myself completely off of it for about 4-6 months last year when I was feeling great. Never had any withdrawal issues at such a low dose. I rarely ever took Klonopin during the day.

A few months ago, work stress put me in a deep POTS hole and I had to start taking Klonopin again.

I am starting to feel a little better and may try to cut back on it soon.

I've never really felt addicted to it at all and it's the only med that I take.

As people stated earlier, Benzos can work well with some and not so well with others. I don't do great with Xanax, but fine with Klonopin. Best wishes.

Gena

[yikespanic]

Thanks everyone for replying, My Doc called me to see how I was doing today! That was a surprise. I told her that the med was making me really groggy. Almost like I had a few drinks. She said to take half of one instead tonight and see if it is better. I didn't really have any bad anxiety, but then I think I have been to sleepy to notice! I had also started up florinef again last week and my BP has been really stable. I hope the headache I have today is unrelated.

Kim

[gwen]

Ive been on it for two years with no ill effects. I can tell if i forget to take it. One drug I can say works and haven't had bad vibes.good luck:-)

[worththewords]

I swear by it! I initially started taking it because I was having difficulty sleeping. Now my cardiologist prescribes it for me since it depresses the nervous system and lowers heart rate. I take 0.5 twice a day - usually before bed and early enough in the morning so I can go back to sleep. I am supposed to start taking it 3 times a day. The groggy feeling will go away once you get used to it - give it two weeks. The only other thing worth noting, I think someone else said it, I can notice when I forget to take it.

[dawn]

I've taken Klonopin 1mg at bedtime for a couple years. My doctor says although it doesn't make me sleepy, he says it gives my nervous system a rest. I take it around 10:00pm and am still awake at 3:00am. I take Xanax also during the day. I've taken Xanax for 13 years 2-3 times daily. When you feel so bad, becoming addicted to something if it helps is the least of my worries.

Dawn

[morgan617]

I haven't taken klonopin, I don't think I can even spell it anymore, but I have taken valium for over 10 years for meneires.

It is also a benzo. I'd have to wean off it although I have never taken a high dose of it, but have been on it a long time. I take 1 mg a few times a day, or 2 mg on a really bad day. I never take more than 7mg a day. Please remember that valium is not dosed like klonopin, so I'm not taking a huge dose compared to what you take. It not only helps my meneires, it helps with my surges. I'm of the same opinion as Dawn. Addiction is the least of my worries when I can at last find one thing that helps with no horrible side effects. 2 mg can still make sleepy. I have cut my daily dose down and done fine. I have not developed a tolerance so I have never increased my dose, only lowered it. The most I have ever taken in a day is 8mg and that was while in the hospital with awful meneires stuff.

It's just a trial and error and you have to find what works best for you. It's as variable as everything else is with us.

This question always seems to become a little touchy. So I can only give my experience. It's positive. morgan

Edited January 18, 2006 by morgan617

[mom4cem]

Hi,

I take Klonopin also. I take a 1/4 when I need it. In the beginning I noticed a little groggy but it wore off. I like it and have no problem when I take it for a while regularly then stop. I have had klonopin for years and used it off an on.

It takes the edge off. My dr. had told me to put it under my tongue as it gets into the system faster, especially if you are feeling very panicky or feel a panic attack coming on.

[Guest Julia59]

I take it now---and i'm not one to take benzo's as a rule. I have been on xanax before and it worked out well---helped with the surges. I was able to taper off in about 6 months when the surges passed.

The klonopin works fine for me. My dose is 0.5mgs---I take about 1/4 of it at night or if i'm going out i'll take another 1/4. I don't get drowsy at all. My nervous system is so wound up---I only notice that it helps calm the nervous system---I don't feel loopy at all and if fact I can drive on it. It just helps with the intense adrenaline surges-----but not always completely. I don't raise the dose unless I am in pretty bad shape.

As long as your very careful and don't build a tolerance you should be OK.

Julie :0)

[calypso]

I take 0.25 mg or 0.5 mg Klonopin daily. I have been taking it on and off for about 11 years. It literally helped save me from dropping out of college many years ago, when I was starting to have panic attacks.

I now take it for generalized anxiety and it doesn't help as much as it used to, but I refuse to take more than the dose I mentioned.

Amy

[sfr100]

I've taken Klonopin 1mg at bedtime for a couple years. My doctor says although it doesn't make me sleepy, he says it gives my nervous system a rest. I take it around 10:00pm and am still awake at 3:00am. I take Xanax also during the day. I've taken Xanax for 13 years 2-3 times daily. When you feel so bad, becoming addicted to something if it helps is the least of my worries.

Dawn

Dawn, how did you know your Pots is the adrenergenic kind and how does that affect treatments and other medications. Thanks. Susan

[Guest Mary from OH]

I take Klonopin too and have for years now. I started taking it for severe nerve pain. (one of it's other uses) I couldn't live without it! I don't find that I am addicted to it and one of the side effects to it was that it helped me sleep better, which was something I hadn't been able to do for most of my life because of my POTS. So, I lucked out and found a drug that was helping multiple problems that I had at onece.

I have spoken to my dr and pharmacist of the addictiveness of the drug. They both have assured me that I am on such a low dose (and all the dosages mentioned here are also low doses too, that it would be difficult to become addicted to and that if my body became addicted to it, it would be easy to wean off of it. I hope that some of this info puts your mind at ease.

You just need to experiment with it to see if it will work for YOU. Good luck!

[dawn]

I've taken Klonopin 1mg at bedtime for a couple years. My doctor says although it doesn't make me sleepy, he says it gives my nervous system a rest. I take it around 10:00pm and am still awake at 3:00am. I take Xanax also during the day. I've taken Xanax for 13 years 2-3 times daily. When you feel so bad, becoming addicted to something if it helps is the least of my worries.

Dawn

Dawn, how did you know your Pots is the adrenergenic kind and how does that affect treatments and other medications. Thanks. Susan

I've taken Klonopin 1mg at bedtime for a couple years. My doctor says although it doesn't make me sleepy, he says it gives my nervous system a rest. I take it around 10:00pm and am still awake at 3:00am. I take Xanax also during the day. I've taken Xanax for 13 years 2-3 times daily. When you feel so bad, becoming addicted to something if it helps is the least of my worries.

Dawn

Dawn, how did you know your Pots is the adrenergenic kind and how does that affect treatments and other medications. Thanks. Susan

I have high catecholamines in my urine. Also had the epinephrine and norepinephrine blood draws at Mayo. My first TTT my heartrate went from 112 laying to 185 in 30 seconds when they tilted me. I take Inderal also 10 mg which also helps with the surges as it is a betablocker that does cross the blood brain barrier. I have tried Ativan and Valium, they both had side effects for me. Valium made me vey aggitated. It's odd how some things work and others don't. Xanax or Klonopin never made me sleepy. I am allergic to Morphine and Codiene so have never taken anything for pain since that reaction after I had a hysterectomy.

When I wake up in the morning I take Xanax and Inderal then lay for an hour. I am so hyperadrengeric when I awaken. My husband says I startle awake about every 5 minutes during the night????????????? The 3 Xanax I take daily are all in the morning about 2 hours apart.

[yikespanic]

Thanks everyone for responding. I am going to give it another shot, my doctor said to take a quarter of the dose I tried on Monday and see if that works without making me so groggy. The dose I tried Monday night left me groggy for 2 whole days. I think I am extra sensitive to it. I am going to start tonight cuz it's the weekend and I don't really have to drive or anything till Monday. That way I can see how it affects me at the smaller dose. I hope it does because I need something to work.

Kim