# in your oppinion the best time to take klonopin/clonazepam?



## jc (Aug 10, 2004)

ive been taking klonopin/clonazepam now for a few years... ive always started the day with 0.5mg and then later in the day when im feeling a little frazzled i take another 0.5mg...
now my concern is that ive heard this med makes people feel tired and lethargic,i dont actually feel lethargic but ive been taking this dose in the mornings for so long that maybe im not firing on all cylinders without noticing it.....
when do doctors say is the best time to take benzos and what difference would it make if i took my benzos at the nightime... also if i took my benzos at night how long does it take for them to leave the body....

thanks

jc


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## comfortably numb (Mar 6, 2006)

The anti-anxiety effects of clonazepam can last anywhere from 8 to 12 hours depending on dosage. I take 1mg in the morning about half an hour after i wake up then another 1mg in the evening. I find this works just fine and my cognitive abilities actually improved because im not having anxiety and dp/dr all the time.If your not noticing any changes in your cognitive abilities id say you got nothing to worry about. Thats a pretty low dose anyway.

If you took all your benzos at night you wouldnt get the full anti-anxiety effects during the day. It would be a waste in my opinion.

The half life of clonazepam is about 50 hours i think but that has nothing to do with how long the anti-anxiety effects last. It just means that you wont go into withdrawal for about 50 hours. The half life of valium's active metabolites is about 200 hours but its anti-anxiety effects dont last as long as clonazepam.


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## Martinelv (Aug 10, 2004)

> If you took all your benzos at night you wouldnt get the full anti-anxiety effects during the day. It would be a waste in my opinion.


Yes, I agree. It's taken me a while to figure it out, as I usually took my full whack (8mg) at night, and the next morning I just felt groggy and anxious!

Spread it out through the day JC, depending on your dosage. I take 2mg in the morning, 2mg around 2pm, 2mg around 8pm, and the last before I go to bed. And that sorted me.

Incidently, I know that 8mg sounds a lot, (and it is) and is meant to be the maximum dosage (for maintenance of TLE/Anxiety)), but if you read the literature carefully, it says that maximum dose is 20mg!!! I tried that once.

Dead man walking!


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## comfortably numb (Mar 6, 2006)

Ya 20mg's is the maximum recomended dose in the run of a day. Usually only people with epilepsy take this much, or a person experiencing a manic episode. I guess if a person had extreme anxiety and had built up a tolerance to clonazepam they could end up taking that dose as well.

The most ive ever taken in one day i think was 12mg and i was totally mellowed out. If someone had stuck a gun in my face i probley would have laughed at them and told them to get out of the way and stop blocking my view of the tv.


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