# I've hit a wall with Klonopin



## Guest (Jun 1, 2010)

I've been trying to make the leap from .5625 mg a day to .5mg a day and I just don't seem to be able to tolerate it. I know it is such a low amount (1/16th of a mg) but for some reason, the days that I try and do .5mg things start to go south for me mentally. I'm really mad about it too. On Saturday we went to a family bbq and I ended up going a long while between doses. When my morning dose wore off, my DR went completely away. Everything around me was sharp and real. I could feel the atmosphere in the air, ect. But then things started getting overwhleming so I had to take my next dose and then I had a really bad dp episode. It just makes me mad because I know that the klonopin is making the dp worse but I can't seem to taper down anymore or I start having violent perceptual shifts.

I'm also considering trying to go back on some kind of anxiety medication. Not to cure my dp but to deal with the massive anxiety I've been having lately. Its just overwhelming.


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## ZachT (Sep 8, 2008)

I take klonopin and i have felt the same way.


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## Openhanded (Jun 3, 2010)

You are on quite a low dose of Klonopin. Maybe you should try raising your dosage? Sorry if I missed something, but benzodiazepines build up tolerance quite fast. As for myself, I take 2mg of Klonopin in the morning to combat my terrible anxiety and it works wonders for me. As for DP/DR, I'm still trying to judge whether the Klonopin has a negative/neutral/positive effect towards my DP.

So basically what I am trying to say is I am not a fan of anxiety medication besides benzodiazepines. Klonopin is a life-saver for me because it lasts so long (36 hour half-life) and is quite strong. Also, since the long half life, it builds up in your system better. I suggest taking the Klonopin each morning for anxiety and not just "PRN" or as needed. Since I started doing this, my anxiety has decreased quite a bit. I carry around a 1mg Klonopin with me just in case I need it.

Of course then there is the option that Klonopin just isn't the benzodiazepine for you. Maybe you could try something different like Xanax (alprazolam), Ativan (lorazepam) or Valium (diazepam). I have tried all these at doses equivalent to my Klonopin (clonazepam) dosage and none of them have done any justice for me. I hope my perspective has helped out some.


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## Absentis (Jul 10, 2007)

tinyfairypeople said:


> I've been trying to make the leap from .5625 mg a day to .5mg a day and I just don't seem to be able to tolerate it. I know it is such a low amount (1/16th of a mg) but for some reason, the days that I try and do .5mg things start to go south for me mentally. I'm really mad about it too. On Saturday we went to a family bbq and I ended up going a long while between doses. When my morning dose wore off, my DR went completely away. Everything around me was sharp and real. I could feel the atmosphere in the air, ect. But then things started getting overwhleming so I had to take my next dose and then I had a really bad dp episode. It just makes me mad because I know that the klonopin is making the dp worse but I can't seem to taper down anymore or I start having violent perceptual shifts.
> 
> I'm also considering trying to go back on some kind of anxiety medication. Not to cure my dp but to deal with the massive anxiety I've been having lately. Its just overwhelming.


I don't mean to be blunt, but why do you want to lower your dose? The med sounds like it's working, and it is well within the "safe" range for clonazepam. It it's working for you, why try to mess around with it?

You're also saying you want to go back on "some kind of anxiety medication". Clonazepam *is* an anti-anxiety med and it's one of the *most *effective ones out there.

Unless you have a really good reason to stop taking it, you should keep taking it.


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## Guest (Jun 4, 2010)

Absentis said:


> I don't mean to be blunt, but why do you want to lower your dose? The med sounds like it's working, and it is well within the "safe" range for clonazepam. It it's working for you, why try to mess around with it?
> 
> You're also saying you want to go back on "some kind of anxiety medication". Clonazepam *is* an anti-anxiety med and it's one of the *most *effective ones out there.
> 
> Unless you have a really good reason to stop taking it, you should keep taking it.


I want to stop taking it because it is making my dp worse, not better. I have lapses between doses, where the klonopin wears off and in those periods my dr goes away. My vision is clear, I can tell that things are real, etc. When I take the klonopin, the dr comes back. I am groggy, can't concentrate or remember things, everything feels like a dream again, I am numbed.

I am seeing a cognative behavioral therapist who has sucessfully treated other people with dp (as in the people have recovered, one I know personally) and she also said that she feels that the klonopin is preventing me from recovering. I decided to just deal with stuff and have been on the .5 mg dose for a couple of days now. It seems like that 1/16th of a mg was the difference between feeling numb and not numb because I feel SO much better on this lower dose. Yes, I can now feel the dp symptoms, where I couldn't before but I also don't feel unreal and strung out all of the time.

I agree that the anxiety is an issue but dp is caused because the fight or flight response in the brain is stuck on. This response causes panic which is just a very aggitated form of anxiety. So it makes sense that I would have anxiety, having dp. I just need to learn to manage the anxiety. I started taking the multivitamin that Tommy recommends and it is really helping me feel calmer.


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