# My Journey With Klonopin, Need Some Advice



## jasongitar (Aug 18, 2004)

Ok, Here's the situation. I have been dealing with anxiety, DP, Depression for about 17 years induced the first time by smoking marijuana, just like a lot of people here. I have never used prescribed drugs other than a little experimentation with Paxil, Zoloft, and Ativan, with horrible horrible side effects within minutes of taking them. So I never consistantly taken anything. I have done all the natural methods exercise, diet, distraction, etc. and ofcourse it helped quite a bit, but still needed that feeling of being comfortable in myself again. So I thought even with all the bad press about benzos, and even with my bad experience with Ativan I am going to give Klonopin a shot and see what happens because of all the people that it has helped here in the forum.

Well I did it, I started with just a tiny bit and worked my way up to about .5 mgs per day taken right before I go to sleep. I have been doing this a total of 6-7 weeks. The good news is this is the first drug I have taken consistantly for over a month. The bad news is I don't notice feeling any different at all except I am able to fall asleep easier, and a loss of libido. I have also noticed that I have no feeling of addiction to it, like I don't feel myself craving to take it, in fact I went off it a couple days this week to see if I would have any of the withdrawl feelings people talk about, and I feel completely fine, it's like I have never even taken to begin with. Do the withdrawls come later?

So what do I do now? I have read that some people here need to take up to 2mgs 3 times a day. Am I just not taking enough? I have never taken it during the day, it's always before I go to sleep. Could that be part of it?

I know I'm going to hear from a lot of people that I need to talk to my doctor/perscriber about it, and I will, but I want to hear some advice from you on the forum, whom are going through some the same things as I am. Also I don't want to hear comments about the dangers of benzos, trust me I know all about it. I am like a diabetic who needs their insulin right now and I am willing to take some risks and try a drug that may help. Well hope to hear from you soon.

Thanks,
Jason


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## comfortably numb (Mar 6, 2006)

Well there is no right dose for everybody you have to find a dose that works for you. I saw a big improvement at 1mg's a day in fact it disapeared at that dose within 1 week. I was still getting anxiety and panic attacks though so i had to up my dose.

You should take your dose during the day because your not getting the full benefit by just taking it at night. Your hardly getting any benefit at all actually because the effects of clonazepam only last 8-12 hours depending on tolerance.

As for withdrawals well thats a very small dose so you wouldnt get much if any withdrawals from that unless you where very sensitive to the effects of benzodiazepines. Also it takes a few months at a certain dose to develop a dependence on them. Clonazepam also has a half life of 50 hours which means you won't feel any withdrawals up until then give or take abit giving individual metabolism. Ive skipped 2 days without getting any withdrawals and im on 6mg's a day.

The loss of libido is a not so common side effect of clonazepam many people including me get increased libido. But benzodiazpines do flatten some peoples sex drive all the same. It usually does one or the other but clonazepam seems to be the horny benzo  .

I found ativan to be completely useless altogether. I didnt get any side effects or effects from it even taking 8mg's of it at once.


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## jasongitar (Aug 18, 2004)

Thank you Comfortablly Numb, I was really hoping to hear your response because you seem to be super informative about medications. I ended up going a total of 4 days this week without out it and I noticed I did start to get a little more depressed than usual, and wasn't wanting to deal with stressful things. So I tried another .5mgs before I went to bed last night and woke up feeling totally refreshed and non-stressed like I'm willing to tackle the day. So I think it is slightly helping. I want to try upping it to 1mg per day before I go to sleep, and if I don't trip out and get all weird feeling like other medications have made me feel in the past. I'll try taking it in the day, like you suggested. You may be right about my libido, I think my decrease in sex drive may be coming more from daily stress.


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## AllmindnoBrain (Jun 28, 2007)

ive been on klonopin for about 4 months now and i had the same thoughts and reactions to it as you mentioned in your post. I stopped taking it for 2 weeks because my prescription ran out and i didnt think it was helping enough to get more, but it was the time that i was not on it that i realized how much it was helping me. I began feeling slight anxiety with no identifiable source that would last with me throughout my day and at night made it very difficult to fall asleep. My libido came back but i am not so certain that it was a result of going off klonopin or that it was just a coincidence. Now that i am back on it my libido is as high as it has ever been, but we will see how long that lasts. I suggest taking about half the amount that you normally take, but take it in the morning in addition to what ever dosage you take at night. I take 1mg at night and i can feel my body start relaxing within 30 minutes of taking it.


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