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Benzos Klonopin duration of effects vs half life

M

Mycophile

Bluelighter
Joined
Mar 3, 2014
Messages
4,319
I take Klonopin and I'm extremely confused as to the difference between its' half life and duration of effects.

I'd always thought Klonopin's half life was 12 hours because I read on Wikipedia that "it's duration of effects is 6 to 12 hours".

However, both Wikipedia and other sites agree it's half life is between 18-50 hours with it usually being 20-30 hours.

It just doesn't make sense to me though that it can have effects up to 12 hours but hasn't yet even been half way eliminated from your bloodstream you know??

Can anyone explain why Klonopin's cognitive effects would last so much less time than it take for it be eliminated from the bloodstream?

I just figured that if 100% of it is in your bloodstream you'd be 100% feeling it???


Also, how long do Klonopin's anxiety reducing effects last for most of you guys??

For me they last about 12 hours but I hear people on other sites saying they only feel its effects for 2-6 hours!!!

That sounds CRAZY to me and that's what I'd expect of a short acting benzo like Xanax.

Thanks
 
Benzos affect everyone differently and the half-life never seems to represent the actual duration of effects. I was taking a Japanese benzo for a while called flutoprazepam. Its' half-life is supposed to be the longest of any benzo. One tablet in the morning would keep me in a calm state for most of the day, but it definitely didn't last for hundreds of hours and I found even xanax and temazepam seemed to accumulate more.

I don't worry too much about the science behind it, just pick a favourite and you're set.
 
Yeah well I take Klonopin, but I guess the answer is just that the duration and half life are not really related or are they??

And I was also wondering for other Klonopin users how long they feel it lasts for them??

Cause I feel like Klonopin lasts about 12 hours but then again I was given that suggestion by what I read so maybe a few of those hours are placebo and I wanted to know how long most other Klonopin users feel the anxiety relieving effect lasts.
 
i mean just going by the numbers you said it almost does make sense right? If you take say 6 mg after 18 hours you have 3 mg left in ya. So at the 12 hour mark it was probably closer to 4 mg.....so 4-6 mg is what gives you the effect in this case.
As far as anxiety relief, Its really gunna depend on the individual. Are they an opiate addict in W/D? Do they have a tolerance to benzos? How bad is their anxiety normally? There's a myriad of questions pertaining to the individual situation that would need to be addressed.
 
Duration of effects is how long the drug covers its intended use. For me it was effective at managing most anxiety in the neighborhood of 8-12 hours personally. Half life pertains to the length of time it takes to clear the metabolic process from start to finish. The length of time it takes for the body to eliminate all metabolites to where they are no longer detected by blood/serum is approximately six times the drug's half life.
 
Regardless of klonopin's half life, I feel its duration of effects for so long! I even have a massive benzo tolerance too and have been taking klonopin for over 5 years now, and still it continues to work amazing for me at erasing any trace of anxiety at doses of 1-2mg a time. I usually take around 1-2mg before work, and my shifts are pretty long like 10 hour shifts and my job is hectic af too, so even with my crazy, anxiety inducing job and my stupid high benzo tolerance, klonopin still acts like some kind of miracle drug for my extremely bad social/general anxiety! And on a low stress day when I am off work, and just at home or whatever even 1-2mg lasts a good 8-12 hrs depending on the day, but I usually re-dose every 6 hours or so to be on the safe side.. I don't know where I would be without it, it truly was like a missing link to my life until I tried it, and when I did I felt and still feel complete from it!
 
It has to do with the distribution of the drug. Benzos act primarily in the CNS so how quickly, how much, how long they get and stay there plus their binding capacity to the receptor determine the speed of onset and duration of action. But in the periphery, the drugs are being distributed all over. Benzos are lipophilic so a,lot goes into adipose tissue where it gets trapped for awhile. Whatever residual drug in circulation, or that be redistributed from the fat or other tissue can go back to the brain and exert an effect. But you are metabolizing and excreting it as well. At some point the distribution is slower than elimination but less and less drug is available to work where needed but still measurable. Therefore duration and half life arent equal. Chronic dosing will lead to steady state though where this isnt the case till you stop or decrease the dose or frequency.
 
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