Benzos Clonazepam and Dosage effectiveness

[PhakeJake]

I was recently prescribed .5mg of Clonazepam for anxiety. It is instructed to be taken "One tablet by mouth twice a day as needed". What I've found is that .5mg doesn't effect me much (even though I have 0 tolerance built up to any Benzos) - I know that 1mg doses are also available. My question is if I take 1 dose a day (2x.5MG tablets) in the morning, will that be more effective throughout the day, or is it better to spread them out and take 1 in the morning and 1 at night? While I feel a slight effect o the .5, it's not getting the job done for the anxiety and I'd like something stronger. I am also concerned about dosage because of what I've been seeing online about the terrible withdrawals, so I don't want to abuse this drug or use it "to get high". I will discuss the possibility of upping my daily dose to 2 times a day at 1mg. My next appointment is set for 1 month. Just wondering what your thoughts are - I know 1MG is safe to take so I'm not so concerned with the safety of taking 1MG at once, more interested in maximizing its effectiveness throughout the day. (ex: if it's 1MG to my system all at once, am I going to feel more relaxed throughout the day). Given its long half-life I'm not exactly sure how this works in detail but I know it stays in your system for quite a while. I realize everyone is different, but any opinions on this would be helpful. I may just have a high natural tolerance to these. If anything needs to be clarified just let me know. Clonazepam and Wellbutrin were prescribed for Anxiety issues due to recent occurrences in my life that caused anxiety to skyrocket, and I am generally anxious and tend to overthink everything, otherwise no depression or any other type of issues.

Background/Info:
40 y/o Male
6ft
210lb
physically very healthy and active, lifestyle and diet are in order. Generally happy.

Thanks-
J

 

[Professer]

in similar situation, going to docs soon, feedback appreciated here too in a broader sense

 

[star15389]

What is "recently?" Tolerance to benzodiazepines can build up very quickly in some people. Clonazepam's duration of action is long enough such that .5mg in the morning and .5mg at night would probably not be too different than 1mg in a single daily dose. I would certainly not recommend a daily dose of any benzodiazepine, though, and definitely not taking it for a month. If you really need medication try hydroxyzine, gabapentin, even antidepressants first.

 

[neurotic]

clonazepam is my favorite benzo, imo it provides great relief from anxiety and stress but without the stupidity alprazolam does, and it also lasts long

my personal suggestion, even if you don't have a benzo tolerance, would be 2mgs clonazepam right when you wake up. you should be anxiety-free until almost the end of the day.

i used to do this all the time. wake up at 6am, take 2mgs clonazepam, go through school, do shit in the afternoon and at may be 4-5pm i was already noticing the effect wearing off. the day was a breeze, i just couldn't be bothered and i didn't do any stupid shit, no amnesia or slurred speech, i was just chill and social situations didn't bother me. that was after a lot of experimenting with benzos i found the sweet spot. there was some time before of me popping 2mg alprazolam bars through the school day... fucked up times.

also remember you shouldn't really 'feel' anything from benzos, no 'high' at all. you might not even notice you're chill / not stressed.

nowadays i usually take 2.5mgs of clonazepam, but 2mgs will do just fine. don't take them everyday, don't rely on them as the only way out of your anxiety. seek therapy. view them as like, a band-aid. taking them 3 times a week is enough not to become dependent IME.

also, i'd bring that subject up to your doc, being honest you know (if the 2mgs do work). hey doc so i found 0.5mgs too little, i did some testing with bigger dosages and found 2mgs to be the perfect spot. be clear that you're not doing them everyday or he'll think you'll be getting tolerant. he could be understandable.

by previous psych was very comprehensible and didn't mind switching me straight up from 0.25 to 2mg of alprazolam (though this led to lots of benzo-filled stupid shenanigans ) but my actual doc refuses going past 0.5mgs of clonazepam... stupid fuck. so i have to get my 2mgs via other means

peace and hope it all works out to you

 

[hoopy]

1mg is not going to do much. my matainece dose is 3.5 and a few drs have told me you are not really going to befinifit until after 2mg

 

[PhakeJake]

"recently" meaning this week. The .5's just aren't effective enough. I will mention this in my next appointment with her in a month and try to up the dosage to at least 1mg. I'm not sure if it's my slightly above average size, or a natural tolerance or what. It does say "per day as needed" and my anxiety occurs a lot as of late so I am assuming I take .5 in the morning and .5 at night. The reason I went to her in the first place is because I believe it was "needed" - and taking it daily seems to take the edge off a bit. She did prescribe me 60 pills for a month, which is 2x a day. One thing that makes me feel positive about our next visit is that she did say "if you take one and you feel it's not effective enough, take one more". - So in this regard I think upping the dosage might be something I can get her to do. Also, I have the option to cut them in half if I only want a .5, and of course less trips to the doc and/or pharmacy. I'm not looking to abuse, just with the recent things going on in my life I needed something to calm me down. If she does prescribe me 1mg x2 per day, I will try doing 2mg morning dose that sounds like a good idea as long as it doesn't put me to sleep. I do NOT want to tell her "yea, you gave me .5 but I took 4 of them at once" as I don't that that would build much confidence that I'm not looking to abuse them.

 

[ghostandthedarknes]

All it took for me was a call saying it wasn't working. Boom. .5 to 1mg. 3 times a day. Good luck.

 

[PhakeJake]

Thanks for the feedback Ghost, that's what I'm going to do with my next meeting. As of right now I'm taking .5 2 to 3 times daily, so 1 to 1.5g a day. Today I took 1.5 and I am feeling better. I will run out before my next dr appt so I'll try to do a few days of only taking 2 a day - but at my size and apparent tolerance I just don't think .5 2x a day is enough for me. If she will up me to 1g 2-3 times a day that would be great. If not, there are plenty of other doctors in the area. If I can't talk to her about it or if she doesn't understand then I'll go to another doctor and get what I need. I have a feeling from our initial conversation that she will be willing to work with me.

So far, my experience on clonazapam + wellbutrin has been positive. It tends to relax me and the things I normally freak out about, I just deal with and don't worry as much, I just do what I need to do to get things done. It also helps me realize what I'm doing is all I can do, and I have my limits. I'm not necessarily looking for a "high" I just want to feel calm and relaxed rather than anxious and worried about every little thing. My greatest fear is the horrors I've read and seen online about withdrawals. I've only been on them for literally a few days, but as sort of a health nut the potential for hellish withdrawal is scary. I will also talk with my doctor about that, and make sure that if at any point I feel I need to ween myself off of this that we can do it properly, slowly, without any major side effects. I also take what I read/see on youtube with a grain of salt knowing that many of these folks are 5-20 year users, abusers, and general druggies that don't attempt to follow the dosage as instructed and just go bananas on whatever pills they can find. It's obvious by looking at most of them that they are in terrible shape to begin with. I will deal with things as they come, try to minimize the chance of withdrawal, and take the dosage I feel works for me. I'm hoping 1g twice daily will work, that's what I'm going to recommend since I can feel the effects of the .5 but would like to be set on a dosage that will keep me a little more relaxed. There is a lot going on in my life right now. While a lot of good things are happening in my life regarding money, great family, great wife, and generally being a happy cheerful person, I also have a handicapped child with possible deadly issues at hand, and that is very hard to deal with. I feel that as the leader of the family I need to be strong and confident. I don't want to be over-medicated, but I need something that will knock out this anxiousness that is eating me up so I can make rational decisions regarding the safety of my family and my life.

I appreciate everyones feedback and if anyone has anything to add, I want to know as much about this drug as possible. I'm no expert by any means, I'm new to the drug but I'm an educated person, I tend to overthink and investigate everything (this is possibly the smae characteristoc of my personality that causes these anxiety issues) - but I soak things up like a sponge and I'm willing to listen to anyone that I feel has a good background and/or advice on the drug. I know prescription drugs, especially benzos, can be dangerous.

I had a few beers tonight and I feel guilty about it. I know you're not supposed to drink on these, but I have a decent tolerance and just needed some extra umph as I don't want to take too many pills. I don't normally rely on alcohol. I figure a few drinks wouldn't kill me considering the dosage I'm on. I can drink 8 or so without getting blasted, so an extra .5 and a few beers put me at a good spot. Not something I want to make a habit of. This week has especially been rough on me and my family.

 

[phatass]

explain to your doctor, maybe go up to 1.5mg (1mg taken in the morning if it's more for anxiety than sleep) then a small 0.5 booster if you feel you need it... clonazepam is very strong/mg, some charts say 0.25 clonazepam=10mg diazepam (valium)... so try to keep the dose as low as possible (try to stay under 2mg/day)