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Benzos Clonazepam

J

junglebook

Bluelighter
Joined
May 28, 2012
Messages
192
Location
UK
So i got told by a mental health professionlist yesterday clonazepam is not used in anyway for treatment of seizures. Explain...Maybe hes hunting me down on these boards and wanted me to post this so he can see what i get up to heh theres a thought seen as he is now my shit talking care geezer guy thingy dunno wtf Lol
 
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Health orgnizations approve drugs for certain uses. I don't know what the organization is in the UK or if they don't approve clonazepam for treatment of epilepsy. If it isn't approved for this treatment it probably means there are other drugs out there that they find to be more effective and less potentially addictive/doesn't cause the same dependence as clonazepam. It obviously can help prevent seizures but that doesn't mean it is the best choice for doing so.
 
Oh yeah absolutely true i am actually perscribed it for the short term treament of having seizures. Just until i see my neurolgist. Which is exactly what its meant for over here there and everywhere. Thought that was a common fact. Im not diagnosed see....so clonazepam would be a wise choice right until diagnosise right ? Only talked to him on the phone once and i dont like the guy already.
 
Clonazepam has multiple theraputic purposes, though epilepsy isn't the most common one even though it's antiepileptic. Obviously it is common fact that it can be used for it. I was just trying to answer your question of why you doctor may have said it wasn't used for this purpose, which could be that the health organization like the FDA in the united states could not have clonazepam be approved speceficially for long term treatment of epilepsy. Benzos shouldn't really ever be perscribed for long term treatment due to there neuromodulation and addiction, which could be why your doctor said this as well.
 
i live in dk and i think its a lot like the uk here its normally given rectal diazepam (hard to do iv on someone with a seizure
nut i know here clonazepam is scriptet for epilepsi, amoung many other things

i know a dude who got it for he's temper? yeah good idea give someone violent some benzo's lol

but my point i think its common most places to use rectal diazepam (actully once got my hands on 3 ;))
 
It's got several possible applications - in some countries it's widely used as an anxiolytic, but in others it's rarely, if ever prescribed for that. I know of a few people who have clonazepam prescriptions for epilepsy or restless legs syndrome.
 
junglebook said:
So i got told by a mental health professionlist yesterday clonazepam is not used in anyway for treatment of seizures. Explain...Maybe hes hunting me down on these boards and wanted me to post this so he can see what i get up to heh theres a thought seen as he is now my shit talking care geezer guy thingy dunno wtf Lol
Click to expand...

Seems like you're a bit paranoid, I don't think your psychiatrist is hunting you down on BL, awaiting your post in OD to "see what you get up to".

I wouldn't rely so heavily on benzodiazepines as your first line treatment if you may have a seizure condition, it's important not to build unnecessary tolerance. I don't understand what your seizure problem has to do with a mental health professional either...
 
Hi, I'm in UK and prescribed clonazepam for anxiety/racing thoughts element of my bipolar.
When I 1st picked my script up and read the info I was like wtf! As it said it was a drug for prevention of epileptic seizures! Tbh I didn't even know it was a benzo at the time.
I queried with my psych and she said it's also effective in the treatment of anxiety - which she believes is route cause racing thoughts.
So, yes, in the UK clonazepam IS a drug used for epilepsy treatment, and in the UK that is its primary purpose.
Short term use is best, as it can cause tolerance and addiction in long term users, though I have read many times it is the least addictive of the benzo family (probs why shrink opted for this with me even tho am a uppers girl, not a downers) but just because it is suppose to be the least addicting that doesn't mean you won't - as many threads on here will verify with folk addicted to it, and benzo w/d seems worse than any other IMO, so sooner you see that specialist, the better.
 
Where is it written that clonazepam is less addictive than other benzodiazepines?

It is highly addictive, like other high potency benzodiazepines for example alprazolam.
 
^from my experience kpins are "less addictive" then say Xanax bars, because they are thought to be equipotent. This isn't really true bc the half life of clonazepam is much longer than alprazolam, like at least 2-3x . So 1mg of clon will be less intense but longer in duration compared with alprazolam. It's a bit hard to judge whether that makes it less addictive, maybe it's just less impulse to take more as it wears off.
 
It's 2-3x half life didn't seem to do jack shit compared to alprazolam in my experience, even at dosing ratios above 10:1.

With many drugs the half life is more of a factor, but think of it like methadone. A longer half life does not always means a more addictive drug. For example, methadone is just as addictive, if not more, than other opioids. There's more to addiction than half life, it's complex.

Another important factor of addiction is frequency of redosing. With clonazepam, you'll have built up levels in your serum which accumulate with daily dosing, just like the methadone example.
 
I've read on here that Clonazepam is actually one of the most anxiolytic non-hypnotic benzos, which actually makes it more addictive than other benzos at equipotent dosages if it works for you for anxiety.

As mentioned above, its long half life could lead to less of a compulsion to redose, making it less mentally addictive since you aren't always watching the clock for your next dose, but more physically addictive since there is a constant effect on your GABA receptors.
 
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There's loads of sites if you tap clonazepam into google - some users, some GP's, some addiction sites, I found a reference on oxford journals that clonazepam is thought to be a less addictive benzo than others.
I am sure as hell not saying everything on internet is true, hence why I wrote - I have read that - NOT it is fact and also - just because it is SUPPOSE to be - I am in no way stating clonazepam does not cause addiction, because it can and does, and there are some sites stating its MORE addictive - but I found a lot more stating it's suppose to be less addictive.
It is high potency like xanax however, xanax is fast acting and has shorter half life wheras clonazepam takes longer to kick in and has a much longer half life.
The faster acting benzo's tend to be more abuseable and w/d's from benzo's with a long half life are supposedly less severe than from benzos with a short half life.
It is also less euphoric than something like diazepam (from personal experience clonazepam induces no euphoria to me, diazepam does) - making it less likely to be sought and abused for this reason.
And, what I believe relevant to the OP - as he is taking to control seizures, Clonazepam is believed to take longer than other benzo's to build tolerance.
I am not saying at all that tolerance issues, psychological dependency, physical addiction, abuse and w/d's, but that everything I've read about the drug (I am a geek and spend hours gathering info on anything I am prescribed, from AP's to antibiotics) leads ME to believe the risks are LESS pronounced than with other benzos.
My reasoning behind believing this info, is that as a bipolar patient with a history of alchol and substance abuse, I am high risk for medication abuse, and believe my psych has given me - in her opinion - a medication with as low abuse and addiction potential as possible.
I would never say, I am 100% correct believe me, I am just an average joe offering my opinions and beliefs on meds I have/am using. These reasons above are why I reckon his prescribing doc felt it safe to treat him with clonazepam in the 1st place - it is what it is primarily prescribed for in UK after all, anything else such as my own anxiety/racing thoughts is off label use.
I would hope the OP would take all our answers with a pinch of salt, bear them in mind and do his own research. As already said, I would never proclaim to be 100% correct, and am very much open to information I've not heard and changing my beliefs and opinions should that info sway me.
 
From what reading I've done (and also experience), oxazepam seems to be the least addictive and abusable benzo, as it is the most slowly absorbed and isn't particularly strong in its action.
In the short term, short-acting benzodiazepines at least seem to be more addictive, possibly as the subjective effects of the drug come on and subside more quickly, calling for more immediate repeated dosing, and withdrawals also set in a little quicker. In the long term, though, taking benzos regularly is always going to lead to dependence, and I don't believe the risks with clonazepam are less pronounced than with most other benzos. Some may be more addictive, but I wouldn't say it's (one of) the least addictive.
 
I'm personally being prescribed clonazepam as a means to taper off tetrazepam and also because of its anti-convulsant properties, since I had two seizures when I quit cold turkey. So clearly, some doctors would beg to differ.
 
tricomb said:
For me with clonazepam, I would constantly be thinking about my next dose, even at high dosages q6h.
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Yeah, but to you, clonazepam is "less effective than a breathmint." I just meant for the majority of people who get good therapeutic benefit from clonazepam.

I wonder a higher rate of people get no positive effects or even paradoxical ones from clonazepam than with other benzos...
 
^ I think so. I have had the only panic attacks of my life using clonazepam to come off of large amounts of cocaine. Funny, the cocaine alone never was harsh enough to give me a panic attack, but add in 3-5mg of clonazepam and im tweaking in the corner convinced I'm dying of an OD
 
tricomb said:
Where is it written that clonazepam is less addictive than other benzodiazepines?

It is highly addictive, like other high potency benzodiazepines for example alprazolam.
Click to expand...

Actually tricomb, if you look at it from a purely chemical standpoint, yes clonazepam is less addictive than many other benzos. Benzos act on the GABA(A) receptors and clonazepam along with alprazolam, lorazepam, diazepam and other anxiolytics act much more powerfully at the alpha 2 subunit of the GABA(A) receptor. Modulation of the alpha 2 subunit is associated with disinhibition and anxiolysis.

The alpha 1 subunit, which are much more powerfully acted upon by the hypnotics (temazepam, triazolam, nitrazepam, lormetazepam, etc etc) is responsible for sedation, motor-impairment, amnesia, physical dependence, and reinforcing behavior. So technically speaking, the hypnotics are more powerfully reinforcing and are more physically addictive.

Clonazepam, alprazolam, diazepam, lorazepam and the rest of the anti-anxiety agents also act on the alpha 1 subunit (just like the hypnotics also act on the alpha 2 subunit), but they are much weaker modulators of the alpha 1 subunit than the hypnotics are.
 
Yeah but through the same logic, alprazolam acts more strongly on the alpha 2 subunit, and I don't think that alprazolam is less addictive than temazepam, but this is just my experience.
 
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