Benzos gf says I'm different when on Clonazepam

[paper planes]

i have big social anxiety but i myself would not use benzos to treat it because then i just becoming dependent on that for just a quick solution

 

[Pegasus]

^Good thinking! It may not even be a solution at all, since many get worse anxiety after discontinuing or even between doses. I truly believe that the number of people that benzos are a good idea for is pretty low. Even intermittent use is shown to lead to rebound effects.

 

[narcoticon]

It took me three episodes of Klonopin + beer to actually fear a drug for the first time. All three times, I acted like a straight dick (I was informed the next day; at the time I thought I was the coolest guy in the world. So, being able to "debate" someone may actually mean being an asshole when high on benzos), blacked out twice, and the last time woke up with my knuckles smashed, a black eye, and a friend with a broken nose. That is a scary combination, and this is coming from someone who can take enough dope to drop a horse. Just my 2 cents.

 

[Jakeperson]

Does any one else find this to be the most aggressive benzo besides narcoticon?

I sure do!

 

[blackie123]

psychiatrist just prescribed me .5 mg Clonozapam, and I took 2 mg today, with a couple of drinks, and she says I'm way different.

Benzos and alcohol will do that. Especially long acting ones like Klonapin. You think you are normal but outwardly you seem very different to other people. So when you say maybe you are on different levels, in fact you are. She's sober and you aren't. If that is an issue now it will be more of one if you continue using benzos, especially in amounts greater than prescribed and mixed with alcohol.

You deserve to treat yourself well and be happy. Just be sure you aren't really fucking yourself over in the process.

 

[Trigeminal]

I would get the fuck off of them, personally. I'm on the tail end of a very minor withdrawal, and last weekend was one of the worst of my life. It was torture.

 

[suessmayr]

Alot of people told me I was different on valium or xanax. I got into so many fights with people I loved - best friends, girlfriends. I can even tell myself, by reading things I wrote at that time, how fucked up and wasted I really was.

It seems to me that the reason so many doctors put patients on benzos for more than the recommended 2-4 weeks is really just laziness. They are effective, at least initially, and it's easier to just write another script than to practise something difficult like CBT or to try to find an effective/compatible anti-depressant.

I can only reiterate all the above posts at this stage. I wish I'd received some advice like this before I got into benzos!

 

[poppyplanet]

This thread definetly jumped out at me as I see myself in the same position and past prodicaments as all of you who've posted. I also, just recently stopped taking Klonopin. I was taken off the med a couple times, first by family members who called my doctors to complain, then, because of issues my current dr. has with using it as a long term solution, respectively. I've been told time and time again by family members and my girlfriend that when I'm on my klonopin (I started abusing them right off the bat) I'm a totally different person in terms of being mean and flat out aggresive behavior. Now, keep in mind, I still feel that I need benzos to survive, as they calm me down and allow me to become "a person who sticks up for himself in compromising or debatable situations". That just tells you there that this class of drugs, particularly longer acting ones like Clonazepam, do very well lie, at least to me, about who I am and would like to be, or act, as a person. This drug, while I'm sure could be beneficial if taken at prescribed doses, became dangerous to me and potentially fatal in a whole assortment of embarrasing situations I was in.

 

[mr. red]

Thanks for the insight folks. I am not new to the Benzo game, and know the consequences associated with them. I have been on one benzo or another for the past 9 months, always to help me sleep, and I indeed ran out early this month because I was being silly with them. I got a stern talking to from the gf, and have tapered .25 mg then to nothing the past 1.5-2 weeks (nothing for a week), with no noticable w/ds. I am only going to take .25 mg at bed time from now on, because I don't want to go down a bad road. I know in an ideal world, there is no need for them, but at this stage of my course of treatment, my psychiatrist and I both agree that they are working (when I take them as directed).

 

[tyrael]

That's awesome to hear mr. red! From someone who's been on both sides I know what it's like. Good to hear you've worked out a plan with your doc/GF/psychiatrist/etc!

 

[RobotRipping]

that's cool you worked it out and got down to a reasonable dose. I too feel like a normal person on benzos but a normal person doesn't have their friends constantly concerned about their drug use/being a total asshole all the time. Friends would warn me constantly and I'd just tell them to fuck off. Indeed benzos can turn you into an arrogant asshole, a violent one at that. I had a sales job at the time so I figured it was perfect but in retrospect calling customers all sorts of bad names didn't really help things. As well impulsively buying weird stuff and breaking many things accidentally and on purpose put unnecessary strains on my finances.

if everyone thinks benzos are so bad look at how barbituates worked out lol; benzos are certainly safer at least. Still terrible drugs but they replaced barbs which were even worse.

 

[SuperPump250]

It took me three episodes of Klonopin + beer to actually fear a drug for the first time. All three times, I acted like a straight dick (I was informed the next day; at the time I thought I was the coolest guy in the world. So, being able to "debate" someone may actually mean being an asshole when high on benzos), blacked out twice, and the last time woke up with my knuckles smashed, a black eye, and a friend with a broken nose. That is a scary combination, and this is coming from someone who can take enough dope to drop a horse. Just my 2 cents.

I have to agree very much with this post. I had this same issue with benzos, anti depressants, and adderall. These prescription drugs made me confident and not shy inside perhaps, but to everybody else I was just coming across as a straight up dick head, and I mean much worse than anyone who gets an ego when they get drunk. I could go on about stories with these drugs about things I did that I could not believe.

Strangely, or actually not so strangely, I've never had these unknown ego shifts with illegal drugs.

I never feel like I made any progress on these prescription drugs either, just fake progress. Some nights seemed okay, but in reality a couple years later these drugs left me with much LESS than I had going into them.

Be careful.

 

[opiatekrzy]

benzos are actually GREAT for short term relief anxiety/panic attacksm to a certain extent. After you take benzos everyday long term, tolerance develops and it just doesnt become effective for it;s purpose to relieve anxiety/panic attack. the only benzo i feel is beneficial for long term treatment anxiety, panicm general anxiety disorder is Klonopin due to it's long half life. All benzos are very addictive physically and can be life threatening so its important to either stay below .5mg doses so you dont suffer life threatenening withdrawls, or make sure ur script last the whole month, and dont lose it! i lost my xanax once cuz i abused em, was in WD went to my DR and said i lost the bottle moving out of my apartment, sohe switched me to klonopin that day, i was mad at first but now i cant complain it helps me better then xanax did

 

[wolverhamptonian]

I feel if a drug is prescribed and part of a treatment plan and controls negative symptoms the well yeah definetly! Why suffer when there is a solution 2 the problem this may seen obvious and basic because really threw my personel eyes it is.Everybody is born in form like alone no one person is the same and i dont feel anybody should be made feel depressed or stigmatised 4 taking something that improves quality of life.That is my personel opinion on phychiatric medication 4 legitamate reasons!.

 

[Trigeminal]

I feel if a drug is prescribed and part of a treatment plan and controls negative symptoms the well yeah definetly! Why suffer when there is a solution 2 the problem this may seen obvious and basic because really threw my personel eyes it is.Everybody is born in form like alone no one person is the same and i dont feel anybody should be made feel depressed or stigmatised 4 taking something that improves quality of life.That is my personel opinion on phychiatric medication 4 legitamate reasons!.

You're missing the point--no one is stigmatizing him. This is a forum for people who do drugs. He was just being warned about benzos, in particular.

 

[verso]

I don't mean to minimize the issue here, but I've come to find that girlfriends are hardwired to tell you that you're different on whatever substance you've taken. "I don't know... you're just different!" 8)

And to be completely honest, you should be different. I mean, if you're taking a medication like clonazepam to treat a very real issue like a panic disorder or anxiety, well, then, why wouldn't and why shouldn't the medication make a difference? If you're not different on a medication like clonazepam, then the medication's not working and it's time to try something else.

That being said, I am not a drug advocate of any kind, and if you can find some other way to treat your anxiety without taking a benzodizepine, I think that would be better. You know what I mean?

 

[wolverhamptonian]

soz man maybe i should have explainded it differently!

 

[tyrael]

benzos are actually GREAT for short term relief anxiety/panic attacksm to a certain extent.
....
the only benzo i feel is beneficial for long term treatment anxiety, panicm general anxiety disorder is Klonopin
....

Agreed! (Not that I can say I've tried all benzo's however) Out of the number that I have tried - either recreationally or medicinally (I went through a few different anxiolytic "classed" benzo's, upon my GP's/psychologist advice for [social] anxiety) - I also found Clonazepam (although generic Clonaze, not specifically Klonopin but it should have the same effects 8) ) to be most effective!

Edit: Having said that I'm currently (and finally found something which helps! Personally, the/any benzo's had more negative side effects the positive :/) on Paroxetine [an SSRI]. See my above post(s) for my (whole) story!

 

[tyrael]

I don't mean to minimize the issue here, but I've come to find that girlfriends are hardwired to tell you that you're different on whatever substance you've taken. "I don't know... you're just different!" 8)

If this is the case (and obviously not saying this is the OP's situation, as no one here [I suspect! ] knows) then I personally would be kinda looking elsewhere ("for my lovin'" ). Purely basic on the fact that if you're partner isn't able to accept you for who you are...do you really want to be with said partner? **

And to be completely honest, you should be different. I mean, if you're taking a medication like clonazepam to treat a very real issue like a panic disorder or anxiety, well, then, why wouldn't and why shouldn't the medication make a difference? If you're not different on a medication like clonazepam, then the medication's not working and it's time to try something else.

Agreed for sure! (especially the bold sentence! )

That being said, I am not a drug advocate of any kind, and if you can find some other way to treat your anxiety without taking a benzodizepine, I think that would be better. You know what I mean?

Finally, agreed to this also. I've said it (many times) in previous/other threads - we (that is, our/my generation. The 80's [, 90's, 00's] gen and I guess to an extent even further back to the [late-ish] 70's children) are most definitely a generation of "pill-poppers"! I like the saying, "[blah, blah, blah]...?...There's a pill for that!"*. Knowing many people who I've spoken to (professionally, via casual conversations with friends, etc.) in the med-industry also agree with me on this one. It's a little unfortunate on one-hand (a good example I often hear from the nurses is people requesting an analgesic for a headache which could quite simply be fixed by drinking water, sitting in a quiet/darkened room, "meditating"***, and so on and so forth!) I think that it's wonderful (and personally intriguing! ) how far/what current medicine can do however we (generally/collectively) need to stop relying so much on meds! Having said all this, obviously this is my personal opinion, the/these positives out way any possible negative outcomes (that is, dependency on said drugs)!

Edit: Apologies for slightly hijacking your thread, mr. red!


** note that what I say "you", I'm not talking to (specifically) the OP. I mean the use of "you" in a generic, plural-type of use!
* please tell me someone did get the i-Phone/Pod/Pad reference! hehe =P
*** i put this in quotes just to clarify I don't specifically mean what one may think of as "traditional" meditation - not (necessarily) the "ohmmm, ohmmm", legs and hands crossed, in the lotus position, kind of meditation - more generally, as in anywhere along the "meditation spectrum"!

 

[opiatekrzy]

clonazepam is the way to go for generalized anxiety. its sad doctors, most of them pretty much pre-write SSRI scripts for all patients who complain of anxiety/panic...mostly older folks get benzos for anxiety..im 25yrs old farthest i got is Xanax 1mg 3x, klonopin 4mg/daily, im only on klonopin 2mg a day now. i dont have to worry bout tolerance, redosing, as i take it every 12hrs, its constantly in my blood, keeping me at a calm, unlike xanax, how rapid acting it is, from working well, to withdrawl, tolerance..klonopin sometimes keeps me dosed the whole next day and i could skip a day if i wanted to...i wish docs would atleast benefit people with klonopin and not SSRI, SNRI, bla bla bla..i understand xanax being an issue and hard to get, but come on patients see they're same doctors for years and get nowhere with them for the right meds, wont budge past SSRI, and a psychiatrist? FORGET BOUT IT! they Love making a million copies of zoloft for each patient that walks in, plus they always do a full medical backround check on too b4 RXing, my primary wanted me to get my klonopin and adderall from a shrink, but i got denied cuz of my opiate addiction, so my primary jst told me not to worry bout it he will RX me 3 month supply of my klonopin and adderall at a time, just dont ask for opiates...benzos are great short term...klonopin is the only benzo i feel that can be beneficial long term...