Benzos Klonopin First Time User - Important Q

[bluemoon23]

I recently just started taking Klonopin 0.5 mg per day. It's negated my anxiety considerably and that's fantastic. However, it's given me really bad double vision (only w/ longer distances). Will this side-effect wear off over time as maybe my brain is just becoming accustomed to the drug, or is this a legitimate reason to try something other than Klonopin?

 

[Keif' Richards]

My advice, is continue with the clonazepam (Klonopin) for a few weeks to a month, basically until it's time to refill, then see if the visual perception issues fade. I'll admit I've never heard anyone complain about vision issues with this drug, except of course when they've consumed 10 times what you have.

Clonazepam is a good choice for a lot of people because it is so long acting. For most PsyMD's here in the states, the next thing you will try will be along the lines of lorazepam (Ativan) or alprazolam (Xanax). Both of these are relatively short acting, meaning you might experience some peak/trough action in between doses. Still, they are both certainly anxiolytic in action.

Diazepam (Valium) is another possible option. It's long-acting and it's metabolites take days to be fully metabolized. This will be especially true if you are dosing everyday. By taking the diazepam every day as you're supposed to, you can build up a foundation of it in your system, which will hopefully lead to the same relaxing/calming effect and timeline of clonazepam.

Oxazepam (Serax) Yet another long-acting benzodiazepine, considered to have a relatively lower abuse potential when compared with other benzodiazepines. It's found use most frequently as a means of lessening the severity of alcohol withdrawal, but can also be used as an anxiolytic, although the previously mention benzodiazepines are significantly more common. Yet again, this drug is long-lasting in a similar fashion to the clonazepam that you're currently taking.

Good luck and always be aware and mindful when undergoing therapy with benzodiazepines. Tolerance can build quickly, leading to dosage escalation, leading to full-on dependence, leading to benzodiazepine withdrawal syndrome; a nightmarish hellscape inhabited by all of your worst fears. Sorry for the dramatics, just make sure you monitor your use and treat these drugs with the respect they deserve.

 

[Gratuitous Grace]

Good luck and always be aware and mindful when undergoing therapy with benzodiazepines. Tolerance can build quickly, leading to dosage escalation, leading to full-on dependence, leading to benzodiazepine withdrawal syndrome; a nightmarish hellscape inhabited by all of your worst fears. Sorry for the dramatics, just make sure you monitor your use and treat these drugs with the respect they deserve.

^--- bluemoon23, please give this awesome advice every bit of consideration you can. I know how wonderful "anxiety negation" with benzos can feel. I also know that it doesn't last. Not at starter doses and not for long. Maybe it lasts just long enough for you to figure out that you've stopped medicating your anxiety and started medicating your withdrawal symptoms. When I look back, a few weeks of comfort and ease have not been worth years and years of on and off "nightmarish hellscape." (At times, those two words have described my circumstances perfectly.) When I started, I lacked the "respect they deserve." Now, 15 years on, I'm scared to death of them. Just one ("as prescribed") user's opinion of benzos.

 

[dmtmixalis]

^ this. Benzos are a god send for anxiety sufferers, but become so habitual that long term use is not really an option, unless you want to take them every day for the rest of your life. Some interesting information regarding etizolam, a short acting 'legal' benzo in some countries; When multiple doses of etizolam, or lorazepam, were administered to rat neurons, lorazepam caused downregulation ofalpha-1 benzodiazepine binding sites (tolerance/dependence), while etizolam caused an increase in alpha-2 benzodiazepine binding sites (reverse tolerance to anti-anxiety effects).^[12] Tolerance to the anticonvulsant effects of lorazepam were observed, but no significant tolerance to the anticonvulsant effects of etizolam were observed.^[12]Etizolam therefore has a reduced liability to induce tolerance, and dependence, compared with classic benzodiazepines.<sup>[12]


The reverse tolerance is interesting, and from experience, it is factual. However if you up your dose, expect to have to remain on that dose to keep the anxiolytic effects.</sup>

 

[Mycophile]

My advice, is continue with the clonazepam (Klonopin) for a few weeks to a month, basically until it's time to refill, then see if the visual perception issues fade. I'll admit I've never heard anyone complain about vision issues with this drug, except of course when they've consumed 10 times what you have.

Clonazepam is a good choice for a lot of people because it is so long acting. For most PsyMD's here in the states, the next thing you will try will be along the lines of lorazepam (Ativan) or alprazolam (Xanax). Both of these are relatively short acting, meaning you might experience some peak/trough action in between doses. Still, they are both certainly anxiolytic in action.

Diazepam (Valium) is another possible option. It's long-acting and it's metabolites take days to be fully metabolized. This will be especially true if you are dosing everyday. By taking the diazepam every day as you're supposed to, you can build up a foundation of it in your system, which will hopefully lead to the same relaxing/calming effect and timeline of clonazepam.

Oxazepam (Serax) Yet another long-acting benzodiazepine, considered to have a relatively lower abuse potential when compared with other benzodiazepines. It's found use most frequently as a means of lessening the severity of alcohol withdrawal, but can also be used as an anxiolytic, although the previously mention benzodiazepines are significantly more common. Yet again, this drug is long-lasting in a similar fashion to the clonazepam that you're currently taking.

Good luck and always be aware and mindful when undergoing therapy with benzodiazepines. Tolerance can build quickly, leading to dosage escalation, leading to full-on dependence, leading to benzodiazepine withdrawal syndrome; a nightmarish hellscape inhabited by all of your worst fears. Sorry for the dramatics, just make sure you monitor your use and treat these drugs with the respect they deserve.

Actually, I was once told by a psychiatrist that tolerance does not generally build rapidly with Klonopin like many other drugs.

I'm sure it does build SOMEWHAT, but I took 1.5mgs of Klonopin EVERY DAY for 11 years and NEVER did I feel that that dosage failed to treat my anxiety and I never needed to raise the dosage.

In my personal experience rapid tolerance building needing to constantly raise the dosage is not usually an issue with Klonopin like some other drugs.

 

[Mycophile]

^ this. Benzos are a god send for anxiety sufferers, but become so habitual that long term use is not really an option, unless you want to take them every day for the rest of your life. Some interesting information regarding etizolam, a short acting 'legal' benzo in some countries; When multiple doses of etizolam, or lorazepam, were administered to rat neurons, lorazepam caused downregulation ofalpha-1 benzodiazepine binding sites (tolerance/dependence), while etizolam caused an increase in alpha-2 benzodiazepine binding sites (reverse tolerance to anti-anxiety effects).^[12] Tolerance to the anticonvulsant effects of lorazepam were observed, but no significant tolerance to the anticonvulsant effects of etizolam were observed.^[12]Etizolam therefore has a reduced liability to induce tolerance, and dependence, compared with classic benzodiazepines.<sup>[12]


The reverse tolerance is interesting, and from experience, it is factual. However if you up your dose, expect to have to remain on that dose to keep the anxiolytic effects.</sup>

Again, the bolded part is not always true.

I took the exact same dose EVERY day for 11 years without it ever becoming less effective to treat anxiety and without ever having to raise the dose.

Despite the common tag line that benzos are only meant to treat anxiety in the short term, in my personal experience it has not held up to scrutiny.

It is also possible to take a medication like Klonopin on certain days when you need it and skip it on others when you don't without getting insatiable cravings from it on the off days.

My current psychiatrist informed me that when kept to a LOW dosage, like 1.5mgs or fewer, Klonopin usually does not produce withdrawal symptoms unless you go cold turkey off of it after using it EVERY SINGLE DAY for like a month or more, and in my admitadly HIGHLY unusual case I took Klonopin EVERY SINGLE DAY for 11 YEARS and got off of it cold turkey without ANY withdrawal symptoms.

Now it is NOT recommend that one go cold turkey off of ANY benzo, but long story short, and my experiences with low dose Klonopin and what i have learned from psychatrists have led me to believe that used IN LOW doses Klonopin is actually not nearly as addictive as many people are led to believe.

 

[dmtmixalis]

No you're correct, its not always true. It is however ill advised as long term use of any benzo dampens your ability to deal with day to day anxiety without chemical intervention. That being said, some people can remain on a stable dosage without any adverse effects, including but not limited to withdrawal.

 

[Need4speed]

klon is the best benzo hands down