Benzos Klonopin vs. Xanax - I Want your personal opinion...Which is better?

[ml42o]

Weird that i'm asking this seeing as I have over 10+ years experience with benzodiazepines (anything from ativan to etizolam to ROHYPNOL which i guess is a "hypnotic benzo") but I know i'm going to get alot of different opinions on this site so i'm really curious to hear y'alls opinions.

I started using the 2mg xanax tablets recreationally when I was pretty young ( about 14 years old) and now 24...I had stopped for a while but started having panic attacks and always had alot of anxiety and was finally diagnosed with GAD and Panic disorder... which I, personally think is due to the years of using xanax recreationally and self-medicating myself. So at around 21 years old I got my first prescription....the .25 mg xanax twice a day PRN...moved up to 0.5mg twice a day PRN and was fine at that for a while...(at this point just wanted to feel fine, didnt want to get high)...so I stayed on it for about 2 years and one time outta no where my nurse practitioner that prescribes me these benzos says i've been on xanax for a while so she said she was gonna switch me to ativan 0.5 mgs twice a day and said it was the equivalent (which I know that ativan is WEAKER than xanax and 2mgs ativan = 1mg xanax roughly) anyways....so the next visit I told my doc the ativan just wasnt working and that I thought 0.5 was just too low of a dose after being on for a few years...so I suggested that she put me on Klonopin or Valium and she said that the Valium was highly addicting like Xanax so she would rather put me on Kpins and she did.... 1 MG Klonopin twice a day PRN....and this has been working wonderful for me for the past year. the other day I ran out and it was on a saturday (didnt think ahead of time) and had no refills so I got some good ol' xanax (2mg tablets) from a buddy of mine. and it made me feel sooo much better than the klonopin, made me way more social...etc...etc...but I guess I was just enjoying the high that it gave me. SO ANYWAYS enough blabbing...just wanted to get yalls opinions for next time I see the doctor cause i am going to a "shrink" this time...Shall I stay on Klonopin for my panic disorder or try and get a xanax script again?

basically I want opinions: which is better? which is stronger? and what is the better drug for panic attacks and general anxiety disorder? Klonopin (Clonazepam) or Xanax (Alprazolam) ???? or maybe suggest another benzodiazepine??? THANKS. 8)

 

[mrflowers00]

xanax works way better for panic attacks but if your going to be taking this shit everyday you should stick with the kpins they last longer and don't get you nearly as loaded and they are way easier to taper off of

 

[GABAking]

i've been on both for my panic disorder/GAD. klonopin i find is more therapeutic in the sense that it's not really reinforcing like xanax. xanax, imo, makes you "feel better" and is more potent (even though charts say they're equivalent, it's definitely not the same for me). so with xanax, you feel it hit you and feel it dissipate. but klonopin...you take it and for me, there's no "bam" moment like xanax.

i currently am on 1 mg xanax TID and 1 mg xanax ER qhs. It's a pretty destructive drug, in all honesty. I've been on it for so long that I just feel like I'm digging myself into a deeper hole. and i completely disagree with your doctor who says valium is "as addicting" as xanax. the advantage of klonopin/valium is that if you forget your morning dose or forget to take the pills with you on a day trip, you typically feel fine b/c the half life is so long. xanax....well, lets just say I always have some on me

 

[Valiumpirate]

^^ I agree completely, I take 2mg clonazepam twice a day for GAD, and 2-4mg alprazolam prn for panic attacks.

And don't think you can't get fucked up on clonazepam, I had a high benzo tolerance and the first three days of the script I was on the tilt the whole time. I gave 2mg to a friend because she was anxious and she went to work, said the room was spinning, blacking out and nodding off, funny shit haha.

Oh and I knocked some guy out at a party who was giving me and my friend shit, sold it to him as a dexy, then I found out he passed out for nearly 24 hours.

 

[GABAking]

don't ever lie to a person who's buying drugs from you. even if he was an asshole. someone expecting dexedrine but instead takes xanax is not gonna have a good time.....plus it could be really dangerous.

benzos are so helpful, but so disastrous. i need it for my anxiety, but just last week i woke up in jail b/c i ate too much xanax and drank and have no idea what happened

 

[Valiumpirate]

I would/have never done it except in that situation. It was either that or get cut. And I didn't have any other options left.
Just looking out for my own safety.
Not a huge fan of having to defend myself against a huge drunk homophobe with a knife.

And it was clonazepam. Which explains the long sleep.

 

[MartinFn]

If you ask 100 people, you maybe get 100 different answers..as ya already know..the same drug doesn't work the same for every people..and i'm a great example for this, i think..xanax is the worst benzo for me. And ativan one of the best (but 0,5mg of it, isn't like 0,5mg of xanax, i agree with you that 2mg of ativan is 1mg xanax roughly..). But for me, ativan is a very recreational benzo, (from doses like 12,5-25mg, 5-10 pills, 2,5mg each, due to my tolerance) and xanax has no recreational value for me, i never understand why all (or better, the most) people think it's one of the better, if not the best, benzo..it seems that smth in my body chemistry is different. Anyway, as for everyday use, i agree with mrflowers^^ that you should rather stick with k-pins, i think that k-pins at doses 1-3mg is the benzo that works as it's meant to, (i take it too, by the way..%)) and it's one more reason for choosing the k-pins, i think that with the xanax, maybe you would abuse it, so..well, maybe you should start with the k-pins, and see how it goes, k-pin is the better benzo for therapeutic reasons, IMHO of course...Use your experience for your health, and i'm sure that you'll be safe...Heh, and (maybe) once in a while, some roofies for recreational use (but always with extra careful), would be rather ok...This one, goes only for persons with tones of experience and self-restraint, these fuckin roofies has sent a lot of people in their graves..Heh, anyway, to all Bl'ers,be happy and safe..and to ml42o, be fine and safe too, i'm sure you'll find the best way...


MartinFn

 

[tricomb]

Weird that i'm asking this seeing as I have over 10+ years experience with benzodiazepines (anything from ativan to etizolam to ROHYPNOL which i guess is a "hypnotic benzo") but I know i'm going to get alot of different opinions on this site so i'm really curious to hear y'alls opinions.

I started using the 2mg xanax tablets recreationally when I was pretty young ( about 14 years old) and now 24...I had stopped for a while but started having panic attacks and always had alot of anxiety and was finally diagnosed with GAD and Panic disorder... which I, personally think is due to the years of using xanax recreationally and self-medicating myself. So at around 21 years old I got my first prescription....the .25 mg xanax twice a day PRN...moved up to 0.5mg twice a day PRN and was fine at that for a while...(at this point just wanted to feel fine, didnt want to get high)...so I stayed on it for about 2 years and one time outta no where my nurse practitioner that prescribes me these benzos says i've been on xanax for a while so she said she was gonna switch me to ativan 0.5 mgs twice a day and said it was the equivalent (which I know that ativan is WEAKER than xanax and 2mgs ativan = 1mg xanax roughly) anyways....so the next visit I told my doc the ativan just wasnt working and that I thought 0.5 was just too low of a dose after being on for a few years...so I suggested that she put me on Klonopin or Valium and she said that the Valium was highly addicting like Xanax so she would rather put me on Kpins and she did.... 1 MG Klonopin twice a day PRN....and this has been working wonderful for me for the past year. the other day I ran out and it was on a saturday (didnt think ahead of time) and had no refills so I got some good ol' xanax (2mg tablets) from a buddy of mine. and it made me feel sooo much better than the klonopin, made me way more social...etc...etc...but I guess I was just enjoying the high that it gave me. SO ANYWAYS enough blabbing...just wanted to get yalls opinions for next time I see the doctor cause i am going to a "shrink" this time...Shall I stay on Klonopin for my panic disorder or try and get a xanax script again?

basically I want opinions: which is better? which is stronger? and what is the better drug for panic attacks and general anxiety disorder? Klonopin (Clonazepam) or Xanax (Alprazolam) ???? or maybe suggest another benzodiazepine??? THANKS. 8)

I think that you may not even have a panic disorder or anxiety, and that the only reason you got diagnosed with anxiety and panic disorders was due to post acute withdrawal syndrome. When you heavily abuse strong GABAergic drugs such as benzodiazepines, when you stop taking them you can develop many of the same symptoms as anxiety and panic disorders, in addition to rebound insomnia and a variety of other nasty things.

I think that if you tapered off correctly and then actually stayed clean off benzodiazepines for a long time, then after a while the symptoms would go away.

 

[ml42o]

Tricomb you may be right but I had quit cold turkey around 19 and obviously went into acute withdrawal and felt horrible for like a month....and it wasn't until nearly 2 years later I got diagnosed with gad and panic disorder by several doctors and got a lot of horrible panic attacks....but they are now being controlled by the klonopin....I certainly need them....but I hope to one day be off everything.

Thanks everyone I am probably going to stay on the kpins....maybe raise the dose a bit. I also forgot to mention I'm on MMT. (Methadone maintenance for my bad oxycodone habit i gave up 4 months ago) My methadone doctor says that the benzos interact with the opioid GaBA receptors causing the methadone not to work as well....does anyone know a lot about this subject? Does the kpins I'm taking really mess with how wells the methadone is working for me or vice a versa? Again, Thanks - Marino

If you ask 100 people, you maybe get 100 different answers..as ya already know..the same drug doesn't work the same for every people..and i'm a great example for this, i think..xanax is the worst benzo for me. And ativan one of the best (but 0,5mg of it, isn't like 0,5mg of xanax, i agree with you that 2mg of ativan is 1mg xanax roughly..). But for me, ativan is a very recreational benzo, (from doses like 12,5-25mg, 5-10 pills, 2,5mg each, due to my tolerance) and xanax has no recreational value for me, i never understand why all (or better, the most) people think it's one of the better, if not the best, benzo..it seems that smth in my body chemistry is different. Anyway, as for everyday use, i agree with mrflowers^^ that you should rather stick with k-pins, i think that k-pins at doses 1-3mg is the benzo that works as it's meant to, (i take it too, by the way..%)) and it's one more reason for choosing the k-pins, i think that with the xanax, maybe you would abuse it, so..well, maybe you should start with the k-pins, and see how it goes, k-pin is the better benzo for therapeutic reasons, IMHO of course...Use your experience for your health, and i'm sure that you'll be safe...Heh, and (maybe) once in a while, some roofies for recreational use (but always with extra careful), would be rather ok...This one, goes only for persons with tones of experience and self-restraint, these fuckin roofies has sent a lot of people in their graves..Heh, anyway, to all Bl'ers,be happy and safe..and to ml42o, be fine and safe too, i'm sure you'll find the best way...


MartinFn

I know exactly what u mean lol I think Ativan is the worst benzo and Xanax/klonopin work the best for anxiety....but like u said everyone's different.

i've been on both for my panic disorder/GAD. klonopin i find is more therapeutic in the sense that it's not really reinforcing like xanax. xanax, imo, makes you "feel better" and is more potent (even though charts say they're equivalent, it's definitely not the same for me). so with xanax, you feel it hit you and feel it dissipate. but klonopin...you take it and for me, there's no "bam" moment like xanax.

i currently am on 1 mg xanax TID and 1 mg xanax ER qhs. It's a pretty destructive drug, in all honesty. I've been on it for so long that I just feel like I'm digging myself into a deeper hole. and i completely disagree with your doctor who says valium is "as addicting" as xanax. the advantage of klonopin/valium is that if you forget your morning dose or forget to take the pills with you on a day trip, you typically feel fine b/c the half life is so long. xanax....well, lets just say I always have some on me

I agree with everything you just said. I love the long half-life klonopin provides....compared to Xanax's real short half life

 

[paranoid android]

I hate Xanax but however i love clonazepam (rivotril here) for it's long acting anti-anxiety effects and it does sorta help mania as well. Also from everything Ive seen Xanax is way more addictive which makes sense given it's short half life.

Also ive never found clonazepam or any other benzo to affect a opioid in a negative way at all. I take morphine and clonazepam and the benzos just add to the sedation.

 

[ml42o]

I hate Xanax but however i love clonazepam (rivotril here) for it's long acting anti-anxiety effects and it does sorta help mania as well. Also from everything Ive seen Xanax is way more addictive which makes sense given it's short half life.

Also ive never found clonazepam or any other benzo to affect a opioid in a negative way at all. I take morphine and clonazepam and the benzos just add to the sedation.

I take it you are in the uk? Yeah that's all it seems to do to me I don't see a difference. I still get the full effect of the opioid taking my prescription benzos or not....hmm who knows...could be a myth ....could be just in some people but definitely not with me. Thanks for the input paranoid android. I've always wanted to try rivotril....or is it the exactly the same thing as the generic clonazepam I get here in the US? It just seems like it would be a different high lol idk but I guess it's the same.

 

[tricomb]

Tricomb you may be right but I had quit cold turkey around 19 and obviously went into acute withdrawal and felt horrible for like a month....and it wasn't until nearly 2 years later I got diagnosed with gad and panic disorder by several doctors and got a lot of horrible panic attacks....but they are now being controlled by the klonopin....I certainly need them....but I hope to one day be off everything.

Thanks everyone I am probably going to stay on the kpins....maybe raise the dose a bit. I also forgot to mention I'm on MMT. (Methadone maintenance for my bad oxycodone habit i gave up 4 months ago) My methadone doctor says that the benzos interact with the opioid GaBA receptors causing the methadone not to work as well....does anyone know a lot about this subject? Does the kpins I'm taking really mess with how wells the methadone is working for me or vice a versa? Again, Thanks - Marino

You NEVER cold turkey benzodiazepines, which I'm fairly sure is the reason you experienced anxiety and panic for two years. My benzodiazepine PAWS have lasted well over a year, I rapidly tapered from an extreme alprazolam dependency and suffered rebound anxiety, panic, insomnia, cognitive defects, memory problems, etc. but they're slowly improving with time.

Methadone maintenance for an oxycodone habit... just how severe was your oxycodone habit to warrant methadone? Did buprenorphine not work for you?

When combined, in addition to extreme risk of fatal CNS depression, I have found that benzodiazepines kind of blunt the effects of opioids. It also takes away from the pleasurable side effects such as euphoria, and adds to the negative side effects like sedation.

Regardless, I can't subjectively speak on clonazepam as it has never worked for me. Even if I take a huuuuuge dose, I don't get any relief, often paradoxical effects too such as worsened insomnia and weird mood changes.
Alprazolam > Clonazepam although it really depends on the condition that you're treating, and factoring in that everyone's body reacts differently to these medications.

 

[ml42o]

I know how dangerous it is to cold turkey benzos I was 19 this was 6 yrs ago didn't know then....found out the hard way

You NEVER cold turkey benzodiazepines, which I'm fairly sure is the reason you experienced anxiety and panic for two years. My benzodiazepine PAWS have lasted well over a year, I rapidly tapered from an extreme alprazolam dependency and suffered rebound anxiety, panic, insomnia, cognitive defects, memory problems, etc. but they're slowly improving with time.

Methadone maintenance for an oxycodone habit... just how severe was your oxycodone habit to warrant methadone? Did buprenorphine not work for you?

When combined, in addition to extreme risk of fatal CNS depression, I have found that benzodiazepines kind of blunt the effects of opioids. It also takes away from the pleasurable side effects such as euphoria, and adds to the negative side effects like sedation.

Regardless, I can't subjectively speak on clonazepam as it has never worked for me. Even if I take a huuuuuge dose, I don't get any relief, often paradoxical effects too such as worsened insomnia and weird mood changes.
Alprazolam > Clonazepam although it really depends on the condition that you're treating, and factoring in that everyone's body reacts differently to these medications.

Thanks for the info it's really helpful and as for the MMT.....I was doing pretty bad ....using hundreds and hundreds of dollars on heroin and oxy per day. They gave me a choice of methadone or bupe and started off on methadone and am considering switching to bupe since my doc says is gonna be way easier to taper off then the methadone. But anyways I'm going off topic here....I'm doing good on the methadone and I know withdrawals are hell for that too but I'll be off that within a year. That's my plan...and just stay on the klonopin to control my anxiety....

I've found clonazepam > alprazolam ...I guess mainly for the longer half life.....but to each their own opinion on which benzo works for them better....alprazolam worked fine but effects didn't last as long as the kpins for me.

 

[paranoid android]

I take it you are in the uk? Yeah that's all it seems to do to me I don't see a difference. I still get the full effect of the opioid taking my prescription benzos or not....hmm who knows...could be a myth ....could be just in some people but definitely not with me. Thanks for the input paranoid android. I've always wanted to try rivotril....or is it the exactly the same thing as the generic clonazepam I get here in the US? It just seems like it would be a different high lol idk but I guess it's the same.

It's called rivotril here in Canada too. Ive never had the name brand stuff but all generics are alike here. Some are better for sublingual use though.

 

[ml42o]

Oh ok I've been to Ontario a few times....never experienced with drugs/got prescriptions there though...

 

[mrflowers00]

i once switched from oxycodone to methadone i only did it for about 3 months but i had horrible anxiety during that time that could be why the OP was diagnosed with panic disorder and GAD

 

[axe battler]

I think that you may not even have a panic disorder or anxiety, and that the only reason you got diagnosed with anxiety and panic disorders was due to post acute withdrawal syndrome. When you heavily abuse strong GABAergic drugs such as benzodiazepines, when you stop taking them you can develop many of the same symptoms as anxiety and panic disorders, in addition to rebound insomnia and a variety of other nasty things.

I think that if you tapered off correctly and then actually stayed clean off benzodiazepines for a long time, then after a while the symptoms would go away.

this is very true and how a lot of people fuck up with benzo's.

 

[rhun]

Thanks everyone I am probably going to stay on the kpins....maybe raise the dose a bit. I also forgot to mention I'm on MMT. (Methadone maintenance for my bad oxycodone habit i gave up 4 months ago) My methadone doctor says that the benzos interact with the opioid GaBA receptors causing the methadone not to work as well....does anyone know a lot about this subject? Does the kpins I'm taking really mess with how wells the methadone is working for me or vice a versa? Again, Thanks - Marino

Lol WHAT? My dad and I are on methadone. And we will never stop being astounded on how little doctors know about opiates, particularly methadone.
Benzos potentiate methadone. My dad is on such a high dose of methadone that other opiods are completely ineffective, regardless of the dose.
After his surgery they just gave him benzos on top of his regular dose of methadone, nothing else. The benzos made his methadone stronger.
People die all the time from benzos interacting fatally with methadone, do not try and do this on your own. My dad was under hospital supervision.
For some reason there's been so many posts on OD about benzos and opiates. The bottom line is no matter your tolerance, benzos and opiates are dangerous.

i once switched from oxycodone to methadone i only did it for about 3 months but i had horrible anxiety during that time that could be why the OP was diagnosed with panic disorder and GAD

Methadone doesn't cause anxiety, I'm sure your anxiety was caused by other things.. like quitting oxycodone, the drug you were addicted to, even if you took a substitute.
Methadone is effective as a mood stabilizer.

^^ I agree completely, I take 2mg clonazepam twice a day for GAD, and 2-4mg alprazolam prn for panic attacks.

And don't think you can't get fucked up on clonazepam, I had a high benzo tolerance and the first three days of the script I was on the tilt the whole time. I gave 2mg to a friend because she was anxious and she went to work, said the room was spinning, blacking out and nodding off, funny shit haha.

Oh and I knocked some guy out at a party who was giving me and my friend shit, sold it to him as a dexy, then I found out he passed out for nearly 24 hours.

Does no one else think this post is totally fucked up?

Your friend is lucky she didn't lose her job. Or worse.
You shouldn't be handing out prescription drugs to people, you're not a doctor.
And the effects she experienced are not normal.. benzos are a dangerous family of drugs.
Oh but excuse me I forgot, it was "funny shit." What kind of friend are you?

And the second part of your post is even more sickening, wtf.
Hundreds of people have died in my county alone from mixing benzos with other drugs and dying.
You had no idea what drugs he might have been taking..
or what other drugs he could have taken since he didn't know he bought benzos.
If he died you could have been charged with manslaughter.

 

[Thou]

Whatever one you've been taking longer, will not be recreational.

I can take 20mg kpn not get high.

Half mg a xanax gets me a little euphoria. I don't take xanax at all usually.

And vice versa.

 

[tricomb]

This threads gone long enough and wasn't much for
OD to begin with, we don't allow these comparison threads but you can find plenty by utilizing our forum search engine.