Klonopin way more sedating than xanax

[lifeisflyingaway]

Finally i met with a new psychiatrist, a very young appearing handsome young man. After diagnosing me based off his check mark sheet, he indeed agree that i have a bad anxiety disorder and that my old psychiatrist should have put me on benzos sooner, because of how dangerous my heart beat is and other symptoms. Needless to say i have also tried almost every other option out there as well. What he doesn't know is that i only will be using the pills a few times a week instead of as prescribed because i don't want to get hooked on them. He is pretty open to see what works with me, as he doesn't want me to suffer any longer with anxiety or depression (i have another medication for the depression). Anywho, i am prescribed 0.5 klonopin twice a day, and he said we could change it to the "shorter acting benzos" depending on how things work and how i feel (xanax) which is what i am shooting for. With no tolerance using xanax a few times a week gives me a more fast and "hard" anxiety relief and for me personally it lasts the rest of the day (which might be different than those who take it as prescribed or are addicted to it ). However he initially prescribed the klonopin because it is much longer acting which many of us know about. However i took my first 0.5 and i definitely did feel it, but besides not feeling tense a little bit more mellow, i also feel extremely tired. Keep in mind i can take upto 5mg of xanax with no tolerance which is a lot, and still not necessarily be passed out. Although xanax hits me a bit harder, i still feel more upbeat, social etc. The klonopin didn't provide the instant relief of anxiety as xanax, and surprisingly i feel pretty sleepy, from just one 0.5 pill and i can handle way more than that of xanax, why is this? And one more question

1) Would you rather be prescribed xanax, or klonopin for taking a few times a week for anxiety? Which do you think works better? I will probably switch to xanax, and see how high I can get my dosage which probably won't be too much, especially if i want him to keep me on it long term. But i feel the xanax relieves anxiety better/faster, and isn't as nearly as tiring as this.

 

[JarBag]

Oh god. Definitely klonopin. That is a magical benzo, the sun shines bright and the whole day is smooth on it. Generally did like 1.5mg-2mg though. Xanax just puts me into a mental coma even on 0.5 it feels like a dirty high to me. This is also coming from a guy who did 10mg lorazepam a week before.

I am gonna try switching to kpins soon. Kpin definitely doesn't have that hit fast and hard feeling as much.. But if you have an anxiety disorder, it's a very good preventative as opposed to never taking it then getting a panic attack then taking it.
When I used to have panic attacks, my close friend would give me lorazepam and not clonazepam for quicker onset.

Sedating is the last word I'd use for Klonopin. To me it's the speed of benzos.

 

[hatrix]

It's a hit or miss for people. For me personally, when my doc switched me over to Klonopin from Xanax, I didn't really like it at all.

Wayyyyyyyy less anxiety relief, even at high dosages. It's the most important part to me, and the feeling it provided compared to Xanax was completely sub par in terms of anxiolytic effect. Muscle relaxation was nice in comparison to Xanax, but other than that nothing was better. I could fall asleep much easier on Xanax. And much quicker too because of the faster onset.

It looked good on paper, Klonopin. Longer half life, better muscle relaxant properties, supposedly equal anxiety relief but longer lasting because of the half life, a decent hypnotic.

But none of it really held true for me. I'm going to try to get switched to Diazepam.

 

[shreddedlettuce]

a. Do you want to take the medication when the anxiety hits?
or
b. Do you want to find out what is causing the anxiety and take the medication in advance in order to conquer or at least find out more as to what is causing it, with the help of a medication that allows you to approach this in a calmer mind set as opposed to taking no medication .

a= short term relief, effective but could just be masking the cause and therefore could be non-productive and more addictive, But if used very sparingly could be the right choice.
b= long term "comfort" to handle situations that you know will cause anxiety. And find ways to hopefully get through these situations without the use of medication in the future.

a= alprazolam
b= clonazepam

There, you have "both sides of the coin", and can, with the help of your new psych, move forward.

(I've tried to be as neutral as possible).

 

[Captain.Heroin]

Threads like this go to show how each benzo can effect person A completely different from persons B through Z.

Almost everyone I have talked to about benzos will agree alprazolam is by far more sedating (albeit shorter lasting), despite the fact that both clonazepam and alprazolam are generally accepted as equipotent to each other in the medical community.

If you're getting more out of clonazepam, I'd consider yourself lucky to be unique in that sense.

 

[twotoomany]

Klonapin reaches peak effects in four hours. Xanax less than one. For anxiety, I prefer klonnies, for relaxation/wd's, I prefer Xanax.

 

[lifeisflyingaway]

Well it's been 12 hours since i took just one last night, and i can't 100% say that i am still feeling it, even though it hasn't even reached its half life point yet. Maybe it's because i only took one 0.5, and should take more like 1.5mg/2mg? I don't want to take it any higher than those doses specifically because i'm trying to make them last me the full month, and to be able to use upto 3 times a week. I don't want to use anymore than that, because i do not want to develop a physical addiction to them because i have read horror stories about those addicted to benzos (even taking them as prescribed) and how the withdrawals will never leave you feeling "normal" again. Since my new psychiatrist is so nice and understanding he said that we may have to tweak things, until i'm getting the maximum benefit off of the benzos and my other meds. I really want to try and get temezepam or xanax next time, but i have a feeling that he will go ahead with the xanax more, however using xanax with little or no tolerance has me feeling the anxiety reduction feeling for the rest of the day, not just 4 hours that probably happens when you are tolerant. Xanax gives me a more uplifting high, not like crack but more like wanting to talk, go out, do things normally that i can't while being completely calm, collected and if you will sophisticated. I am going to play around with the klonopins a bit more since i have them until i see the doctor in a month, so we will see what happens i suppose.

 

[laCster]

klonopin all the way, klonopin isn't too shabby in the muscle relaxation department which goes well with opiats (not supporting drug combos). IMO klonopin is a better all-around benzo, and for general anxiety. Xanax's main us is panic attacks and phobias, situations where you need quick-acting, non-sedating anxiolysis for during the day use..

 

[shreddedlettuce]

however using xanax with little or no tolerance has me feeling the anxiety reduction feeling for the rest of the day, not just 4 hours that probably happens when you are tolerant.

This maybe a perfect example of the anxiety situation being relieved at that point and your natural feelings after that is like a placebo effect.
You DON'T ever want to lose this rare experience with alprazolam, and trust me it will get lost in a matter of a few unnecessary doses, nevermind days.

Hence my explanation in my previous post about the alprazolam/clonazepam analysis.

There is lot's more to say about your post above, but if you can just think about what I'm saying here then the rest won't matter.

 

[Venrak]

Benzos, like all drugs, especially psychoactives, will affect everyone differently. The general consensus on the differences between the two drugs in question has been given, and you are going to have to work with your doctor to find the best treatment possible for you.

If you need further information and would like to continue discussion of the therapeutic benefits of clonazepam over alprazolam or vice-versa, feel free to send me a private message via my signature.

Closed.