Mothers Klonopin stolen. Could use some advice.

[Brian242]

Hey BL, my 54 year old mother has been on Klonopin 1mg for about 4-5 years I think (Forgot to ask) and recently my mothers pills were in her purse at a large social gathering and assumed that somebody stole about 6 days worth of klonopin. She only has 4 left right now, and needs them really badly. In the past, she's given me like 5 when I would ask for them, and never had a seizure or anything. But naturally i'm nerve racked also because I do care dearly about my mother and her health.

I have Ativan 2mg tablets. Would I be able to give her a few days worth of these without having her withdraw?

 

[Dysphoric]

Lorazepam is a strong benzodiazepine, I don't see why not.

 

[Ashley]

Yes. You might have to adjust the dose though, as lorazepam has a shorter half life than clonazepam (Klonopin/Rivotril). But to get her through a few days, yes it will work. 1mg lorazepam = 0.5mg clonazepam.

 

[Brian242]

Yes. You might have to adjust the dose though, as lorazepam has a shorter half life than clonazepam (Klonopin/Rivotril). But to get her through a few days, yes it will work. 1mg lorazepam = 0.5mg clonazepam.

ok I see now. How often would one go about changing her dose at home though? And this is even if she will accept the ativans. I bet she would decline an aspirin for a broken toe. If she declines my pills, what should I do? stay with her and watch her for a few days?

 

[argentina420]

If you file a police report on them being stolen you can get another script for them/her. Call her doctor and explain to them/him or her what happened. If she's on monthly scripts they usually give u a paper saying u can get refilled after X amount used and/or X days or if this this this or this happens. My papers say that if they are stolen because there schedule(d) drugs, a report needs filed.
I would call the doctor first and explain and he can probably just write a weeks worth script sense that's how much was taken. Hope this helps. Its great you care about her well being this much. Again, hope this helps in someway.

 

[Tommyboy]

I wouldn't straight up use the ativan on it's own on days without the klonopin. I suggest lowering the klonopin dose and supplementing it with the ativan.

Divide the number of days she needs to have the klonopin pills last her by the amount of mgs left, and break&take the pills accordingly. Then use the ativan to supplement the klonopin, using the dosage conversion to figure out the dosage needed to equal the remainder of the daily dosage needed.

The reason why I suggest doing this instead of just having her take klonopin on its own until it runs out and then just taking the ativan is because of the properties specific to each benzo, meaning that she would not be getting the specific relief she usually gets from the klonopin if she is solely using the ativan.

I am not sure what specific properties each one has, but an example is that if one of them has strong hypnotic effects and the other one doesn't, then she would not be getting the sleep aid that comes with hypnotic effects on days that she only takes the one drug without that property. This is just an example though since I don't know which properties are specific to the benzos are mentioned, but I'm sure you get my point.

 

[phatass]

........

 

[Brian242]

I had talked to her about going to the police as suggested but she is so stubborn! Claiming that she can make it without withdrawing and says that withdraw is for addicts. I'm going to have to keep an eye on her. What should I look for to determine if she should go to the hospital?

 

[argentina420]

Since klonopin is a longer acting benzo she SHOULD be fine for the few days she's without because it will take longer for the drug to fully disapate from her system. Your smart to keep an eye on her. Just watch for anything unusual. From the way uve described her she's NOT gonna tell u if somethings wrong (which hopefully nothing will be) but just watch her. U know her better than we do. Drugs do different things 2 different people. If she's up for it I would try what tommyboy said but again doesn't sound like shed be the type to do that from what you've said. Just watch for signs and U can call her doctor and say look this is what happened she thinks she can tough it out I don't think she can what should I personally do for her. He might tell u she's fine to wait it out or just write u another script. Best of luck

 

[sekio]

I agree, call her doctor and tell him what happened.

Pride has its place, but drugs that induce seizures in withdrawal... sounds like a good time to ditch pride.

You may also want to point out to her that anyone who uses medications of this sort with regularity is going to become dependent. It's just biology and says nothing about your social stature. Just because you're drug dependent doesn't make you a junkie, or you'd see public hecklings of people with immunosuppressants, chemo drugs, and antibiotics.

 

[Psychonauticunt]

ok I see now. How often would one go about changing her dose at home though? And this is even if she will accept the ativans. I bet she would decline an aspirin for a broken toe. If she declines my pills, what should I do? stay with her and watch her for a few days?

Sit down with her at a computer and look at some legit-looking medical websites discussing benzodiazepine dependence and withdrawal. Show her beyond doubt that A) dependence and withdrawal are normal, not signs of a junkie; and B) benzodiazepines can be used interchangably, and one is often swapped for another when coming off the medicine - to make sure she knows she's not just taking some pill of yours which will provide relief, but a pill which in fact works by the same mechanism as hers.

I agree with supplementing the clonazepam with lorazepam as opposed to taking just lorazepam on some days - it's not worlds apart, but its effects profile is slightly different, it has a shorter duration, and people react differently. Many people report feeling next to no effect from either one, but very strong effects from the other. Personally I can only identify lorazepam's effects when I am either anxious or in panic, in the middle of a comedown, or taking excessive doses, but clonazepam I can use recreationally even if I'm doing fine.
Lorazepam is fairly strong in all intrinsic benzo side effects, though I don't consider it that sedative/hypnotic; clonazepam is not very sedative or amnesic, but strong in the other categories.

If she declines, I would stay with her. Benzo withdrawal, especially after 4-5 years of use, can be dangerous. Clonazepam, with its strong anticonvulsant action, is particularly prone to producing seizures when abruptly discontinued.

 

[tricomb]

I wouldn't straight up use the ativan on it's own on days without the klonopin. I suggest lowering the klonopin dose and supplementing it with the ativan.

Divide the number of days she needs to have the klonopin pills last her by the amount of mgs left, and break&take the pills accordingly. Then use the ativan to supplement the klonopin, using the dosage conversion to figure out the dosage needed to equal the remainder of the daily dosage needed.

The reason why I suggest doing this instead of just having her take klonopin on its own until it runs out and then just taking the ativan is because of the properties specific to each benzo, meaning that she would not be getting the specific relief she usually gets from the klonopin if she is solely using the ativan.

I am not sure what specific properties each one has, but an example is that if one of them has strong hypnotic effects and the other one doesn't, then she would not be getting the sleep aid that comes with hypnotic effects on days that she only takes the one drug without that property. This is just an example though since I don't know which properties are specific to the benzos are mentioned, but I'm sure you get my point.

This is the best advice in this thread IMO.

Benzodiazepines can't all just be used interchangeably contrary to popular belief. When I was extremely dependent on alprazolam (Xanax), I couldn't substitute anything for it. Believe you me, I absolutely exhausted every other option, diazepam (Valium), clonazepam (Klonopin) which has never worked for me, it's useless to me, indistinguishable from a breath mint. Even IV lorazepam (Ativan) couldn't stop the withdrawal syndrome/seizures. Yes, I was taking probably exponential amounts more than most people ever would. In just one day, taking what others take over 1-3 months of modest use.

However in my defense, I am still sticking by my all-benzos-are-NOT-created-equal theory, and thus cannot be used interchangeably verbatim. To back this up, prior to developing such a large tolerance, clonazepam still felt like a placebo to me, and lorazepam was also disappointing.
Nothing short of the triazolobenzodiazepines, such as my prescribed triazolam (Halcion), worked while I was getting off alprazolam, which of course, is a triazolobenzo.

I don't know if I'd bother with a police report for something like clonazepam.... Talk to the doctor first, if that's what he insists on then sure, but in my experience psychiatrists are more than comfortable helping out their patients in times of need like this, and often don't need a police report if there is doctor-patient trust. It's not a highly controlled substance, just a Schedule IV, it's certainly not the same as running out of Schedule II pain medication early, for which police reports are most often necessary.

I'm proud of you OP, very happy to click on this thread and be surprised to find someone attempting to provide care for their family, rather than some kid who stole their mothers Klonopin, which sadly, is what I was expecting when clicking this. Very pleasant surprise, I thought I was going to have to give the why-you-never-steal-peoples-benzos speech. Good luck man, Tommyboy outlined the same strategy I would do given those circumstances.

 

[pally pete]

I agree, call her doctor and tell him what happened.

Pride has its place, but drugs that induce seizures in withdrawal... sounds like a good time to ditch pride.

You may also want to point out to her that anyone who uses medications of this sort with regularity is going to become dependent. It's just biology and says nothing about your social stature. Just because you're drug dependent doesn't make you a junkie, or you'd see public hecklings of people with immunosuppressants, chemo drugs, and antibiotics.

This sounds like the best advice IMO.

Good luck to you both and respect to you.