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Benzos Switching from xanax to klonopin

J

Jordanbg70

Greenlighter
Joined
Jul 14, 2009
Messages
34
I've been prescribed 2mg klon for awhile and it does quite well. But, at the start of the month I took way too much and gave 1/4 of my script to a friend with GAD who hasn't seen a doctor yet. So, I was in a crunch. I decided to replace the klonopin with xanax, to avoid w/d. So, for about 3 weeks I was taking 2-3.5mg xanax daily. 3 days ago I made the switch back to klon at 2mgs daily. I feel like I'm having w/ds of some kind, bad anxiety, fatique, no appetite and sweaty palms. I'm just wondering if this is because the klon needs to accumulate? and the xanax is short acting so I may be experiencing rebound anxiety or slight xanax withdrawals. It was big mistake on my part and will never let this happen again. I was just hoping some of you could give me your feedback. :(
 
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Sorry, I won't bump again, just hoping for an answer maybe. Or maybe someone could direct me to a similar thread, I've been searching but can't find much.
 
Yeah, you will w/d if you switch too quickly. The different benzos act at somewhat different receptor sites, so they are not entirely equivalent when replacing one with another. This is why the switch is done so slowly in a taper.
 
thank you, i appreciate it. If you don't mind on average how long would you expect this anxiety to last?
Also, klon though works decently for anxiety seems to leave me in a bit of a malaise, xanax didn't seem to do this. You mentioned the diff benzos acting on different receptor sites. I was thinking about asking my psyc to try a different benzo, perhaps xanax xr or valium. I was just wondering what your thoughts on this would be. I tried just about all AD's, AP's and mood stabilizers and benzos are the only thing that help me.
 
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^It won't completely replace it no matter what.

I didn't care for Xanax XR, so I can't recommend that. I'd recomend just regular Xanax over the XR, for sure. Valium is the best one to use IMO because it is not as potent as the other two and perfect for tapering. Be careful to remember that benzos are rarely a long-term solution to anxiety, and eventually you will have to worry about tapering, which gets harder with longer and higher doses.
 
I'm aware of the long term problems with benzos, I've been thinking of just trying to get off of them. Maybe I should request a switch to valium. Right now I'm on 1-2mg sub daily and am about to make jump though, so I kinda want to wait a bit. For what it's wort that residual anxiety seems to be finally fading a little.
 
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Doctor concern w/ switching from Xanax to kpins?

so I'm on SMT and see an addiction specialist monthly. I'm currently on 1mg Xanax x2 a day. Tho my script usually doesn't last the full 30 days. I've had increasing anxiety daily lately due to various bad things and changes in my personal life. I have no dependence whatsoever on benzos despite it being my 9-10th month on treatment. My question is, I have my appt 2morro and myself and mother are strongly considering me switching to a longer lasting benzo until I get thru this stressful period in life. Mainly I'm hoping to switch to klonopin until around nov-dec area when I hope to be off smt and benzos altogether. Any input on the chances of my doc switching me to kpins with the argument I just laid out? Are docs normally opposed to such a switch? SSRI's have severe negative effects on me (we've tried 7) so that's not an option to manage the anxiety. My concern being that I'd think they'd be hesitant about switching from a short to longer half life Rx because of the dependancy issue, but at 2x a day everyday disingenuous of Xanax aren't my chances of dependancy just the same as a longer lasting Rx? Sorry for long post, I'm hoping I get some responses by bumping this thread so I don't have to create a new one. Lol
 
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^^ dude don't make your posts large and red, that shit is hard to read. Usually i ignore those posts but....

In all likelyhood a doctor would probably like to switch you to something with a longer half-life like klonopin because they perceive the abuse potential to be somewhat less.
 
Jordanbg70 said:
I've been prescribed 2mg klon for awhile and it does quite well. But, at the start of the month I took way too much and gave 1/4 of my script to a friend with GAD who hasn't seen a doctor yet. So, I was in a crunch. I decided to replace the klonopin with xanax, to avoid w/d. So, for about 3 weeks I was taking 2-3.5mg xanax daily. 3 days ago I made the switch back to klon at 2mgs daily. I feel like I'm having w/ds of some kind, bad anxiety, fatique, no appetite and sweaty palms. I'm just wondering if this is because the klon needs to accumulate? and the xanax is short acting so I may be experiencing rebound anxiety or slight xanax withdrawals. It was big mistake on my part and will never let this happen again. I was just hoping some of you could give me your feedback. :(
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2mg's of klonopin is not equal to 3.5 mg's xanax, or even 2 mg's xanax.

2 mg's of k-pins is more like 1mg(Maybe 1.5) mg's of xanax.

Therefore when you switched back to klonopin, you were taking a smaller amount of benzos.....which would understandably cause "withdrawal" effects.

Just take more klonopin, something like 3-4.5 mg's.
 
xanax is fast in fast out drug.... Klonopin has a longer half life. It seems your body is killing off the Xanax (4 hour life in most cases) Then craving more benzo, as the pins would be doing by themselves. DO NOT be generous with your perscriptions. They are for you, and it always seems no one is there to help us out when we run out...

BTW... Where the fuck are you finding 3.5mg Xans?
 
poundinG FISts said:
xanax is fast in fast out drug.... Klonopin has a longer half life. It seems your body is killing off the Xanax (4 hour life in most cases) Then craving more benzo, as the pins would be doing by themselves. DO NOT be generous with your perscriptions. They are for you, and it always seems no one is there to help us out when we run out...

BTW... Where the fuck are you finding 3.5mg Xans?
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HAHA...just because he is taking 3.5 mg's of xanax doesnt mean they are all in one pill...there is a thing call breaking a pill into quarters or halves.

She said she was taking 2mg-3.5 mg's daily....not two 3.5 mg pills a day.
 
defective_lise said:
This. I can't imagine being switched to xanax from klonopin right now, and I'm tapering off. Even with the slow taper I still get the "angry" feeling and I've never had a temper before so it's definitely that, and very weird. Be careful as possible and don't run out :(
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Would you say switching from Xanax to kpins is a step in the wrong direction for me? Right now I have 60ct of 1mg Xanax for 30days. I'm hoping 4 something like kpin with a longer HL so I don't have 2 redose several times a day since my anxiety recently worsened due to personal circumstances. Basically, based upon my current needs and meds wuld you say kpin would be a better solution for me ?
 
Rather than sporadic anxiety attacks that comes in random waves here n there, I'm having more of a continuous day by day anxiety that persist once the Xanax wears off. I'm not dependent on the benzos so I don't think the change in half life from short 2 long wuld cause agitation wuld it?
 
Yea I don't if ever rarely, abuse my Xanax script. Just I'm at 1mg n my tolerance has always been high, so it normally takes me 2-2.5 mg to get relief. N I'm oy scripted 1mg twice daily. So I guess I shuld tell my doc my tolerance is higher. Seeing as how I'm not dependent upon them and have had the script for 8 months I think he'd kno I'm responsible enough to handle my benzo intake. I just figure sumthin that's longer lasting wuld prevent disingenuous several times on a bad day. Any input on that?
 
DiRtYjErZ said:
Seeing as how I'm not dependent upon them and have had the script for 8 months
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Unless I'm misunderstanding you, If you've been taking any benzo for eight months you're dependent on it.

Tapering from a short acting benzo (Xanax) to a longer acting benzo (Klonopin, Valium) would be a step in the right direction if you are thinking about tapering off benzo's completely.

A slow taper off a long acting benzo (preferably Valium) can really be quite painless. Lots and lots of success stories if done correctly. (Correctly means over a LONG period of time, IMO a year or more +/- depending on the amounts taken, and for how long.)

You don't have to suffer if you want to get off benzos - You just need patience and time.

There is also something calling "low dose dependence"
 
klonopins targets only GABA receptor subunit alpha-1, whereas xanax targets receptor subunits alpha1, alpha2, alpha3, alpha4, alpha5, and alpha6 so therefore you may not feel good because klonopin is not tickling all the receptors that xanax was.
 
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