Posted by Emme on July 6, 2002, at 15:52:05
In reply to This board now has me concerned(Paxil Klonopin ), posted by paulsf on July 5, 2002, at 22:09:46
Hi. I understand that people are concerned about the side effects and long term effects of medications.
But hey, don't forget, anxiety is POISON. Prolonged anxiety is just plain bad for you. You gotta consider the drawbacks of not adequately treating the disorder in deciding whether medication right for you (and which one).
I don't mean in any way to minimize the experiences of people who've had serious problems with Paxil and Klonopin. Or that you shouldn't be aware that such problems exist. But there's also a lot of folks out there who've done okay with Paxil and Klonopin.
I got off of 10 mg Paxil in about a week (stepped down to 5mg and then zero) with some really irritating but not disabling electric head zaps for about three days or so after stopping. It wasn't a big deal, maybe because the dose was so low. I thought Paxil was great for anxiety even at 5 mg. You might do okay with a low dose. How does the 10 mg feel?
I too was uneasy about taking a benzo - klonopin - every day. My pdoc assured me that it has an overall better safety profile than many psychotropic drugs and that she's had patients on the same dose for years without needing to bump it up. So I stopped worrying. My experience has been fine. I can vary my dosage up and down depending on how I'm doing and how stressful life is. So I suspect that I could taper off of it slowly if I ever needed to.
I don't mean to sound like an advertisement for these two drugs. It's just that with both of them, it was such a great relief to have a way to control anxiety. Therapy, yoga, chamomile tea, all that stuff, help but just weren't enough. Sorry, I ramble.
BTW, I'd be more afraid of meth or cocaine than I would of Paxil or Klonopin.
Good luck,
Emme
poster:Emme
thread:111530
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020628/msgs/111585.html