Posted by viridis on October 1, 2002, at 1:56:43
In reply to Re: Viridis, I think you're right on the money. » viridis, posted by MattDDS on September 30, 2002, at 23:32:04
Hi Matt,
I've been using Klonopin (1 mg/day) for a little over a year, so I'm not exactly a seasoned veteran. But I am a 30+ year "veteran" in terms of anxiety and depression -- I can remember feeling severely anxious and depressed when I was 7 years old, and from then on, on a regular basis. I've tried various ADs etc. over the last 12 years or so, usually with serious, unrelenting side effects. Klonopin (and Xanax) were the first drugs that provided real relief.
I started Klonopin at 1 mg/day and have stayed at that dose for the last 13 months. It still has the same anxiolytic effect, with no side effects that I can detect. My pdoc has asked several times if I needed to increase the dose (he's quite willing to do so), because when I first saw him my anxiety level was sky-high, I was having frequent panic attacks, and was seriously depressed. But so far I've declined, because the same dose continues to work well, just as it did initially.
I do take other meds; I take 0.25-0.5 mg Xanax once a week or so (or less often; it depends) for especially stressful situations, and I take 1200 mg Neurontin/day for mood stability (I'm not sure that the latter really does anything, but it has no side effects so I'm staying on it for now). I also take 5-10 mg Adderall/day for mild ADD. The Neurontin and Adderall were added after the benzos, because I still had some mood problems (plus the probable ADD). But Klonopin stopped the anxiety dead in its tracks, before I started the other meds.
I agree that anxiety can lead to depression, which in my case was often severe -- I had very intense, recurrent depresion for years, and it almost always started with a major bout of anxiety. SSRIs, Wellbutrin, etc. did little to help and caused intolerable side effects.
After beginning Klonopin, mild depression was still a problem, but nothing like before. Adderall (and maybe the Neurontin, a bit) has pretty much ended the depression and allowed me to focus better. But I think that Klonopin is the key, with the other meds just helping with "fine tuning".
I may be dependent on Klonopin by now, but so far no dose increases have been necessary, and if I have to stay on it the rest of my life I will.
P.S. I also agree with you about the "discontinuation syndrome" thing with the newer ADs -- funny how this term is never used with benzos, which for many people are easier to stop. I wonder if the term will continue to be used once they too go off-patent and brand-new meds are introduced?
poster:viridis
thread:121617
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020930/msgs/121766.html