Posted by utopizen on March 20, 2003, at 15:29:59
So I told me p-doc the other day I was more articulate when I took Klonopin. When I give a presentation on it, I sound more articulate than ever, look directly at people, barely need my notecards, words seem to come out freely with no effort. And people have this "wow" feeling about what I say. Very impressive.
Well, I told this to my pdoc, and he said it was "irrational" to think this way. But I told him, I don't view Klonopin as a smart drug. I just think I get so much anxiety, the removal of this anxiety lets me think in a way that I would otherwise already think without the anxiety present.
Well, he seemed more convinced, but still didn't admit it was "rational."
I stopped listening to this doc a long time ago, but when he says things like this I look things up to confirm my hypothesis that he dismissed and find things that support it.
Well guess where I find it? In the TEXTBOOK OF PSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY, the very book he just bought and sat on his desk. !!!!
It said under benzos (side effects and toxicology):
"Although normal subjects clearly show mental impairment with the benzodiazepines, the situation with anxious patients is more complex. Because anxiety itself interferes with mental performance, alleviation of the anxiety may result in improved functioning that more than compensates for the direct drug-related decrement. The effect in some patients may be complicatied and unpredictable, even at low dosages."
The American Psychiatric Press Textbook of Psychopharmacology, p.414
I was SHOCKED to read this, because it almost paraphrases what I explained to my doc- that I was aware it is a dumb drug to most people, but in my case the anxiety makes me so dumb that the relief from the anxiety makes me smarter.
poster:utopizen
thread:210959
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030319/msgs/210959.html