Posted by Squiggles on February 7, 2007, at 7:53:48
In reply to Re: Benzo Confidential - clonazepam's history » Squiggles, posted by laima on February 7, 2007, at 7:22:53
> Lucky you Squiggles, not going through a withdrawal.
-It's a default kind of luck.
My doctor wasn't willing to raise my official dose over a mere 2 mg, because to sum up a longer story, he said tolerance would continue to go on indefinately, and then to withdraw from a higher dose would be even worse and more dramatic.
-But then your doctor must have anticipated the possibility of wanting to withdraw.
And that unwanted side effects, such as cognitive /sensory difficulty, would really manifest and then just go up with the dosing. I'm sure doctors would argue this, how to handle this, but mine believed it was best to just get the withdrawal over with asap, with a brief couple week taper, and said that "taking less" wasn't going to solve the anxiety it was contributing to.
-How long were you on it? And if you took it
for anxiety, why would you want to stop?Being "off" would bring the relief, drawing out the taper would only draw out my misery, he felt. I actually think my taper was too rapid, but that's my opinion. I suspect my taper was designed to prevent seizures, as I was immediately given 2.5-5mg zyprexa for anxiety during that period.
-Do you meant that Zyprexa would prevent seizures?
That seems unlikely. Dr. Ashton recommends Valium or at least another benzo.
So that's how I ended up having to withdraw. But off both the klonopin and zyprexa, I do indeed feel much less anxious, so much so that people have actually commented on it, that I seem relaxed, glad I'm not as stressed out as I used to be, looking good, that kind of thing.-That's odd... is it because you had been in a state of withdrawal while on clonazepam? I don't understand why you feel better having withdrawn.
>
> One way klonopin/clonazepam differs from other benzos, of course, is that it is also an anti-convulsant. The .5, then finally 2mg which I was prescribed was supposed to be doing double-duty for anxiety as well as for restless legs/active sleeping and the myoclunus. And it worked very well for all of these purposes at these doses for a couple years.-But then you needed more, and your dr. thought that would be too high (2mg)? I have heard of people here taking much higher dosages, even on initial prescription.
>
> The anticonvulsant part- I wonder if that could have anything to do with the depression many report it seems to bring on for them?-I doubt it. It may have something to do with anxiety though.
Could it be literally "depressing" something if it is "anti-convulsing"? Is the benzo component the only way it differs from other anticonvulsants used in psychiatry, such as lamictal?-There is some initial depression when taking all benzos I think; but nothing close to clinical depression.
> But people take lamictal for "mood stabilization" and for help with depression- though when I used it, my suspicion and impression was that it kept my mood stuck in "flat". My mood lifted when my lamictal trial was over.-They are certainly not stimulants. And sometimes I have wondered why they do not give stimulant drugs for general anxiety based on fear, rather than adrenal-type hyperactivity.
>
> So why aren't other benzos not considered depressing- or are they?-I think they are.
The only one I personally am certain I got markedly depressed from was restoril, but that has sedative/hypnotic properties to it. Though the sedative/hypnotic I've tried, the extended release version of ambien, didn't make me depressed at all. If anything, it gave me a groovy, really nice dreamy feeling- which led me to stay awake on it to enjoy it, and all sorts of ridiculous and very embarressing behavior resulted.
-Ambien sounds good.
>
> Hard to untangle this, isn't it?-Yes, because i don't know diddly squat about biochemistry and psychopharmacology. I wonder if drs. prescribe one benzo rather than another because they *do* know. It seems to me that there is great variability in choice among them.
Squiggles
poster:Squiggles
thread:730516
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20070207/msgs/730708.html