clonazepam and me, sitting in a tree

Anonymous — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 12:21:43 -0800

Clonazepam is my go-to workhorse drug. But am I setting myself up for addiction? I have problems with overwhelming anxiety at times, a condition which my psychiatrist prescribed me clonazepam. I love the stuff. I take .5 to 1mg a day whenever I feel panicky (along with a mt dew to offset drowsiness). A typical day of usage is a dose in the morning to confront the workday and sometimes a dose at night if i can't sleep.

I love the drug and it works wonders, making me productive and helping me reach my potential.

BUT, I have concerns regarding addiction. I have read that clonazepam is supposed to be less addicting than other anxiety medications, but that it is not without risks. I have also read that it can be accompanied with some serious withdrawal symptoms. As a test, I did slowly decrease my dosage and then go off of it for a month and noticed no withdrawal, but I found my anxiety problems unmanageable.

The bottom line is: Is it safe for me to continue using clonazepam in the manner which I do for a long period of time, perhaps the rest of my life?

How should I withdraw?

235w103 — Wed, 16 Nov 2005 22:50:38 -0800

Any medication withdrawal advice? About 5 months ago, I started seeing a psychiatrist. He diagnosed me as early-stage bipolar (which I believe is actually true) and prescribed for me two drugs: Lamictal, which is a mood-stabilizer that works really, really well, and Clonazepam. Clonazepam is useful, vaguely, as an anti-anxiety drug, and while on I, I have had much fewer anxiety attacks. But I was not aware, until I ran out of pills and couldn't get any for 5 days, that Clonzapam is highly addictive, and there is a withdrawal period. It apparently peaks at the 8th day; on the 5th and final day of my first withdrawl, I was spraying myself with Raid because I was...well, I was batshit nuts.
Because the exact nature of Clonazepam wasn't explained to me when I started treatment, I've switched psychiatrists- however, my new one flat-out told me that not only does she not prescribe Clonazepam, but she does not treat anyone on Clonazepam. I really want to get off of it (it causes aphasia and anteriograde amnesia), and now I have to. In two weeks.
I'm planning on tapering the dose, as well as consuming a LOT of pot (which was tacitly suggested by the new psychiatrist), but I'm not really sure where to go from there. Does anyone have any advice?

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clonazepam and me, sitting in a tree

How should I withdraw?