Posted by Rick on September 22, 2000, at 2:18:23
In reply to Re: Social Phobia Cocktail -- WOW!!!, posted by Aimee on September 21, 2000, at 18:55:39
Aimee -
You're quite welcome! Am I correct in assuming that this is a combo you're considering, rather than currently taking?
While I'm usually fairly open to generics, I've heard so many users comment on a lower/variable potency for generic clonazepam that I've stuck with .5 mg (orange) branded Klonopin from the start. If you end up needing to split a .5 as I do, I suggest getting a good pill splitter. They're rather delicate, despite the scoring. Provigil 200 mg tabs, on the other hand, are pretty easy to simply break in half by hand along the score. (As I will discuss, I now typically need only 100 mg. Provigil to get the full benefits.)
Assuming you haven't started yet, I think there's a great chance you will enjoy the same luck I have had with this combo. Unless you're clinically depressed, I would take the Klonopin alone for the first two-four weeks, so that you can feel out what it does for you and how much you need, while ramping up to a full dose and working through any early sedation. (In a benzo/AD combination, why is the benzo the med always assumed to be causing sedation??) After the Klonopin calms your anxiety, then you can add the Serzone and Provigil together. (I started the Serzone first, but the Provigil seems to have "jump-started" it... and replaced some minor fatigue with major motivation and cognitive benefit.)
If you do have major depression, you might need to try any of several different approaches that could includie starting all three at once (although perhaps a little unorthodox and less analyzable). You'll have to work with your pdoc. But don't worry, even if the timing/sequencing causes some bumps along the way, you'll get there.
Over the last few months, I've stabilized on 1.25 mg/day of Klonopin (1.00 upon awakening, and .25 early afternoon; 450 mg/day Serzone (300 upon awakening, and 150 early afternoon); and 100 mg/day of Provigil when I get up. Once in awhile, for a day or two, I'll take an extra 100 mg. of Provigil at noon or just a little later. (I've always found that 200 mg doses of Provigil work better when staggered this way. You should avoid taking any less than ten hours before bedtime.)
If this cocktail IS "too good to last", I haven't seen any signs of poop-out yet!:
I've just been attending a big company convention at an out-of-town resort -- same locale as two years ago (pre-meds) -- and the difference in how I feel and behave is incredible. I can't believe this calm but highly participatory individual (me) is the same person who's heart felt as if it was going to jump out of my chest just at the *thought* of speaking up last time I was here. When especially challenging situations are coming up, I sometimes take up to .5 mg extra Klonopin. As it turns out, I took .25 mg extra (before our "gala supper") yesterday, and didn't feel the need to take any extra today.Good Luck!
Rick
> Bless you, Rick! Thank you so much for detailing
> your experiences with the various medications and
> for coming up with your amazing cocktail.
> My question for you is, do you take a generic form
> of Klonopin or the original?
>
> Take Care,
> Aimee
>
>
>
>
>
>
> > Hope it's not too good to last:
> >
> > Klonopin (1 mg morning, .25 mg afternoon)
> > Serzone (150 mg morning, 150 mg evening)
> > Provigil (200 mg morning)
> >
> > (Since these meds plus the Prilosec I'm taking are metabolized largely through the same liver enzymes, bioavailability may be increased for some of them...thus keeping my dosage requirements somewhat lower than usual.)
> >
> > Klonopin's been great all along, but I've been looking for an even higher level of improvement. Everthing else I've tried, either before or since starting Klonopin, has failed to provide enhancement and/or has caused non-abating bothersome side effects.
> >
> > The Provigil is incredible, at least for me. I was afraid it would cause counter-productive nervousness, especially when I upped the daily dose from 100 mg to the 200 mg generally recommended for the med's official narcolepsy indication. But instead, the Provigil consistently provides a great "non-wired" wakefulness (although with NO problem sleeping when I WANT to); enhances energy, motivation and cognition; and makes me more assertive and a lot more sociable. I just hope what some have said about a tendency for Provigil to poop out doesn't surface for me.
> >
> > For the record, I've been taking Klonopin about ten months (but less now than previously); Serzone for about four weeks (added it to Celexa, then soon dumped the Celexa); and Provigil for about three weeks.
> >
> > Just wanted to share a success story regarding treatment of my non-depressive Social Anxiety. Who knows if it will last? But so far *every* day for the last two weeks has been just wondeful -- morning to afternnon to night to snooze-land. And as good as everything is now, things seem to be headed nowhere but up.
> >
> > Rick
poster:Rick
thread:36517
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20000905/msgs/45040.html