Posted by DaveH on March 9, 2001, at 4:21:57
In reply to Serzone + Klonopin, caffeine and burst of anger!, posted by Nic on January 23, 2001, at 9:47:31
> > >
" I have been on Serzone 600 mg/day and Klonopin 3mg/day for several months now. It seems that since I have been on this combination, that I can get more irritable and angry quicker.
. . . I get lethargic and drink about a pot of coffe a day and about 6 diet cokes in the afternoon.
As far as depression I think I have gone backwards a bit."
> > >I'm also on a similar Klonopin + Serzone script. 600mg/day Serzone and 4mg/day Klonopin. This I have been on for about two years. Before that it was Klonopin + Paxil. (I started to miss my long-gone libido, though, so the Dr. replaced the Paxil with Serzone) which, thankfully, does not have that side effect, nor much of any sort of side effect, for that matter. (At least to me.) Before that, I went through _several_ different drug therapies. I have been in treatment for depression and anxiety/seizure disorder since 1994 -- and on and off treatment for depression since 1983 (as a teenager).
After detoxing and forever quitting years of foolish and practically suicidal 'self-medication,' I figured that the "tiny everyday household" addictions like coffee and cigarettes were the last thing I needed to worry about. I had kicked (survived) alcohol and heroin for heaven's sake! Nobody was going to touch my smokes or my coffee, dammit!
But I can tell you that after I cut down (and finally eliminated) my caffeine intake -- mainly in coffee and soda pop -- there was a significant decrease in the frequency of my panic attacks. (Which was plenty enough reason for me to happily quit caffeine. Also cigarettes, four years prior.) It seems that many people who have anxiety/panic disorders, with or without depression, are ultra-sensitive to CNS stimulants, which can make their anxiety worse.
That's the way it is for me. Nicotine and caffeine are stimulants, and my incidence of panic/dissociative episodes decreased when I quit one, and decreased more when I quit the other. I just wish there were more things I could quit, if it would help as much as quitting caffeine did!
I think it is difficult to objectively assess your level of depression in any case, much less when it is further complicated by the constant blood-level of a high-potency benzodiazepine such as Klonopin. The medication's effect on the CNS can manifest as lethargy and can be erroneously attributed to the same clinical depression that you may have been living with for years. But that is the result of an entirely different chemical reaction. Your body will eventually adjust to the "downer" effects of the Klonopin, just as it will adjust when you quit caffeine.
The sort-term discomfort during this natural adaptation process is more than worth the long-term benefits of being free of the need for these noxious chemicals in order to feel "normal." Life is tough enough.
poster:DaveH
thread:52296
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20010302/msgs/55985.html