Posted by Rick on October 27, 2002, at 10:52:55
In reply to Klonopin as a dumb drug, posted by viridis on October 27, 2002, at 0:14:29
For me it's not so much a cognitive dulling problem on Klonopin as memory problems, especially short-term (including VERY short term). But I think AD's, and even a purported memory-booster like Provigil, have exacerbated this annoyance. In terms of many other aspects of mental agility, I find as you do that I'm actually sharper than pre-Klonopin.
Word-finding is one interesting aspect, however. At times my brain can't summons up even the simplest words to save my life , but at other times the words just flow, much better than pre-Klonopin. It seems as if the problems are more in extemporaneous speaking than in writing. One theory I have is that, despite my greatly reduced "fear of people", I can still feel inhibitory pressure to come up with the right things to say when someone's staring at me and waiting for me to speak (or worse yet if I feel I need to organize and express my thoughts quickly to keep their attention). OTOH, I can certainly have the word-finding difficulties when I'm just thinking to myself, too. I could go on here with other thoughts related to this topic, but I think you get the general idea.
Getting back to your original topic and summarizing, other than amnesic effects I don't consider Klonopin a dumb drug either. Since you didn't mention memory issues, I assume you don't experience them.
Rick
P.S. One reason as-needed Xanax bombed out for my SP is that it *did* cause cognitive dulling, maybe related in part to the physical dulling sensations I felt. Klonopin never made me feel so physically slow, not even the first dose. I was amazed to feel so much more calm with nothing more than a smidge of fatigue, an effect which soon went away -- especially after I determined that "less" worked *better* for my SP than "more."
> It's interesting how differently people react, even to different drugs within the same class. Klonopin hasn't dulled me out at all (except a bit in first 1-2 weeks that I took it). In contrast, my thinking became much sharper and more focused -- maybe because I wasn't constantly agonizing over trivial details, sleeping 2-3 hours a night, and so on. It's not just my imagination either, since friends, family, and co-workers commented on how I'd suddenly become so "on target" and enthusiastic.
>
> On the other hand, Valium really is a "dumb drug" for me -- when I take even a small amount, it puts me in a haze (and not pleasant, just a general stupid/drugged feeling).
poster:Rick
thread:124171
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20021025/msgs/125422.html