Posted by yxibow on August 31, 2005, at 5:25:50
In reply to Is Clonazepam a high potency benzodiazepine?, posted by rjlockhart98 on August 30, 2005, at 22:56:14
> I have read articles that clonazepam binding to gaba recepetors is moderatly.
>
> I take Klonopin 5mg (yes 5mg) for severe anxiety with panic syndrome.I've been up to 8mg... but I wouldn't recommend this without frequent monitoring.
> 3-4mg will almost knock me out before.
>Benzodiazepines are, not necessarily the "addictive" medications that some may label, but they do have a degree of habituation depending on the person and while some have been on Librium or Valium since they came out 45 years ago with no troubles, others continue to ramp up.
> Clonazepam is much more mentally clouding than others, such as lorazepam. I could work well on 1-2mg fine without any disorganization. Klonopin seems to make it hard to keep up with everyhting. I dont want to do much.
Each benzodiazepine has slightly different subreceptor bindings... for anxiolytic, for anticonvulsant, and for sedative-hypnotic. Temazepam, Halcion, Rohypnol, etc, are more in the sedative-hypnotic range. Ativan tends to be more in the anxiolytic range, but it also has a shorter half life and a sense of immediacy in gratification. Clonazepam probably has slightly more in the anticonvulsant range although it probably equally shares it with its anxiolytic properties and is most frequently prescribed psychiatrically because it has a long half life and is easier to withdraw from thus. This is just from my personal experience and a general nuance of the medications -- its hard to say scientifically what a particular benzodiazepine will do for which person
Personally I'm tapering from clonazepam to diazepam (Valium) to see if there is any slight difference in anxiolytic effect. They both have long half lifes but may have slightly different nuances.
As for "high potency", I would say that intravenous Versed for surgery is a pretty potent benzodiazepine (not from personal experience :). But I dont think you'd want to be driving the streets on that...
poster:yxibow
thread:548998
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20050827/msgs/549086.html