Posted by CoutureMan on January 10, 2008, at 4:43:19
In reply to Re: Anxiety without clonzapam - RobertDavid, posted by brooke484 on January 9, 2008, at 22:22:44
I'm glad Robert is doing well on a steady dose of klonopin but each person is different. I suffer from unipolar depression with severe anxiety. Twenty years ago I went through a horrendous withdrawal from xanax which required hospitalization. It was in the early days of xanax when Drs. thought it could be used as an antidepressant. I was taking it in combination with nardil. I swore I would never take a benzo again in my life.
I was hospitalized 4 years ago with unrelenting suicidal anxiety after having gone off buspar that I was taking in addition to Lexapro. Going back up on the buspar did not relive the anxiety. In the hospital the Drs. suggested klonopin as a treatment but I told them I was terrified because of the reaction I had to xanax years earlier. I was told klonopin is different and that I would not habituate to it. I was skeptical but they told me that there really wasn't any other treatment that they could provide me.
I finally relented and went home a week later stabilized on 1 mg. klonopin. I lasted 6 months at 1 mg. and then the anxiety came back full force. I up the dose to 2 mgs. and lasted 3 months at that dose. I tried to go higher but started having paradoxical reactions to the klonopin. I was terrified again and it took going on a low dose of depakote to somewhat stabilize the anxiety. But the addition of depakote has caused severe constipation requiring high doses of miralax to be able to go. So I'm miserable and stuck in this circular quandary. Chronic GI distress caused by miralax needed because of the depakote required by the tolerance to klonopin and unable to increase klonopin because of the paradoxical reactions to the klonopin ... and the cat in the hat ... and bull sh*t etc. etc. etc.
We are all different but I wish I could live without a benzo. It took a hospitalization to get me back on one and I'm screwed again in spite of the best advice of the hospital staff at a highly rated Psch unit. Just something to think about Brooke.
Take Care,
CM
> If I knew for sure I would be able to stay at one dose, no matter how much it was, and never have to increase it, I would take it tomorrow. I see my doctor in 2 weeks and I'll bring it up again. It might be worth talking about.
>
> Thanks again for all your great advice. I'm glad you found what helps you.
>
> brooke
poster:CoutureMan
thread:612893
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20080105/msgs/805508.html