Psycho-Babble Medication Thread 331566

Shown: posts 1 to 7 of 7. This is the beginning of the thread.

 

KLONOPIN toxicity to liver? For real?

Posted by jerimycoplo on April 1, 2004, at 20:45:57

Hey I suffer from terrible anxiety which cripples my life. I have found that benzos such as klonopin which i am currenlty taken are the things that help by far the most from everyhting i've tried. My pdoc however warned that long term use might (among others) cause liver dysfunction. When i further questioned him he said that it could be as bad as cihrosis and as little as elevated enzymes...Howver , you don't hear much about hepatotoxicity of benzos...
I was wondergin if anyone knew some stats or studies about this. I'm thinnking, they can't be worse then alcochol. Studies show that only about 30% of alcohollics (8-10 drinks every day) over a period of 20-30 yrs of drinking actuaslly develop serious liver problems. And of these only a minority are cirhosis. So I 'm thinking to myself that 1 mg of klonopin a day is probably alot more safe then 8 beers a day and probbaly even 4 beers. Overall I'm trying to get an idea of how dangerous klonopin really is to my liver at 1 mg per day.
Does anyone here know any web resources, studies, etc. that talks about the percentage of people that get liver issues from long term benzo use? Is it more dangerous then alcohol? Do some people maybe get elevated enzymes and a super small minority serious comlications and then other people (maybe the majority) have perfectly healthy livers while taking klonopin long term?
Let me know, especialy if you or someone you know has taken a benzo over long term.
I do know about the other side effects and withdrawl etc....my main concern is liver problems however.
Btw. my p doc also mentioned that more toxicity could arise depending with what other drugs it is combined....i currently take paxil and sometimes luvox....

regards jc

 

generic wellbutrin

Posted by Iansf on April 1, 2004, at 21:05:23

In reply to KLONOPIN toxicity to liver? For real?, posted by jerimycoplo on April 1, 2004, at 20:45:57

> Hey I suffer from terrible anxiety which cripples my life. I have found that benzos such as klonopin which i am currenlty taken are the things that help by far the most from everyhting i've tried. My pdoc however warned that long term use might (among others) cause liver dysfunction. When i further questioned him he said that it could be as bad as cihrosis and as little as elevated enzymes...Howver , you don't hear much about hepatotoxicity of benzos...
> I was wondergin if anyone knew some stats or studies about this.

I'm certainly no expert is this matter, but from what I've read the amount of Klonopin you've been prescribed is not a serious threat to your liver. Obviously, the conditions of people's livers vary, so what doesn't harm most people could harm a particular individual. But in general 1 mg/d should not be of great concern. Regular monitoring of liver function - say every six months to one year - should be sufficient to warn you of impending problems well before it's too late to do anything about them. It's extremely unlikely your liver would undergo irreparable harm in six months unless it were already impaired and you were severely abusing it (i.e., getting drunk every day or taking huge amounts of Klonopin). If you're really worried, taking milk thistle reportedly can help.

 

Re: KLONOPIN toxicity to liver? For real?

Posted by snapper on April 1, 2004, at 22:27:18

In reply to KLONOPIN toxicity to liver? For real?, posted by jerimycoplo on April 1, 2004, at 20:45:57

hey jc, I used to drink VERY heavy and used klonopin internittantly for over 14 yrs, and I have had several full blood panels done wbc, cbc, liver,tsh,t2,t3, thyroid etc and when my doc saw my most recent lab blood work, he said he wished his was excellent as mine was. I def think alcohol would be more detrimental in the long run.. I would be more concerned with the fact that your doc is letting you use 2 ssri's at the same time than I would be with possible liver toxicity!! If you are very concerned-just ask your doc to have a full blood/ chem profile done to ease your fears.
Clint

 

Re: KLONOPIN toxicity to liver? ques for snapper

Posted by jerimycoplo on April 2, 2004, at 16:03:50

In reply to Re: KLONOPIN toxicity to liver? For real?, posted by snapper on April 1, 2004, at 22:27:18

Hey thanks for the reply that's helpful. I wanted to clarify something though. What i meant is that i have taken paxil and luvox, but not at the same time. I used to take paxil and switched to luvox b/c of the better side effect profile for me. I know 2 ssri's at the same time is bad.
I was also wonderign, what do you mean when you said you used to "drink heavily" in the past. just out of curiosity, how much did you drink?

thanks
jc

 

Re: KLONOPIN toxicity to liver? ques for snapper

Posted by snapper on April 2, 2004, at 21:21:22

In reply to Re: KLONOPIN toxicity to liver? ques for snapper, posted by jerimycoplo on April 2, 2004, at 16:03:50

hey jc, thanks for clarifying the thing about the two ssri's - I understand .. When I was at the worst times.....Being I was on effexor, or adderall and klonopin- through the worst times of HEAVY drinking... I;d say 6 out of seven days -anywhere form 6 to12 or 15 drinks in a 24 to 36 hr period. Just a guesstimate though. This went off and on for 7-8 yrs. of course I had times of being completely sober for 4 - 6 -9 or more months in an effort to get a 'better' or more effective Med.- I'll say this - at the height of my drinking -from 95 to 97 or 98' --when I was losing my business, and every thing else around me-- I probably drank 3 to 4 fifth's of scotch a week and some shots and some Coors light for a different taste.Dude I was medicating my self in to sickening oblivion and it is amaizing I am even here to tell you these things. I do not share all of this with you to bore you or anything like that - But I do know this- If you are still relatively young like I percieve you to be --- DO YOUR ABSOLUTE DAMN BEST TO NOT SELF MEDICATE- I AM NOT ON A SELF RIGHTIOUS "AA" TYPE THING HERE-DO WHAT EVER IT IS THAT IS NECCESSARY TO PROTECT YOUR BRAIN CELLS!!BTW I DID QUIT DRINKING W/O "AA" SOME DO QUITE WELL W/IT.OTHERS FIND OTHER WAYS. I can sense that you are probably worried that you may have possibly "drank" yourself into possible liver problems or that you anxiety maybe pushing you in your mind to the thought that you could have done some damage!! I don't know - I could be way off base-I know you are very worried and concerned...Maybe you don't even have probs. with alcohol..but I am most certain that "most" people with any type of mental illness or anxiety diagnosis, at one time or another has tryed to drink away or smoke or snort away, their symptoms. Hope I answered your questions!let me know if I can help! OK? -sorry about the rant!-
Clint

 

Re: KLONOPIN toxicity to liver? ques for snapper

Posted by jerimycoplo on April 3, 2004, at 18:09:20

In reply to Re: KLONOPIN toxicity to liver? ques for snapper, posted by snapper on April 2, 2004, at 21:21:22

I think are probably right about the anxiety causing me to worry (probably unnecesarily) about having caused some liver problems. I don't really drink that much...
regards
jc

 

Re: KLONOPIN toxicity to liver? ques for snapper

Posted by snapper on April 3, 2004, at 18:56:05

In reply to Re: KLONOPIN toxicity to liver? ques for snapper, posted by jerimycoplo on April 3, 2004, at 18:09:20

jc , thats good about you not drinking so much but not about your anxiety.... I really do think that anxiety is more ravaging on the brain and most of all the other parts of the body systems than actual depresion it self.
snapper


This is the end of the thread.


Show another thread

URL of post in thread:


Psycho-Babble Medication | Extras | FAQ


[dr. bob] Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD, bob@dr-bob.org

Script revised: February 4, 2008
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/cgi-bin/pb/mget.pl
Copyright 2006-17 Robert Hsiung.
Owned and operated by Dr. Bob LLC and not the University of Chicago.