Klonopin

[johnnystorms]

hello ledgies,
this is probably as personal as i will get on here, BUT, i have a chronic condition. To help me sleep, my Dr. prescribed me Klonopin! YIKES! i trust this doc very much. but whoooooooooo, WWST? now i'm only to take it at bedtime, not on it's prescribed dosage(which is 3 times a day). any thoughts?

[Meowi]

Hi Johnny, hope you are well :)
Well, I guess if it helps and it does good to you - then I guess it'll be ok.
On the other hand, you may become Stevie Nicks of the 1990's.

[johnnystorms]

Hi Johnny, hope you are well :)
Well, I guess if it helps and it does good to you - then I guess it'll be ok.
On the other hand, you may become Stevie Nicks of the 1990's.

thx Meowi,
not sure if i can pull off the braids though! we'll see. thnx for your reply.

[Dodfather]

I understand why this would be frightening but as long as you stick to the advised dosage (one a night) I think you'll be ok. Bear in mind that Stevie said many, many times that her Doctor kept upping her dose so who knows how many she was on by the end. The crucial thing is to monitor yourself throughout the day and if you don't feel right or have bad side effects then discuss them with your doctor. There may be other medications that are more appropriate.

[petep9000]

take it as prescribed. and don't go to LA looking for physicians who write open-ended RX's. and don't give them to your personal assistants.

[Josh2003]

WWSD? Immediately run out of the doctor's office, I think she once advised.

However, she's silly.

You'll be fine...assuming you're not kicking some other chemical dependancy, à la our beloved Stevie at the time.

[louielouie2000]

My Dr also prescribed Klonopin to me a couple of years back after my house had been flooded by a tropical storm, and I couldn't sleep because of stress. I just wanted regular sleeping pills, but my Dr insisted I was not having true sleep issues, but anxiety was my problem instead. I was on Klonopin for about a month. I didn't like it... I took it in the evening to wind down, but then I'd be all foggy and stupid for half the next day. The worst was when I decided to go off it cold turkey. Even though I'd only been on it a month, it wasn't pretty. I'd get horrible headaches that make you want to curl up in the fetal position, and the waves of anxiety were really bad. It took a week or two for my body to calm back down after I started withdrawal... it wasn't fun. Just be careful... I'd see if there's another drug your Dr can put you on. I think there are much better drugs out there for anxiety/stress, ones that don't have bad side effects.

[Bryan]

Prescription drugs aren't the answer to anything.Either are doctors. Maybe opt for something more natural

[LukeA]

I was on Klonopin for about a month. I didn't like it... I took it in the evening to wind down, but then I'd be all foggy and stupid for half the next day. The worst was when I decided to go off it cold turkey. Even though I'd only been on it a month, it wasn't pretty

I'm honestly curious... if you didn't like how it affected you, why did you continue to take it? You pretty much know whether Klonopin is going to help you/whether you like it after the first time you take it- there's no need to take it for 10-21 days to evaluate its impact (unlike most psychotropics marketed for anxiety).

[nailatixela]

My Dad was also prescribed Klonopin years ago and he got off it - hated the way it made him feel. And he wasn't even under Stevie's klonopin is evil spell.

[HejiraNYC]

I don't want to be a downer (pun intended), but this thread seriously does not belong in the Stevie area.

[louielouie2000]

I'm honestly curious... if you didn't like how it affected you, why did you continue to take it? You pretty much know whether Klonopin is going to help you/whether you like it after the first time you take it- there's no need to take it for 10-21 days to evaluate its impact (unlike most psychotropics marketed for anxiety).

I actually called my Dr when I discovered I didn't like the way the drug made me feel. She suggested I take a half tablet instead, which I did. I still felt oogie. But my performance had slipped at work due to my inability to sleep, so I bit the bullet and stayed on the drug long enough to reestablish my sleep pattern. I expressed my concern with Klonopin when my Dr prescribed it initially, but she felt it was the best drug to get me regulated. I only took the drug long enough to assure myself that I'd reestablished my sleep pattern, then I simply didn't refill it.

[johnnystorms]

i appreciate the responses from you all. nice to know the ledgies got my back! i did sleep like a baby last night, but waking up was a bitch! i think i'll do a half pill tonight and see how that works.
didn;t mean to post in the improper area, just knowing Stevie's experience with it, i thought that was the most logical place to put it. sorry.

[HomerMcvie]

My cousin was diagnosed with anxiety issues, a few months ago, and they prescribed her Klonopin. I warned her of the Stevie story. I sometimes have a hard time sleeping, and she gave me a few. I take one, every once in awhile. Makes me sleep like a baby!

[jannieC]

Klonopin is a great drug for anxiety and actually safer to use than Valium or Xanax. I don't usually hear of it being prescribed for "sleep only" issues since there are better drugs for that symptom alone.

Just take it as it's prescribed and if you don't like the way you feel, communicate that to your doctor. And good luck!

[Nikolaj]

I passed on Klonopin when it was offered to me about 8 years ago. I've told this before, but my doctor really got p*ssed that part of my decision was Stevie Nicks influenced*.
Plus, I thought it made one get fat :)
* My doc said 'That's so irresponsible of her to badmouth the drug publically because she abused it. It's an effective medication when used properly"- I don't think SN really 'abused' the drug, it's just that after years on any strong med, the drug abuses you. Okay, it's not exactly the drugs fault if anyone happens to stay on a med too long.

Maybe I wouldn't have been any worse off on it than what I wound up being on for years.
Someone mentioned Xanax above. IS Xanax really stronger than Klonopin?
I've been on Xanax for maybe 5 months now, and I so don't like it, and only use it because it makes me sleep well- as for any anxiety relief- I get no benefit from Xanax, just feel drowsy even if i bite a third of the 1mg pill- and then I feel depressed that I'm sluggish.
If I take the entire pill, of the Xanax- I tend to get a great night of sleep, so I save it for that, now. Oh, but the next day...takes me forever to get moving, even with the morning Adderall I take- if I've had a Xanax the night before, it's two hours before I'm of much use- then, all is well.
Prescription meds- wish I never started, in many ways. It's odd, maybe, that amphetamines and narcotic painkillers are legal and marijuana isn't. Apart from the lung damage, pot seems way less dangerous. It just s*cks that regular male pot smokers start to get "man boobs"--and if you stop smoking, after time, they're gone. I can always tell if a guy is a heavy pot smoker- by his chest!

[Meowi]

If Stevie was so tired, how come they gave her Klonopin?

[Musicman408]

Prescription drugs aren't the answer to anything.Either are doctors. Maybe opt for something more natural

From someone who has had multiple medical procedures and operations that have saved his life, I find this statement remarkably offensive....... and tinged with ignorance.

[markolas]

* My doc said 'That's so irresponsible of her to badmouth the drug publically because she abused it. It's an effective medication when used properly"

It is irresponsible. Stevie is ridiculous. Seriously, if you take it as prescribed and keep your doctor informed of any side effects, you'll be fine.

I've never taken Klonopin, but I do take Xanax for anxiety. I dunno if Klonopin is necessarily stronger; my understanding is that it's longer-acting than Xanax.

Has anyone here taken Zoloft? I've been on it for about a year after being diagnosed with panic disorder. The panic attacks have stopped, but my psychiatrist has now prescribed Wellbutrin in addition to it, to help with depression/low motivation. I haven't started taking it yet, so I don't have anything to report yet.

[Musicman408]

I do just want to ask what some of your symptoms of anxiety are? Sometimes when I get nervous for stuff, I get kind of..... gaggy I guess you'd say, and it really does sometimes affect my performance. I don't know, maybe I should mention this to my doctor.

[LukeA]

(afraid to say anything)

[markolas]

Not sure what you mean by "gaggy."

If you're having panic attacks, you'll definitely know something's wrong. It's not the same as being a little nervous. For me, it was an overwhelming sense of doom - like I had some terrible illness that was going to kill me any minute. I couldn't sleep, and I stopped eating & lost something like 20 lbs.

[Nikolaj]

Markolas, you asked about zoloft and wellbutrin- I have been on both and neither worked for me. I believe that I was on them for 3 months each, around 2002, and not at the same time. Shortly after was when I went on Percocet, the only thing that helped my depression, though it's not manufactured for that reason. Soon it will be 4 months off it.
My mother was on both Zoloft and Wellbutrin for many years, not at the same time. I think she took zoloft for the longest duration, 10 years ago, with good results, and the wellbutrin as recent as 2 years ago but it had some side effect on her liver I think it was- most anti-depressants have side affects on the stomach, it seems.
Now her docs have her on 'aricept' which freaks me out, because it's an Alzheimers prevention/treatment drug, and not an anti-depressant, and I think she does not have dementia or pre-Alzheimers.
So, it's like she has gone from 30 years on an anti-depressant- I think she started with Prozac in the 80s-- to being on NO anti-depressant now and this Aricept worries me a lot. She has lost copious amounts of weight since beginning the aricept she didn't have to lose. The psychiatrist believes she has severe dementia and many signs of Alzheimers, I see her every day now, and I think 'that's just how Mom is, and has always been' and I asked her MD yesterday if we could stop the Aricept, 'I'm no doctor', trying to be respectful, 'but I've researched it a lot, and it's when her weight loss started and she lost her appetite and I don't see any change in my Mom that idicates to me she has dementia,'-- Weight loss and appretite loss both are side-effects of the drug. The MD told me, 'NO, she needs it' - tho it was the psychiatrist who prescribed it, and also told me the same.
I think they're both wrong, but can't prove it. My mother just wants to do as the doctors tell her. Tomorrow, I take her for an ultrasound (of her stomach area) to see if that will reveal any causes for her weight loss. Tomorrow is Thursday, and it's my third appointment to take her to this week, there's two next week, then 2 in late October for my dad. So, I wasn't totally 'nuts' moving so close to them, even if the house is so huge I could move The Waltons in here with me.- Oh, obscure 70s reference- I mean, a number of people!
Luke, why are you afraid to say anything? I'd be interested. I sense that maybe you think these drugs are a racket. I think I think so, too.
And I think I'm going to have to get back on the Percocet next month, maybe being off of it for 5 months by then will allow me to not need as much as I did when I voluntarily quit it because I was sick of being so dependent on it. My doctor's concerned and I know I could get it again. The thought of the 180 count bottles from Costco again both scares me and cheers me to know I may have relief in sight-- It is all that works for me, all that has ever worked for my depression, and I've had about all of the Xanax I ever want to see, it just doesn't work for me. Yet, I may continue on the nothing and take NO other drug (except for the Adderall I've been on forever with no abuse)- the depression I have has morphed into nothingness, which is okay, nothingness isn't that bad, I just need to be more alert and productive for caring for my family, and that means the adderall and percocet. Oh, an excuse, I know, but there's little to do about it.
As well, I know that deep in the winter is when my depression is the strongest, and it's coming soon, but the Adderall will at least get me out of bed. The uncommon problem I have is that the Percocet kicked in the Adderall for me, before it kicked me to the curb after 7 years and I quit in June.
My initial response was to Markolas, yes I was on both the drugs you asked about, with zero results for me. But don't go by me, I'm hard to help. The zoloft seemed excellent for my mother, maybe the best, for her, ever. Prozac seemed to help her mood a lot, too. I imagine you'll be encouraged to try the Wellbutrin for 2 months minimum before discontinuing it should you feel it isn't right for you, that's the 'industry standard'--- Oh, me and those 90s buzz words- too long typing, hope I answered a question before the tangents.

[LukeA]

Luke, why are you afraid to say anything? I'd be interested. I sense that maybe you think these drugs are a racket.

Nope! I've contributed earlier in the thread.

[markolas]

Only side effect I've experienced from the Zoloft is an annoying sexual side effect (not impotence) that I can deal with if it means I'm not having panic attacks. I'm not going to get into a debate about whether antidepressants are a "racket" or not (I don't think they are).

[Nikolaj]

^
Markolas,
It happened again! Surely it's my overtyping tendencies that make me drone the wrong thing that I don't even think is so- "racket"-- I meant that not about one thing in this thread, but about my mom and her doctors and my impotence in fixing it, or fixing anything, me.
So, the old therapy joke applies- if it's not one thing it's your mother.
I was all over the place last night, more than usual (shut up!) and I know that you're right that merits vs. viceroys- uh ,vices is not worth debating.
But see, your meds work for you! Showoff!
I'm kidding about 'showoff' and regret the unfortunate 'racket' usage, but in a second the Marlboro I have to go outside to smoke may help me edit this, to better admit- uh- I was wrong, again.
Edit: I'm sorry, the Marlboro Red didn't give me inspiration to correct the above, took a xanax since it's after 11 and I need sleep soon- then I couldn't find my lighter for 15 minutes, which caused severe anxiety as I have cut way back and needed that cig. Slave.
Xanaxdude, Xanaxdude, now that you're near, now that your here, in Xanaxdude... sleep. I've had enough for one day.

[estranged4life]

of this year I prescribed Clonazepam (Which is Klonopin) for anxiety issues. After about 3 weeks I noticed bad side effects with this med, and decided on my own not to continue to taking it.

I notified my therapist who talked to the clinic's head psychiatrist, who was literally shocked/awed that I took myself off that med - His reasoning, as he physically showed me 3-4 'post-it' notes called into his office, was that most (The patients listed on the 'post-it' notes) wanted more of similar meds to deal with life head-on.

He (The clinic's head psychiatrist) said to me "for one to decide the meds aren't working and they feel that they aren't working in the correct manner....they have to a brutally honest person". He said about 99% of his patients wouldn't admit what I did.

I have since been on a better working anti-anxiety med.