Question About The Klonopin Years

Musicman408 · #1 04-07-2007, 08:24 AM

Now, I know this is a touchy subject, but this has been on my mind a little bit. I know that Stevie was perscribed Klonopin after her cocaine addiction. She produced 2 albums during this time. OSOTM in my opinion is magical, and doesn't seem as bland or whatever as Street Angel.

I guess my question is, when did Stevie really slip into her Klonopin haze? Was it really right after she was perscribed it, or was it later on? Also, when did she go to rehab for Klonopin? Was it before the Street Angel Tour?

For some reason, this is just one thing that I am not really sure of and would greatly appreciate some answers

Hope Everyone Is Doing Well,

Ethan

skcin · #2 04-07-2007, 08:40 AM

From what I understand, she was first prescribed klonopin (which can be used as an anticonvulsant, antianxiety, or sedative) around '87 or '88. I don't think she started getting messed up on it until around '90. By '92/'93 she was gone. She has said that at first, it was something to calm her nerves, but any time she'd complain it wasn't working, the MD just increased the doseage.

TOSOTM was a bit of a surprise hit for her, I believe. I remember reading that her dad told her it was the worst album she had ever made, but it ended up doing pretty well so she was happy about that. That tour was iffy, IMO. A couple of really nice shows, but generally pretty bland, monotone & occasionally out of tune. It was between this tour & Timespace that she started getting more lethargic, less prolific in her writing. She was not in great shape for the Clinton inauguration, IMO. She looked bloated, her coloring was bad, and she looked tired.

She has said that she was still on klonopin during the making of the Street Angel album. She went into rehab while the album was being finished up & when she got out, she was very disappointed in it. Says she "tried to fix it" but wasn't happy with it. By that time, what's done was done & she had to release the album. So for the SA tour itself, and promo apprearances, she was off the drugs. Those shows are some of the best I've heard - yes, her range was diminished, but her voice was so powerful. It was like she was making up for all those bad years by pouring her heart out & tearing up those tunes live.

eric51078 · #3 04-07-2007, 08:48 AM

Just on a side note..I have been on it for nearly 2 years...at first it wasn't helping and they kept upping my dosage...it is really a horrible horrible drug...I almost rather have a panic attack than take the pill...No lie...it is horribly addictive. They say take it 4 times a day and it is so easy to do...I take it when I need to but even when I do...I don't even want to do anything...it's tough...but not easy to come off it....and Stevie is right the doctor's don't want to take you off of it..they don't even want to lower the dosage...just take 1/2 a pill they say...BS in my opinion.

strandinthewind · #4 04-07-2007, 08:54 AM

I have always thought that while she took too much Klonopin, either by Rx or my her own choice, it was not totally the Klonopin. I think she mixedit with too many other drugs like Valium. Plus, she drank and smoked pot as well. All of those are downers. I also think she had days where she was fine and days when the Judy Garland cocktail was too piked even for a pro like her.

petep9000 · #5 04-07-2007, 08:57 AM

In my opinion, the whole 'haze' thing started in 1987. You can't always go by what Stevie says in interviews anyway. She sounds fine on the TITN album, same old Stevie. But when I caught FM on the 'Shake The Cage' tour in early October of '87, it was apparent that something was very different. I can't put my finger on it exactly, but she seemed less 'engaged' and more distant. Her vocal style had changed too, no more of the throaty singing and wails that we had heard on the RAL tour. When TOSOTM came out, I was pretty dissapointed at the blandness of it. So different from her previous works.

petep9000 · #6 04-07-2007, 09:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eric51078

Just on a side note..I have been on it for nearly 2 years...at first it wasn't helping and they kept upping my dosage...it is really a horrible horrible drug...I almost rather have a panic attack than take the pill...No lie...it is horribly addictive. They say take it 4 times a day and it is so easy to do...I take it when I need to but even when I do...I don't even want to do anything...it's tough...but not easy to come off it....and Stevie is right the doctor's don't want to take you off of it..they don't even want to lower the dosage...just take 1/2 a pill they say...BS in my opinion.

It is not a "horrible horrible" drug, this (and other meds in the same class like Valium and Ativan) medicine can be a life-saver for some patients who are crippled with anxiety or have issues with agitation.
All Benzopiazopenes are addictive, which is why they are usually prescibed in a judicious manner by clinicians.

jannieC · #7 04-07-2007, 09:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by petep9000

It is not a "horrible horrible" drug, this (and other meds in the same class like Valium and Ativan) medicine can be a life-saver for some patients who are crippled with anxiety or have issues with agitation.
All Benzopiazopenes are addictive, which is why they are usually prescibed in a judicious manner by clinicians.

I agree. Klonopin helped me through a rough period of insomnia. Everyone is different and if you're an addictive personality- any drug will do. What makes Klonopin so addictive, in my opinion, is that it works so well.

eric51078 · #8 04-07-2007, 09:35 AM

I should have clarified...for me...it just makes me not want to do anything but yes it has really helped when I am at the mall and I have an attack....so I guess there are pro's and con's to any type of meds really.

Ghost_Tracker · #9 04-07-2007, 10:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by petep9000

It is not a "horrible horrible" drug, this (and other meds in the same class like Valium and Ativan) medicine can be a life-saver for some patients who are crippled with anxiety or have issues with agitation.
All Benzopiazopenes are addictive, which is why they are usually prescibed in a judicious manner by clinicians.

Yeah - It's nice to know that I'm not the only one that feels this way. To be competely - uhm - honest -

I have a pet peeve about this. Love Stevie to death, and I'll be one of the FIRST ones to call her a genius. But a Medical Doctor she is NOT and in my opinion she shouldn't be badmouthing a drug just because she personally had a bad experience with it while she was taking it along with other things such as Valium, as mentioned above.
In my opinion, that Psychiatrist - YOU know, the guy that went to Medical School for 4 years? And then did a seven-year long Residency? (Or whatever it is.) He or she knew EXACTLY what they were doing. Stevie has often said that she came very close to DYING. In fact she even says that, as almost the last thing, in CV. What that guy did, in my opinion, is understand completely that she was still an addict and would have gone right back out again eventually and gone back to it, hard-core. He knocked her down (i.m.o.) so that things could "clear out of her system" and she could recover from being an addict. The guy perceived that she was still in an environment where being on drugs would be encouraged - and he GOT HER THE HELL OUT OF THERE. In my opinion he literally saved her life. And honestly, I feel that I'm not putting her down, but it was Stevie's choice, ultimately, to take as much as she did. (I think she must have "subconsciously" known it would save her, even if she still publically badmouths the stuff.)

Anyway, I honestly wish she would change what she says to something like, "Well, I can TELL you that in MY experience . . . well, I had a rough time with it, I can tell you that." Stevie's an expert on writing music, singing, surviving in the music business, maybe some other things. She's not an expert on medicine or psychiatry.

strandinthewind · #10 04-07-2007, 05:06 PM

^^^^

I think you are missing her point, which she said is that she was done with the coke and did not need the Klonopin. But, the doctor told her to take it anyway. If he had listened to her, he would not have perscribed it.

As for personal responsibility -- addiction is a disease. So, yes, La Nicks shoulders some of the resp. -- but my understanding of addiction is that it is not as simple as making a conscious choice to take the pill.

WildHeart69 · #11 04-07-2007, 09:06 PM

heh, everyone's a pharmacologist!

Ghost_Tracker · #12 04-07-2007, 10:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by strandinthewind

^^^^

I think you are missing her point, which she said is that she was done with the coke and did not need the Klonopin. But, the doctor told her to take it anyway. If he had listened to her, he would not have perscribed it.

As for personal responsibility -- addiction is a disease. So, yes, La Nicks shoulders some of the resp. -- but my understanding of addiction is that it is not as simple as making a conscious choice to take the pill.

I totally agree with the second thing you're saying - I think that Stevie was still an addict, and will always be. In that environment (the Record Business and Rock Music back in the 80s) I think that she was at very real risk of getting back to it. (By the way, I don't know if it's true, but there's rumors that she was doing coke again during the Dance Tour....) So, yes, I honestly do feel that the Psychiatrist was trying to "knock her down" in order to try to help her. I think this may be one of those situations where there's "more to the story than meets the eye."

Anyway I didn't mean to imply that addiction isn't a disease or anything like that, I totally get that. I just didn't phrase it very well, maybe. At any rate I really do wish she would change it to something like, "Well, it was really bad for ME; and I feel like I'd like to warn people off of it because I had a bad experience with it. But . . . I dunno - - - talk to your DOCTOR, I ain't an M.D.!"

carrie721 · #13 04-07-2007, 10:49 PM

^^ but who thinks stevie's a doctor? who would take medical advice from her? stevie's not changing any minds with her statements. any rational person is going to take her words with a grain of salt.

ontheEdgeof17 · #14 04-07-2007, 10:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by carrie721

^^ but who thinks stevie's a doctor? who would take medical advice from her? stevie's not changing any minds with her statements. any rational person is going to take her words with a grain of salt.

no ****.

She got fat due to taking steroids, not Klonopin.

Dont blame a doctor for an addictive personality.

(I'm for Klonopin, as you can see)

catinthedark · #15 04-07-2007, 11:25 PM

^^ yeah. gotta agree. i don't think anyone's listening to stevie for medical or psychiatric advice.

i think her comments about klonopin are pretty obviously about her own personal experience.