Fibromyalgia Community

Klonopin is a Benzo with a very long half life. I had some serious side effects from it and had to go off of it. Then I had serious withdrawals that required medical intervention.

Be very careful with a drug like this.

Take care, Annette

Hi Annette,
I have been on Klonopin for many years. It is the only medication that works for panic attacks. What do you mean by very long half life? I had to get off of it during a pregnancy and it was horrid. I probably needed medical intervention but it wasn't mentioned so I just suffered through it. Thanks for any info.
Beth

Klonopin (generic is Clonozapam) is used for many different maladies.....it can be prescribed for depression, in my case it was prescribed for the terrible nerve ending, burning pain that i just could not tolerate and found no relief from w/other meds. It is also used for anxiety. I have had no trouble using it, as needed. It does not make me edgy or in serious withdrawal to go on and off it, as needed. Although, i am obviously under a doctor's supervision.

In fact, years ago, when i was in remission from my CIDP, which unfortunately lasted only 4 months, i weaned myself off all drugs except topamax, because i still needed it for leg spasms. I had been taking percoset, then methodone, then oxyconton over a period of three years and so i was going to be in withdrawal. My pain DR. prescibed Klonopin to help me with the withdrawal symptoms and it really helped tremendously. I took them for about 3 weeks. I remember that i was anxios, had a short attention span, felt impatient with people, and couldn't sit still and do nothing for a very long period of time. In other words, if i went out to dinner w/a group of friends, as soon as i was done eating, i wanted to leave the restaurant. No making small talk or sitting around looking at the scenery...i was fidgity. The Klonipin helped take the edge off. In a month, i was fine....off all drugs.

It's a good drug...depends on your personal chemistry and your situation, if it is appropriate for you.

best regards,
sheila

The half life in adults is 19-50 hours. The way I understand "half life" is that it is the length of time that it takes your body to clear half of the dose you took. Because of this, in some folks, it builds up slowly in your system if you take it every 24 hours or even more frequently, this can cause an increase in side effects and the sedation connected with this type of drug.

I have no memory at all of about three months of my life while I took this drug once a day, as prescribed by my doctor. 1 mg. a day at bedtime was the highest dose I took. I rolled my car on the way to see my doctor, and told him I wanted off of it from the phone in the ER. Thank God no one was hurt except me. My son was not in the car.

He later told me, and I verified it with my own research that this was probably due to the clonazepam (Klonopin). I did require medical treatment for withdrawals after I stopped taking it.

We all respond to different drugs in different ways. I get no withdrawals when I decrease my opiates or have a good day and forget to take them. But benzos are a totally different thing for me. My present doctor agrees with me that these are drugs I should stay away from.

Just be careful, you may not react the same way I did.

Take care, Annette