Hi all, i'm bipolar II. I suffer from mostly depressive/mixed states where I feel constantly agitated, anxious, unfocused, and my thoughts are clouded with intrusive thoughts.

I'm normally on zoloft, oxcarbazepine (trileptal), and trazodone, but it really wasn't helping me deal with the constant cloud of thoughts going on through my mind.

My GP prescribed klonopin (.5 mg 2x a day). It works incredibly well, but even .5 mg puts me to sleep right away. It's actually the best sleep i've had in years, and when I wake up, I feel totally refreshed and not groggy, depressed, or slow like I usually am in the morning. I wake up energetic, lively, focused, with my thoughts ordered and prepared for the whole day. I feel more responsible and caring while on it, and I don't feel that irritable "edge" that most BP people feel.

I don't feel "high", I just feel NORMAL. I feel balanced. I feel like I can get things done, I can communicate with people better without delusional anxiety that they're going to judge me or yell at me even for minor problems, I can sit in traffic and not fall into a depressive/anxious state, I don't feel the need the constantly distract myself or entertain myself to get my mind off my racing thoughts, I can engage others willingly and thoughtfully, and a whole host of other things.

I don't have social anxiety, but being BP has really put me on edge over the years, where I feel I can't express my feelings properly or I tend to react in a very hostile and mean manner towards people. I used to have angry outbursts and explode at people for the tiniest things, and say really hurtful and spiteful things towards friends. It really cost me a lot of close friendships that even today i'm still trying to recover from.

I know the half-life of klonopin is really long and it doesn't have the "high" that xanax does, but I don't get bad panic attacks often, I just feel anxious and edgy all the time, so I thought it was the right one for me.

Does anyone else have experience with klonopin? was it good or bad? did it put you to sleep right away? will I eventually get used to the sleepiness?