Addiction to Klonopin?

Hello...I hope this is the right spot to post this. I was just prescribed Klonopin (on top of my pre-existing RX for Lamictal and Abilify) for panic attacks. I keep reading it has a high addictive potential. I am wondering if anyone here has gotten addicted from just taking it as needed (versus regularly)? I don't want to get addicted to it.

Thanks in advance for any input. :-)

I've been taking it for well over a year and have taken it as prn and on a daily basis and have had no trouble with quitting it when I needed to. Now I only take it as needed which is less than once a week. I used to take it 3 times a day. So it's safe as long as you stick to only using it as prescribed.

There is a big difference between addiction and physical dependence. Addiction means you take more than prescribed to get high and then go out looking for more because you ran out before you could get a refill.

Physical dependence means that after having taken it for awhile and then you stop you get withdrawal symptoms. The receptors on the cells of your nervous system have gotten used to it and have to re adapt to being off of it. Doing a very very slow taper is the best way to come off. People at higher doses for years will be at higher risk I think.

I have been on .5 mg twice a day for a year. This last week I was out of town and ran out and I missed three days worth, so 6 doses. To my surprise I didn't have any withdrawal symptoms. Since I didn't have any withdrawal my plan is to cut the evening dose out and go to .5 a day and then to PNR. My brother, pharmacist, says reduce by 20% every two weeks. Most people here will say to do it much slower. Some people tell horror stories about protracted klonopin withdrawal. Seems like these are people who have been on it for twenty years or more. Other people say they went off of it quite easily. Physical dependence and withdrawal are very real dangers.

Are you taking it because of anxiety issues? The medication can help but there is the potential for abuse. You have to always balance the pro's and con's with any psychotropic medications.

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You are right to be cautious with this medication. If you have a history of addiction w/ any other substance, you are at more risk to become addicted to Klonopin/Clonazepam.

I know there are reasons why people are concerned with these medications but really Klonopin is one of the safer ones in the sense that it has an incredibly long half life so stays in your body and is long acting. I have taken it for a long time and have not needed to increase the dose even though you would think that by now I have tolerance. It just hasn't happened to me, but everyone has a different chemistry.

I actually do not think there is a difference between addiction and physical dependence. While I understand the reasons why people make that distinction, the definition of addiction is dependence. And many medications are addictive. Pain killers are addictive, but that doesn't mean that we should not take them, even for long periods, if there is medical necessity. And I don't think it is humane to say that if you have a substance use issue in your past you should not be allowed to take something like a pain killer. Really? You want someone to go through hip replacement without medication because they used to drink too much? Is that sound reasoning or medically responsible?

According to the DSM-5, if you have tolerance and withdrawal, meaning you are taking a med as prescribed that happens to be addictive, then you meet 2 of the necessary criteria for substance use disorder. However, in the fine print it says that this situation actually is an exception, even though the person is addicted and would need help detoxing. They just may not have the additional behavioral issues related to the substance so don't need treatment for that. Thus in the generic sense of the word, they are not "addicts." However, they are addicted. The community that believes that addiction is something intrinsic in a person and that it is a disease will completely disagree and I understand the reasons behind that. Still there should be room for different points of view on this issue.