long-term Klonopin experience

I recently started taking Klonopin for anxiety, 1-2 mg per day, presumably for the long-term as a maintenance medication to curb the "edge" off of my thought processes which, in the past, have led to periodic brief psychotic episodes. It seems to work fine for this - the quality of my thoughts themselves isn't changed much, but their intensity and my resulting anxiety from them is definitely diminished. I've been trying to keep my dose at 1mg, but later in the day if I feel especially manicky or start to freak out about something, I'll take the other 1mg pill. So far the only noticable side-effect is a sort of sleepy, slightly hung-over feeling in the mornings, which usually goes away soon.

My question is, is there anything I need to be concerned with in taking it long-term? I know for a fact that I need a long-term maintenance med, but nothing nearly as harsh as an antipsychotic or anything. Does anyone know of any other meds that work well for curbing manicky/delusional thought processes without a lot of undesirable negative side-effects and without completely stifling creativity? So far I really like Klonopin, but was wondering if there was anything I needed to know about it being used long-term...

Hi World,

This is just my experience, but I have been on Klonopin now for ~ 9 or 10 years. It is only meant for short-term use, so I've read & been told. I'm talking no more than two weeks.

I didn't know that -- I was not made aware of that by my psychiatrist when he first prescribed it to me. In fact, how I found out, was via taking a course in "Abnormal Psych" in university.

I have very gradually weaned down my dose, but I cannot sleep if I don't take it at all. I'm currently on 0.75 mgs. I still have sleeping probs.

Oh yeah -- here's the kicker -- I was reading the monograph a while ago (again - new monograph) from the drug store. It mentioned potential problems w/ memory. I was concerned, so I asked the pharmacist about it. He told me that it can actually destroy brain cells if you are on it for mos & mos or years. I thought, "Oh grrrrrreeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaat." Explains my constant memory lapses.

Just a heads up.

Des

was talking this over with my nurse today- she won't allow me to use it again because of how addictive it is. I never had a problem coming off it, and it worked great at similar levels and for the same reasons as you, but because of my addictive traits she is very wary! Like I said, it worked fine for me and I had no probs with it, but just to be aware of the addictive side to it (of course, as with any meds i guess)

wow, thanks - I'll definitely keep that in mind, and maybe consider getting a different med thats better for long-term use. Anyone have any recommendations? My main "symptom" is this constant barrage of bizarre thoughts that is often overwhelming, and not really expressible by language (or at least not with English!). I mainly want to have the volume turned down on it enough to function normally without getting paranoid, freaked out, or spiraling down into another brief psychotic episode.

Wow, some odd info here. Klonopin is very often used for long-term, and is quite safe as long as you do not abruptly stop taking it. There is no evidence it causes brain cell death at all, but it can interfere with memory while you are on it. Usually at low doses this is pretty minimal. Of all the benzodiazepines I use this one the most as it is very long-acting, has some anti-depression qualities, and works very well to prevent anxiety states.

Ok, sorry.........just relaying what my pharmacist said.......sorry, sorry.

cool, thank you. As I haven't experienced anything negative or out of the ordinary with it, I think I'll stick with it and see if it's what I've been looking for. I've been on a ton of other different meds in the past, and none of them really got to the root of what I struggle with mentally, most didn't help at all and some were completely intolerable - at least this one seems to be making my mental state managable with very little negative side-effect, and that's what I've been wanting. I just can't afford to keep ending up in delusional psychotic states freaking everyone out and being taken to the hospital anymore!

desperado, not your fault. It is weird as pharmacists are supposed to know the most about drugs, but some of the stupidest things I have heard patients relay to me about meds came from them......

I started taking 0.5 mg Klonopin per day in the spring of 2004. In combination with Celexa and CBT, it helped me overcome severe agoraphobia and lessened the intensity and frequency of my panic attacks. I took it everyday for over 2 years. My anxiety has become less of a problem, so I rarely take it now -- usually just one tablet once or twice a week when I'm feeling anxious. It has always worked very well for me. I never felt the urge or need to increase my dose. When I started cutting back on it, I didn't have any withdrawal effects. It has been an excellent, very helpful medication for me.

I should add: I have an addictive personality. I drink a lot of coffee, I'm a heavy smoker and I was actually psychologically addicted to an anti-nauseant at one point, so I was worried about taking Klonopin. I was afraid I would get addicted to it. I never experienced any sort of psychological or physical addiction to it, though. I take it when I need it, and I don't miss it when I'm not taking it.

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psisci said:
Of all the benzodiazepines I use this one the most as it is very long-acting, has some anti-depression qualities, and works very well to prevent anxiety states.

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Interesting. I have heard from many people that clonazepam can be depressing; a friend of mine had to come off it and switch over to diazepam due to depression. I have heard that alprazolam has some antidepressant properties, although has a short half-life.

Ok, just didn't mean to rock the boat or scare anyone. I'll take what he says w/ a grain of salt next time.

My pdoc just switched me from Xanax (which I had been on for about 15 years--same dosage--but I used it to OD in Aug.) to klonopin. I take 2 at night. It seemed to help with sleep at first when combined with Trazodone, but right now I feel like I'm hypo manic. I've slept about 3 hours for the last 3 nights. We'll see if the shopping starts!--Suzy--Oh, I have bipolar & excessive shopping often accompanies mania.

Klonopin is not usually given to reduce mania and delusions...at least as far as I know...It has a calming effect and reduces anxiety.

It's addictive and does cause problems if you try to come off of it abruptly. You can get withdrawal symptoms such as nausea, sleeplessness, irritability, tremor, dizziness, etc. If you stop suddenly and you are on a high dose you can have a seizure.

I am not a doctor, but I believe mood stabilizers work for mania and delusions (Seroquel, for example).