[Lola5]

I'm suffering from some severe anxiety constantly for the past few months. I wake up with my heart racing and it lasts throughout the day. I get simultaneous hot flashes and shivering from cold. I have no appetite and every time I make myself eat, I throw it up. Everything is a trigger for me and causes my anxiety to intensify.

A month ago, my doc prescribed me .125 mg of Klonopin as needed. I took one occasionally when I couldn't handle the anxiety. It had no effect. Recently, she told me to try .5 mg of Klonopin to see if that gave me relief. I tried it two days in a row and it seemed to decrease the anxiety a bit (but only after a few hours). It's been 3 days since I took it and my anxiety right now is unbearable.

My question is how often is it okay to take it? I'm scared to become dependent on it and have that problem on top of this severe anxiety. I try to go as many days as I can without taking one, but sometimes I feel so sick. Is .5 mg every other day too often? What about once every 3 days?

[LucyG]

Be very careful as klonopin is highly addictive--it's one of the hardest meds to get off of, and you can become addicted very quickly.

Have you ever consider trying a natural alternative treatment like amino acids? The amino acids GABA and tyrosine both calm the brain and relieve anxiety quickly.

Here's a good article on the subject:

The Unspoken Solution for Anxiety: Individual Amino Acids

[MobiusPsyche]

Klonopin is indeed very addictive. I personally think it's okay to take it occasionally as a PRN, if you're having especially severe symptoms one day a week or something, but it sounds like this might not be the med for you.

From what you describe, you have debilitating anxiety day in and day out. It might be worth talking to your pdoc about a different type of drug. Beta blockers might help with the racing heart and some of the other symptoms. There are other anti anxiety drugs out there as well.

Have you tried any cognitive behavioral therapy? There are exercises to help center you and minimize the degree to which the anxiety spirals out of control. That would be my recommendation, as there's no risk of addiction.

Wishing you peace and healing.

ETA: it is safe to take 0.5 mg every day and some on these boards do it. The problem is that you may become physically dependent on it. However, your functioning sounds so poor right now that it might be worth the risk of physical dependence. Only you and your doctor can make that decision.

Klonopin is a longer acting drug so it doesn't surprise me that it took a couple of hours to kick in. The benefit is that it lasts longer than other drugs. Be careful whatever you decide to do.

[gayleggg]

I take.5 two to three times a day. I don't consider myself addicted as I can go without it when I want to.

[SingDanceRunLife]

Depends on how much and how often along with what your doctor says. For awhile I was taking 2mg 3x a day (so 6mg daily) per doctor's orders. People often asked how I got off that, and I don't know, it was easy to get down to 2mg. I got down to 1mg but then things got crazy so I went back up to 2mg and pdoc says just leave it for now we'll deal with it later.