Klonopin as needed - When should I be worried?

Question

I'm prescribed to up to 1mg of Klonopin daily as needed. Generally I take this medication 1 to 3 times a week on average, sometimes I go several weeks without it. I generally only take it when my anxiety or ASD-caused agitation gets to a point of negatively affecting my day or is causing my insomnia to act up.

It will be extremely difficult for me to pinpoint any withdrawal side effects, let's say, during a period where I'm taking my 2 to 4mg per week for a few weeks and then I feel I don't need it after that time. I suffer from depression, anxiety, panic disorders, PTSD, and agitation - - - all of which are contributed to by my ASD. So my normal symptoms are quite similar to the reported withdrawal symptoms of this medication.

How does someone like me determine if I am experiencing withdrawal side effects? Because I want to know, as I would want to cut myself off from the medication for a while if I found that I was. But with this medications side effects seemingly very similar to my emotional nosedives that I already get without it.

FYI I'm also on Effexor for depression/anxiety, trazodone for insomnia, and Protonix for GERD. Sometimes Klonopin is the only thing (other than CBD+THC cannabis products) that gets my symptoms back in check when they are out of control.

I just want to know what to look out for, some more specifics on what to avoid (more specific than just "only take as prescribed"), if there would be any way to detect withdrawal vs my normal symptoms. Basically I just want to know how to continue to take this long term without increased tolerance and withdrawal from coming off of it. For the moment I definitely plan on only taking it when I really feel I need it... and I do make sure not to ever take it in consecutive days regardless of how I feel. So would I still be at a risk of dependency, increased tolerance, and all that?

To this point the feedback I've received from my doctors has been just your usual run of the mill stuff that I am already well aware of. There does not seem to be too much "mesoscale" information about it. In otherwords, what else is there "between the lines"? And what are some things you could tell me that may not be quite as easy to research on my own.

Answer

If you haven&rsquo;t taken kpinz for years, slowly taper now or u will be on them the rest of your life. Benzodiazapines are very hard to get off of. I have gone month and a half without a kpin and  lost weight , felt like death and had to get back on them. I am also, long time user 26 years. I take 6mg a day, so this may not apply to you just letting you know, take the other routes unless you really need them.

Answer

In my experience, it is best to keep a constant blood level with some benzos, such as clonazepam because I believe there is something like "inter-dose withdrawal" if skipped for AS NEEDED. I don't agree with the typical "AS NEEDED" blurb on the bottles dispensed by pharmacists, at least not with clonazepam. With short acting ones, such as XANAX, that may be helpful, because they have a short life span curve (2 hrs.) I believe.

p.s. I wonder if high anxiety or panic attacks, stress, etc. are not related to high blood pressure; if so benzos may have the benefit of lowering blood pressure during blood pressure peaks;

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Klonopin as needed - When should I be worried?

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