Clonidine for Anxiety User Reviews (Page 3)

• man...
• Taken for 5 to 10 years
• December 24, 2016

"I take it in conjunction with lorazepam and trazodone at night. The combo helps me sleep and remain calm. It has some blood pressure effect. I do take additional blood pressure medication in the morning as clonidine isn't enough for my high BP."

• Jus...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• January 3, 2022

"About 16% of people react negatively to this medication and actually experience the opposite effects, like a big increase in anxiety. I was taking it for the last week and a half and missed a dose and suddenly feel so much better, sticking with my lorazepam that actually works."

• Jan...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• April 19, 2021

"I was given clonidine 0.1 mg to take as needed for anxiety, and it works really well. I am in recovery from drugs and alcohol and cannot take any mood-altering substances. I took meds like Buspar and Vistaril previously for anxiety, and they did nothing. I also have bipolar II disorder (rapid cycling), and I've noticed that when I'm in my depressive episodes, clonidine helps my mood too. I don't know how that works, but it does. I was sensitive to clonidine when I first began taking it, and I would go to sleep. I only take it 3-7 days (1x/day) per month, but my body is used to it now, and I do not get drowsy. I am also pregnant, but I'm okay to take it."

• Ann...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• April 8, 2022

"I have not experienced any good effects with this drug for my panic attacks. It seems it makes them worse. It makes my head feel heavy, like dizzy and like I will pass out. It made my restless leg worse. I pee all night, like up to 10 times when I take this. My sleep is terrible when I take it. It is in 15-40 minute increments where I am waking up. I will have waking dreams where I am talking aloud and doing motions with my body. I feel like this drug is not for me. Hoping the doctor can find me something else that works."

• Aus...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• January 16, 2016

Clonidine "Was diagnosed with bipolar 1 (mixed episodes w/ psychotic features) as well as unspecified anxiety disorder. My anxiety gets so bad to the point it makes me vomit. I took 1 mg in the morning and 1 mg at night. It made me extremely sleepy and fatigued to the point I couldn't function. I work and am in college full-time, so I couldn't handle that at all. Would not recommend this medication."

• Cri...
• January 10, 2018

"This medication makes me so tired I can't even function. I take 0.2 mg, and I'll be in bed all day and can't even get up. I took it for a week thinking it would eventually wear off like with a lot of other medications, but it never did, and it just makes me feel so terribly exhausted that I couldn't take it anymore. Now I just take it to help me sleep, and it works good like that, but not for anxiety."

• Bil...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• August 10, 2019

"Psychiatrist prescribed 0.1 mcg clonidine once a day for anxiety, then upped to twice a day. I also take 20 mg duloxetine, 20 mg buspirone, and 40 mg dicyclomine every 6 hours for irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Clonidine may help a little, but leaves me so drowsy I can barely function. It also causes severe dry mouth. I doubt I’ll be able to stick with it. Xanax works well for me, but I have to restrict use to avoid dependence. A higher dose of duloxetine helps reduce anxiety but causes severe constipation."

• Lev...
• June 3, 2020

"Thanks to all the comments. I'm on 0.01 twice a day. I take it at once, and it works great, but that's just the morning, and by the afternoon it kind of wears off. I'm wondering how much you can take. I'm confused about it being so low, and if I tell my psychiatrist, I know she'll help me out. I just need to figure out a good dose."

• Ano...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• October 1, 2022

"I feel better 30 minutes to 1 hour after taking half of a 0.1 pill. I feel calm, no anxiety. Pretty great for something that isn't a benzodiazepine like Klonopin, Xanax, Diazepam, or Ativan. 10/10. This medicine works well."

• ran...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• November 19, 2021

"Just started this stuff recently and love it. Sleep like a baby. Hits way different than benzos or propranolol for me personally. I absolutely love benzos, but that's not a long-term route I want to go. Didn't like propranolol. A full pill at night will tranquilize you for twelve hours (feels similar to strong Benadryl at that dose). A 1/2-1/4 of a pill during the day has been a very effective anxiety aid. I drink coffee with it. Little upper, little downer. Great for ADD and anxiety. Depression being treated with other stuff. 9/10. 10/10 would be Xanax/Kpin, but this is way safer."

• Anonymous
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• March 15, 2023

"This drug works extremely well for my anxiety. It's also extremely versatile, I was prescribed it while detoxing from alcohol in rehab. I have recently been prescribed it again for high blood pressure with possible atrial fibrillation. It has so many positive effects on the cardiovascular system, all the while it is the only drug outside of benzos or alcohol that effectively eliminated my anxiety within an hour of taking a 0.1 or 0.2 mg dose. I can't say enough about this medication."

• Anonymous
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• November 14, 2021

"I was taking it for almost 4 years. I stopped 'cause I was tired of depending on the drug. I was without it for 3 months. I was driving and smoking weed like crazy until I had an episode of breaking things with a bat. I was put on it again, and I am slowly going back to normal thanks to that drug. I went 3 weeks with no sleep until a few days ago. Reading all of these testimonials, I don't feel alone."

• Mik...
• November 25, 2020

"I am going through withdrawals to get off methadone for back pain, and I was experiencing severe anxiety and panic attacks. I had to get off it because it caused severe constipation like I’ve never experienced in my life and was very painful. I sent my doctor a text on Saturday after 3 days of mental disorders from the withdrawals and asked him for a prescription of clonidine, which he called in to CVS immediately. I’ve never experienced anxiety and panic attacks like that before, and I have been through several withdrawals while detoxing off opiates in the past, which I started taking after two invasive back surgeries in January 1998 and October 2000. Today is Day #4 on clonidine, and I have not had the anxiety or panic attacks. I’m not going to take it tomorrow because I don’t want to become addicted to another drug with additive qualities. If the anxiety returns tomorrow, I’ll take half the 0.01 dose that was prescribed that’s suggested in these comments."

• JJa...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• March 4, 2021

"Worst medicine ever! I’m so mad that this was even prescribed to me for anxiety because it’s only made my anxiety 100 percent worse. I had no idea this medication was used to treat ADHD, as my doctor told me it was used to treat high blood pressure, which I have never had. She misled me and increased my dosage to 0.3 mg a day before I figured out what was making me crazy."

• Ano...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• November 22, 2019

"I took clonidine for a month to help with tapering off Xanax. The first week was okay. It helped me motivate and feel somewhat better. After that, all downhill. My hair started thinning excessively, especially when I washed it. Then, I just felt overmedicated and aggravated. This is my own personal experience. I don't recommend it to people highly stressed. I think, in my opinion, it should be used under a doctor’s supervision only. The night sweats were awful. And my peaceful night's sleep turned into vivid nightmares and dreams so odd."

• Coc...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• July 25, 2022

"This medicine was my last best hope of helping with my anxiety. I have been on every other class of antidepressant/antianxiety drugs with terrible results. Unfortunately, the same exact experience with this drug. My doctor told me I'd be tired and sleep well on it. Exact opposite. I could not sleep after using it for four days! Woke up this morning completely freaked out and on the verge of a panic attack. I really, really wished this would have worked as I have run out of options at this point."

• Jam...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• January 22, 2022

"I have food sensitivities (MSG, paprika, peppers, potatoes, yellow and red food colorings) that trigger anxiety, racing brain, difficulties sleeping, and high blood pressure. My son has taken clonidine for 10+ years for his ADHD, it helps him sleep after taking high doses of Adderall during the daytime. So I asked my doctor to let me try it. I took it yesterday evening and had the most amazing night's sleep with vivid dreams and just felt well-rested when I woke up. I have felt very calm and at peace today. This is just my first day on it, but wanted to share that it was a positive experience with absolutely no negative side effects. I'm 6'4 and 250 lbs and started with 0.1 mg and will increase as needed."

• Aus...
• September 8, 2015

"My psychiatrist prescribed this for me for my anxiety (I worry about every little thing), and it worked, but it made me extremely drowsy during the day. I was taking 0.1 mg three times a day. I am a full-time college student, so that didn't work out too well. I couldn't really tell if it was helping with my anxiety or not. I only took it for two weeks."

• Kat...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• December 24, 2020

"Years ago, I had a mini-stroke, also known as a TIA. After I had tried countless different medications, I agreed to try clonidine. In addition to my chronic hypertension, I also have PTSD. This medication greatly helped with panic attacks; I would be calm in 10 minutes. It's sad that a hypertensive emergency can so easily happen if you abruptly adjust the dose or quit it cold turkey, because otherwise I'd still be on it. It works as well as Ativan or Xanax, and is far faster... but the risk if you forgot to take it, personally for me, outweighs the benefits."

• Kit...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• September 28, 2021

"I was prescribed clonidine (0.01 mg) daily for anxiety, ADD, facial tics, and OCD. It works fairly fast, however, it makes me extremely tired, and the dry mouth is very bothersome. It definitely lowers your heart rate which, in my case, makes me sleepy. I’m not sure I can continue taking this medication because I cannot think of anything but getting into bed 30 mins after I take it. I’m giving it one more week."

• Nig...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• March 18, 2023

"Took the first dose to lower anxiety and regulate emotional reactivity from GAD, complex PTSD, OCD, and ADHD (combined type), and ASD. Being a night owl with all those conditions, I struggle with sleep avoidance insomnia (aka revenge bedtime procrastination), especially during stressful, high-demand times when I don’t get enough solitude and downtime during the day. Times like these are the reason I’m trying this medication. The biggest thing to consider is timing the dose based on when you need to wake and get going in the morning. Last night, my willful hermiting self decided to take the new pill at 12:45 a.m. without regard for morning me, who had to get up before 8 a.m. Felt extra groggy and cranky, of course. Lesson learned: take clonidine the optimal number of hours before scheduled wake-up time. Based on other reviews, I’m guessing about 10 hours. Will need to experiment and track times/effects to fine-tune. Hope it helps with all my angst-related issues — time will tell."

• Sco...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• June 24, 2023

"10 out of 10. Clonidine works really well for me for anxiety. But I have to be careful with it. It is a blood pressure drug, and a very strong one, so I have to make sure my blood pressure isn't low when I take it, or clonidine will really tank it to dangerous levels. I typically take 1/4 of a 0.1mg pill... or 0.025mg... and even a dose that small will have an effect on my BP. But that dose does relax me, probably as well as Clonazepam, for which I am prescribed 1mg daily in divided doses. Clonidine is a new drug in my arsenal of drugs for anxiety (and depression); I take Clonazepam as stated, Paxil 10mg, and Seroquel 200mg. I try to stay active and not isolate myself... having less anxiety makes getting out there so much easier. My blood pressure tends to spike in the afternoon (circadian rhythm), so that's usually when I take clonidine."

• joh...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• December 7, 2021

"I take it and it has a mild effect on my anxiety. I still have to take antidepressants, but I think my major reason for my anxiety is ADHD. Btw, I have tachycardia as well, so I have to take a beta-blocker, but I do believe it is related to my racing thoughts from ADHD. It is a shame my doctor took me off Adderall when it worked wonders. He figured alternative non-addictive meds are better, but they are not. I bet many people here who suffer from severe anxiety with racing thoughts could have ADHD and should talk to their doctors about it."

• Smi...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• December 16, 2022

"I was prescribed this to help me sleep and for anxiety. I took half of the lowest dose, and instantly I felt weird. My heart felt like it jumped, and I did NOT feel right. I ended up in the ER. I also take doxepin and generic Prozac. This medicine is not for me. My sister takes it with no issues."

• Ano...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• September 12, 2021

"I was prescribed clonidine .1 mg to help with the high levels of anxiety and blood pressure associated with quitting cannabis after years of dependence. I’ve taken it twice a day for two days, and now I feel hollow and weak. I feel like I’m not fully conscious, and my anxiety levels are much higher than before taking this medication. I’m at a point in the detox process where anxiety should be going away, so this pill is a very unpleasant surprise. It was effective at lowering blood pressure until the anxiety took over."