Klonopin for the rest of my life? Any long term users.

Long story short I take citalopram for anxiety lately it's not helping anymore after going back to the doctors a million times she decided to put me on klonopin 1mg a day for a month in addition to the citalopram.

Now here is the part that makes me uneasy she told me I might be one of those people who take klonopin they're whole life.

I was on ativan for about 6 months and came off it no problem when my anxiety went away and I can't say I ever built a tolerance.

I've heard horror stories about this stuff and just want to make sure it's safe to take long term. I asked my doctor repeatedly if this was a good idea and she said she was positive.

I just want to know if anybody has any positive stories about long term klonopin use.

I'm surprised a doctor would tell anyone they might be on a benzo for their whole life!

I think you'll be fine, though, if you've come off Ativan before and coped. I'd suggest only taking it when you need it but others may suggest otherwise.

I'me currently coming off zopiclone and diazepam and having a lot of physical issues but not mental ones, thank goodness.

I think it's very irresponsible of your doctor to tell you this.

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Originally Posted by kain

Long story short I take citalopram for anxiety lately it's not helping anymore after going back to the doctors a million times she decided to put me on klonopin 1mg a day for a month in addition to the citalopram.

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Is citalopram the only antidepressant stocked by pharmacies in your part of the world? What is the point in continuing to take a drug which isn't working? Madness. Unfortunately, this seems to be a growing insanity lately. :weep:

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Now here is the part that makes me uneasy she told me I might be one of those people who take klonopin they're whole life.

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In addition to citalopram?

I wouldn't have a problem per se with taking benzodiazepines (BZDs) long term if there was a guarantee that patients were weaned off them slowly when it came time to quit, and everyone eventually needs to quit if only because BZDs become increasingly problematic in older age for a host of reasons.

Unfortunately, being allowed to wean off slowly over several months to a year isn't always an option. Doctors change their minds about BZDs, move, retire, or fall under the proverbial bus and the replacement might think BZDs are the devil's work and demand patients quit them asap, often within a couple of weeks, some even insist on cold-turkey. Much misery then ensues.

The second problem with your doctor's idea is there is good evidence BZDs significantly reduce the effectiveness of antidepressants by blocking hippocampal neurogenesis which is how ADs create the therapeutic response (see: Boldrini M, 2014; Nochi R, 2013; Sun Y, 2013; Wu X, 2009; Stefovska VG, 2008).

In light of these studies benzodiazepines use should probably be limited to a couple of weeks when first taking antidepressants just to ease the initial increase in anxiety levels, for a while after AD dose increases for the same reason and thereafter for occasional breakthrough anxiety. If an antidepressant isn't adequately controlling anxiety on its own even at the maximum recommended/tolerated dose then switching to another which might will probably work should be considered ahead of supplementing it with a benzodiazepine.

In the extremely unlikely event citalopram is the only antidepressant sold in your area then supplementing it with buspirone (Buspar) would be a much better option as it has a proven track record for boosting the effectiveness of serotonergic antidepressants and kick-starting those that have pooped-out (it may also reduce some of their side-effects).

Oh dear, I don't suppose a responsible doctor would advise going on Klonopin for the rest of your life, no. :lac: My therapist took me off Rivotril after 9 years of taking it daily, after I'd developed both a mental and a physical dependency on it. She told me that a long-term use of Klonopin causes cognitive decline.

Thanks for the replies everybody. Citalopram did work and I'm thinking maybe it still does and I'm just going through a rough patch. At this point I'm desperate and if the klonopin helps I'm all for it.

Klonopin would help you, there's no doubt about it, and also, there is nothing wrong with taking it occasionally alongside Citalopram if you really need it. However, prolonged use is not recommended. Perhaps only taking half of it every other day or once every 3 days would work. You could also try carrying a bottle of it in your bag to make you feel like you can take it in case you needed to, which might make you feel more secure. :)

Well she wants me to take a 1mg a day for a month I havnt experienced much relief today but I'm hoping after a few days I'll level out again. I just have the most unbearable anxiety had it under control for months but now it's back :/. I think I'd rather stick it out see how this month goes before trying to switch antideppresnt.

1 mg is a moderately high dose. It should make you feel better immediately, I think. If you take 3 a day, it should alleviate some of the awful symptoms, and after a week, you should feel a lot better. Please be careful, though, as dependency can develop after 4-5 weeks of continual use.

I was on Klonopin for roughly ten years. Just recently, a little over a month ago, I came off of it. I definitely felt some withdrawals but nothing horrible. The withdrawals, by the way, were mental, not physical. At times I doubt my decision to quit taking Klonopin. For me, at least, it helped in the moment. It certainly isn't a cure, though.