How does Clonazepam work for anxiety?

[LiveAboveIt]

I was given this to help with increased anxiety during SSRI withdrawal. Does it actually work and do more than just make you tired and cause placebo relief?

Right now the withdrawals have my body in a super sensitive state where one worrying thought can slide me into panic, which is not my norm.. Would the Clonazepam do anything to dull or diminish the fight or flight?

Also, is it safe to take .5mg short term without worrying about doing any permanent damage to the brain or anything like that?

[livefree83]

Only take klonopin on an as needed basis. If you take it daily you will develop dependency and will have to taper off klonopin which can be very dangerous due to withdrawal which is much more severe than ssris. Look at my responses to other threads in the klonopin forum. Please be careful. It is a VERY powerful drug.

[ana]

Klonopin should be taken on as needed basis, I agree. I've been on Rivotril for 9 years now, and I can tell you from personal experience that withdrawal is a nasty business. Taking it short term shouldn't leave you with any permanent damage; however, please be careful to not develop a dependency.

[Tims]

Hi ana
I've been on klonopin for 15 years and don't think il ever get off it. My daily dose is very low though at 0.5, but on occasion I take much much higher doses, it still works fine for me after all theses years.
Tims

[ana]

Hey Tims, I'm on the same dose as you!! Actually, rephrase that: since April, I've been cutting down on my dose. Technically speaking, I'm on .025 mg Rivotril now as I only take half a tablet. Come end of the month, I'll cut down further, to a quarter. What makes you think you'll never get off it? My therapist has said that these types of medication only work to calm you down in the moment of high anxiety/panic. They do not and cannot prevent panic attacks.

[Tims]

Hey Ana, what I meant was that I'm not worried about staying on klonopin/rivotril for as long as I have to. I'm not abusing them and basically taking them prn.
In my experience rivotril DOES prevent panic attacks, you might need a slightly higher dose in advance.

[Mugs]

Hi
Please only use for a few weeks, I became tolerant and had to wean off, not fun.
Take Care.

[ana]

Tims,I'm glad you're using Rivotril only when you need them; however, they are not a medication that can keep your anxiety levels in check, unlike anti depressants can. Rivotril only works in the moment and its effects last for up to 6 hours.

[Tims]

Ana, I think rivotril is one of the safest benzos (if there is such a thing) due to its long half life, but it's definitely not a long term med like an anti depressant.

[MyNameIsTerry]

Yeah, it's got a good long half life on it unlike some of the others. They swap people over to Diazepam for that very reason when tackling a Benzo tolerance. It's got a 6-12 hour duration of action too which is pretty special when you consider Diazepam is more like 3 hours.

That long half life is a sting in the tail like Diazepam though as it will be in your system for quite some days and another member, dally, has talked about her experiences with Diazepam and how spacing it out even once a week caught her out with dependence. I wish doctors would learn more about these half lives & elimination cycles so we were better informed.