July 20, 2007 - 10:42pm
the dose i get from my doc is .5 klonopin 2x a day, iy helps alittle but i believe he needs to up the dose so i can get the best effect of this med, is 4x a day to much? three times a day? i have a very serious anxity someone out there who might know? thanx jack
July 21, 2007 - 4:38pm
#2
thanks dr lois
i really dont want to be mixing up alot of different meds. with more meds comes more unwanted side effects, i will ask him about tid or 1 mg bid.. thanks dr lois
July 21, 2007 - 9:17pm
#3
In my experience 1 mg of
In my experience 1 mg of klonopin daily isn't going to cut it when it comes to serious anxiety. With such a low dose 4x daily would not be out of the question but it may be easier to increase it to 1mg 2x daily. That would cut down on the pills but also have a somewhat therapuetic effect on your anxiety. Good luck and talk with your psychiatrist about the best option for you.
Check with a liscensed MD before you take any suggestions!
July 21, 2007 - 10:21pm
#4
ok
i believe that is the best option, a middle dose of 1 mg daily. the klonopin .5mg twice daily is just to weak for me. every 6 hrs. or 1mg twice daily should help with my racing mind and my restless legs, who knows??? maybe even the larger dose of 4 mg a day might be the one... i dont want to push it to high, i just want the best result for me.. and the med. is very effective but for me the .5mg lasts for only about 4 hrs. thanks to you guys and gals for your input.. ill make an appointment soon
July 21, 2007 - 11:02pm
#5
Why not ask about a long
Why not ask about a long acting med like xanax xr?
July 21, 2007 - 11:36pm
#6
xr
i have read alot about the benzos, and it seems to alot of mds prefere klonopin over alprazolam. they seem to think klonopin is a cleaner drug, with less side effects, i have tried xanax and i get put to sleep on it, and i dont like that. with klonopin i am not sleepy but a different kind of calming action, which suits me just fine, i just want the dose that covers the whole day and .5 bid is just to weak for me, so i will ask doc. about Qid or 1 mg bid.. untill i can find the right dosage per day that fits.. thanks for the response...jack
July 23, 2007 - 1:21pm
#7
You wont be mixing a lot of
You wont be mixing a lot of different drugs if you take just Buspar or just an antidepressant, and taper off or D/C the klonapin.
July 25, 2007 - 8:36pm
#8
I take 1mg of klonopin at
I take 1mg of klonopin at night for a sleep disorder for 18 yrs now. Although it is used for a variety of things, it comes in .5,1,and 2mg. It is a long lasting med ( 8 hrs) and the max dose is 6 mg a day. I also suffer from panic/anxiety. I've found that celexa or zoloft works very well for this. Keep in mind that klonopin is very addictive. Although I only take it at night, they've tried a couple of times to replace my klonopin with something else. This causes bad withdraw lasting up to 6 mounths! Try a med like celexa, it has little side effects.
July 29, 2007 - 1:38am
#9
max dose of klonopin is
max dose of klonopin is definately not 6mg a day. Where did you get this information? Also, benzo's might be addictive, but side effect wise I wouldn't say they have anymore than meds like celexa-besides the fact that withdrawal is not a side effect, it is an abstinent effect. klonopin also comes in .125mg and .25mg doses.
Check with a liscensed MD before you take any suggestions!
July 30, 2007 - 5:17pm
#10
Klonopin dose
I've been on Klonopin for several years and it's prescribed 1 mg TID. I normally just take two per day though. It is however, available in .5, 1, and 2 mg pills. Source for this info is Medicinenet.com. King of NY, could you possibly be thinking of Xanax when you wrote that it comes in .125 and .25 mg doses also?
Director
July 30, 2007 - 6:11pm
#11
With my own eyes I have only
With my own eyes I have only seen .5mg, 1mg, 2mg klonopins. Although in the common imprints section of this site there are .25 and .125 strengths. As far as alprazolam (xanax) I was under the impression that .25 was the lowest mg they made...can anyone clarify that?
July 30, 2007 - 8:38pm
#12
It comes in dissolvable
It comes in dissolvable forms in .125 and .25 check the list of common benzos on this site. Xanax comes in .25 at lowest as far as I know.
Check with a liscensed MD before you take any suggestions!
July 30, 2007 - 10:01pm
#13
Xanax
The King is right, Xanax comes in .25, .5, 1, and 2 mg. Nothing lower that the .25. I was thinking my wife had it for a short period a few years ago and I thought it was .125 mg, but I must be mistaken.
Director
July 31, 2007 - 12:35am
#14
i am reading a medical book
i am reading a medical book that says the maximum daily dose is 20 mg for clonazepam...so i disagree with some previous posts
July 31, 2007 - 12:44am
#15
Goat is correct, but I think
Goat is correct, but I think the 20mg is in reference to treating Seizure disorders.
Roche USA suggested that doses in excess of 4mg per day of clonazepam were no more effective than a daily dose of 1mg. However, it does state that some patients might benefit from doses up to 4mg per day.
Here is the link to support this post, from Roche USA. Click on the "Dosage and Administration", or go to the bottom of page 16, which continues in through page 17.
Link also shows that Klonopin is available in doses starting at 0.125mg, for what it's worth.
gtrplayer
August 1, 2007 - 12:27am
#16
Halcion (triazolam) - 0.125mg and 0.25mg
The only benzodiazpines I know of that are only available in strengths of 0.125mg and 0.25mg are Halcion (triazolam) - which do not include ODT (orally disintegrating tablets), like Klonopin (clonzaepam), which are available in ODT formulations of 0.125mg, 0.25mg, 0.5mg, 1mg and 2mg. And as far as I'm aware, those two (0.125mg and 0.25mg) Halcion strengths are not, nor have even been, available in ODT form.
If I remember correctly, there was some controversy regarding Halcion several years ago, which led to them being prescibed on a much less frequent basis. Perhaps that's why they've never been manufactured in ODT form by Upjohn. Anyone remember what the exact nature of the controversy was? I'm thinking it had something to do with waking up under the influence and "sleep-eating", but it's very possible I'm confusing that side effect with Ambien (which has its own rather bizarre side-effects, or so I've read/been told.)
August 1, 2007 - 8:47am
#17
aww u took me looking smart
aww u took me looking smart with the orally disinigrating wafers are in smaller doses o well gj though :)
i'm not a pharmacist or doc don't listen to me i just have done alot of research on this stuff. talk to your doctor about it
August 1, 2007 - 11:14am
#18
?20mg is the suppossed max
?
20mg is the suppossed max dose I know for a seizure disorder, not sure with panic attacks but I know it isn't six.
Check with a liscensed MD before you take any suggestions!
August 1, 2007 - 11:23am
#19
This is the quote from the
This is the quote from the leaflet:
Quote:
..The recommended dose of 1mg/day is based on the results from a fixed dose study in which the optimal effect was seen at 1mg/day. Higher doses of 2, 3, and 4mg/day in that study were less effective than the 1mg/day dose and were associated with more adverse effects. Nevertheless, it is possible that some individual patients may benefit from doses of up to a maximum dose of 4mg/day, and in those instances, the dose may be increased in increments of 0.125 to 0.25mg bid every three days until panic disorder is controlled or until side effects make further increases undesired.
gtrplayer
August 1, 2007 - 1:20pm
#20
that's interesting, so 4mg
that's interesting, so 4mg max for panic disorder-which seems low to me, and 20 for seizures. I knew it was 20 for seizures because a friend of mine takes them for seizures and his dad is a doctor. what I think is interesting though is that 1mg works better than 2 or 3 etc.., most likely cause of the impairing side effects associated with benzos.
Check with a licensed MD before you take any suggestions!
August 1, 2007 - 1:40pm
#21
I've always been under the
I've always been under the impression that an epileptic persons brain needs more of the drug than someone without epilepsy, to control the over reaction in the GABA receptors. I may well be wrong.
It is interesting reading, though. I posted the one link I was familiar with, but have yet to find anyone's "real life" story on it posted on any other sites. In my opinion, 4mg seems like a lot. Let alone 20mg.
gtrplayer
August 1, 2007 - 1:57pm
#22
4mg is a lot for someone
4mg is a lot for someone without tolerance or even with it for that matter. Xanax is said to be 2x as strong and I think the max for panic attacks is 6mg(xanax). I don't know about the epilepsy but it sounds right. If you want a real life story, I took 20mg in one dose of clonazepam but I have an extremely high tolerance to benzos, but it did help "a little" with the anxiety. My friend takes 10mg's a day for a combo of seizure and anxiety prevention. I personally thing alprazolam works better for anxiety, esp. the XR. I take it that you take .5XR BID? (by the picture) Anyway most docs hate benzos esp. xanax, but I think they are all relatively similar and you def. get cross tolerance.
Check with a liscensed MD before you take any suggestions!
August 1, 2007 - 2:07pm
#23
Normally I only take it once
Normally I only take it once per day, but it's cheaper to write BID PRN and pay one copay for two months of medication.
You are correct though, the XR works a lot better for me than the clonazepam ever did. Clonazepam made me drowsy, XR just makes me less nervous about silly things.
gtrplayer
November 26, 2007 - 12:27pm
#24
Max dose of klonopin.
I take 6mg a day.2mg 3 times a day.It's been a wonder drug for me,after over 20 years of anxiety,and agoraphobia.As far as I'm told my Dr. and pharmacist 6mg a day is the maximum dose.My dr. prescribed me an extra 10 pills for vacation,and the pharmacist wouldn't fill the script,and tried turning him in to the hospital and police.It took us 3 days to get the matter resolved and now my doc is cautious to prescribe the medication to any one but me.6mg a day works wonders for me affter 20 years of torture,I think I deserve the relief.
November 26, 2007 - 1:24pm
#25
I am very tolerant to
I am very tolerant to Benzos. I am Rxed Klonopin and Xanax. The Klonopin is 2mg TID. The Xanax is 2mg PRN. If I take Klonopin twice daily like Rxed I cant leave the recliner, plus the whole next day I feel the well known Narcotic hangover
. If I take a Xanax bar I can function fine. It might be the way I metabolize Benzos or it could be a drug interaction with the other meds I am on. But I prefer Xanax for acute anxiety. I only take the Klonopin because it does help the chronic anxiety very well. I just can't take much of it.
Disclaimer:
I am not a Doctor or Pharmacist. I may be able to help you more than either, but PLEASE seek a 2nd opinion from a real doctor.
November 26, 2007 - 1:30pm
#26
why is dr. louis so against
why is dr. louis so against benzos? they are so helpful to so many people, and he always cuts down on them. sure they have potential for abuse, but not everyone here just to get a high. benzos are extremely helpful in their treatment, and i don't know how i'd be today if it wern't for benzos. they help alot with anxiety and i can't stand when everyone always says just take an antidepressant. so it can take up to a month to work? and experience all the negative side effects. i hate antidepressants (my personal opinion). if benzos didn't work then they wouldn't be manufactured.
November 26, 2007 - 7:29pm
#27
antidepressents
dont like them ive tried celexa and zoloft with bad results. I felt edgy when i was on those. Benzos work the best for my condition(panic disorder) , but it all depends on the person. ive also been considering i change iam currently rx'd 1mg klonopin 3x a day and by the afternoon i feel dead tired. i heard the xanax xr does not give you as bad side effects but does it last as long as the klonopin?
November 26, 2007 - 8:15pm
#28
lexapro & klonopin
i have gad with the panic attacks and my doc put me on lexapro 10mg once daily and klonopin .5 for occasional use midday if an attac flairs up or i just need it and klonopin 2 to help me get to sleep at night.
it might just be me but i feel like i need a klonopin 8mg to get to sleep actually.
November 27, 2007 - 12:35am
#29
Well first off I think it is
Well first off I think it is DR. Lois and it is a she. Anyway, she does seem opposed a bit to benzos but not completely. Most doctors seem to think antideps are the answer to everything. I personally don't like them. I think they do make you feel edgy like the poster said and they cost a lot more than benzos. I've said it once and I'll say it again, benzos are tried and true, anti-deps are not. they come out with a new one every month it seems. I personally believe that because of the rep benzos have gotten they have been extremely underprescribed while they hand out AD's like candy. Finally I will say that anti-deps are called that for a reason, because they are used for depression. All this off label use is getting out of control if u ask me and I have tried at least 3 and none helped and they have horrible side effects.
Check with a licensed MD before you take any suggestions!
Treatment of chronic anxiety disorder can also include antidepressants, non-benzodiazapine anti-anxiety medications like Buspar, psychotherapy (directed at identifying and avoiding anxiety producing situations and identifying anxiety attacks early and learning to calm yourself down when you start to feel anxious). Benzodiazapines, like Klonapin can also be helpful, but are not the preferred treatment. Klonapin is also a long acting mediction, so it usually only needs to be taken twice a day.