clonazepam vs. lorazepam

[lysergia]

i have lots of experience with clonazepam, it's worked well for me in the past. however, last year i took a hefty dose for awhile and HATED the withdrawal that took me months. it scared me off the benzos for awhile.

the most effective dose for me was 0.5 - 1mg PRN the first few days, then 2mg after i habituated a little.

because i'm still leery of clonazepam, my pdoc wants me to try lorazepam for a little while. i have .5mg tablets, and i'm supposed to fool around with the dose until i find one i think is comfortable.

i took one pill last night and expected to feel *something*, but i felt nothing at all. that sort of doesn't seem right to me. i'm about to try 1 mg just now to see what happens.

pdoc says i can worry less about addiction with the lorazepam and i shouldn't worry about the "how much" for right now, just worry about figuring out what works. but i am SCARED. i'm scared i'll figure out it takes 2mgs of these too, and what happens then? is it the same risk as clonazepam if i end up having to do this every day for a month or two?

clonazepam didn't seem to drop off sharply, i could feel the longer half-life. will i notice a drop with the lorazepam when it wears off? should i expect a little rebound anxiety after four hours or whatever?

sorry if these questions are already posted somewhere. i looked but got impatient since well, i'm freakin anxious and it's hard to concentrate.

if you've taken both of these benzos before, would you share what was different/same for you?

thanks in advance!'

[tryp]

Differences: Lorazepam made me suicidal, Klono just made me depressed. Klono gave me longer lasting relief.

Similarities: They pretty much felt the same and I needed about the same equivalent dose.

Umm, let's see. I thought the clonazepam was a lot smoother - with the lorazepam, I felt like it was really effective, then dropped off. I really would use it for PRN relief, but I think the Klono is a lot better for daily use in my opinion. I know you don't want to do that, but that was my experience.

If it helps at all, 0.5 mg of Klonopin = 1.0 mg of Ativan - they're not equal in potency.

Edited May 17, 2009 by tryp

[gizmo]

Ativan works quickly. Very quickly. As I mentioned before (and this is probably known to you) if you put it under your tongue and let it dissolve, you will literally feel relief in about 10-15 minutes. Yes, you can feel it stop working in about 4-5 hours (that was my time, your time may differ up to 6 hours). It is not slow and steady like klonopin.

I took 2mg of Ativan because I was used to 1mg of Xanax. Don't adjust your dose based upon what I say, please.

I felt no "rebound" anxiety. I would say that, at times, I felt my anxiety return. For that, there was another pill, if needed.

I didn't take it long enough to get habituated to it (neither klonopin or ativan) so I don't have any information on that. I really think habitualization is a personal thing, and varies according to each person. I also think it takes time. Dependancy also takes time. If you need it because you are out-of-your-mind anxious, that's not dependancy. Taking it because you crave a mellow mood, that's dependancy. See the difference?

Let us know how it goes. And don't worry too much about it.

[chimpmaster]

I think benzo use is very personal; there are personal differences which affect the experience at an individual level.

Having said that, what you say about the short half life of atvian vs longer half life of klonopin is true.

Its not as bad as xanax, but definitely short acting.

[Guest bennyX]

All of you guyrs Are wrong i am on 2mg's of Klno a day n 1 time i ran out i took 3mg of ativan n it did abslutly nothing at all i still had that Gut feeling, Sweating, the almost like blurd vision "Feeling like ur spinning" n then i got my Klno again n everything was fine I think It all depend's on the person

[Guest wassywolfy]

sorry for doin this in two separate messages. Anyway... I'm no doctor, but I have many years experience with benzos and other sedatives. As mentioned before, Ativan is about half as potent as Klonopin, and Klonopin has the same potency as alprazolam (xanax). If you experience any withdrawal symptoms, you can't replace one benzo with another. This can be dangerous because each benzo, although very similar to one another, acts within the brain on the nerve synapses in different ways. If you're a long-time user of any benzodiazepine, you should know to never stop cold turkey, and don't use other benzos, (unless directed by doctors to prevent delerium tremons.), or alcohol. Sedative withdrawal is one of the worst things anyone can experience.

when i was withdrawing from Alprazolam, my doc gave me a script for a very long acting benzo chlorodiazepoxide.... or Librium as most of us know it by. By following his directions carefully, I managed to taper through the withdrawal and still go to work using a different benzo. Although the librium covered the majority of the symptoms, I still experienced some stubborn panic attacks here and there.

Anyway... Good luck to all who either need or dare to enter the realms of the benzos.

[klingon001]

...

Edited September 12, 2016 by klingon001

[Maddy]

I prefer ativan. I don't use it every day. PRN when I need it. Sometimes I need it several days in a row and then not need it for weeks at a time. Why take something that I don't need? I have no issues with it. It works well for me. I tried klonopin years ago and it didn't work well for me. YMMV.

[The Emperor]

When I switched to ativan, it made me a crying mess. Switched back to klonopin, everything was smoooooth.

[DKnight]

Ativan is great for anxiety, but be careful of depression while on it.

Ativan is imo the best out of the bunch because of how subtle it is, it won't make anxiety worse, just mellow you out. I've taken it for months at a time with much success. Getting off it is no fun though.

Edited October 11, 2010 by DKnight

[ChemistryExperiment]

I have had both.

Ativan was great as a prn. but it had to be at least 2mg for me.

Klonopin works good as both a prn and a daily med for me. I take 1mg/night and 1 mg TID PRN.

The one mg of klonopin works so great for me, that I rarely have to take anymore.

[netsavy006]

I tried Klonopin (clonazapam) .5mg. I had a paradoxical reaction to one dose so I couldn't remain on it.

I'm currently on Ativan (lorazapam) 1mg QID to manage my anxiety disorder and it works wonders. I don't have frequent panic attacks and I like that.

I wish they could have an Ativan XR or something so I wouldn't have to take so many doses but I'm glad that Ativan exists in general so I will continue to take it.

[Guest beancrobsy]

Pdoc gave me 1mg clonazepam/twice day on top of 1mg ativan 3 times/day. what's up with that? Shouldn't I be taking one or the other? I've been taking ativan for years for anxiety and it works wonders.

Any thoughts?

[Dr.Sn0wShepherd]

There's a lot to address here.

 

When coming off any of these benzodiazepine class medications, there should be a LONG taper off.  Cold-turkey could put you into cardiac arrest.  You can expect a nightmare of Hell coming off these medications cold turkey.  Even patients with a very long taper...sometimes up to 6 months...may still have circulatory issues, panic attacks, and worse.

 

Be careful!  Ramp down in the process of tapering.  If you are on Big Daddy Lorazepam/Ativan, ramp down to Diazepam/Valium and then maybe to Klonopin/Clonazepam.  Here's the short-term of it:

 

Lorazepam/Ativan  -  Fast uptake, long low, very short halflife

Taper for 2-4 months

 

ramp down to:

 

Diazepam/Valium  -  Moderate uptake, very long moderate low, moderate halflife

Taper for 1-2 months

 

and then if patient shows continued recitivistic convulsories, ramp down to:

 

Klonopin/Clonazepam  -  Moderate uptake, extremely long intermediate low, long halflife

Taper for 1-6 months

 

These medications are not to me treated lightly.  The withdraws are quite literally nightmarish.

 

There's no need to stack these medications.  Though they are mostly made of the same stuff...they have key variances that could make stacking unsafe.  Dosage increases of the primary medication are recommended before stacking for variable effects.

 

Be safe, all of you!

[lysergia]

uh, this is dangerously close to giving out medical advice.  we don't do that here.  we share personal experience, but we neither diagnose nor instruct people on how to taper or titrate medication.  especially when the information being offered comes from an irreputable source.  please don't play doctor here.

 

also, this thread is ancient.  i'm not sure what you were intending to offer here.

[sonicwhite]

Yes Ativan drop's more for me then xanax does. I remember asking my doc for xanax to use daily when klonopin is supposed to be used more like that. He said I don't want to do this but I will. When crap hit the fan and was yanked off xanax by some dumb IP doctor. It was the worst experience I have ever felt. Ooopp's but anyway klonopin works perfectly as long as your not looking to get high, just to be stable. Ativan also made me angry a lot....

[aprilmayrocks]

Klonopin has always relieved my anxiety much more than Ativan 

[Alien Navel Cord]

I've taken clonazepam in the past and now am on lorazepam. I started out with .5 mg then moved to 1 and now finally am taking a daily dose of 2mg and am fine. On really rough days I will take 3 but that is the limit, and i don't need anymore than that. I haven't had any issues with it, and seem fine at the 2mg dose. With clonazepam I kept having to up the dose because it would stop working a lot of the time. I'd be on 2mg and still have really bad panic and anxiety. But lorazepam is pretty good for me.

[crtclms]

Klonopin gave me rages. Xanax works beautifully for me. If my head is really unbearable, I am allowed to take one of my husband's 2mg Ativan. It is kind of miraculous I start feeling MUCH better after 15 minutes. DH uses it for seizures.