Klonopin dosage

[sierra]

Hi everyone I am new to the boards and am in need of some advice or experiences. In 2009 I was diagnosed with GAD, Panic Disorder/agoraphobia, and Depression. I have since been stable and don't really have panic attacks or the agoraphobia but I still have anxiety. I initially was prescribed .5mg of klonopin twice a day with depression medicine. I have since gone to .5mg 3 times a day and was doing pretty well. The last 2 months my anxiety has picked back up again. At one point I had talked to my psych doc, a while ago actually, and he increased me to 1mg twice a day. I was afraid to take 1mg at a time and broke them in half and kept my .5mg dose 3 times a day to try and tolerate the anxiety without the increase. My question is how long does klonopin last in your system and has anyone felt any significant difference from .5 to 1mg? Also, do you think if I keep taking the .5 but just add an extra dose would help instead of taking 2 of the 1mg? That way if I don't need the 4th dose I won't take it? Would that cause any side effects if I did that off and on? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

[boundnotbroken]

1mg is a low dose. I would try your prescribed dose of 1mg and just see how you feel. If it's uncomfortable, talk to your doc about it.

[peacelizard]

Klonopin half-life is pretty long -- somewhere in the range of 20-50 hours, I think -- so I'm surprised he has you on it TID, but, in any case, 1mg isn't a very high dose. I have definitely seen much higher. Honestly, I think the bigger issue is whether or not you're comfortable using benzos to manage your anxiety and obviously what the max dosage of Klonopin your psychiatrist feels comfortable prescribing. Because if you keep going up, you'll eventually hit a ceiling that your pdoc won't want to cross and you'll most likely have a choice to stay at that level (to avoid withdrawal sx) or slowly taper off (which could be a bitch and give you more anxiety than you started with). Obviously I don't know your whole situation but I personally think it's bad medicine to prescribe something like a benzodiazepene for anxiety if a patient isn't engaged in some form of therapy, be it more "feelings"-based, like psychodynamic or interpersonal or "results"-based, like CBT or DBT. So, if you don't have a therapist already, I'd recommend one to help work out possible triggers and learn some coping skills, whether it's deep breathing, progressive muscle relaxation, etc.

 

Just my two cents anyway.

[melissaw72]

 

Klonopin half-life is pretty long -- somewhere in the range of 20-50 hours, I think -- so I'm surprised he has you on it TID, but, in any case, 1mg isn't a very high dose. I have definitely seen much higher. Honestly, I think the bigger issue is whether or not you're comfortable using benzos to manage your anxiety and obviously what the max dosage of Klonopin your psychiatrist feels comfortable prescribing. Because if you keep going up, you'll eventually hit a ceiling that your pdoc won't want to cross and you'll most likely have a choice to stay at that level (to avoid withdrawal sx) or slowly taper off (which could be a bitch and give you more anxiety than you started with).

 

^^I agree with this. 

 

I am on Klonopin right now, 0.5 mg 2x/day.  (I have been on up to 5 or so mg a day before though). I find now that taking more than 0.5 2x/day makes no difference to me.  What helps me is having xanax on hand for breakthrough anxiety attacks.  Maybe you can talk to your DR about that?

[dianthus]

I don't know that dosing Klonopin 3 times a day is useful because of its long half-life. Really, a higher dose taken once or twice a day would net the same results.

Benzos can't kill you, and 1mg of Klonopin isn't a high dose anyway, even if you take it 2-3 times a day. However, there's a point at which you're going to start seeing diminishing returns as you increase your dose.

I also agree that relying on meds only to deal with anxiety isn't going to be a great long-term solution. Therapy is necessary, IMO, to really deal with anxiety. I didn't do well in CBT, but learning coping methods that work for me as well just accepting that I'm an anxious person have gone a long way to helping me lead a more normal, comfortable life.

[Energizerhoney]

Just adding my experience. Not medical advice obviously.

I've been on klonopin for years at various doses and it's never been an issue for me. I can go from taking 1mg three times a day for a few months to 0.5mg a day to none at all for a few weeks. My pdoc let's me decide how much I need depending on what's going on in my life (anxiety is subjective after all).

Usually 1mg in the morning lasts me most of the day (mainly before work or a very social event), on the weekends when I'm off work, or in vacation, I don't need it - usually.

Therapy is very helpful. I've done CBT,and a few other types and though it's certainly helped it's nerve been a cure all for me. There's also very good anxiety/panic workbooks that are also very helpful if the cost of therapy is not something you can afford (it can be expensive depending on your finances, insurance, etc). You can look on amazon for reviews for anxiety workbooks. They are very affordable.

Edited August 14, 2014 by Energizerhoney

[peacelizard]

Yeah. Sorry. Didn't mean to imply that CBT was some kind of cure-all because, honestly, it's not. I'm just finishing up a round of CBT myself and while I've found some things helpful, it's probably never going to be my go-to "tool" for anxiety and that's okay. But if it's something you've never done before, I still strongly encourage it because you never know how helpful it might be 'til you try it and even if it's not that helpful, it's still one more thing you can use that might put off taking another med, which is a good thing in my opinion.

[dancingteapot]

I currently take 1mg of Klonopin 3x/day. Even though it has a long half-life I guess my pdoc found some logic in that dosing.

I've never taken .5 so I can't answer your question.

Sorry I couldn't be more helpful.