IcePrincess88 Posted May 5, 2015 Share Posted May 5, 2015 I've been on Xanax for almost 10 years. My psych doctor says she's really uncomfortable prescribed Xanax, but since I've been on it so long she can't just stop giving it to me. She wants me to switch over to Klonopin but I have resisted because I dont't know what it's going to be like. Is there anyone that has taken both that can describe the difference between the two? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melissaw72 Posted May 5, 2015 Share Posted May 5, 2015 I am on both, and xanax is fast-acting, while klonopin is long-acting. I take klonopin 2x/day on a regular basis, then take xanax only when I need it for breakthrough anxiety. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragonfly23 Posted May 5, 2015 Share Posted May 5, 2015 I found Xanax easier to abuse, but that's just me. Xanax was more immediate and didn't last as long as klonopin. Klonopin lasts longer. I seemed to be more sensitive to klonopin and it actually made me quite depressed. Of course everyone responds differently and your med cocktail is best messed with by your pdoc. I now take Ativan, which I really like. I am not abusing it and it often does the job I need it for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rowan77 Posted May 5, 2015 Share Posted May 5, 2015 Like others have said, Xanax is fast acting but the effects do not last as long as Klonopin. Xanax is helpful if you are anxious/agitated and need something to help RIGHT NOW! Klonopin is good for keeping symptoms at bay for longer periods but does not work as quickly as Xanax. I have taken both. When I am manic my pdoc has me on klonopin all the time which helps keep me calm. A bit like a preventive measure. I have been given Xanax when I have acute symptoms such as panic, agitation, anxiety. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teagan Posted May 5, 2015 Share Posted May 5, 2015 I take Klonopin nightly and have been for years. It's longer acting and stays in my system to help keep the anxiety at bay. If I'm feeling extra anxious I will take a Klonopin during the day. If I'm having a panic attack , that's where the Xanax comes into play. They are both benzodiazapenes. Many docs are hesitant to prescribe Xanax bc one builds up a tolerance and as dragonfly said, it's easy to abuse. Your pdoc knows best, I would trust him/her:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
San Posted May 5, 2015 Share Posted May 5, 2015 When I took Xanax, I took it 4 times a day. With clonazepam, I take it twice a day. The Xanax kicks in faster and is great for panic attacks, it works fast (especially if you dissolve it under your tongue, it tastes disgusting but damn, it works) and the clonazepam works for longer periods of time. I could feel the Xanax wearing off before the next dose. The clonazepam, I don't get that feeling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melissaw72 Posted May 5, 2015 Share Posted May 5, 2015 I take Klonopin nightly and have been for years. It's longer acting and stays in my system to help keep the anxiety at bay. If I'm feeling extra anxious I will take a Klonopin during the day. If I'm having a panic attack , that's where the Xanax comes into play. They are both benzodiazapenes. Many docs are hesitant to prescribe Xanax bc one builds up a tolerance and as dragonfly said, it's easy to abuse. Your pdoc knows best, I would trust him/her:) (in bold) ... not all people ... I have been on the same dose of xanax for years now, not needing more to help the anxiety. Same with the Klonopin. The doses of each haven't changed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fallcolors Posted May 6, 2015 Share Posted May 6, 2015 (edited) I also switched to take advantage of the longer half-life of klonopin, and got a pleasant surprise since it seems to have a little anti-depressant/mood stablizing effect compared to the xanax. Edited May 6, 2015 by Fallcolors Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiaB Posted May 6, 2015 Share Posted May 6, 2015 I just recently switched from sustained release alprazolam (Xanax; the brandname is different in my country) to clonazepam. I never really took to the SR alprazolam, although my pdoc said that its long acting mechanism meant that it was less addictive and more effective than the diazepam and lorazepam I was taking before. I found it gave me a perpetual slight headache and never really took away the constant low grade anxiety. I'm about a month into taking clonazepam now and love it - it doesn't dope me or have any unpleasant side effects, but really helps to level me out . I take 1mg am and pm, with 0.5mg prn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crtclms Posted May 6, 2015 Share Posted May 6, 2015 I thought you couldn't cross-taper Xanax with another benzo? I mean, you can start another benzo while on Xanax, but you still have to do the long slow taper of of Xanax, you can't just substitute another benzo. My understanding is that Xanax is the only benzo like this. Clonezapam gave me rages. A known, but rare, side-effect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IcePrincess88 Posted May 6, 2015 Author Share Posted May 6, 2015 I also have been on the same dose of Xanax for almost 10 years without changing or developing a tolerance. I'm prescribed 1mg 3 times a day, but I usually don't get up to that many a day. This is a new Psych doctor I'm seeing and she can't take me off Xanax because I've been on it for so long, but she prefers Klonopin because of the chance of addiction. My thing is: if I was going to abuse Xanax, I would have already done it. I realize doctors are rarely prescribing it anymore, but I'm afraid my anxiety is so bad and I'm so used to Xanax's immediate relief that Klonopin will just not do it for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melissaw72 Posted May 6, 2015 Share Posted May 6, 2015 Did you tell your pdoc what you wrote in your last post ... how you've never abused it, and have been on it for so long at this point you don't see why it needs to be changed. but she prefers Klonopin because of the chance of addiction. If you were addicted to it, you would be addicted to it already after 10 years, and you'd be asking for more and more, which you aren't. You aren't abusing it, so it is like why mess with something that is working for you, you know? And it would suck if you became unstable because of it, ie your anxiety worsened. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IcePrincess88 Posted May 6, 2015 Author Share Posted May 6, 2015 I have told her, which is why she hasn't switched me. But every visit she reminds me how she "really hates Xanax" and "prefers Klonopin". So I was just trying to find out what the big deal was and the the differences between the two were. Everyone has been so helpful. I think I'll stick with Xanax since that has been working for 10 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
San Posted May 6, 2015 Share Posted May 6, 2015 Addiction and dependence are different. Addiction implies that you abuse it. Dependence means that you need it to function, for lack of a better explanation. I'm dependent on my meds, but not addicted to any, for example. I don't abuse any of my meds, but I need them, and if I were to stop them cold turkey, I'd have discontinuation symptoms and the MI would come back. This is an example. If someone has a better explanation, or wants to correct me, go ahead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crtclms Posted May 6, 2015 Share Posted May 6, 2015 I also have been on the same dose of Xanax for almost 10 years without changing or developing a tolerance. I'm prescribed 1mg 3 times a day, but I usually don't get up to that many a day. This is a new Psych doctor I'm seeing and she can't take me off Xanax because I've been on it for so long, but she prefers Klonopin because of the chance of addiction. My thing is: if I was going to abuse Xanax, I would have already done it. I realize doctors are rarely prescribing it anymore, but I'm afraid my anxiety is so bad and I'm so used to Xanax's immediate relief that Klonopin will just not do it for me. This is exactly what I told my Nurse APRN. She still hems and haws about it, but she is calming down. I've been on it 9 years, I don't think I'm suddenly going to become a Xanax addict. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IcePrincess88 Posted May 6, 2015 Author Share Posted May 6, 2015 I also have been on the same dose of Xanax for almost 10 years without changing or developing a tolerance. I'm prescribed 1mg 3 times a day, but I usually don't get up to that many a day. This is a new Psych doctor I'm seeing and she can't take me off Xanax because I've been on it for so long, but she prefers Klonopin because of the chance of addiction. My thing is: if I was going to abuse Xanax, I would have already done it. I realize doctors are rarely prescribing it anymore, but I'm afraid my anxiety is so bad and I'm so used to Xanax's immediate relief that Klonopin will just not do it for me. This is exactly what I told my Nurse APRN. She still hems and haws about it, but she is calming down. I've been on it 9 years, I don't think I'm suddenly going to become a Xanax addict. Exactly! I guess because so many people are abusing Xanax, doctors just assume that everyone is. They fail to realize that some people have been on it for years and have had ample time to abuse it if that's what they wanted to do with it. But if we have gone 9-10 years taking Xanax and have not yet abused it, then why would we just now choose to do so? I hope it will get to the point where she will stop bringing it up all together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melissaw72 Posted May 6, 2015 Share Posted May 6, 2015 I have told her, which is why she hasn't switched me. But every visit she reminds me how she "really hates Xanax" and "prefers Klonopin". So I was just trying to find out what the big deal was and the the differences between the two were. Everyone has been so helpful. I think I'll stick with Xanax since that has been working for 10 years. I would do the same thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KillBytes Posted May 7, 2015 Share Posted May 7, 2015 I been on every benzo there is over the past 25 years. My favorite is xanax hands down. But the reason more pdocs are moving away from it is because it is so fast acting and strong, it is easy to become really addicted in a hard way to it. You are just going to go thru them more often. Klonopin is really a lot safer because it has a long shelf life. It takes longer to kick in and it does so slower but it lasts longer, so you won't become addicted hard to them. For example, I run out of klons 1 week early every month and have no issues whatsoever during the wait until I can pick up my next months script. Xanax I would feel like a junkie if I ran out early lol. I'm not surprised your pdoc switched you to klonopin. You like me, have been taking this shit for so long we know we are addicted to it, so there is really no point to stop it now. When ever my regular pdoc is out and I have to see another one, they are shocked at how long I been on benzo's. At my age, I really don't care if it's addicting, I need it for anxiety. Klonopin is hard to abuse because it is slower acting. That's why it is preferred over xanax by a lot of pdocs these days. I do recall ativans were the favored alternative for awhile! Was also used for detox patients coming down from narcotics and or alcohol. It was some where in between xanax and klonopin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IcePrincess88 Posted May 7, 2015 Author Share Posted May 7, 2015 She hasn't switched me. She just wants to. But I'm at the point now where she can't just take me off of it. I beg to differ on the addiction thing. If you read up a couple of replies, you'll see the difference between addiction and dependence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KillBytes Posted May 9, 2015 Share Posted May 9, 2015 She hasn't switched me. She just wants to. But I'm at the point now where she can't just take me off of it. I beg to differ on the addiction thing. If you read up a couple of replies, you'll see the difference between addiction and dependence. there sure is. Pysical dependency is the worse. Most common with opiates. But it makes little difference if it causes the user pain from withdrawl. Whether it's physical or psycological, it's still no fun. Even addition can cause physical like withdrawls too. Talk to your pdoc and get it str8 from the horses mouth. None of us here I qualified to give any medical advice, and any one can copy and paste from google. I offered my personal experience with these benzos so you at least know, switching from one to another is fairly common. If the whole benzo thing is troubling to you, ask your pdoc about hydroxypine. Beats buspar hands down, it's a histamine and pretty damn effective without any addicting properties in it. Is also used to weed people off dependencies too. Good luck to you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dianthus Posted May 11, 2015 Share Posted May 11, 2015 Since she really wants to switch you, you could offer to try the switch and see how it goes with the idea that you'll go back on Xanax. Is that a compromise you'd be willing to ask her about? You may find that you like clonazepam better, you never know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Velvet Elvis Posted May 11, 2015 Share Posted May 11, 2015 She hasn't switched me. She just wants to. But I'm at the point now where she can't just take me off of it. I beg to differ on the addiction thing. If you read up a couple of replies, you'll see the difference between addiction and dependence. If the whole benzo thing is troubling to you, ask your pdoc about hydroxypine. Beats buspar hands down, it's a histamine and pretty damn effective without any addicting properties in it. Is also used to weed people off dependencies too. It's a histimine? What kind of dependencies? I'm dependent on my glasses. Will it help me see correctly without them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KillBytes Posted May 12, 2015 Share Posted May 12, 2015 Since she really wants to switch you, you could offer to try the switch and see how it goes with the idea that you'll go back on Xanax. Is that a compromise you'd be willing to ask her about? You may find that you like clonazepam better, you never know. Whole heartedly agree, and I can honeslty say I like klonopin better now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melissaw72 Posted May 12, 2015 Share Posted May 12, 2015 Since she really wants to switch you, you could offer to try the switch and see how it goes with the idea that you'll go back on Xanax. I agree with trying this, but if it were me, I would make sure completely that I had the option of going back on xanax if the klonopin didn't work out. Depending on how much you trust your pdoc, I would really make sure that you could change back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brokendishes Posted June 4, 2015 Share Posted June 4, 2015 Late to post, but my 2-cents....I'm non-functional without Xanax. Call it dependence, call it addiction, whatever...i have had severe panic attacks and anxiety since 2005 and this is the only med to comtrol them so i can behave even semi-rationally. What i know is that getting off them is incredibly dangerous, as in die. If you're switching to K, see about an X step-down program....I cant think of the doctor its named for, but you ween off the X slow while increasing your K. Stopping X cold turkey can be fatal. My bff prefers K over X, but for me it was like taking a Pez....I stick with X and Seroquel. However you decide, just be super careful and medically monitored....getting off X is not easy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IcePrincess88 Posted June 6, 2015 Author Share Posted June 6, 2015 I decided to just stick with my Xanax. Why try to fix what's not broken? Thankfully she has stopped bringing up the topic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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