klonopin for anxiety

I am a 46 yr old white female.  I suffered panic attacks most of my life, but didn't realize what they were until they got really bad in 1992.  At that time I became enclosed inside my house in my own personal hell.  I was prescribed a number of drugs to help with the panic, but none worked...I still ended back up in the ER.  FINALLY...my doctor put me on Klonopin. He prescribed 1 mg every morning.  I started feeling "normal" once again and was able to live my life like most people without fear.  

In 2000 I went into the hospital and went off the klonopin with the help of experts in the mental health unit.  The withdraw was horrible.  I was going through a divorce at the time and was devastated, so my mind was mostly on loosing my marriage.  Even though I was focusing on the failed marriage, I still suffered the withdraw with great pain, mentally and physically.  It took about 1 week in the hospital and about a good month and a half at home before I was completely rid of the klonopin.  

After being off of the klonopin until sometime in 2003, I started suffering panic again.  I couldn't think and was afraid of life itself.  So I started taking the klonopin again at the 1mg dose and WOW....I started living normal again.  The anxiety went away again.  So now my dr has decided I suffer from a life-long anxiety disorder and will be on them for the rest of my life which I have learned to accept.  I never increase the dose or take any other kinds of recreational meds or drugs. In fact, I am afraid of the effects of meds and try to avoid anything except the klonopin.  I don't drink either.

My question you ask?  My husband.  He thinks I am addicted to the klonopin and makes fun of me for it and puts me down.  He even gets verbally abusing sometimes to the point that I feel I need to leave my marriage and move away.  Unfortunately, he is on Loritabs...3 of the 7.5 a day for pain.  He has been on these way before our marriage 3 years ago. His thinking is fuzzy and he cannot remember things and I get the blame for that.  Sometimes it almost seems like he is "not all there".  He denies being addicted and goes into a RAGE when I offer to help him to get help from a professional.  What do I do?  Are the Loritabs making him slow?  Is my klonopin the wrong thing for me to take?  Right now I feel like I can't take much more of this with his personality being so abusing.....I'm afraid I will have panic attacks even though I am on the klonopin.  Please help me somebody!  We have a mental heath appt today for our marriage.  He told me he was going to tell the therapist that I am the abusing one, not him.  He is scaring me.  Please give me feedback on my klonopin usage and his loritab addiction...if you can call it an additiction.....Misskimberly

[marcatj]

personally, i see nothing wrong with you being on klonopin.  you have a legitamate anxiety disorder.  i am not going to go into too many details how i know about this (sorry - but after the MTV post i'm a little leary) but what i can tell you is a couple years ago i started having anxiety attacks.  never had 'em before.  i went to one of the best anxiety specialists in the state, and he put me on klonopin.

the thing you have to be careful of is 50% of people on klonopin get depressed.  i did.  i had to level it off with welbutrin.

luckily, some life changes happened and the anxiety attacks went away and therefore i didn't need them anymore. (i still have them tho, and take one on occasion.)

but i would tell your husband to f*** off - sorry, but i would - you have a legitimate disorder and a legitimate need what you are taking.

i know from experience.

good luck...
mj

[NneedHope]

I am so sorry that you are going through this.  I was in a verbally abusive marriage before myself.  After a while you start to believe or "buying in" to his rants.  I can see that you are doubting yourself in your post here.  DONT!  The dose you are on is so low.  You dont do any other drugs with it.  You do not drink etc..  You may be DEPENDANT on the drug but that is COMPLETELY different from being ADDICTED to it.  How about him?  Does he take more than prescribed or in a way that is not prescribed?  Mix them with anything etc?  Reason I am asking he he may or may not be addicted but after all this time of being on lortab he will be physically dependant on the drug.  If it is addiction, you cannot help him until he realizes that there is a problem in the first place.  Best of luck to you!  I hope the session goes well.  If he brings up your usage of your prescribed medicine.... maybe you should bring up his as well.  It sounds like this is a factor in the issues between the two of you.
Again best of luck and I hope all goes well and gets better!