Clonazepam Inquiry

I've been taking 1.5 mgs BID Clonazepam (generic) for the past 11 years for severe panic disorder.  It's been the best drug for me with no side effects while keeping the attacks at bay for all this time.  My original doctor reassured me I would not develop a tolerance to it.  He said that once my dosage was established, no further increases would be needed in the case of treatment for panic disorder.  He did state that I would be physically dependent on it, which is different than tolerance, but since I have to be on it the rest of my life anyway, that doesn't matter, he stated.

A few weeks ago, I had some attacks break through for the first time, although, not full out attacks thanks to the medication.  I was concerned, however, as to why this happened all of a sudden when I've been doing so well for so long on the same dosage.  My new doctor wanted to increase my dosage up to 3 mgs per day (1.5 mgs BID) and add Paxil CR (which made me sick so I stopped after one dosage).  He didn't mention anything about going up slow, but I knew to do so with all of the research I have done over the years along with my past history of starting the medication years ago.  I made it to 2.5 mgs and haven't gone up any further as sedation is quite heavy and the attacks are now gone; however, some anxiety is still there which is quite odd since they seem to go hand-in-hand.

I would like to come back down to my usual maintenance dose of 2 mgs per day to see if I'll be okay now in case the reason for the attacks was just a bump in the roadway.  I have only been on this increased dosage of .5 mgs extra per day for 16 days now.  Being that it hasn't been that long for the extra dosage, would it be possible to just drop it back to my original 2 mgs, or should I still wean that .5 mgs down (16 weeks) until I get to my regular 2 mgs daily dosage again?  I know if I was going to go off of it completely, I would have to definitely wean, but this is a bit of a different circumstance, I think.

Also, after the experience I had with Paxil CR and a couple others in the past, I'd much rather stay away from those.  Clonazepam has been perfect for me.  Is it possible for people to stay on Clonazepam solely for panic disorder on a long-term basis without developing a tolerance where I will eventually have to add an SSRI and wean off due to the tolerance issue?  

Thanks in advance