is it ok to take xanax and klonopin combined and which is better for serios anxiety

Hi. I have been on klonopin for about 6 months now and have been as high as 8 mg daily to the 6 mg I take now. I mentioned to my doctor that I felt I was becoming tolerant and was not getting the results I got in the beginning. I have severe anxiety and depression so I have been on alot of meds so this isn't far from true. So he gave me a script of Xanax 1mg to take with the klonopin for now til we feel comfortable enough to wean me off of the klonopin. However after reading alot of these postings I wondering if I made a mistake and should stay with the klonopin? I would appreciate any insight.  Thanks           Malissa

[txcali]

I do not know what Klonopin is , but I am assuming it is just another anxiety med like Xunax ( quick fix ) and I don't think that was a good idea becuase it is also addicting and should only be used for short term is what I was told by my doctor and he won't let me take that. Now if the Klonopin is not what I assumed then have you ever heard of Trileptal, mention that to your doctor, I just posted some info on that online just now, you can read that also.

[kpea]

You mentioned 6 mg of klonopin being roughly equivalent to 120mgs of Valium. As you seem to be very knowledgeable on this subject, would you mind going into some more detail on Valium? How is it similar to xanax/klonopin? what is considered a reasonable dosage? How addictive is it? I would greatly appreciate any information you have to offer on this.

-Kim

[hoghunterw]

I have recently been switched to klonipan from xanax. The klonipan is not cutting it! Is it safe to start the xanax again while still on klonipan?

[mandylynn0621]

Has anyone tried Ativan and if so did it help? Do the others mentioned help more? I have OCD, Depression, and Anxiety but have gotten any meds from a doctor yet except the Ativan  from the ER. It helps but makes some symptoms worse. Any advice?

[rawrawrawrawrwar]

I was on ativann for anxiety attacks, it was wonderful, quick working and did the job, though the first few times I took it, I felt "like water" or even "drunk" but I got used to it

The  downside I found was that mybody quickly got used to it, I had to keep increasing the dosage  to get an effect and eventually had to get off of it because it was too dangerous. So I switched to clonezepam. I dont know  if you are allwoed to have any at the same timebut htese aremy personal experiences:

Clonezepam: Slow to work but long to last "deep relief"
Ativan: faster to work but wears off after 6 hours"medium-sense of relief"
Xanax: extremelyfast to work but shortlived "fast relief"

hope that helps =)

[Pockets1]

While Xanax worked great for my anxiety, my psychiatrist just put me on Klonopin. I'm on a mild dose (o.5 Mil), and to take 1 every 6 hours (as needed). Well, I've only taken two 1/2 pills because my anxiety has gotten much better, but I still get the feeling of one coming on, so I took the Klonopin. It took the anxiety away very well. Plus, I have been waking up like clock work at 2:00a every night, so last night I popped another 1/2 of klonopin, and slept until almost 5a! It felt great!

I think if you do not take Klonopin every single day, 3 times a day, etc., you will not have any problems with withdrawals. It's all about dosage and how often and the strength. A month ago Klonopin may NOT have worked for me, because my anxiety was the worse it had ever been my whole life. But eventually I started getting better, thankfully, so the Klonopin works pretty good for me!

I hope all of you who suffers with anxiety find something that gives you relief. If you are on Klonopin, but it's not working, ask your doctor if it's safe to increase either the dosage or strength. That may be all you need, but PLEASE don't increase it on your own without your doctor's approval!

Good luck, all!
L

[mbll2772]

I was on zanax .25 mg twice a day and .50mg at bed time i still had really bad anxiety so instead of upping my dose of zanax my doc prescribed klonopin .50mg twice a day 1 in am 1 in pm the first day of switchin was rough cause around 2:00 i could feel my anxiety hittin so i called her back and said i want back on the zanax instead she told me to take .50mg klonopin  in am .50mg around 3 and .50mg at night tried that and it helped but left me very tired so i took it upon my self and took .50mg at 9 am .25mg at 3pm and .50mg at 9 pm and i feel much better its been a week and i was even able to go to a strawberry festival with my family with very little anxiety where as before i just simply wouldnt have gone.I did call my doc and told her what i did and she said if that works for you then perfect.Im not worried about withdrawl (withdrawal) or ever having to go off right now cause i need it that and along with therepy maybe someday i will come off it but i cant worry about that right now cause i have extreme anxiety and panic syndrome and if this med and therepy is helping me right now live a little then i cant have anxiety already about withdrawl (withdrawal) and addiction too it if it works for me.

[HRUKICK21]

I am on klonopin 3 times a day 2/mg for the last year and been on 1/mg a day for the last 4 years previous. I have severe panic attacks and bad deppression. My anxiety got worse and is still bad after the the phyc. put me on 2/mg of zanax too, twice a day. Now is lowering the zanax down to once a day with the klonopin. I want to get off of these meds but I have been on them to long anyone have any advice please! I feel helpless too these meds and wish I never started them. They have taken over my life. I wake up so nervous that I have to take a klonopin am i just that dependent? I am nervous all day the meds are not working and I am at the highest dosage level? Anyone have any advice I'm going crazy.

[MMahon]

Are you taking an antidepressant?  They are very effective for anxiety as well as depression.
Benzo's like xanax and klonopin may help anxiety short term but aren't effective for depression alone and may in fact make it worse.  They are good for panic attacks but you should look toward an antidepressant for better results.  Talk to your doctor about this and when your problem is better controlled you can start to taper off the benzo's.  

[HRUKICK21]

I have been on every antidpressent paxil, effoxor, ect. lexapro which I was on but stopped taking it because of suicidal thoughts. Do you think it's possible for me to get off of the benzo's I have been on so long? And how long will the withdrawls be? Appreciate it.

[MMahon]

It seems a bit like you think your anxiety is being caused by your medication.  Is this so?
Have you discussed coming off your meds with your doctor?  You should!  Only he can give you good instructions on tapering off your meds.
What do you think your current bad anxiety levels will be like coming off your meds?
Withdrawing from them can be a process.  It should be a slow tapering off over a long period of time until you are completely off.
Personnally I wouldn't start withdrawing form them until I felt very well and wasn't having any problems whatsoever.  You have to be healthy and stable before undertaking the process.
Are you seeing a psychiatrist?  If not then you should get an appointment with one.

[bjfoste1]

sweetmalis your on a pretty high dosage of klonopiin 6 mg daily? That would get me pretty high lol. I take about 1-2 mg daily on an as need basis.

[M4Y0U]

You must work on a cross-tapering withdrawal schedule with your doctor. Here's the information you should print and bring to your doctor.

- http://www.non-benzodiazepines.org.uk/clonazepam.html

A lot of good information about the proper withdrawal process on this website. You will see that cross-tapering clonazepam to diazepam is preferred due to diazepam extremely long half-life making the withdrawal way more smoother.

M4

[HRUKICK21]

Thankx I appreciate it. It looks like a long withdrawl (withdrawal) process. Mmhon I think I just maxed out at the highest dosage and I get the generic brand I hear alot about some companies making them sugar pills?? Has anyone heard that? I lost my job a year ago that I was at for 10 years and have been on unemployment since barely making it my insurance ends next week. I know this has alot to do with my anxiety. But now that I have been looking back at my life when this started I went to the doctor because I wouldn't go out due to being so anxious sweating, shaking, panic attacks. He put me on anti-depressents but I was depreessed because I couldn't get out started distancing my friends and eventualy changed doctors was put on klonopin and haven't laughed or been happy since forgot what that feels like. Not sure what to do. Just feel so lost and like there is no way out. And stopping klonopin cold turkey sounds bad but w/o insurance I don't know what to do hope a job falls through which is unlikely.

[M4Y0U]

You have been taking Klonopin t.i.d at 2mg dosage? You do realize that this is equivalent to 40mg of Valium = 120mg Valium after 3 doses. Combined with Xanax I don't even want to think about how strong a dose it is.

You just can't stop cold turkey because it is extremely dangerous after being exposed chronically at such high doses. I don't want to scare you but this is really serious. Going off cold turkey after such use could result into severe seizures, coma and death. You have absolutely no choice to go with a slow tapering. You can go quicker than the table I showed to you, this is up to you and your doc based on how you are doing thru the withdrawal.

I repeat just to make sure you understand you simply can't go off cold turkey after such high dose chronic use of benzodiazepines. It is EXTREMELY dangerous.

Please work with you doctor for a safe cross-tapering method.

M4

[Carmen_Sandiego]

Generic Klonopin (Clonazepam) is very inexpensive. The 2 milligram size tablets are actually the least expensive. If your insurance coverage is about to lapse, you might call around to several pharmacies to receive a price quote for a self-pay patient. Walmart generally has the best competitive pricing. Others will offer discount cards or other programs, such as price matching. Never-the-less, a one month supply should be well under $40.

The issue of generics is an interesting one. Clonazepam is particularly problematic with respect to variations in bioavailability. This is largely a function of the inactive ingredients that comprise the bulk of the tablet (the binders and fillers). Walgreen's "Caraco" brand generic, when compared to that of Roche's brand product, Klonopin, will disclose little variation. The others (Mylan, Par, Teva and Watson) do vary significantly from the brand name product. Therefore, once an effective generic is found, it would advisable only to use that particular brand to prevent any potential complications.

Understandable that you'd wish to discontinue the drug. For many, Klonopin does induce moderate side effects over the long-term. However, depending upon the severity of your anxiety symptoms and the impact that they have on your functioning, the benefits may actually outweigh the long-term effects. Obviously, the only true way to find out is to discontinue the drug. Fortunately, Klonopin is a long-acting Benzodiazepine and rarely induces withdrawal effects (when discontinued correctly). Rebound anxiety and insomnia would be the most common. If you wish to discontinue the use of this drug, it must be reduced gradually under the supervision of a medical doctor. Not by more than 0.25 mg/week. If it is reduced rapidly or abruptly discontinued, there are certain severe risks, seizure representing the worst of those risks from a physiological perspective, and psychosis from a psychological perspective.

There is a great deal of controversy surrounding Benzodiazepine withdrawal and a small minority that do experience severe issues while trying to discontinue them. Such folks tend to have personality disorders or prior HX of drug abuse. However, this is not typical for the population...particularly with Klonopin. A few self-proclaimed experts recommend switching to Valium (Diazepam), with the rationale that Diazepam carries a longer half-life. This is a mistake, as Diazepam has little to no affinity for the receptor sites that Clonazepam does. Therefore, it is not fully cross-tolerant, even at the equivalent dosage (1 mg Klonopin = 10 mg Valium). You are currently taking the equivalent of 60 milligrams of Valium. Additionally, (half-lives aside), Valium is short-acting. It has a duration of action ranging from 6-8 hours, and hence produces significant interdose rebound anxiety. Valium has a fairly long biological half-life, but it is not long-acting. Klonopin is the longest acting and would be more ideal to taper from.

[RN26]

II 2 SUFFER FROM PTSD AND SOCIAL ANXIETY AND HAVE PANIC ATTACTS IM ANXIOUS ALL DAY N NIGHT. BUT I CAN HELP U. FIRST TAKE A DEEP BREATH. THE MILLIGRAMS U ARE ON ARE NOT THAT HIGH. I AM CURRENTLY ON 8MG OF XANAX A DAY AND STILL HAVE ANXIETY SO I HAVE TO GO BACK THIS MONTH TO GET MILLIGRAM ADJUSTED. SO JUST MAKE AN APPT GO IN AND TELL UR PSYCHIATRIST UR STILL HAVING ALOT OF ANXIETY AND ASK HER/HIM 2 UP/ADJUST UR MEDS. I WAS ON KLONOPINS AND XANAX SEEMED 2HELP ME MORE PERSONALLY .SO JUST CALL THEM N TELL EM WHAT I JUST TOLD U.THEY UNDERSTAND

[TribbleMom]

I agree on your comment to HRUKick21. I'm just starting to read this site and I'm astonished at the levels of meds people take. I took .25 mg Xanas as needed for panic attacks for about 10 years and after a bout of cancer went to .25 mg twice a day for another 10 years, never had the need to go higher. But as time went on, the panic became more General Anxiety and a Pain Management Doctor filling in for my Family GP talked me into trying Klonopin for the anxiety and still keep a small prescription of Xanax for the black rolling panic attacks. I take .25 mg Klonopin along with 25 mg Beta Blocker for SVT in the morning and .50 mg Klonopin and 12.5 mg Beta Blocker at night and for the first time in 20 years I get 6 to 8 hours of restful sleep. The Xanax is in my pocket as needed, and 30 of .25mg will last me three months. Those are the ONLY maintenance meds I take. Supplements include 500 mg Fish Oil and 1 Sustenex Probiotic daily. With this medicine regime I can still use Flexeril or Hydroco for a damaged rotator cuff and Fibromyalgia/Chronic Fatigue. I probably only use pain meds two or three times a month. Probably because I continue to keep the dosage low, I don't ever have that needy feeling to increase dosage.
Oh yes and switching from Xanax to Klonopin.......I just quit one and started the other. But remember, I was on a very low dosage.

[goso73]

I have been suffering from panic attacks for two months now and it is getting harder for me. So far the doc put me on klonopan .25mg and i don't think it is helping me to well i am tired of living life terrified and not being able to do what i use to do what should i do it is making me so depressed..

[cenzo5739]

Reading your comments, is quite amazing. Your knowledge in this area is great. I suffer from simple complex seizure disorder, from Sept 11 2011. after getting hit in the head, Sezire medicines do not really help Also developed ANXIETY DISORDER, But some times hard to disgunish, seizure from anxiety. Did an EEG study in hospital, no great results could not find focal point. Currently Anxiety getting worse . Taking keppra 750mg once  a day, Neuroitn 300 mg BID. Also Klonpin .5 usually once a day. Have exteme trouble sleeping,falling asleeo , staying asleep. Psych did give me inderal small dose , but did not take it.. Did not wnat to use beta blocker PRN. I have this little fear IO may be addicited to klonopin. ( I also have xanax and ativan if needed) do not take them regularly.  How wuold  I actaully know if addicted? I have gone a day or two/ w/o taking klonpoin but recently it seems the panic/seizres worsing.
Thank You
cenzo

[fisherwoman8]

I started to get really bad anxiety and was even hopitalized once for it and my doc purscibed me klonopin and it was great as well as celexa for depression which he told me anxitey and depression go hand in hand you cant have one without the other after my first month of the clexa anti-depressant I was so happy did not have a single panic attack and still have not and I have been on it for about a year now and I am still who I am just less stressed and angry