xanax vs. klonopin

[Tom3242]

i take 6mg. xanax per day. however i hate it. i can't remember anything and all they do is make me tired or lethargic for lack of better terms. Has anyone ever switched to Klonpin and seen positive results. I am thinking of a switch but worry I will see the same side effects. Also on another note, xanax has anyone noticed any sexual side effects, i am on two meds now and am trying to figure out which one is causing lack of desire for it or lack of stimulation along with disfunction

[Tom3242]

I have taken in the past Zoloft, Paxil, Effexor XR, BuSpar, Ativan, Xanax, Wellbutrin.  I hate SSRI and SSNRI's they make you lose yourself and lose emotion.  Like a robot.  I won't take them, no matter how much a doctor tries to downplay the side effects.  i'm 23 years old, and have had drug problems in the past.

[Tom3242]

I would take 2mg of xanax 3x daily and it wasn't doing anything anymore.  I know. I know.  Thats rediculous.  It was scaring a lot of people in my life including my doctor.  I have successfully switched to 4mg of klonopin a day 1mg 4x daily.  i don't feel the roller coaster effect anymore but I still have anxiety.  I give it to myself knowing that my dosage got decreased.  To tell you the truth I can't even tell I take Klonopin.  I don't feel any different after taking one.  They don't do anything I don't think so i feel i need to up my dose.  My doctor and family are hesitant of that because i have an addictive personality.  I used to have a bad cocaine problem.  my family knew about it and they saw me eating xanax like candy.  Could valium be of anyhelp to me?

[DragonTU84]

I have been on the 2 mg 3x daily for almost a year now. It started out as .25 mg, which wasn't enough. Then I went up to .5 mg 3x daily. Still not enough (I was still getting attacks). I then upped it to 1 mg 3X daily (3mg total), and I was still getting panic attacks. Not as severe, since the med was working, but it was still not stabilizing me. Finally I worked my way up to 1.5 mg 3x daily up to 2 mg, which finally did the job for me!!

I am not planning on weaning off of the med. until I am sure I am stabilized again (went through another panic bout from the stress and trama I had to go through with my abusive ex. NO amount of any med. could help somebody going through that!!) Now I am stabilizing/stabilized again, but I want to be "stable" and "panic free" as well as desensitizing myself before I try even weaning off the drug. I am aware of its addictiveness to the body (your body becomes dependent on it) but that happens with almost any mind-altering drug. If you were to stop taking a seizure med. cold turkey, as with any other med. nasty and worse side effects than the symptoms you had before are likely to occur. The same can be said for anti-depressants. Anything is bound to cause adverse side effects getting off of it quickly, and thus be called "addicting."

[Sondra1952]

25 yrs. ago I was taken off Xanax for severe agorophobia, and it was replaced with Klonopin.  It's been so long ago, I can't remember the dose of Xanax I was on, but I only weighed 100#, and everytime I'd go to my Dr. to tell him it wasn't working, he'd up it. I finally told him he was nuts, and went to another Dr., who was appalled at the dose of Xanax I was on. Anyway, he switched me to Klonopin, and I had some mild w/d for about a week or so.  Unfortunately, I'm still on Klonopin, 3 mg daily, 25 yrs. later, and feel awful!  My Dr. has never over the course of those 25 yrs done any blood work, or even made me come in specifically to check on how I was doing.  I am now on disability for chronic depression and PTSD, and panic disorder, but don't even know anymore if the panic disorder is a problem, but the depression sure is.  From so much that I've read, so many people say the Klonopin (I actually am now on the generic, which is clonazapem) caused severe depression, and they had a horrible time getting off of it.  I went inpatient in July '06, due to the severe depression, and questioned the "professionals" on the possibility of the long-term use of klonopin possibly CAUSING my problems.  They just added Lexapro, which didn't work, as all anti-depressants make me extremely hostile, which isn't good.  I feel so dizzy, chronic headache, never leave the house because I have no energy, blah blah blah.
So, in answer to your question, the transition from Xanax to Klonopin went pretty well, but now, 25 yrs. later, I'm a Klonopin addict, and am scared to death to try to get off of it, but am mentally and physically exhausted from being on it.  Having no insurance or resources currently to seek medical help is a problem, and I'm not trusting the Drs. too much at this point, after my $10,000 self-pay experience at the mental institution.
Anyway, sorry for the long answer.  I just hope that your Dr. is better than mine have been in monitoring any drug your on.  I did ask questions, honest, as I hate taking drugs, and they all assured me the drugs they gave me weren't addictive, and that the warnings were 'worst-case scenario", and rarely happened.  Wish I knew 31 yrs. ago what I know now!  Just be cautious, as Jay above said, and I wish you good luck and prayers!  Please say some for me, too, as I ponder trying to wean myself once again from this drug.
Oh, and as far as the sexual problems, it definitely did affect me, but everyone is different, I guess, and luckily I haven't been in a relationship for a long time.  
God Bless, and good luck!  Sondra

[mystruggle]

how long have you been taking that dosage of ativan? 6mg is considered ALOT! and it is a short acting benzo. i don't want to scare you or anything but tolerance is almost certain with ativan. and it's no picnic to wean down from, same as xanax. i know it makes you feel great now, but the effects do wear off and tolerance builds rather quickly. you might want to look into switching to klonopin yourself. just my .2 cents babe. i know it feels great to have your life back, but ativan is not a step up from xanax at all. if you dose the K BID then you have 24 hour coverage from anxiety/panic so it won't matter how long it takes to "kick in"

i suffered from severe agoraphobia...like not leaving the house for 3 months and only take 1.5 mg  of klonopin a day.....5 TID. i'm about 70% back to my self and am in therapy and working out church and doing other lifestyle changes...it's working great. getting back to being me!

i get tired after work...but who doesn't haha.....

didn't mean to rain on anyones parade....just be cautious

God Bless....Jay

[DragonTU84]

I know that I was injected with 1 MG of Xanax at the hospital once, and not only did it take forever to make the panic attack go away, but it made me EXTREMELY drugged up and in this constant lazy, happy-go-lucky state that sickens me thinking about it!

I take Lorazepam/Ativan 2 MG 3X daily (6MG total) and I feel great. I feel like myself, and I recall being injected once with Ativan in the hospital (the first time I went actually when I had a severe panic attack) and the Ativan worked QUICKLY and it worked WONDERS!!! I felt like myself, yet just calmer and not so anxious anymore, not that drugged feeling I got from the Xanax, and it alleviated ALL of my symptoms, whereas Xanax did not. The symptoms seemed to subside more on their own when taking the Xanax and just put me in a happy-state rather than alleviate my symptoms.

I think a lot of people have been in the same boat you both have been with Xanax, Bambi and FMXSMKR....

As for you, Tom, I'd recommend giving either Klonopin or Ativan/Lorazepam a try. Lorazepam is a short-acting benzo. as well, but has a slightly longer half-life than Xanax, and it works quickly, yet it specifically targets anxiety and has fewer chances of side effects. Klonopin has been found to be a smoother acting benzo. It takes longer to kick in, but has like a 24-50 hour half-life, and you only need to take it BID (twice daily) whereas if you take the Ativan/Lorazepam long-term you'd need to take it TID (three times daily). You make the choice. Ativan works great for me, and there is no reason for me to switch. But it is your call. Give one a try, if you don't like it you can always switch.

~Crystal~

[Jade59]

Hi Tom!  Really?  6mgs?  I'm surprised you can function at all.  I take 1mg at night and feel sleepy all the time.  Switching to Klonopin would be a very good idea, for your energys sake alone, but you're going to have to be very careful about stopping the Xanax is you choose to switch.  You are on an incredible daily dose and it's vital you wean yourself off this med in a slow fashion to avoid serious withdrawal and possibly seizures.  

Good luck...

[Bambi1979]

I was taking Xanax and now am on Klonopin.   The Xanax worked better for me as far as a quick fix.  I am now taking Klonopin along with Paxil.  I take the Klonopin twice a day where I was taking Xanax only once a day.  I didn't notice any sexual side effects with Xanax.  I haven't noticed any side effects with the Klonopin either though.  But I guess it affects each person differently.  I did notice that with Xanax, it will make you very relaxed.  Klonopin doesn't have that same affect on me.  But, the Paxil does!!!!  I don't know if I've been of any help to you, but, for me, I can tell you that Klonopin doesn't make me feel all drugged up and lethargic.  

[suzi-q]

I am not sure about the sexual disfunction in relation to the xanax.  However, if you are on an anti-depressant (SSRI) like paxil or prozac, it can cause sexual disfunction.

I am on klonopin, however, I use only as needed which is once every couple of weeks (also on buspar and paxil daily).  I do not know if there are less side effects than xanax.  I do know, however, that xanax is only supposed to be prescribed for short term use and as needed.  Klonopin is for long-term daily use.  I am sure someone will post here to help you.