klonopin

[LIZZIE LOU]

daughter in law is bipolar...some say schizoid affective disorder because of the severe irrational thoughts and occasional voices.  has been hospitalized 5 times in the past 2 years to get her manias under control.

she is on quite the cocktail of drugs...but her anxiety was still out of whack...or so she says.  reason i say that is because she is also an addict and finally convinced her dr to give her xanax...which turned into klonopin, which she has taken before at a much higher dose than she is on now.

my question is...she is only taking .5 mg, twice a day, but she is basically tore up from the floor up.  her speech is slurred and her movements are very robotic and slow.  there is a child involved here...almost 3...and i'm worried sick about her safety.  my daughter in law is trying to convince us that even though she has these side effects...that she is "fine"...that she doesn't "feel it".  i say BULLSH*T ! ! !  she takes off driving with my granddaughter in the car with her and i'm terrified.

am i out of line?  should she be driving the car in this condition?  is it possible that she has these side effects, mentioned above, but is "fine" ? ? ?

[ILADVOCATE]

Yes this has some worthwhile information about bipolar, mood disorders in general and mood stabilizers that can be of help to better understand what is happening and discuss it with her psychiatrist:
http://www.medhelp.org/tags/health_page/167/Depression/Useful-Bipolar--Depression-Webisites?hp_id=523
There are still other options as regards medications and this could be discussed
with her psychiatrist. It took me a certain number of years to find the right medication combination and this is true for other people as well although each person responds differently to each medication.
  Nami friends and family support groups can be helpful to discuss coping strategies.

[LIZZIE LOU]

went up this morning, while she was out, and counted her pills.  she has not taken more than the prescribed amount, .5 mg / twice a day.

i also got a list of her other meds.  i'm sure you will probably find this list quite frightful...she takes a lot of meds ! ! !

Bupropion XL (wellbutrin) - 300 mgs. - 1 tab a day

Olanzapine (zyprexa) 15 mg. - 2 tabs at bedtime

Ropinirole .5 mg - 1 tab at bedtime

Lithium Carbonate - 300 mg. - 2 in a.m. / 3 in p.m.

Gabapentin - 300 mg. - 1 capsule 4 x daily

and then there's the klonopin .5 mg - 1 upon waking and 1 at noon.

please note that she is throwing up red flags that she is also going manic again.   the manias seem to come about every 4-6 months.  THEY ARE BAD and she has to be hospitalized.

she has been to so many drs trying to get stabilized and on the "right" drug combo to allow her to be functional.  

we are at a loss...dont know which way to turn anymore and what to do to help.  i am sooooo not looking forward to the oncoming mania...she seems to focus all her energy at that time to hating me...has even told me that she had thoughts of wanting me dead.  (when she's not manic...we have a great relationship...very good friends)

i want to try and help her.  she is my son's wife and my granddaughter's mother...but i'm wearing thin and need any advice i can get.

[DavidinLexington]

I am a long term patient taking Clonazepamn/Klonopin .5    and I take it 3 times a day.  I have been on the drug for 10 years and I am still not addicted to it.  It is a far less addictive drug than xanax and so it is good the doctor switched her to it.  But if you want my personal opinion either she is getting the drug from more than one doctor or she is mixing it with something else.  It really is not possible to get that messed up off of the dosage she is taking unless it is having a bad side effect with her other meds or something else that she is taking that is illegal.  I do not believe her story.  She has to be taking huge doses of klonopin to get that effect or it is having a side effect from one of her other meds or she is still using some illegal substance.  And remember I am not a doctor.  I am a patient.  

[LIZZIE LOU]

she is on her 4th psychiatrist (changed the last time because her dr wouldn't give her higher dose of xanax).  benzos are not her drug of choice...when i say addict...i mean meth, cocaine, etc.  

i agree that in the past that she has self medicated and i truly believe that is how she was able to mask her symptoms of bipolar / mania.  they moved in with me, two years ago, and i've pretty much got her off street drugs...maybe 3 one day relapses in last two years.  i DO however feel that her wanting the xanax and / or klonopin is her addiction speaking.

every dr she has been to is well aware of her addiction issues.  she is good...can talk the spots off a leopard.

at this point...this very moment...i am more worried about her driving with my granddaughter in the car.  bad enough without the benzos...last year she wrecked when she heard the devil talking to her at a red-light.

[ILADVOCATE]

   Her psychiatrist should be made aware of the fact that she has a co existing addictive disorder as benzodiazepenes (the class of medication Klonopin and Xanax are in) are contraindicated with a person with a substance abuse disorder due to the potential of addictiion but only a psychiatrist would understand this in full. The side effects she is experiencing are of concern and her psychiatrist should be made aware of them so they can appropriately adust and/or change her medication within their clinical discretion. They can assess her ability to drive at this point in time.
   Substance abuse can be a form of self medication for a  psychiatric disability. It can also lessen the recovery rate for a person with a psychiatric disability. What she needs now is a dual recovery group for a person with a psychiatric disability and substance abuse disorder.