Psycho-Babble Medication Thread 397047

Shown: posts 1 to 9 of 9. This is the beginning of the thread.

 

clonazepam. is this it?

Posted by jonh kimble on September 29, 2004, at 22:03:46

Hey all. I will make this short. Social anxiety has been an overbearingly powerful force in my life (I mean ive been hospitalized for it its made me so depressed) and affects every aspect of my life. clonazepam is the only medication to have truly helped. I can focus on it a hundred times better, I think clearer, my depression vanishes, and of course my sa is decreased a whole heck of alot. then theres cbt, however. If I stay with that and it could help permanently and maybe even better? ive seen glimpses of how it can help but generally find the exposures make me more distressed than anything. but am I asking for a whole heck of alot of trouble by signing my soul over to clonazepam? (im basically saying im going to stay on it and use it as the only thing for ever)? Or am I stupid for waiting another second? and ive tried cbt and clono. together, it doesnt work. I end up having inacurate definitions of the work I did when sometimes Im medicated and sometimes not. I end up thinking I can only do whatever it is while on the drug so it doesnt work. (plenty of other resons too) thanks alot for the info

 

Re: clonazepam. is this it?

Posted by zero on September 29, 2004, at 22:42:53

In reply to clonazepam. is this it?, posted by jonh kimble on September 29, 2004, at 22:03:46

Much of what you wrote about SAD/SP applies to me as well (including leading to depression, and being hospitalized).

Klonopin helps me a good deal - not completely, but it's real useful. Valium in conjunction with Niacin also helped a lot, before my pdoc talked me into switching to Klon.

If CBT and PRN Klonopin is not working for reasons you mention, why not try Klonopin 3x/day everyday - that would seem to rectify the problem you describe.

The decision to take Valium and later Klonopin every day, was a no-brainer for me as I had nothing to lose. Everyone has their own take on this of course, and has to make their own decision. I try to think of it as "medically dependent" not "addicted".

I am open to new and more effective treatment options, and when something better than Klonopin comes along (hopefully in my lifetime), I can switch to that.

Good luck w. all this.

z

 

Re: clonazepam. is this it? » jonh kimble

Posted by Jasmineneroli on September 29, 2004, at 23:01:05

In reply to clonazepam. is this it?, posted by jonh kimble on September 29, 2004, at 22:03:46

Hey Jonh!
I'm gonna sound like I work for the company, after all my posts in favour of clonazepam lately!
But, I too find it's the ONLY thing to help my anxiety.
I've been on it for 14 months and have lowered my daily dosage and still get the same therapeutic results.
For me, that means, I do not have a "tolerance" for it. For me, it means that it de-excites (is that a word?) my brain. For me, GABA dysregulation is a big part of my problem and Clonazepam seems to correct this. Just like it corrects seizures in those with seizure disorders. Those people take higher doses,
forever.
IMO, it's not a problem to take it indefinitely, if it works and you're not increasing your dose to get the same effect. I would even try lowering the dose very slightly (with your doc's permission) and see if it still helps. Especially if find the CBT helps, in the future.
I would be concerned though, if you have a history of substance abuse.

You might find this article helpful (it's for CFS mainly, but contains good info).
www.immunesupport.com/library/showarticle/cfm/id/3154

Good luck,
Jas

 

CBT and clonazepam » jonh kimble

Posted by Kon on September 30, 2004, at 1:30:36

In reply to clonazepam. is this it?, posted by jonh kimble on September 29, 2004, at 22:03:46

>I ive tried cbt and clono. together, it doesnt work. I end up having inacurate definitions of the work I did when sometimes Im medicated and sometimes not. I end up thinking I can only do whatever it is while on the drug so it doesnt work.


List your anxiety-provoking situations from least to most. Do not take clonazepam for the less anxiety-promoting situations. Use clonazepam only for your higher anxiety-promoting situations. Work CBT with exposure and no clonazepam for less anxiety-promoting situations. As you are able to handle the lower anxiety-promoting situations without drugs, work your way up to higher anxiety situations and omit the clonazepam and use CBT with exposure until you are able to handle that new situation drug-free. Repeat and continually eliminate clonazepam from more and more situations until you only need clonazepam for a few situations. Repeat pattern until hopefully , you don't require any clonazepam for any situation. If it doesn't work, then just use clonazepam on a few occassions where CBT did not seem effective.

 

Re: CBT and clonazepam » Kon

Posted by yznhymer on September 30, 2004, at 3:51:14

In reply to CBT and clonazepam » jonh kimble, posted by Kon on September 30, 2004, at 1:30:36

> >I ive tried cbt and clono. together, it doesnt work. I end up having inacurate definitions of the work I did when sometimes Im medicated and sometimes not. I end up thinking I can only do whatever it is while on the drug so it doesnt work.
>
>
> List your anxiety-provoking situations from least to most. Do not take clonazepam for the less anxiety-promoting situations. Use clonazepam only for your higher anxiety-promoting situations. Work CBT with exposure and no clonazepam for less anxiety-promoting situations. As you are able to handle the lower anxiety-promoting situations without drugs, work your way up to higher anxiety situations and omit the clonazepam and use CBT with exposure until you are able to handle that new situation drug-free. Repeat and continually eliminate clonazepam from more and more situations until you only need clonazepam for a few situations. Repeat pattern until hopefully , you don't require any clonazepam for any situation. If it doesn't work, then just use clonazepam on a few occassions where CBT did not seem effective.
>
>

Hmm. There is a certain appealing logic to your suggestion, but I'm doubtful it can be implemented. Unfortunately, we don't often get to choose the timing of anxiety-provoking situations, nor do they present themselves in ascending order of stressfulness. What would you do if you had a high anxiety-producing situation in the morning, but two hours later had only a mildly stressful situation. You couldn't remove the klonipin fom your system to handle the situation without it. When you take the benzo, you've got it for the day. High anxiety- and lower anxiety-producing situations are gonna come at ya on their own schedule and in random order. I think his answers probably lay elsewhere.

 

part time idea

Posted by pablo1 on September 30, 2004, at 19:07:24

In reply to Re: CBT and clonazepam » Kon, posted by yznhymer on September 30, 2004, at 3:51:14

Oxazepam lasts 8 hours, alprazolam lasts 6 to 26 hours & clonazepam lasts 30 to 40 hours.

 

Re: part time idea

Posted by mattw84 on September 30, 2004, at 22:03:04

In reply to part time idea, posted by pablo1 on September 30, 2004, at 19:07:24

I don't know where you got your numbers... maybe those are the half-lives? My personal experience with alprazolam (Xanax) is that it lasts about 4 hours. I have read that Clonazepam lasts most people the entire day.

 

Re: clonazepam. is this it?

Posted by pseudonym on October 1, 2004, at 11:11:57

In reply to clonazepam. is this it?, posted by jonh kimble on September 29, 2004, at 22:03:46

You are still looking for the pro-social answer to your social anxiety, in addition to the anti-anxiety aspect, which klonopin provides? Is that correct?

 

Re: clonazepam. is this it?

Posted by jonh kimble on October 1, 2004, at 22:08:44

In reply to clonazepam. is this it?, posted by jonh kimble on September 29, 2004, at 22:03:46

Yup, still looking for anti anxiety plus pro social effect. I like the recommendation of useing clono. for the more than less anxiety provoking situations. My main fear is conversing! This as you all know is pretty common event. Im terrified of not saying the most appealing perfect thing all the time, and also terrified of sounding boring and just like everyone else. I go into conversations thinking Im going down, I have nothing to say that could possibly work in this senario (which is true given what I expect!). I start perpetuating these beliefs and conversations are done before I even start. I have to make everyone happy, and when someone asks me what I think,well, what does it matter, I want to say want you want me to say. So I have to be independant but always on everyones side. Sounds like I need to chage my beliefs right? Well, yes but this hypervigilance of possible negative outcome is intrinsic with anxiety in general. If I offend someone Im better of dead. If I am a thoughtless hypocrit pushover Im good as dead. Insanely complex delema over seemingly simple prob. And see clono allows me to look at a conversation as a friendly event, rather than a test, and if I do screw up, its a deal rather than a big deal. Anyway, this has desimated my life for as long as i can remember. Needless to say thanks for the suggestions and I hope this makes sense!


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