Anyone here used clonazepam/Klonopin(for medical purposes)?

anyone here used clonazepam/Klonopin(for medical purposes)?
psychologist wants me to take it temporarily as I'm learning how to deal with social anxiety.
but a little reading into it and its scaring the fuck out of me.

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i heard it's quite addictive
basically it numbs your brain so you can force yourself to wageslave

It's a Fucking trap, benzo withdrawal will literally make you insane. I was on clonazepam and diazepam for a few months, psych cut me off cold turkey. Hearing voices, everyone was out to get me, every noise coming from outside was directly targeted to Fuck with me, didn't trust anyone even my closest family etc... Don't even Fuck with that shit. Not to mention it worsens depression and can increase or cause suicidal ideation and even actions. Not to mention even if you take it for a very short period of time, the rebound anxiety will have you steps back from where you started. Try some natural methods or even an snri would be less brain damaging, though not by much.

>Not to mention even if you take it for a very short period of time, the rebound anxiety will have you steps back from where you started.
you said you were on it for a couple of months,
did you attempt to do this at first or do you know someone that did.

>. Not to mention even if you take it for a very short period of time, the rebound anxiety will have you steps back from where you started.
shit so you cant just take it for one day at a time?

Dude you were taking valium , which is pretty much the most dangerous and addicting of all the benzos.

Absolutely false. It has one of the longest half lives of benzos and therefore is one of the easiest to taper off of and least prone to habitual use. Alprazolam(Xanax) and lorazepam(ativan) are the most prone to addiction and drug seeking behaviours.
I've been on all of them for diferent amounts of time with varying doses and dosing schedules with long breaks in between.
One day isn't going to do much. But even a week of every day use will cause mild withdrawal symptoms and rebound anxiety in a lot of people

In general to op, don't Fuck with benzos if you can at all help it. I literally felt like I had brain damage after being on them for just a few months.

>tfw just want to be prescribed benzos and dissos so i can turn my brain off

Also none of them are very dangerous on their own since the ld50 is ridiculously high compared to the therapeutic dose. Especially compared to opiates, barbiturates, even Tylenol really. Benzos are one of the most physically benign medications when it comes to acute physical shit. Doing stupid things while blacked out and mixing with other drugs alcohol not included.

Good plan for a while, but you can literally die from the withdrawal if you're on decent doses for a long time. Even heroin withdrawal won't kill you on its own.

oh no, that would be terrible, dying and everything. so bad.

It depends on how long you take it, but if the psychiatrist prescribes it properly, it should help you, not harm you

Clonazepam (and other benzos) help by stimulating pathways in your brain which reduce nerve firing, and basically make it less active.
This will NOT make you sedated/ lose control at the right dose, it will just reduce anxiety and calm you down. (Benzos are specifically used for this purpose before surgeries)

Benzos are used temporarily to get your brain used to being more calm, after which they are withdrawn, hopefully leaving you with less anxiety spells even after stopping the drug

I don't know which idiot would tell you to just cut off the drug like that, you're supposed to gradually taper it off by lowering the dose little by little

t. Final year med student

He was a dick, he didn't just tell me to stop, he straight up cut off my prescription.

If you want to get rid of your social anxiety, get your amygdala removed.

Anything about what long term (see 6+ month) use does the to the brain mister doctor?

I'm pretty sure you could sue him for medical malpractice if you have a good lawyer, but I'm not very knowledgable about law, so can't say for certain

The main effect is that your brain will get used to the drug and require higher and higher dosages for the same effect if you keep using them for too long (this is the main reason why people accidentally die when using sleeping pills continuouslu for some years)

A physical addiction to the drug can also develop, because benzos affect your brain in a similar manner as alcohol (although they are much more regulated and less toxic than alcohol)

This is why benzos are used only temporarily; I don't think anyone ever prescribes it for more than 1 year continuously. If you need long term treatment with them, doctors usually prescribe them for 3 months, then put you on a 3 month break from them, then repeat (tapering the doses if required, as I mentioned in my last post)

>but if the psychiatrist prescribes it properly, it should help you, not harm you
he is referring me to a psychiatrist to get prescription of it after my normal physician refused to prescribe me it(which was what caused me to look into the drug).
>It depends on how long you take it
how long should I be taking it? how long is too long?
>One day isn't going to do much.
as in wont cause a dependency?or it would have a negligible effect?
I mean I'd prefer this to be something I take every two weeks when I'm doing therapy,
psychologist is saying its to allow me to put myself in social situations I normally would not be able to do on my own so I can get use to it.

How do you accidentally die from sleeping pills? While not as safe as benzos, z-drugs still have a relatively high therapeutic index no?

As in not cause dependence or noticable rebound anxiety. And if you aren't taking it every day you should be ok. I only have experience with every day prescribed usage.

What about all the cognitive deficits that can persist for up to years?

so your advise for me is,
if the psychologist tells me I need to take it daily I should start looking for another therapist right?

not that user but
>tfw no cognitive deficits

>mfw no cognitive deficits because already retarded neet

I just sell mine. They don't do much besides make me tired, though the first few times I took them I felt sorta drunk. Xanax is much better for social anxiety at least. I've sold like thirty pills to people and they sit there and take them all in one night too...don't get it.

Hmmm usually for anxiety they give benzos for about 1 month at first, to see how you respond to it. 1 day isn't long enough for it to act (will take a few days) and dependency only develops if you're on it for longer than around 3 months.

I'm not too sure about exactly what dose and how many times a week to take it though, because we don't focus much on psychiatry in MBBS (medical undergrad degree). Talk to the psychiatrist you're referred to, he'll answer all your questions better than me (or he's supposed to at any rate, too many medical professionals speed through patients and don't give proper counselling these days...)

Idiot, were talking about benzos here not ssris or something. Benzos are have effects starting at 30 to 60 minutes depending on the specific one and roa
Honestly they're more trouble than they're worth so yes, but that's just my opinion and I'm not a professional

I meant benzo sleeping pills, z-drugs are pretty much completely safe, however they aren't as powerful as benzos, so they sometimes don't work on people with severe insomnia

As far as I know, there has not been any proven persisting cognitive deficits been seen from just taking benzos. Even if you were addicted to them, your brain reverts to normal wothin 3-6 months at most

30-60 mins for immediate action yes , but the action of preventing anxiety spells from occuring takes a few days to manifest

>Talk to the psychiatrist you're referred to
I'd really prefer to get second opinion on it, cause the guy he refer me to , not only does he know him, they are in the same building.

Ok now I know you're larping, you have no idea what you're talking about, unless you're talking about straight mg to mg strength which is dumb. And no, they are not "pretty much completely safe". In equal dosages, z-drugs like zopiclone are much more toxic than benzos. And there is no such thing as a "benzo sleeping pill" benzos are benzos and can be prescribed for insomnia etc, but they aren't generally referred to as sleeping pills, much less by those in charge of handing them out. You may be referring to benzos like oxazepam for example, which is often prescribed for sleep, but is still a benzo. And also false, the problem with the cognitive deficits and withdrawal in general, is the waxing and waning nature of the protracted withdrawal period as opposed to a standard linear withdrawal model. I'm going to bed Fuck this shit.

Go for it, as a patient it's your right to get as many 2nd opinions as you want. The psychologist can't force you to go to only the doctor he wants, it's your choice

>The psychologist can't force you to go to only the doctor he wants
no but my insurance can.

I take it, though not for anxiety. I really don't like it, it makes me dumb and obliterates my memory. I was recently pressured into taking them everyday, it only took 2 weeks until they stopped working completely and my doctor didn't want to raise my dose further. It's been over a week since i last took them and my memory still isn't back to normal.

Personally what's helped my social anxiety most is slowly pushing myself into uncomfortable social situations. Over time that specific social situation isn't as anxiety inducing. But social anxiety is still a big issue for me

>I was recently pressured into taking them everyday, it only took 2 weeks until they stopped working completely
How well did it work when you wernt taking them daily?

It worked the same for the most part. The differences are that when I take it occasionally it always works and I ended up building tolerance to it taking it everday. Also when I take it occasionally it doesn't seem to affect my memory for as long as taking it everyday has