Anxiety causes depression? meds?

antidepressants also often control panic attacks and anxiety and work better in the long term than clonazepam, so do take both

you have a sensible doc who also is trusting you to not take too much clonazepam.....

I am in the same boat.  I suffer mainly from hypochondria and OCD, my anxiety is secondary and as a result of all that I feel depressed at times.  My doc recently prescribed Paxil and Clonazepam.  I never took either one on a daily basis. I take the C on occasion.  However, it does not help me when I am in stressful situations.  I heard that a possible side effect of C, when taken alone, is worsening of depression symptoms.  I want to pursue "med free" methods.  Please keep up posted on how these meds work out for you.

Best wishes. 

HI Jenni,
Good answer by Debaser. The question in my mind is always which came first the anxitety or the depression. Did the depression cause the anxiety? Or was I depressed because I always felt anxious?
I have taken a antidepressant and a benzodiazpine together for years. I am weaning off the Valium as my physician thinks I should try to go without it.
Weaning off Valium, Klonopin or any of those drugs is a long process if you have been on them for years.
Double check with your physician but I too think he is using the Klonopin to cover your anxiety until the antidepressant kicks in.
Just my 2 cents worth

This is only my opinion, but that Dr. Gould is sort of a quack. I don't think he takes the time necessary to write a considered response.

That said, I had depression well before I had anxiety. I've had it since I was a kid. Truth be known, I have it right now and it's just not as bad as it used to be. In any case, I've been diagnosed and even admitted to a clinic for depression before, so I think it's safe to say I know what "actual depression" is. When I said I had a tendency toward it, I meant it.

Just a word of warning, having been on clonazepam for about 9months the withdrawal is awful. The least amount of benzos you use the better in the long term. They're great for emergancies but not for long term.

I did not get an e-mail, and am not sure what I might be worried about. I don't like Gould because he doesn't take his role there seriously. If he can't provide a thoughtful response, he shouldn't be doing it. There was a time when you had to pay to post in that forum, and not only did he not take his responses seriously, he often left them unanswered for days and days and days. I can remember a week and a half going by without him answering the questions.

RCA is a great guy who is extremely intelligent and well-read on the subject, but he's not a doctor. He's trained as an electronics engineer. I was trained as a political scientist. No matter, Clonazepam/Klonopin CAN cause depression, but it's not likely to: http://www.drugs.com/pro/clonazepam.html Seven percent of people in the clinical trials reported depression. To what degree? The numbers don't say. We know that one percent of the control reported depression and seven percent of the people taking the real stuff experienced it. So it's clear it can cause it, but the numbers don't say how intense the depression is...just that 7 in 100 patients reported it. It's something to look out for, without a doubt. But I don't think a doctor would prescribe it if he didn't think the benefits outweighed the potential risk of the side effects.

Clonazepam will cause physical and psychological withdrawal when stopped too abruptly. If you've been taking a steady dose for more than a week, you should probably taper just to be safe. The more you take and the longer you take it, the more slowly you'll have to go. I personally know several people who've withdrawn from benzodiazepines with little difficulty. I assume they're the silent majority. The ones who have had difficulty will naturally talk about it on the internet, and the more trouble they had the more vocal they will be. If you follow a tapering regimen you'll probably be okay, and there's no use worrying about it at this point.