Anyone take Klonopin?

My doctor prescribed this for me last week. I haven't taken it yet. Is is best to take at night? What are the side effects?

He prescribed it to take as needed. If I take it early in the day will it make me too tired to function?

Thanks

HI,
This is Kitt. We have a lot of members taking Klonopin on the forum. Here is one thread that might help you.
https://www.healingwell.com/community/default.aspx?f=9&m=847988
Klonopin, IMHO, is a good drug for many people. I hope it works for you.

Bless you.

Thanks for everyones responses. I really appreciate it. Great links also.

Debaser, I'm sorta confused. I was prescribed 1 mg tablets to take three times a day as needed. That's way more then the recommended guideline. I don't want to be a zombie. By the way, I visited your blog and really liked it. Nice photos.

I don't have full blown panic attacks anymore (usually) now I just go several hours out of the day feeling like I'm going to have a panic attack but it doesn't fully come on. I just feel anxious, with tightness in my chest and a little agitated and an accelerated heartbeat. And it's not every day.

The one exception is when I take medicine, then I usually get a really bad panic attack that can last for hours. I have a hard time staying on any Bipolar medicine because I panic everytime I take them. I tried 2 different ones in the past 3 months and freak out everytime and stopped taking them. This is the first time I've been prescribed anything for anxiety.

Is it possible that like the other medicines I took, that the Klonopin will actually cause me to have a panic attack? I'm getting anxious just thinking about taking it.

I'm a little nervous. I wonder why they picked this particular medicine for me. I see my Dr. on Wednesday so I can ask then. I certainly don't want to take something every day. Or several times a day for that matter. 

Can anyone relate to this? How do I take panic meds when taking meds actually makes me panic?

http://www.rocheusa.com/products/klonopin/pi.pdf

I didn't notice you were bipolar. Klonopin's not indicated for that, and my guess is that's why your doc put you on it as-needed. I'd try to take as little of it as you can, of course, because being bipolar, you certainly don't want to develop any physical dependence on it. So that's good that it's not every day you have this heightened anxiety. He probably assumes you'll only take it a couple times a week, which would be fine.

I can all but guarantee you that it will not cause you to have a panic attack. I had bad reactions (panic) to just about every medication I took over the last four years, but NOT Klonopin. It's designed to slow the nervous system so it would indeed be rare if it were to increase your anxiety and cause you to have a panic attack. Now, the thing is, it's probably safe to say you're psychologically averse to taking meds just like I was. K takes about an hour for it to start to work. In that interim period, you're going to have to keep yourself calm. The drug will take it from there. There are cases in which it has increased anxiety, but they are exceedingly rare. An airplane is probably more likely to crash into your house...it's that kind of rare. But if it does happen, don't take it again and talk to your physician as soon as possible.

I've never taken 1mg in a single dose, but I'm willing to bet it will make you quite tired the first time you take it. The tablets are scored...if it makes you more comfortable you could just break it in half your first time.

I'm not a doctor, of course, so take this with a grain of salt...

My primary concern would be that you averaged taking one mg a day for a few weeks and then your bipolar disorder swings around. At that point, you couldn't simply stop taking the Klonopin, so it could make that end of things worse. You may want to get a second opinion on it. At .5 mg twice/day, it takes roughly three weeks to develop a dependence on the drug. It could be that the "twice a day thing" is what causes the dependence, though....having it in your bloodstream all the time. Just to be on the safe side you may want to at least ask a different doctor about it. Second opinions are rarely sought but they can be very valuable. The second doctor may think it's fine that you go on the Klonopin, but he might want to back off on the dose a bit (you never know). It's a powerful drug.

Again, in the meantime I wouldn't worry about it causing a panic attack. Go ahead and take it while it's Sunday...that way you'll know for sure how it affects you.

Klonopin CAN be sedating to some. It depends on the person, everyone reacts differently. In my opinion, trying a couple doses during the day to see how it affects you, should be done at a time when you do not plan on driving or doing any tasks that could become dangerous if you are a little "off". I use it to help me sleep, but it's use is for something other than anxiety for me. It's not *sedating* for me, but it calms down my central nervous system.

I hope it works out for you!!

If he takes the full 3mg a day he may very well up with tolerance in a few months. That's quite a bit, in spite of what the seizure people take. The amount of the drug DOES correlate with tolerance if taken regularly. I don't think his doctor intends for him to take it regularly, though, so hopefully that won't be an issue.

But, anyway, it's the plain ol' physical dependence I'd be concerned about. Bipolar's much different than A/P and I'm not sure CBT would help. It may. It's definitely something he should talk to his psychiatrist about.

I have a feeling the doctor does know what he's doing here, but I still advocate for a second opinion because of the particular disorder he has and the amount he was prescribed. I do think he should take the Klonopin as prescribed until then, though.