Posted by Astounder on October 31, 2007, at 15:26:20
In reply to Need help - ASAP, posted by ellanicole on October 27, 2007, at 19:36:27
> I have recently moved to a new town and my new doctor is making a change in my medicine.
> I have been taking xanax 1 milligram 3 times per day. The new doctor is changing me to Klonopin 1 milligram 3 times per day. I have been on the xanax for 5 years now. I did take Klonopin a long time ago and it worked fine for me but it was several years before having to use the xanax for acute anxiety. Will I have any problems stopping xanax one night and beginning the Klonopin the very next day after taking xanax for 5 years? I am scared that I will experience withdrawl. Should I have a smooth transition? I would appreciate any and all help. I start this is 5 days and my anxiety over changing is causing so much panic that I cannot even calm down enough for my xanax to work. The new doctor is changing me because he feels Klonopin works longer.
>
> Thank you so muchYou will not go into withdrawal. Klonopin is TWICE as potent as Xanax and it's effects last much, much longer: The half-life of Xanax is 6-12 hrs; the half-life of Klonopin is 18-50 hrs. Normally with a half-life like that, you wouldn't take it more than once a day. I have used both of them, and they felt the same to me, both supposed to cause relatively little sedation compared to other benzos, Xanax just kicks in faster, especially if you dissolve it under the tongue. Benzo naive, the first time I took Klonopin, unable to sleep in college even with megadoses of trazodone. I took 2 mg and lost 2 days of memory, during which I was apparently shambling around in a drunken stupor. So yeah, it's powerful stuff.
When they wean people off benzos, they never pick something more potent to do it; it's usually something weak and very long acting like Valium.
poster:Astounder
thread:791842
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20071027/msgs/792584.html