Posted by Viridis on September 24, 2003, at 2:50:29
In reply to Re: Stimulants, posted by JaneB on September 22, 2003, at 12:52:33
Probably not addicted to Klonopin, but likely dependent. Addiction is a situation in which you crave a drug, keep increasing doses despite negative consequences, become obsessed with it, etc. Dependency means that your body becomes accustomed to the substance and reacts badly if it's suddenly absent. This happens with a lot of meds.
Discontinuation of benzodiazepines after any substantial period of regular use should be done very gradually, as with various other drugs. One other thing to consider is that if you're taking it for anxiety, you may be returning to a state of high anxiety without enough of it in your system. This can be quite a shock if you've "forgotten" just how bad anxiety can be. But in any case, a major reduction in dose can be dangerous -- you need to cut down very slowly, in small increments, if you decide to discontinue it.
poster:Viridis
thread:261994
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030923/msgs/262865.html