Posted by Squiggles on August 28, 2006, at 11:49:56
In reply to Re: Psychopharmacology of addicting drugs » Squiggles, posted by laima on August 28, 2006, at 11:25:23
> Is this question for me, Laima?
>
I posted it in general, for anyone who
knows about these things.
> If I am understanding the question accurately-
>
> I am 100% living proof that a person CAN develope a tolerance to clonazepam/klonopin.After how long?
Requiring more and more to get same effect- even when trying to stick to the prescribed plan. My doses have actually been raised in recognition of tolerance developing.
How often have they been raised? How did you
know that Klonopin was no longer as effective?And, if I stick to exact precribed amount, it eventually loses effectiveness. Not just lose effectiveness, but I develope backlash anxiety as "mini" daily withdrawals get started. Guarenteed. Doctor who is psychopharmocology professor agrees, and has seen it in other patients, too. Pharmacist also concurs.
This has not been the case with the medical
hospital i have been to. It seems that K
is given for prolonged periods (7-10 yrs.)
of time without a change in dose. In my
case was raised only once, and then again
i raised myself (asked doc.) when the withrawal
was a failure and traumatic. A gastrointestinal
problem has developed but other than that i
do not feel withdrawal, nor do i know if the
gastro problem is not infact due to another
medical problem i have, or maybe even because
of the raise dose (since K relaxes all muscles).
>
> Best choice in my case has been to taper down, rather than keep going up indefinately. (Note how I found it made me "fuzzier" and "stupider" on higher doses, for one thing--and what would happen when I would reach highest precribable dose, and need to come down froom that???)I don't have to go up - that's just it - at least
not for decades, and withdrawing is putting my
life at risk. I think it changes your brain.
>
> This doesn't mean that it's true for everyone, though.I am one of those stubborn people who believe
that it IS the same for everyone, barring
medical and physical idiosyncracies.
>
> My withdrawals have been mixed- when sharp and sudden from high "abuse"--very, very, very rough 1-1 1/2 weeks. Slow taper, not so bad. Not fun, but not so bad as some of the other accounts I've read about.
>
> I think we all have different tendencies and "other factors" mixed up into our experiences with klonopin and other benzos.
>I wouldn't taper unless i was a beginner; after
some years it is very hard.
> Maybe it's sort of like alcohol- some people can always have their 2 glasses of wine and get "happy" or tipsy and not want or crave more- others feel nothing from those 2 glasses, want to get "happy" or "tipsy"- and keep reaching for more and more and more-I know people who can drink an entire bottle and then see with surprise that it's all gone-and they "don't feel drunk yet". And then there are those enviable folks who can have their glass of wine with dinner because they love wine, and are not interested in getting any tipsiness at all-yet don't even mind if it should happen.
>No, K is different - it is used for convulsions -
stronger than alcohol though alcohol shares the
gaba effect with most benzos.But once again, from a pharmacologist here or
a student maybe, is it possible to withdraw
imperceptibly from an addicting drug over very
long periods of time while taking the same dose?
I think so with most benzos, but I think K
is unique - maybe it changes the brain.Squiggles
poster:Squiggles
thread:679936
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20060825/msgs/680844.html