# Is my dosage of Klonopin daily a high dose?



## Brent888 (Feb 11, 2013)

So a couple of months ago, I got myself addicted to Xanax when my dog was diagnosed with cancer. I was talking anywhere from 2-6mg every other day for about a month and a half. I had been on klonopin before, at a dosage of. 5mg twice a day, but I usually didn't use it every day. I've had a history of panic attacks, it unfortunately comes from a long line of family history with anxiety. My father drinks alcohol daily, and my uncle has been on valium for 40 years. I don't want to be on benzos for life, or even a long time, but because I stupidly got myself addicted to xanax, I've had to take some, thankfully switching to Klonopin with a longer half Life. I've always had bad social anxiety, but my anxiety level skyrocketed with everything that's been happening in my life. My panic attacks got to a point of really affecting my life. 


My dog unfortunately passed away in December, she was my best friend. I'm getting through it, but it's been tough. I've also had many, many panic attacks the past couple of months,but the klonopin seems to be helping with that. I take 1mg in the morning, and 1mg before bed to help me sleep. Is this a high dosage? Should I be worried about not being able to make eventually get off it? It does provide relief from my panic attacks, and I don't abuse it, I take it exactly as my pdoc has prescribed. So once again, is this considered a high dose? I don't want to be on benzos forever, I've only been on klonopin for a month and a half. Thanks for all your input, this seems like a really great website.


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## Brent888 (Feb 11, 2013)

Sorry if my post was a bit scattered. In conclusion, I take 2mg daily, 1mg in the morning, and 1mg at night. Is this considered a high dose of klonopin daily? Once again, thank you all for your input. And the klonopin is helping, it has subsided my panic attacks for now.


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## billyho (Apr 12, 2010)

Nope, this isn't a high dose.. According to my doc, kpin is dosed up to 5-6mgs for certain indications. I haven't verified this myself but feel free to double check. Also according to some things I've read, kpin doesn't seem require constant escalation of dose to maintain effects, at least not as much as xanax and ativan.


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## istayhome (Apr 4, 2012)

Hello and welcome to the forums.
I am sorry to hear about your loss and how it has affected you. Benzo dosages are extremely relative. what is high for one person is low for another, etc. This based not only on tolerance to the drug, but also how effective it is in the first place. As an example I have been on the same doses of valium and xanax for over three years, ever since I started taking benzos I have never raised my dose. When I tell most people how much I take they gasp and treat me like a junkie, expecting fall down and knock out at any second. But many doctors and psychiatrists have agreed that the levels I take are appropriate due to the severity and nature of their anxiety that I have and also because I don't respond at all to lower doses. So to get adequate treatment for me personally, I am prescribed 10x what many people take and think is some kind of amazing drug.

To actually answer your question, no, by doctor's and psychiatrist's standards, for being a daily user, 2 mg/day is low-medium, you're fine.

Over all you've been on xanax and Klonopin for about 5-6 months, you seem determined to quit, I would start tapering off now. cut it down by 0.25 or even 0.125 mg a week, as long as you're feeling comfortable. 

one last thing, it might be worth switching to valium for the final taper. the duration of action and very long half life, I think, make it very valuable as the benzo to use as a final taper. Plus there is the advantage of equivalency of valium to klonopin being 20mg:2mg, that allows you to get down to very low amounts before you drop off from taking it completely. That long half life will allow you to take it only once every few days if you want to.

Whatever you decide, remember that you are very welcome here and feel free to ask any questions you may have. best of luck to you.


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## Brent888 (Feb 11, 2013)

Thanks billyho and Istayhome, i greatly appreciate your responses! Istayhome, thank you for the kind words and information. I'm actually not at a point where I want to stop the klonopin, as it does help me immensely. My panic attacks have been at an all time high, and the klonopin helps a bunch. I guess I've just been fearful of these drugs, seeing as how my uncle has been on valium for 40 years. And your right, what's a high dose for one isn't for another, I never thought of it like that, but that makes so much sense. I look forward to becoming a part of the community here, and thank you both again for being so helpful. I'm sure I will have more questions to come in the future!


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## UltraShy (Nov 8, 2003)

2mg per day of Klonopin is a very ordinary dosage level. If a pharmacist sees that script it sure won't stand out in their mind because they've seen countless others that were identical.


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## Brent888 (Feb 11, 2013)

Thanks ultra shy, i figured as much, just wanted to ask around others who have been on benzos, or know about them. I greatly appreciate all of your replies, they were very helpful!


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## metamorphosis (Dec 18, 2008)

Pdocs rxing klonopin would consider 2mg at about the mid-level. 4mg is considered the very high end for pdocs to script. This is usually the standards with clonazepam.


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## behindblueeyes (Apr 11, 2010)

I'm scripted at the moment 2 mg a day, as needed, and I do take my klonopin everyday... I don't consider it a very high dose; at one point I was scripted 4 mg a day, now I considered that a pretty high dose. If you need it and it works for you, then there's no problem. Sure, to get off, you'll have to taper gradually, but until then if it's helping you at a point in life, I'd say stay at it.


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## istayhome (Apr 4, 2012)

behindblueeyes said:


> I'm scripted at the moment 2 mg a day, as needed, and I do take my klonopin everyday... I don't consider it a very high dose; *at one point I was scripted 4 mg a day, now I considered that a pretty high dose. *If you need it and it works for you, then there's no problem. Sure, to get off, you'll have to taper gradually, but until then if it's helping you at a point in life, I'd say stay at it.


Why did you think that 4 mg.day is a high dose?


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## UltraShy (Nov 8, 2003)

istayhome said:


> Why did you think that 4 mg.day is a high dose?


The many benzo equivalency charts that have Klonopin as twice as potent as Xanax would sure make that seem like a lot, being equivalent to 8 mg Xanax.

4 mg Klonopin doesn't look all that high if you go with other charts that have them 1 to 1, though such charts are in the minority it seems.

Which equivalency do you personally feel is more accurate?


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## metamorphosis (Dec 18, 2008)

From my experience klons. and xanax are equal in equivalency, but klonopin is much longer acting.
@istayhome -as far as 4mg being a high dose, most would consider that daily amount as high. It's all relative. I knew a guy who popped 6-8mgs daily. When he decided to come of the klonopin, it was rough and long journey. The higher the dose, the further the fall. The higher you climb up the ladder. The more steps it takes to come back down.

http://www.benzo.org.uk/bzequiv.htm


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## mark555666 (May 1, 2008)

The first time I took 2 mg clonazepam, I didn't feel much of it. I take 4 mg of clonazepam now daily and I still deal with major anxiety around people. I wonder how much benzo's dumbs you down? I think my IQ decreased with 30 points or something. Betablockers work better for my kind of anxiety me, but they can make you somewhat depressed too.


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## WineKitty (Nov 26, 2004)

I am prescribed 2 mg of Kpins a day and cannot even hardly tell I am taking it. I can easily up that to 3 and and have taken 3.5 mg in one day. So 2 mg is very much a normal dosage.


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## psychewreck (Jul 21, 2015)

you all have NO idea what a real high dose of klonopin is. you're all just hypochondriacs that have psychiatrists who will just give you what you want to get you to shut up. i had to START on 6mg of klonopin DAILY. then it kept raising and raising because of the tolerance until i was having to take 30mg everyday and now im having to wean off. you want to know what a high dose is? now you really know what a ****ing high dose is. seeing you little ****ers complaining about "oh i had to take 6mg 2-3 times a week" go **** yourselves. you don't have the slightest clue what real anxiety and panic disorder is like.


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## DesperateGuy (Jul 21, 2015)

psychewreck said:


> you all have NO idea what a real high dose of klonopin is. you're all just hypochondriacs that have psychiatrists who will just give you what you want to get you to shut up. i had to START on 6mg of klonopin DAILY. then it kept raising and raising because of the tolerance until i was having to take 30mg everyday and now im having to wean off. you want to know what a high dose is? now you really know what a ****ing high dose is. seeing you little ****ers complaining about "oh i had to take 6mg 2-3 times a week" go **** yourselves. you don't have the slightest clue what real anxiety and panic disorder is like.


Did it work well for you at 30mg? Why did you stop?


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## UltraShy (Nov 8, 2003)

Pdocs are a herd of dumbass sissy boys.

They act like 4 mg of Klonopin is a HUGE amount. It's not. Klonopin is FDA approved as safe & effective for seizures at doses up to 20 mg a day. (Yes, TWENTY!)

I'm probably one of the few (perhaps only) SAS member who's actually consumed that much.


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## watertouch (Nov 4, 2013)

Here is a pic of 8 different equivalent charts 10mg Valium/Diazepam being the reference... 

I think the second one is kinda right, Xanax is usually dosed 1/10 of Diazepam, and Clonazepam is usually dosed halv that of Xanax...

Having been on 4mg Klonopin/Clonazepam, it was like a sugar pill... But everyone is different!


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## watertouch (Nov 4, 2013)

UltraShy said:


> I'm probably one of the few (perhaps only) SAS member who's actually consumed that much.


That whole argument "white alcohol" thing the Drs are preaching about, you didn't find it to be true in your case? 

I myself wish i was one of those who got some kind of "euphoria" or "buzz"... 
It would be cheaper then alcohol. altough alcohol works better both for my depression and anxiety!


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## UltraShy (Nov 8, 2003)

watertouch said:


> altough alcohol works better both for my depression and anxiety!


Big pharma will never admit that truth, which is that their drugs are woefully inadequate.

There were 986,000 suicides worldwide in the last 12 months, despite a staggering $50 billion dollars spent on antidepressants and anti-anxiety drugs.

Uh, why are a million folks -- typically depressed -- killing themselves if current drugs are so effective? Could it possibly be that most current drugs are large pure garbage that have minimal efficacy?

A true & meaningful measure of efficacy is how many suicides do you prevent long-term, but the FDA sets the bar as low as possible approving drugs that can barely manage to beat placebo over a matter of weeks. They don't compare new drugs to old drugs and demand that that new drugs show any sort of advantage. Thus total crap get approved and a million folks world wide take their lives because their nifty new (and uber-expensive drug) has a severe lack of efficacy.

Here's an expert discussing why most new drugs don't work:

http://www.psychotropical.com/why-most-new-antidepressants-are-ineffective

Dr. Ken Gillman is a huge advocate of MAOIs, especially Parnate. Yet most pdocs have few, if any MAOI patients, because using MAOIs scare the crap out of them. No drug class is surrounded by more hysterically exaggerated myths, misinformation, exaggerations, and outright lies. If you're going to talk to an MD about MAOI, bring a shovel as there will be a ton of crap.


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## UltraShy (Nov 8, 2003)

metamorphosis said:


> http://www.benzo.org.uk/bzequiv.htm


Prof. C. Heather Ashton is a witch who should be burned at the stake.

That crazy old hag blames benzos for everything under the sun. If you read her site (which isn't worth reading) you will find that she can even manage to blame benzos for blindness. Now you might well wonder how that's possible. Well, it seems some jackass dissolved some benzo, put it in a syringe and injected it into his eye. Yeah, that sure sounds like a common event.:roll This resulted in an infection that produced blindness.

She blames benzos for this jackass's actions. Have you ever felt the desire to inject benzos into your eye!?! I personally take them orally and would recommend oral ingestion instead of injecting them into your eye ball.


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## Reprise (Nov 4, 2012)

I too am on 2mg a day. 1mg in morning and 1mg at night, the dosages are so small I barely notice any change. I've been taking well over two months now I think my tolerance has gone up. IMO Such a low dose would have little withdrawals then again some people are more sensitive then others.

It seems like all the medications that do work for me Are supposedly addictive makes me question these pdocs came to those conclusions. 
I also think that half of those working in the health/pharmacitical industry have first grabs on the higher doseges, and addictive drugs, after all the ones in control of dispensing them.


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## DesperateGuy (Jul 21, 2015)

Reprise said:


> It seems like all the medications that do work for me Are supposedly addictive


Not like it really matters. If I found a medication that worked for me, I would keep taking it for the rest of my life. The alternative is anxiety for the rest of my life. If it's something that you're going to be on for life, the label of "addictive" really is meaningless.


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## Reprise (Nov 4, 2012)

DesperateGuy said:


> Not like it really matters. If I found a medication that worked for me, I would keep taking it for the rest of my life. The alternative is anxiety for the rest of my life. If it's something that you're going to be on for life, the label of "addictive" really is meaningless.


I agree, if your a diabetic and you need to take medication to live, wouldn't that be addictive cause you take it all the time?

Addictive is a broad term, if your completely obsessed with guns,porn, pokey machines, gambling, video games, food, you name it your hooked. It's just habit, and it sets off those same chemicals in your brain, the reward system, if medication aids you and improves your life, why in my country they believe seen a psychologist and talking it through as a solution to what the psychitrist says is a "chemical imbalance" this is why people self medicate. if you have a drug/alcohol issue they refer you to another counsellor and the pdocs will only prescribe non addictive alternatives. It seems like I have to constantly negotiate with my dr just to be on the meds that do work. Ok I'm gonna stop there had my rant


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## UltraShy (Nov 8, 2003)

The medical community's obsession with "addiction" is totally insane. Typically the most effective drugs are the most dangerous & most addictive. We're all forced to used "safe" drugs that frequently don't f'ing work.

What is the point of safety in light of a lack of efficacy? If we really want safety we could simply prescribe sugar pills, which in most trials do indeed work just as well as the actual drug!

If I hear about how a drug I propose isn't "safe" again I think I'll puke. I don't give a damn if a drug is risky. I'm not a retarded child who can't be trusted with a scissors. My hobby is shooting, so I'm intimately familiar with deadly weapons. I have a .45 Springfield competition pistol which I sent it back to their custom shop to make it even more "dangerous" with a competition trigger [there is no way in hell their lawyers would allow them to sell a gun with such a trigger at retail.]

With a competition trigger it takes only 3.5 pounds of force and a very short pull to fire it and it has an extra short reset such that it's almost instantly ready to fire again. This would be an exceedingly dangerous gun in the hands of an inexperienced shooter who'd be having one negligent discharge after another as these folks have a bad habit of not being able to keep their booger hook off the the damn trigger until on target and ready to fire. This is why inept NY City cops get Glocks with triggers specially modified to require 11# of force to fire. It's their alternative to proper firearms training. Such a gun would be hard to accidentally set off no matter how stupid you are about putting your finger on the trigger when you absolutely should not. It keeps these NY half wits from putting a hole in their leg as they draw their weapon with finger on trigger which is exactly where is most definitely should not be. My competition pistol demands competency. Of course NY's "safety" comes at a price. It makes for a less accurate gun that's inept cops are likely to pull off target as they apply massive force to the ultra-heavy trigger.

Similarly, the medical communities obsession with safety comes with a price. Worldwide some $50 billon dollars is pissed away each year on drugs that are minimally effective at best, resulting in a million suicides worldwide. We get to enjoy death by "safety."

As a competent adult, I'd much prefer "dangerous" efficacy. I regularly drink wine, even though very few drugs can rival the toxicity of alcohol. No drug in the history of the world has killed more people than alcohol.


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## Nomor (Aug 14, 2015)

psychewreck said:


> you all have NO idea what a real high dose of klonopin is. you're all just hypochondriacs that have psychiatrists who will just give you what you want to get you to shut up. i had to START on 6mg of klonopin DAILY. then it kept raising and raising because of the tolerance until i was having to take 30mg everyday and now im having to wean off. you want to know what a high dose is? now you really know what a ****ing high dose is. seeing you little ****ers complaining about "oh i had to take 6mg 2-3 times a week" go **** yourselves. you don't have the slightest clue what real anxiety and panic disorder is like.


 ummmmm.....excuse me, what kind of psychotic bull**** are you spewing? You want to be nasty? I'll try and refrain, but you are the exception with your megadose but for you to try and say others don't know what real anxiety is just because people are having benefits with the "normal" dosing, is really a reflection on how sick and miserable a person you are. Good luck with that.


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## metamorphosis (Dec 18, 2008)

I was just using their equivalency table for a benzo. reference. Yes, she is pretty out there. BTW. nice to see your still on here UltraShy. : )


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## zeusko87 (Sep 30, 2014)

Brent888 said:


> So a couple of months ago, I got myself addicted to Xanax when my dog was diagnosed with cancer. I was talking anywhere from 2-6mg every other day for about a month and a half. I had been on klonopin before, at a dosage of. 5mg twice a day, but I usually didn't use it every day. I've had a history of panic attacks, it unfortunately comes from a long line of family history with anxiety. My father drinks alcohol daily, and my uncle has been on valium for 40 years. I don't want to be on benzos for life, or even a long time, but because I stupidly got myself addicted to xanax, I've had to take some, thankfully switching to Klonopin with a longer half Life. I've always had bad social anxiety, but my anxiety level skyrocketed with everything that's been happening in my life. My panic attacks got to a point of really affecting my life.
> 
> My dog unfortunately passed away in December, she was my best friend. I'm getting through it, but it's been tough. I've also had many, many panic attacks the past couple of months,but the klonopin seems to be helping with that. I take 1mg in the morning, and 1mg before bed to help me sleep. Is this a high dosage? Should I be worried about not being able to make eventually get off it? It does provide relief from my panic attacks, and I don't abuse it, I take it exactly as my pdoc has prescribed. So once again, is this considered a high dose? I don't want to be on benzos forever, I've only been on klonopin for a month and a half. Thanks for all your input, this seems like a really great website.


I am on 6 mg of klonopin (2 times a week) and i think it is a high dose, but everything less than that i don"t feel at all. I have tried other benzos (xanax, bromazepam, diazepam) but Klonopin works best for me


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