# Klonopin not working anymore.....



## F-Bomb (May 17, 2005)

I've noticed I'm building up a tolerance to clonazepam....and my anxiety is returning with a vengence....I don't know what to do....Should I ask my pdoc to swich me to another med or something? I'm real dissapointed because it worked so well for me and now it doesn't. And school starts in about a week and a half.......Help!


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## peregrine (May 31, 2005)

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## arthur56 (Jul 31, 2005)

to f bomb
what is your dose?
maks sure the tablets arent left in a hot place as heat spoils them
keep them out of the car glovebox


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## Scrotacles (Nov 13, 2003)

F-Bomb said:


> I've noticed I'm building up a tolerance to clonazepam....and my anxiety is returning with a vengence....I don't know what to do....Should I ask my pdoc to swich me to another med or something? I'm real dissapointed because it worked so well for me and now it doesn't. And school starts in about a week and a half.......Help!


It may be tolerance to the sedative effects. This occurs during the first few weeks. Usually sedative effects add somewhat to anti-anxiety effects so when tolerance to sedation occurs (after about 1-2 weeks) there is a sudden decrease in anti-anxiety effects. The anti-anxiety effects are a bit more subtle so when sedation is gone due to tolerance, you may have to up the dosage somewhat.

In my case, I find that I usually get a sudden increase in anti-anxiety effect when I switch benzos, which goes away pretty rapidly (within a week). I now realize that this is simply due to the re-introduction of sedation with begining a new benzo. It was confusing initially, because after a week I found I had to up the dosage of ativan significantly to get the same effect compared to when I first used it. But after a while I realized that my initial dose was just too low but the sedative effect (which went away) made it seem like I was on an adequate dose. It may be best to wait a couple of weeks to allow the sedation to go away and then adjust the benzo dose to get anti-anxiety effects. This will usually be higher than the original dose but it shouldn't increase after that..hopefully.

In my situation I went from 1 mg ativan to 4-5 mg/day within about 2 weeks. But since then (past 4 months), I haven't had to increase the ativan dose. The same thing happened with clonazepam but to a somewhat lesser degree.


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## UltraShy (Nov 8, 2003)

Scrotacles said:


> In my case, I find that I usually get a sudden increase in anti-anxiety effect when I switch benzos, which goes away pretty rapidly (within a week). I now realize that this is simply due to the re-introduction of sedation with begining a new benzo.


Interesting. And further proof that everybody is different wrt meds. My experience has been that different benzos are so cross-tolerant that swapping from one to another is a non-event for me.


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## F-Bomb (May 17, 2005)

I'm on 1.5mg 2x per day, and have been for about 3 months now...And I store it properly...


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## reshuk10 (Dec 25, 2009)

*Klonipin effectiveness has decreased- Chest Heaviness*

I started with .5 mg 3 times a day and it used to last 2-3 hours each time. now, .5 or 1 mg doesn't do anything anymore. Now I was instructed to take 1.5 mg 3 times a day as needed. I am worried this is too much and do not want to become addicted.

I also have really bad chest heaviness which everyone says is pent up emotions or anxiety. I have gotten checked for physical problems (i.e. heart) and everything is fine there thankfully.

Any feedback would be appreciated.


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## meyaj (Sep 5, 2009)

Scrotacles is for the most part right. Tolerance to the anti-anxiety effects shouldn't really build up at a significant rate, but the anxiolytic effects are subtle, and people tend to associate the sedative effects (which you typically DO develop a tolerance to quickly) with anxiety-relief instead.

So, unless the dose was too low to begin with, or you've been using your medication improperly and taking higher doses than you're supposed to, this really shouldn't be happening. Unless certain life stressors are just kicking in recently and your anxiety level itself has increased.

Benzos ARE cross-tolerant, so switching to a different one won't have much effect for long, if at all. Increasing the dose would work, but that's a bad idea. You've only been on the med for 3 months! Chasing your tolerance by continually escalating the dose is a losing battle, and you'll only be screwing yourself over. It's also just plain dangerous. Needing to bump up the dose every three months because your perception is that you're building tolerance to the anxiolytic effects is NOT HEALTHY.

I suggest you take a break from the meds for a little while, just deal with the anxiety in the meantime, and if you HAVE been using your meds improperly, sticking to the prescribed doses from now on.


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## Ash09 (Apr 27, 2009)

This thread is almost 4 years old!


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## Mew200 (Oct 23, 2015)

arthur56 said:


> to f bomb
> what is your dose?
> maks sure the tablets arent left in a hot place as heat spoils them
> keep them out of the car glovebox


Is this true? How hot temp it needs to be for ruin?

What about cold
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Mew200 (Oct 23, 2015)

I'm not from there.

But I am interested in knowing whether this medicine can lose its potency if left outside?
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## gisellemarx (Feb 1, 2010)

Have you tried increasing your dosage? I'd suggest finding something else if you're already taking the max, but if you're only taking like 0.5mg per day it can be increased. I'm taking 4mg per day and apparently that's the max my psychiatrist will give people with panic disorder.


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## SSRIManiac (Jun 14, 2014)

Time to up that dose or switch to Xanax.


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