# Klonopin: Halflife v. Noticable Duration



## jakejohnson007 (Jul 27, 2006)

Klonopin has a half life of 30-40 hours (says wikipedia, but I think that's at least ballpark right, if not exact). Now, I pop a pill and I get a noticeable effect that lasts between 3-6 hours. Even when I pop a high dosage, the duration is about this long. How can the drug have such a long half life and such a short window of noticeable effect?

Klonopin also seems to have a less noticeable, more subliminal calming effect, but even this seems to last about 12 hours at most.


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## arthur56 (Jul 31, 2005)

these half life figures make no sense to me, K helps me for about 4 hours max


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## Noca (Jun 24, 2005)

Klonopin does 5-6 hours for me.


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## Speak Easy (Jun 27, 2006)

the half life of a drug is not how long the effects last but basically how long it takes half of the drug to leave your system. klonopin has a mean half life of 35 hours and it's effects last me about 6-7 hours.


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## Jean (Jan 18, 2007)

as far as i understand it "halflife" just refers to the time it takes for one half of the original dose of a medication to leave your body. it has nothing to do with how much or for how long you feel the effect of the drug.

but i could be wrong :hide


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## Jean (Jan 18, 2007)

oops! LDG you beat me to it! :nw


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## jakejohnson007 (Jul 27, 2006)

how long does Xanax XR last? Or is there any other benzo with a longer window of action than Klonopin?

I wish there was a benzo 'patch' or something that kept you on a steady dose of it at all times, controlled release.


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## Noca (Jun 24, 2005)

a drug's half-life is relative to how long it lasts


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## Jean (Jan 18, 2007)

jakejohnson007 said:


> I wish there was a benzo 'patch' or something that kept you on a steady dose of it at all times, controlled release.


this sounds like a money maker, so why not? i'd be curious to try it... :lol


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## Noca (Jun 24, 2005)

Jean said:


> jakejohnson007 said:
> 
> 
> > I wish there was a benzo 'patch' or something that kept you on a steady dose of it at all times, controlled release.
> ...


I wish all my drugs were patches like my fentanyl 72 hour release patch.


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## ThirdEyeGrind (Feb 7, 2006)

**** when I take my Klonopin which is 3mg at once, the effects only last for about 2 to 3 hours max. Then its all up to me to try and be my normal self. People even say to me stuff like "i bet you way different at home" and "i'm away from my comfort zone". I pretty much tell them thats pretty much what it is.


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## scotthallkevinnash (Dec 19, 2006)

I dont notice any effects at all at the 1mg level but if I take like 3mg at once I will feel calm and anxiety free for about 3-4 hours as well. Im assuming that Klonopin only has subtle effects on the brain for the other 36 hours of halflife time that are unaccounted for.


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## UltraShy (Nov 8, 2003)

I wish Scrotacles (the pharmacy student) was around here. This is the perfect question for him.

I remember him once explaining that eventhough Valium (I'm going with an example he used) has the longest half-life of any benzo it actually leaves the brain quite rapidly compared to what you might expect simply based on half life. The half-life of Valium (and active metabolites) is up to 200 hours. As a former Valium user, I can assure you Valium most certainly doesn't last a week nor even close -- it doesn't even last a day.

Since I'm just a pill popper, I can't explain why half-life and actual duration of effect are often so vastly different.


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## photogirl (Oct 16, 2006)

Wow. When I take .25mg of Klonopin before bed it lasts right into the next day for me. The last time I took it I was a lost zombie the next day at work and couldn't figure out why... my fiance reminded me... by the next day I was ok.

:stu I guess I'm just a sensitive girl.


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## korey (Apr 25, 2006)

I think half-life is just a way to keep track of a medication's dosing schedule. Back when I was taking zithromax (one of the various antibiotics I tried for acne), I only took it every other day because of its very long half-life.

I think the amount of time it takes for a medication to go through "first pass metabolism" (without any active metabolites, assuming), with respect to its known bioavailability, is the amount of time that a medication is at its most noticably effective level in the body. Taking those factors into consideration makes half-life useless unless you're trying to figure out a proper dosing schedule.

I think, at least :con


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## ipayattention (Aug 12, 2012)

*drugs never leave your body.....ever*

half life refers to the amount of time it takes for half the drug to be eliminated by your body........if you cut something in half it never ever reaches 0......it can get close(ie .000000000000000001 etc) but never fully leaves your body. this doesn't mean your withdrawl symptoms won't go away.....but it is just something to think about before ingesting anything......the saying you are what you eat........well to a certain extent is 100% fact.....nothing you consume ever really leaves you =)


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## Foh_Teej (May 5, 2004)

Did you really just resurrect a 5 year old post to pretty much say what was already said?


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## istayhome (Apr 4, 2012)

ipayattention said:


> the saying you are what you eat........well to a certain extent is 100% fact.....nothing you consume ever really leaves you =)


If you are what you eat, I could be you tomorrow.


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