# How many times a week can you take klonopin without getting a tolerance?



## Chris John (Jul 4, 2013)

Just got a size able prescription for klonopin. How many times a week can you take this stuff without developing a tolerance? I also take adderall XR 20 mg everyother day and 450mg magnesium + 30mg zinc at night to help prevent a tolerance buildup to the adderall (though I don't really believe the minerals prevent a tolerance buildup). 1 mg of klonopin seems to be enough, but I did just start taking it.


----------



## Burnaby (Feb 13, 2013)

it varies for most individuals but we can mostly agree benzos build quick tolerance and can have pretty bad withdrawls. The general rule is try to use only as needed and as low a dose as possible. If .5 milligram gets you through try not to increase the dosage unless you need it. I try to take one once every 3 days at 1mg to keep the tolerance away but thats just me. Sometimes i take two days in a row due to meetings and such but then i try to leave a good few days inbetween. Some people can go shorter periods and higher doses so i recommend you play with .25mg to .5mg to see if you get any benefit and if not only then increase the dose. Not sure if that answered your question but thought i share my method anyways, good luck


----------



## hack646 (Jun 11, 2011)

I've been taking klonopin for about a year now and take it about twice a week. I essentially started my dose at around 2.0mg and am now taking 2.5mg, so within a year my tolerance only really increased by .5mg. If your taking it on a regular basis I don't think you can ever really prevent tolerance from occurring. Moreover, some days you are just going to naturally need more drug, for instance yesterday I took the MCAT and 4mg of klonopin seemed to have the same efficacy as 2.5mg have on a light/moderate stress day. 

Your best bet would be to limit taking the drug to two (3max) times per week, using the smallest amt of drug possible that will still help your anxiety, taking the drug on different days of the week each week if possible, and taking a few weeks off every few months.

Keep in mind this is all conjecture and I'm only speaking from personal experience.


----------



## rockyraccoon (Dec 13, 2010)

I've been on clonazepam for about 3 years and I take it nightly. They started me at 2 mg and that has been the dose ever since. I tried 4 mg the other night and it had no greater effect than the 2 mg. I should mention that I only take it at night for insomnia.


----------



## Neuromance27 (Aug 11, 2013)

I just went through my first prescription of klonopin (.5mg once every 8 hours) and has been working really well, but I've also been pretty paranoid about tolerances and the habit forming qualities of benzos over time and not to mention the terrifying horror stories of withdrawal in trying to get off of them. I've really been tryng to hash it out to get the maximum benefit from the minimal dosage (I've been getting by on half a pill every night and a full if I have to be somewhere in the social realm. I definitely don't want to be one of those folks taking 14mg a day... surprised some of you were prescribed to start off at 2mg+. Anyway, best of luck and be mindful of your body and how it responds. Be careful with benzos.


----------



## Overthinker80 (Jun 19, 2013)

I don't know, I know I've been taking it for 10 years so I am addicted, but I accept that fact.

What I HAVE noticed is that almost everyone on this forum seems to be prescribed a much higher dose than me.

I am supposed to take no less than 1.0mg and no more than 1.5mg a day, but I do often take close to 2.0 mgs....and I see that many people on here are saying they take upwards of 4 mgs a day or more...

I do have to wonder whether or not taking more less frequently might not have the same effect as taking less more frequently.

If you have 8 beers twice a week, does your tolerance build more slowly than if you drink 3 beers every day??

Not sure, and I know this is kind of a pointless post, and that everyone has their own tolerance, so I am sorry for cluttering this thread, I just find it odd that everyone complains about tolerance while I see now after so many years that my dosage is very light in comparison to what most are given.....


----------



## loophole (Apr 15, 2012)

I'm on 4x 1mg pills a day.. 2 at night for insomnia.. 2 for anxiety. Have been for a year and a half.... 75% of the time.. I only take the 2 at night for sleep... I do need the ones for sleep. I've tried to taper myself off a few times and its just not happening.. i'll be waking up every hour.... but i don't consider myself a true addict because I rarely use the 2 i'm prescribed during the day time (as needed)... of course this leaves me with a stash.. which isn't exactly great when someones bipolar..


----------



## Chris John (Jul 4, 2013)

Thanks for all the advice. This has been really helpful. It's amazing how psychiatrists will prescribe you medication but not tell you how to take it.

Also, I've done some research and found a drug called phenobarbital that has similar effects to klonopin but is cross tolerant. So if Somebody could get a script for phenobarbital, he could in theory take klonopin often, taking more as a tolerance builds up. Once a certain point gets reached, he could switch from klonopin to phenobarbital for 2 weeks, lose the klonopin tolerance, and then get back on klonopin at a low dose again.


----------



## Dylan2 (Jun 3, 2012)

Chris John said:


> Thanks for all the advice. This has been really helpful. It's amazing how psychiatrists will prescribe you medication but not tell you how to take it.
> 
> Also, I've done some research and found a drug called phenobarbital that has similar effects to klonopin but is cross tolerant. So if Somebody could get a script for phenobarbital, he could in theory take klonopin often, taking more as a tolerance builds up. Once a certain point gets reached, he could switch from klonopin to phenobarbital for 2 weeks, lose the klonopin tolerance, and then get back on klonopin at a low dose again.


Cross tolerance means you will be tolerant to both drugs; exactly what you don't want. Also, phenobarbital is a barbiturate so I don't think you'll be able to find anyone who will be willing to prescribe it unless your name is Marilyn Monroe.


----------

