# Does Klonopin cause memory loss?



## triscuit80 (May 31, 2006)

The reason my psychiatrist has given me for wanting to take me off Klonopin is that taking it long term will cause memory loss. Is there any truth to this?


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## somedude (Jan 4, 2004)

I've been taking klonopin for years and haven't experienced any memory loss. Can't say I remember (lol and no it's not memory loss) anyone else mentioning memory loss either, as a side effect. Only memory loss I've had is when I get hammered, but I don't do that anymore. Well, on my b-day, but that was it. Oh, and new years, x-mas, st pat's, columbus day,... I'm kidding, except my b-day.


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## UltraShy (Nov 8, 2003)

triscuit80 said:


> The reason my psychiatrist has given me for wanting to take me off Klonopin is that taking it long term will cause memory loss.


Your doc is full of crap. He's a benzo-phobe and he's looking for any excuse to take you off it. He's gone with this line instead of the vastly more common "It's addictive" line, but the purpose & effect are the same.

I've been on a high dose of Xanax for the last 3 years (and various other benzos at somewhat lower doses for a few years before that) and so far I've noticed absolutely no problems with memory. In fact, I tend to tell stories in excruciating detail, so apparently I can remember details quite well.

How long have you been on Klonopin? What dose? Is it working for you? Have YOU personally had any memory problems with it? What does your doc propose to replace it with? Another med or nothing at all?


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## anxiousdood252 (Aug 6, 2005)

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## arthur56 (Jul 31, 2005)

I think its the anxiety that the benzo is taken for that causes the memory loss
I had a very poor memory years before the first benzo, librium came on the market
its long been a claim of the anti benzo zealots that benzos cause memory loss, but I dont think they have ever proved it
also anxiety sufferers had poor memories long before benzos came along

those who blame benzos for all of societys ills need to remember that they havent been available for all that long, also that most early problems were caused by careless over prescribing by docs


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## Rindy (Aug 11, 2004)

*Re: re: Does Klonopin cause memory loss?*



arthur56 said:


> *I think its the anxiety that the benzo is taken for that causes the memory loss*
> I had a very poor memory years before the first benzo, librium came on the market
> its long been a claim of the anti benzo zealots that benzos cause memory loss, but I dont think they have ever proved it
> also anxiety sufferers had poor memories long before benzos came along
> ...


I disagree. I have had severe anxiety since i was five, and had a fantasic memory until a year or so on Xanax and Valium. it's not major, but I have noticed it. Some people will have memory loss, some won't. Some people will get addicted, and some won't. it all depends on the person.


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## triscuit80 (May 31, 2006)

She thinks I have been on it to long and it should only be taken short term and no doctor would have a patient on it as long as I have. I have been on it for three years.


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## Rindy (Aug 11, 2004)

*Re: re: Does Klonopin cause memory loss?*



triscuit80 said:


> She thinks I have been on it to long and it should only be taken short term and no doctor would have a patient on it as long as I have. I have been on it for three years.


 :lol I'm not laughing at you, I'm laughing at your doctor. What type of doctor is she? Maybe no GP would keep someone on a benzo that long, but a psychiatrist, especially a private therapist, probably would if you needed it. I don't know your history, but if you have severe anxiety, you need to be medicated appropriately. Think about how you take your meds and be really honest with yourself. Do you pop one anytime something makes you upset, or whenever you're under just a little bit of stress? That could indicate addiction. But if you live in a constant state of panic, and absolutely cannot function day to day without meds, you might just be dependent, in the same way a diabetic is dependent on insulin. Or maybe a different medication might work better for you.
If you truly believe that you're taking your meds appropriately but you're still anxious (and I don't mean anxious about running out of pills), try to get a second opinion or an evaluation from a private therapist. Again, be honest with them. They are more likely to be open minded about long term use of controlled substances, as long as you use them appropriately. 
If you don't mind me asking, what prompted her to do pill counts?


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## X33 (Feb 13, 2005)

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## UltraShy (Nov 8, 2003)

*Re: re: Does Klonopin cause memory loss?*



arthur56 said:


> its long been a claim of the anti benzo zealots that benzos cause memory loss, but I dont think they have ever proved it...


Memory loss is certainly a well-documented benzo effect -- *if you take enough*. Versed (midazolam) is given by IV before certain medical procedures to eliminate recall and I've seen my mother come out of it afterwards a few times in the recovery room and she'd ask "Did they do it yet?", then fall asleep and ask the same question twice more before she finally woke up for good. She didn't even remember waking up and asking the same question again & again and repeatedly being told it was over nor did she remember having a camera shoved down her throat.

There there is Rohypnol (they "date rape" drug), which is sold in Mexico and many other nations as a sleep aid. It was slipped into drinks by horny college boys who wanted to get some action, even with a girl passed out -- who wouldn't remember who or what she did last night. Of course, it was mixed with lots of alcohol and heavy drinking tends to produces passing out & blackouts as well, so who knows how much of that date rape effect was the pill and how much was from the 15 shots of vodka little Miss Coed had that evening.

Unless you're taking way more than prescribed and/or mixing it with lots of booze I very much doubt that you're going to have any significant memory problems.


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## Keikei (Mar 16, 2004)

UltraShy said:


> triscuit80 said:
> 
> 
> > The reason my psychiatrist has given me for wanting to take me off Klonopin is that taking it long term will cause memory loss.


He's a benzo-phobe and he's looking for any excuse to take you off it. He's gone with this line instead of the vastly more common "It's addictive" line, but the purpose & effect are the same.

quote]

"It's addictive:" Wouldn't that be more along the lines of, granting it *works* one naturally isn't going to want to stop taking it??? Or do they mean physically addictive.. They never seem to clarify on that. Maybe the psyc's need to research that when the question is posed to them so they have some *substance* behind the the ambiguous statement of "It may cause addiction," hai?


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## X33 (Feb 13, 2005)

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## Driftfisher (Dec 6, 2006)

I have taken Klonopin for several years...Works great...No memory loss for me :stu


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## gemofmds (Apr 13, 2009)

*Klonopin - Memory Loss*

I was taking Klonopin for 7 1/2 yrs - before going through a lot to come off of it safely and without lots of side-effects. One thing I have noticed is memory loss - I am not as "sharp" as I used to be - silly stuff - but totally noticeable - curious if anyone else is going through the same thing - I have been off Klonopin for approx 1/2 yr now and its not getting any better -


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## euphoria (Jan 21, 2009)

gemofmds said:


> I was taking Klonopin for 7 1/2 yrs - before going through a lot to come off of it safely and without lots of side-effects. One thing I have noticed is memory loss - I am not as "sharp" as I used to be - silly stuff - but totally noticeable - curious if anyone else is going through the same thing - I have been off Klonopin for approx 1/2 yr now and its not getting any better -


It happened to me, but at about 5 months after stopping a year-long heavy benzo habit, has mostly resolved. Protracted benzo withdrawal can last months or even years after long-term habits, but eventually should resolve. I wouldn't expect you to be fully normal again after only 6 months from such a long addiction, but give it a few more months and you should continue returning to normal.

As far as I know, only heavy recreational usage of the primarily sedative benzos like temazepam has been associated with permanent brain damage.

You may want to ask your pdoc about flumazenil treatment to reverse changes in the operation of benzodiazepine/GABA receptors. It has been shown to eliminate the protracted withdrawal symptoms you speak of.


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## CopadoMexicano (Aug 21, 2004)

I noticed to slight changes in my memory like I tend to be more forget than normal.


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## gordonjohnson008 (Nov 2, 2008)

Yes, I've found Klonopin can cause memory loss. It can be subtle and one may not realize it while taking the medication. For me, after I was off for a few months was when I realized that Klonopin was responsible for damaging my memory and impaired my cognition.

Studies have shown a *correlation* between heavy benzo usage and increased ventricular radius. Ventricular radius also correlates with alcoholism. Heavier benzo usage shows a stronger correlation.

Some people seem to be more affected than others.


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## gordonjohnson008 (Nov 2, 2008)

*prn*

Sorry for the double post. One thing I'm curious about that I have no idea about is:

Does taking Klonopin prn still cause memory loss / cognitive decline?

I've given up the idea of taking Klonopin daily, but would be open to taking it PRN if the damage is akin to a night of heavy drinking, at worst.


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## euphoria (Jan 21, 2009)

It's a medical fact that benzos cause memory loss in sufficient dose. In my experience, doses large enough to reduce anxiety significantly will have a major impact on memory and cognition.

It is all dose-dependent though, and will be minimal with a minimally effective dose. For me, it took going well below 1mg clonazepam/day to get my memory and REM sleep back properly.


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## DontTrustheGov't (Jun 5, 2008)

I have had memory loss on the Klonopin. I was on 4mg every day and I dont remember most of college because it was all pretty much a haze.

This is partly due to alcohol abuse however. It seems that because Klonopin has a long effect that it produces almost a continuous amount of the drug in your system. 

I am on the Xanax pills now and because they wear off so quick, I dont seem to be getting tolerance. 

Hopefully this effect will last for quite some time.


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## ThirdEyeGrind (Feb 7, 2006)

Hell yes it does, sometime's I can't remember what I had for dinner yesterday. And if you take too much, say 12mg or so you will have complete black outs of what happened when you were on that dose. When I first started taking it like 3 years ago I abused it a little cause it worked so well when first starting and there's days I remember taking around 12mg and don't remember much of that day at all.


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## Medline (Sep 23, 2008)

Fish & Chips?


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## ThirdEyeGrind (Feb 7, 2006)

How did you know that???>?


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## Medline (Sep 23, 2008)

I know a lot of things.  Taking 12mg Klonopin is really silly, sorry. During those blackout periods you can do alot of embarrassing or dangerous things.


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## Medline (Sep 23, 2008)

You may look here for reports about people who abused Klonopin, not always funny experiences, but blackouts... http://www.erowid.org/experiences/subs/exp_Pharms_Clonazepam.shtml


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## Medline (Sep 23, 2008)

Yeah, that' also my personal favorite.  You can take Klonopin twice daily, the half-life and duration of action is long enoug, some take it even just once daily.


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## ThirdEyeGrind (Feb 7, 2006)

Medline said:


> I know a lot of things.  Taking 12mg Klonopin is really silly, sorry. During those blackout periods you can do alot of embarrassing or dangerous things.


Yea I know, it was really dumb. At the time I thought that taking that much would help my sa even more. I regret it cause the couple times I did take that much was with a special person before they moved to another state and I don't remember anything (well barely). These days its just 2 to 3mg a day. I don't even wanna be on it anymore but its got me by the balls.


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## UltraShy (Nov 8, 2003)

euphoria said:


> It's a medical fact that benzos cause memory loss in sufficient dose.


Accurate, but it really depends on the individual. Many take benzos at therapeutic doses without any substantive memory loss.

I'm forced to agree with you that benzos can cause memory loss since that's one of the things they are used for. Rohypnol (which was never marketed in the US, but used in the rest of the world as a benzo sleeping pill) was used as a "date rape" drug due to its ability to cause memory loss. Though the question remains open on how much had to do with the Rohypnol that was slipped into one of her drinks and how much is due to her downing 15 shots of vodka that evening that could cause one to black out even without the help of an additional drug.

Versed (midazolam) is another benzo used during some medical procedures to prevent recall of the event. I remember taking my mother in a few time to get a camera shoved down her throat and they gave her that + Demerol. In the recovery room she'd wake up a few times and each time ask "did they do it yet?" and then fall back asleep to wake up and ask the same question again in another 5 minutes. Apparently it effectively prevented recall of the event.


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## Medline (Sep 23, 2008)

> Though the question remains open on how much had to do with the Rohypnol that was slipped into one of her drinks and how much is due to her downing 15 shots of vodka that evening that could cause one to black out even without the help of an additional drug.


No alcohol at all is necessary if the dose of the fast acting benzodiazepine flunitrazepam is high enough to produce complete or incomplete blackouts/amnesia.


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## UltraShy (Nov 8, 2003)

Medline said:


> No alcohol at all is necessary if the dose of the fast acting benzodiazepine flunitrazepam is high enough to produce complete or incomplete blackouts/amnesia.


For comparative purposes, could one produce the same effect with Xanax? If so, how much would it take on a "normal" person who has no prior experience with benzos?

No, I'm not planning to drug anybody, but I've heard DEA propaganda about how Rohypnol is 10 times as strong as Valium. Yeah, well so is Xanax.


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## Medline (Sep 23, 2008)

Rohypnol is more like "alcohol in a pill form", and therefor can get people kind of "drunk" if the dose is high enough. Xanax is much less sedating, hypnotic benzos are prefered for date rape. Lorazepam would be ok too, Triazolam would probably be pretty perfect. But that just for the theory.


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## King Moonracer (Oct 12, 2010)

Been on klonopin or 3 weeks now and am having this weord memory thing. Today is monday and i remember saturday being yesterday and sunday beong saturday. I actially hardly even remember sunday.... Maybe bexause i took 2 mg instednof my prescribed 1mg. It seems i remember saturday vividly and dont remember sunday at all..... Cool. I should be on 2 mg anyway, im 6'2 270.. Big kid. 1mg lasts me only about 2 hours.


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## Nurse (Dec 3, 2011)

*Nurse and former overuser*

I am a nurse and take k for anxiety. My psychiatrist does not approve he says it is the equivalent to cocaine. At first I took as directed then increased doe with my primary care to 4 mg 3 times a day. I felt great but have no recollection of my life during that time. One time I had an obstetric appointment that was going to be painful...I have slight memories of the ride home and none of the procedure. I recently stared a nursing job and would take 2 before my shift I stopped soon after that and have no memory of my first week of orientation...these memories were stolen by k. On th real negative while I was on k I had colonoscopy it interfered with the versad it simply didn't work at all I felt every inch of my colon lower bowel vert dangerous drug. I stopped cold turkey and spent a week on the couch with severe nausea and diarhea lost 10 pounds but survived. Most people go to detox. Since this is an anti seizure med you could have seizures coming off...I was on a lot of that all along but no seizures thank god. I will never forget that week till the day I die it was absolute he'll but can be done. Advice to all don't take very dangerous drug


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## Kon (Oct 21, 2010)

Yes, tapering is advised to decrease risk of seizure. I was an idiot and did it too fast but was lucky as my side-effects were pretty minor even after 8 years of K use. Seizures can occur with many hypnotic agents including alcohol, following abrupt withdrawal. I agree about the memory problems but I thought of those as a positive. I didn't want to remember those years. It made them go faster and less painful, I think? Most professionals wouldn't categorize K in the same category as cocaine or narcotics. It's addictive potential is lower. In fact, even lower than drugs like ritalin. That's why most countries put benzodiazepines like K in the lowest addictive potential category of controlled substances. But I agree with you that benzos aren't a good long-term solution for most.


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## baranok (Nov 17, 2011)

and when we have opportunity to have better antianxiety drug media starts news about how it can be used by military xD


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## Nurse (Dec 3, 2011)

Well in nursing benzos are classified as narcs they are kept under lock and key and count every shift...very dangerous class of drugs


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## T-Bone (Oct 1, 2010)

triscuit80 said:


> The reason my psychiatrist has given me for wanting to take me off Klonopin is that taking it long term will cause memory loss. Is there any truth to this?


Depends on your dosage. Any benzo will cause memory loss, but not long term. At the most you might forget where you put your keys and me being on Kpins myself, have had to make several trips back to the house because i had forgot to grab something. But seriously though, dosage plays a big part in this. Don't drink on them because you will surely forget kidnapping that dog the previous night, and peeing on the gas pump.


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## GiantDog (Feb 12, 2012)

I have been taking K since Jan 2004 or so. The last few years I have noticed my memory getting pretty bad. I only take 2mg a day. Lately my memory is getting worse. It is a short term memory loss. Like I can't remember what I did 2 minutes ago. Or two hours ago. I can't learn anything new because I can't remember anything. I stutter sometimes trying to find words... sometimes I will call something like a dog or whatever with a completely different name like a cat. I've tried to get off this drug a few times but the withdrawel symptoms are really weird so I take it again. But at least I can sleep at night. But I wonder if this drug is giving me Alzheimers... Oh, and sometimes I will be driving my car to my dads and all of a sudden I will be 2 miles past the last place I remember being at while driving... 

Does anyone know if you get off this drug if your memory comes back? Or is it ruined like this forever?


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## Xanax is from Mars (Feb 12, 2012)

It can cause Anterograde amnesia (common with higher doses).


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## GiantDog (Feb 12, 2012)

Amnesia?


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## super (Sep 9, 2009)

even though i used it once for 2-3 weeks, .5-1mg, five times weekly by week 2 i noticed my memory wasn't the same. and i got withdrawals just from taking it 3-5 times a week! they were mild compared to some people withdrawing but my anxiety was horrible.

my advice, take this **** when needed and take the lowest dose possible.


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## tea111red (Nov 8, 2005)

Klonopin hasn't affected my memory too much, but if definitely makes it harder for me to think properly (probably due to the longer half life). The benzo that affects my memory most would have to be Temazepam.


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## angiemarie (Dec 26, 2011)

Perhaps everyone is different. My memory has gotten TERRIBLE since I started taking Klonopin.


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## GotAnxiety (Oct 14, 2011)

wow so someone could be living a life in a blackout?


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## dapper dog (Jan 14, 2015)

*klonopin memory loss*

I have been on Klonopin 11 months Img reducing down to most nights .5mls, I have noticed memory loss as well as loss of focus. I'm getting off this stuff as soon as possible. The reason why I started it was for help getting off ambien for which I had formed an addiction.


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## vwilscam (Sep 14, 2015)

ABSOLUTELY!!!! I am a recovering drug addict. I have taken klonopin in very high doses before, and I had entire days that I don't remember. Fast forward to today; I have been sober over 4 years and take klonopin like normal. I take 1.5 mg daily. In the beginning, I did not experience memory loss, only mild euphoria. I have been on it several months, and I have moments where I say to myself, "did that actually happen, or did I just think it?" I have been on a slew of other medications due to my bipolar. None of those have affected my memory like klonopin has. Perhaps it works differently in other people, I'm not certain. This is merely my experience and not fact. I hope it is helpful.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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