Does anyone take clonazepam?

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I know some of you can't take these kinds of medications, which in my humble opinion is just plain wrong. Not that it works all that well (after 5 years of being in it) but my anxiety is so bad I would likely have a breakdown without it. I have major depressive disorder and anxiety disorder which I think the anxiety disorder stems from my benign fasiculation syndrome.

anyway... my actual question.. I take 1 mg BID prn.. so I usually take it daily unless I run out and forget to refill it. If you take it, do you regulary test positive confirmed? My test are bizarrely very random with positives. It's so weird.. sometimes it's every other test.. sometimes it's barel at all. Out of the 10 tests I've taken so far this year only 2 were positive. I was positive confirmed Monday and I took my two Sunday and none Monday morning. But came back negative Wednesday when I took 2 fairly close together Tuesday evening and 1 Wednesday morning. It was the same option (#1) but I just can't figure out why only some are positive and the rest - even when they should be positive - are negative. My diet (crappy as it is) and drinking ( pretty much only diet sofa - bad, I know) doesn't change.

Just wondering if anyone else experiences this or if you have any clue as to why this happens?

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Specializes in Psych ICU, addictions.

It could be just how your body metabolized it during the time periods that you tested.

If it's in your contract that you are able to take prescribed clonazepam, then I wouldn't worry too much about it. They would already know to expect a positive result from you, and in fact probably wouldn't care less if a test came back negative for benzos.

Now, if you're NOT supposed to be taking clonazepam...then you're definitely flirting with danger. Regardless of how you feel about nurses in recovery being able to take medication, the fact is that the monitoring agency is the one who sets the rules. And if you wish to get through things as fast as possible and with your license intact, then you need to stick to the terms of contract, instead of wondering if you could somehow wiggle things so you can take clonazepam and yet still produce a negative test.

If you've been on clonazepam at high doses and/or for the long-term and need to come off of them, you may need a medically supervised detox to taper off. See your PCP as soon as possible.

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We are able to take anything that is prescribed and it's prescribed so I'm good that way. It's just weird how it only sometimes comes up positive. Of course every time it does, I freak out that it might be something I ate. And I always worry that I may have taken something on accident.. which is ridiculous because I don't have anything to accidentally take. My anxiety likes to make me miserable!

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meriwhen, I'm curious.. since you have been on it long term As well, do you feel that it's not as effective anymore? Like you've built up a tolerance? I feel that way.

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meriwhen, I'm curious.. since you have been on it long term As well, do you feel that it's not as effective anymore? Like you've built up a tolerance? I feel that way.

I used to take klonopin and had taken it for years. I did stop it for various reasons. By the time I stopped, it wasn't working any more. My shrink tried crossing me over to other benzos and they did nothing either. My tolerance was just too high. I tried taking more than the prescribed dose without permission, not only did it not help either, but I got in hot water. This was way before monitoring though.

In the end, my shrink tried me on scheduled propranolol. That ended up working better than the benzos did when I was tolerant to them. It helps the most with the physical symptoms like racing heart, sweating, churning stomach, nausea, appetite, etc. He has upped the dose once in the three years I've been on it. So now, that is what I take.

If your cleared to take a benzo, then it's basically a personal decision. Maybe adding something like propranolol to your benzo would help? It's worth a chat with your psychiatrist. Chronic anxiety is the pits.

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Specializes in Psych ICU, addictions.
meriwhen, I'm curious.. since you have been on it long term As well, do you feel that it's not as effective anymore? Like you've built up a tolerance? I feel that way.

I've never taken clonazepam in my life...as far as I know, anyway. But I am rather knowledgable about benzodiazepine withdrawal.

Many drugs have withdrawals that are fairly quick and/or fairly harmless. Coming off of long-term benzo use is neither. Coming off of benzos too rapidly can lead to a whole host of symptoms, both physical (tachycardia, tremors, insomnia, seizures (which can be fatal), and psychological (anxiety, depression, dependence). Not only that, symptoms of withdrawal may not start appearing for up to days after your last benzo dose, especially if it's a long-acting one with quite the half-life. So benzo detox is often a prolonged withdrawal process involving a taper onto a long-acting benzo such as diazepam to help control the side effects and help a person come off a benzo safely.

It's not uncommon for people to take weeks to months to taper off of benzos. The longest taper I ever encountered in a patient was coming up on a year and counting...and yes, this was with an experienced addictionologist at the helm. This patient had popped alprazolam like Tic Tacs for years. The addictionologist put him on diazepam and then stepped the taper down every week or two, depending on the patient's progress.

As far as your question about tolerance...yes, tolerance can and does develop: that's one of the risks of taking benzodiazepines. For most people, benzos really weren't meant to be long-term medications.

Here's a great site to do some benzo research. It's based in the UK but the info is just as valid here...there just might be some differences in the terms used as well as what medications are available in what countries:

Welcome to benzo.org.uk : Main Page

If you are concerned about your own benzo use and the fact that you don't feel it's working as well, then you need to see your PCP right away. We can't offer medical advice here. But your PCP can help you determine what you should do next and how to safely do it. Maybe it's changing a dose, maybe it's adding an adjunct medication, maybe it's moving you off of clonazepam to something else, be it benzo or non-benzo. You two need to figure that out together.

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Hey StillRN!

In relation to the varying positive/negative on your drug screen, I would agree with the previous poster that this is most likely connected to your body's metabolism of the clonazepam at the time of testing. In terms of building up tolerance, you can absolutely build up tolerance to clonazepam if you're taking it on a chronic daily basis. This can also lead to physical dependence on the drug as well, which is dangerous as benzodiazepine withdrawal can be fatal if not done correctly. If you're having to take clonazepam on a daily basis to regulate anxiety, then your maintenance anxiety medication needs to be adjusted/changed. Unfortunately benzodiazepines are great for controlling symptoms in the moment, but not for sustaining a change in your neurochemistry. As someone else mentioned, propranolol is a great, non-controlled PRN anxiety medication that it helps decrease the physical symptoms that come with a panic attack. Having to increase the dosage/frequency of benzodiazepines to control anxiety is never a good habit to get into, I'd see your healthcare provider to discuss your options.

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the reason you didn't test positive is likely because they weren't looking for BZDP in that particular test.

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