What do I do?

[apple]

Clonazepam worked for me in the past.  The doctor I saw 6 months ago refused to put me on it because it is addictive.  My psychiatrist has the same feelings. so I was on Desiprimine for several months, he said if it didn't help he would consider the clonazepam.  It worked real good for my anxiety...however I could not go for a walk or do anything much because I overheated quickly and almost passed out. I still took it but eventually the constipation caused other health issues and I had to stop taking it.  I went back to him and he refused the clonazepam again.  He put me on Clonipramine. For 4 days I could not eat, the acid in my stomach was so bad even with the losec I take for my ulcers.  25mg was too much, I felt mellow...only my body is also mellow...too mellow. I feel so weak sometimes my legs shake just from standing.  So I call my psychologist and he says to cut down to 10mg.  

So its been two days on 10mg and I am still weak, not as weak but enough that I still need to nap during the day. And still mellow...excitement? not at all.

I am so angry that the one thing that has helped me in the past I can't get.
Maybe the "addiction" is not even addiction, it just works without these horrible side effects!

I don't know what to do...without the medication I can't sleep at night and sleeping pills leave me tired the next day. The inability to slow my brain down at night keeps me up

any suggestions out there?

[andy]

Have you tried effexor, cymbalta, or nefazadone? I experienced bad side effects when I took effexer such as constipation, sweating, etc. But it worked really well otherwise. And just taking cymbalta made me really drowsy, but it depends on how much you take and now I take both nefazadone and cymbalta and Im doing really well

[lucidangst]

Hello!

I'm kinda new here, but from what I understand Clonazepam (Klonopin) is only addictive in the sense that if you take if for a while (weeks/months/years), then when you go off the anxiety comes back 'big-time' which naturally causes a 'discontinuation syndrome', not necessarily an 'addiction'.  At least that's what my psych told me-- others would disagree I'm sure.  I've never had any serious problems with benzodizapiens (pardon my spelling), and I've been on them for years-- but when I do discontinue them, I do feel extremely anxious-- more so than usual by far.  Still, it only lasts a week or so.  They work much better than SSRI's or MAOI's for me-- I have crazy side-effects from the latter two (had to go to the hospital for Paxil withdraw).

[apple]

thanx for that, i feel the same way about clonazepam...
its nice to know I'm not the only one who feels this way.
 My psychiatrist told me its addictive and he would have to put me on it full time, I disagree. after suffering through a new medication and my psychiatrist forgot to call me back for two weeks, I fired him today...Time to get some real help.

[lucidangst]

I've found that psyc's differ dramatically from one to the next.  Some rely soley on info from their 'own' sources, disregarding any other studies or differences of opinion.  They do not compromise even though everything in modern science has shown that everything is still basically unknown, or at least what is known is always subject to change.  The best thing is to find that 'right' psychologist that looks at ALL the facts-- It took me years to find that guy :)