Posted by Rick on July 6, 2001, at 2:15:18
In reply to Re: How much clonazepam is needed for SP?, posted by sar on July 4, 2001, at 5:59:43
> Rick,
>
> thanks for your informative response.
>
> my diagnoses (all up in the air, i'm young & have been seeing psychs for a few years) are numerous but unconfirmed. The order in which I received them: social phobia, depression, dysthymia, GAD, and these next 2 are *really new and up in the air*--borderline/bipolar.
>
> i'm a cocktail unto myself, eh?Not so sure about that, but I got a kick out of the way you expressed it. Very poetic. I am sorry to hear that you're dealing with so much, but it's good you're addressing these things early. It's highly unlikely that all of the above describe you; different pdocs and therapists come up with different diagnoses for the same person. In terms of meds, though, a lot of the same drugs are used to treat the various disorders you mentioned.
> i'm going to ride out the klonopin a bit longer based on your positive remarks about it. i feel so much more affectinate and relaxed, i just wish i could carry on a damn conversation without forgetting complex words like "and" and "the." i'm also on 40 mg prozac, have been for a few months, but did not experience the word-finiding difficulty 'til i started taking klonopin.
Sorry to be so blunt, but if you drink heavily you shouldn't be taking Klonopin at all. Most importantly, mixing benzos with too much alcohol really can present a health risk, potentially even lethal. One or two drinks might be OK, but beyond that your're taking big risks. Alcohol also tends to worsen depression. And it's a health risk in a lot of other ways, too. Again, I'm talking about *heavy drinking*, not mild or moderate. (Although I was warned by several social phobics who used Klonopin before I did not to drink *at all* when using K.) Really, for your own well-being you should make an all-out effort to cut the boozing down to a reasonable level. If you just can't, you should probably stay away from benzos completely.
Besides the risks, alcohol does lessen Klonopin's effectiveness. For me, it lessens it significantly. That's why I avoid having more than, say, one beer in a social setting. (Even with that litle booze I know I'm going to lose part of the Klonopin benefit. But I'm very booze-sensitive.) With people I'm really comfortable with, I might have two beers, or a hard drink.Finally, alcohol definitely increases any Klonopin side effects. So if it has a mild "dumb-down" effect for you taken with Prozac, that effect could be greatly magnified when you add booze into the mix. If you can, try not drinking for a few days and see if you experience less cognitive decline form Klonopin than before.
Is the Prozac helping with your depression? If so, didn't it help any with your social phobia, too? Neurontin doesn't help with SP in as many cases as Klonopin, but given your drinking habits maybe you should give Neurontin a try instead for safety reasons. A lot of people do respond to Neurontin. Cognitve problems can occur with Neurontin for some people, and again alcohol would probably magnify that effect. (But at least this combo wouldn't be as risky to your health.)
>
> i have one more question. i feel bad asking it. i drink everyday. i drink like a fish, actually. i know know know know that this is very wrong and bad, but will it reduce klonopin's effectiveness? do you know? just wondering.
>
> ahhhhh in forty years i'll be in a muu-muu slurping down valiums and mai tais. kriste. i hope not.
>
> i think my depression and social phobia largely go hand-in-hand. the old "which cmae first, the chicken or the egg?" question. i don't know.
>
When someone has a chronic anxiety disorder, it's usually the unrelenting anxiety that leads to depression.
poster:Rick
thread:67661
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20010701/msgs/69151.html