Experiences with Clonazepam

[sela]

i take 20 mg of melatonin. someone with cancer told me i could. works great. i throw in some benadry to make me sleepy.

 

[sela]

i am inspired to try the alpha stim. i found something called bt plus-alpha theta stim, from new zealand. is this okay? anybody out there who knows this stuff?

 

[jonc]

I switched over to 2mg of Clonazepam (Klonopin) nightly.

Needless to say I now have a high tolerance and dependence to benzos (and a non benzo) now. Withdrawl will be hell (to say the least) some day but for now they are practically essential to my survival.

So, yeah, don't let yourself get like me. I see people talking about cutting down from 0.25mg of just Klonopin and think wow.

I'm a now bit scared about the side effects mentioned earlier in the thread that I too was unaware of, especially since my WBC's have been low from the very start, ever since I got sick.

It might be of some small comfort to know that Dr Cheney recommends Klonopin highly, both for its sleep inducing properties and its neuro-protective effects. When I saw him recently I asked him if he was concerned about the potential problems of benzo addiction and he pointed out that Klonopin/Clonazepam also has potentially beneficial effects for mitochondria under oxidative stress. It binds to a mitochondrial receptor (mBzR) that controls an ion channel in the mitochondrial membrane which may potentially act to counter positive feedback processes damaging mitochondria under oxidative stress.

http://physiologyonline.physiology.org/cgi/content/full/20/5/303#top

That doesn't negate the problem of addiction (or possible white blood cell damage), of course, but at least it may give you comfort in taking this drug on an on-going basis (as I am now doing).

 

[jonc]

One thing that Cheney fails to mention, and that I didn't learn until after taking it for 3-4 years, is that Klonopin/Clonazepam is the ONLY benzo that can cause anemia, leukopenia, and neutropenia as "side effects".

My WBC count has always been low, and my hemoglobin/hematocrit right near the bottom. I finally crossed into over into the anemic territory last year. Probably wouldn't be able to prove it was from the clonazepam, and of course I can't even claim that, but I do think Cheney and Co should have listed these possibilities when proclaiming how "safe" the drug is, how it isn't addictive (but certainly habituating) and how it "protects the brain", and how easy it is to get off of it once you don't' need it any longer. Kind of a broad-brushed statement...?
D-bex

D-bex, what makes you suspicious of the Klonopin in particular regarding your anemia/leukopenia? Is it something there is any published literature on that you know of?