Klonopin Use

Hello, I’ve been on 0.5 since 2004. I have severe tinnitus in both ears. Recently my new pcp wanted nothing to do with it and wanted me off. I explained I take two a day and it was 3 but two was working.
Doctors confuse anxiety with depression sometimes. He asked me to see his psychiatrist of choice and naturally I agreed. After a 90 minute visit she said you do completely understand all the risks and I think you use it because you need to. You are not at all a woman suffering depression and I will write my notes to your pcp. She said I could go back if needed. It was a lovely visit and she completely understood that I’m fully aware about falling and memory issues, among other issues it can cause.
I’m changing pcp doctor again because I simply am not comfortable and I know this will be addressed again.
Did you fall while on the med or when you stopped.

I fell or whatever I did as I can't remember anything from that. I was taken off of it by a new doctor because mine retired. He just stopped it right before I was going to Kansas to see my granddaughter and my 1st great grandson. I hurt myself in Kansas and I couldn't get surgery until I got back home in Florida. I went from the airport to the hospital and had surgery the next morning. They but me back on the clonazepam. It was so unessassry for that doctor to do that to me. Good luck to you.

I have commented before regarding Klonopin usage. I finally found out that since college I suffered from debilitating depression. I did not know then what depression was and suffered through it for many years. Finally Time Magazine came out with an issue with Prozac on the cover and I read the article. Finally I had a name for what I had been living with all these years. I talked to my primary care physician and she put me on Prozac. As is common with SSRI’s my body did not do well on Prozac but did very well on Zoloft. I also saw a psychiatrist that added Wellbutrin and Buspar to enhance the Zoloft. It was so common then that they actually called it Welloft. He also added 1mg of Klonopin in the morning and 1mg in the evening. I have been on this regimen for over thirty five years. Every time I have tried to pair back my Zoloft or Klonopin I have slipped back in to debilitating depression and had to start taking both to come out of the depression. He finally said if it is not broke don’t fix it. For all these years I have heeded his advice and had a great career in sales while hiking and skiing along with many other physical activities with no side effects.
I am retired now and have no memory or balance issues but I thought it might be a good time to taper my Klonopin. My primary care physician had me start a tapering program but it did not go well and I went back to my normal dosage. Her comment was it was my idea and questioned why at 73 I would choose to do that. Her attitude was much like psychiatrist many years ago. If it is not broke why are you trying to fix it.
My mother had debilitating depression but like so many people of that generation she had no idea what depression was and SSRI’s had not come out yet. The previous antidepressants had bad side effects and I had tried those with terrible results.
Long story short my mother suffered a miserable life self medicating with alcohol and affecting my whole family growing up.
I have been reading horror stories regarding people trying to taper off Klonopin and my question to all the people on this post is why if it is not broke they are trying to fix it. If you don’t suffer any side effects and you live a happy life why change?
I have known people that retired and decided it was a good time to cut back on their antidepressant and the results were terrible for not only themselves but their significant other.
Depression is real and so is anxiety and many times they go hand in hand. Both my children suffer from one of the other and take medication for it. They are both extremely successful with great families.
I will end by saying if it not brok why fix it.
Please tell me what I am missing here.
I look forward to your comments.

I appreciate the response. My question is, were you able to keep the same dose all those years? I hear many who say you develop a tolerance and need to increase dosage.

Yes I have never increased my dosage in the 35 years I have been taking it.
One time on a trip with my son I stepped on a fish hook that had washed up on the beach. The pain was incredible and he took me to the emergency room. They extracted the hook and prescribed OxyContin. I took one pill that night and the pain went away. I never took another pill again.
I think certain people have addictive personalities and whether it is alcohol, cigarettes or pain pills they are going to abuse them. For the rest of us common sense takes over and we don’t drink and smoke knowing it can kill us and certainly don’t take opioids or pain pills to get high.
Maybe I am missing something here and I would love hear from others.

@daveshaw developing tolerance for Klonopin has nothing to do with personality, in my view and from what I have read. I have been told the body can get accustomed to a certain dose over time and more is needed to get the same effect. You are fortunate that has not happened to you but I don't think it is helpful to blame those for whom it has happened as addictive personalities or "abusers" or lacking "common sense."

The fact that you could not reduce your Klonopin shows that you did develop dependency, but your tolerance did not increase. So you weren't able to get off but you also didn't need to go up on dose.

I avoid taking Klonopin more than two days in a row. I stick to 1/4 or in a rare case 1/3 of the lowest dose. My body is sensitive and I would expect tolerance to develop so I am careful. I use 30 0.5mg pills in 9-12 months so doctors continue to prescribe for me.

I am sorry if I offended you. I was just telling you my experience but I know that is not true for everyone.
I watched my late wife’s two sisters who started smoking at 14 both die from their decisions. One died of lung cancer that spread to her brain which led to a very painful death. The other who was also a heavy drinker died of complications of severe COPD and alcohol dementia.
Everyone is different and I was just being honest about my experiences. If I came across as self righteous I am truly sorry.
I feel sorry for the people that suffer from opioid addiction and abuse prescription drugs. Yes withdrawals symptoms prove I am addicted but I feel fortunate that I have never had to increase my dosage of Klonopin. I feel sorry for the people that have had to do that. Many times when under stress I have been tempted to take additional Klonopin but stopped short of doing it.
Please accept my apologies if I have upset you or anyone else on this post.

I have commented before regarding Klonopin usage. I finally found out that since college I suffered from debilitating depression. I did not know then what depression was and suffered through it for many years. Finally Time Magazine came out with an issue with Prozac on the cover and I read the article. Finally I had a name for what I had been living with all these years. I talked to my primary care physician and she put me on Prozac. As is common with SSRI’s my body did not do well on Prozac but did very well on Zoloft. I also saw a psychiatrist that added Wellbutrin and Buspar to enhance the Zoloft. It was so common then that they actually called it Welloft. He also added 1mg of Klonopin in the morning and 1mg in the evening. I have been on this regimen for over thirty five years. Every time I have tried to pair back my Zoloft or Klonopin I have slipped back in to debilitating depression and had to start taking both to come out of the depression. He finally said if it is not broke don’t fix it. For all these years I have heeded his advice and had a great career in sales while hiking and skiing along with many other physical activities with no side effects.
I am retired now and have no memory or balance issues but I thought it might be a good time to taper my Klonopin. My primary care physician had me start a tapering program but it did not go well and I went back to my normal dosage. Her comment was it was my idea and questioned why at 73 I would choose to do that. Her attitude was much like psychiatrist many years ago. If it is not broke why are you trying to fix it.
My mother had debilitating depression but like so many people of that generation she had no idea what depression was and SSRI’s had not come out yet. The previous antidepressants had bad side effects and I had tried those with terrible results.
Long story short my mother suffered a miserable life self medicating with alcohol and affecting my whole family growing up.
I have been reading horror stories regarding people trying to taper off Klonopin and my question to all the people on this post is why if it is not broke they are trying to fix it. If you don’t suffer any side effects and you live a happy life why change?
I have known people that retired and decided it was a good time to cut back on their antidepressant and the results were terrible for not only themselves but their significant other.
Depression is real and so is anxiety and many times they go hand in hand. Both my children suffer from one of the other and take medication for it. They are both extremely successful with great families.
I will end by saying if it not brok why fix it.
Please tell me what I am missing here.
I look forward to your comments.

I totally agree with your doctors. If it's not broken don't fix it. Mine was that way also. He started seeing me after my surgery from being taken off the klonopin. He said these new young doctors are schmucks. He said they always want to change thing's. He put me back on the 1mg 3x a day. I was doing great again but a year later he was retiring. I panicked. He said he would make sure everything was in my file and instructed all further doctors to leave the klonopin dose alone. Well that didn't help. Even the doctor who replaced him agreed with him when he introduced me to him..well when my doctor retired this new neurologist still decided that it wasn't good for me. I was like I have been on this same dose for 25+ years and it helps me. He still didn't care..so I have been thru many doctors trying to get help. I have a psychiatrist that only agreed to .5mg 3xday. Then my insurance company fired him and the new one told me that they, my insurance wants everyone off of benzos. He left after a year because he couldn't practice the way he needed to. Now I have another one and he said I need to try to cut back further but he wasn't concerned and said we would leave it alone unless they get after him. I have bad PTSD from year's of physical abuse. I now have many gastro diseases and live on a feeding tube and have been disabled since I turned 50. So I have all this pain and fear and they want to take me off what I need. I don't understand why. Maybe it's my state. Florida is really cracking down on alot because of the abusers and addicts. But I am just a person that need's the medication just to function. But I am glad you never had to go through this. It was awful getting hurt so bad and not having any memory of what happens. Good luck to you!