Klonopin Withdrawal: A Timeline for Treatment

Klonopin is a benzodiazepine medication. Doctors prescribe it to treat mental health issues such as anxiety and physical health issues such as seizure disorders. Although Klonopin has a variety of uses, doctors try not to prescribe the drug too often or in large doses. Why? Because ongoing or prolonged use often leads to tolerance, dependence and increases the likelihood and rate of addiction.

Klonopin addiction takes over your life, and as a disease, it is nothing to be ashamed of, but it does require treatment. Treatment will take time, but it may save your life.

Klonopin Addiction Timeframe

Addiction is a disease that progresses over time. You can take a drug like Klonopin for years to manage anxiety or other health symptoms. If taken as prescribed and carefully monitored, its use may not lead to tolerance or dependence or addiction. There are other ways to treat and manage symptoms for which the drug has been prescribed, so it is important to be aware of the impact of the drug on your body and seek medical supervision when concerned to slow down or avoid dependence altogether.

You can take steps to slow or avoid addiction. You can also take part in actions that speed up the process.

The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry explains that even when taken as prescribed, benzodiazepine, “use presents clinical issues such as dependence, rebound anxiety, memory impairment, and discontinuation syndrome.”¹

Any substance abuse increases the likelihood of addiction. When misused, Klonopin floods the brain with pleasurable chemicals. You quickly become used to this effect, and it becomes hard to feel pleasure without Klonopin. It soon becomes difficult to feel good even with the drug.

Other mental and physical health changes occur at the same time. These make it difficult to stop taking the drug on your own. They change how you think and feel. This process of tolerance and dependence may take years or only weeks. The more you use, the faster addiction develops and the sooner you will need support for withdrawal and recovery.

Beginning Klonopin Withdrawal

The process of detox is uncomfortable and can be scary or even dangerous, so it’s essential to detox in a safe, supervised environment. The good news? The sooner you begin the withdrawal portion of recovery, the sooner you finish it. You do not want to quit “cold turkey” or on your own.

These symptoms can cause you to return to Klonopin use even if you’d rather not. If you have professional and personal support during withdrawal, you are less likely to relapse. You will be more comfortable. You will gain the skills needed to weather cravings. Medically supervised detox services ensure your safety and provide a smooth transition from withdrawal to the real work of treatment and establishing a base for sobriety. Withdrawal is just the first step in the timeline of treatment and recovery.

Long-term Klonopin Addiction Recovery

Addiction recovery is a long-term process. It begins with withdrawal and continues with a variety of treatment methods. These may include one or more forms of therapy. Therapy helps you examine how you think and how those thoughts influence your feelings and actions. This has real and lasting effects on your health.

For example Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), a form of therapy often used in addiction treatment, also treats panic and anxiety issues. A study published in the Primary Care Companion to the Journal of Psychiatry found that 13.6% of untreated individuals, “developed panic disorder compared with only 1.8% of those who attended” a CBT workshop.³

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy can address both addiction and underlying concerns such as panic disorders or anxiety issues. Addressing all co-occurring concerns at once leads to a more streamlined, effective and lasting recovery experience. Others need therapy that addresses underlying or co-occurring mental health issues. Your unique recovery needs will determine how long treatment takes and what it looks like. Every recovery journey should be personalized and unique.

Begin Your Treatment Timeline

If you’re struggling with a Klonopin issue, we’d like to help. At Black Bear Lodge, we provide comprehensive care for a wide array of recovery and treatment needs. We’d love to design a program just for you. A skilled, experienced clinician will work with you on an individual basis.

We provide individual and group therapies that help you understand your goals, strengths, and hidden talents. With our help, you can build a better, drug-free life. Call 706-909-9811 and talk with us about how treatment works and how you can get started.

Alternatives to Klonopin for Anxiety Disorders

During a moment of extreme stress, the heart races, breathing rates speed up, and sweat begins to creep out of each and every pore. Once the crisis has passed, things return to normal once more, and people often feel thankful that the episode is behind them. But for people with anxiety disorders, these feelings of intense nervousness and worry don’t seem to fade, even if there is no stressful situation unfolding at the moment.

These disorders are often treated with Klonopin (clonazepam), as this medication can soothe an overactive mind and allow a sense of peace and relief to enter in. But Klonopin isn’t the only effective treatment for anxiety. In fact, there are a number of different therapies that can help, and some don’t involve a visit to the pharmacy.

Medication Choices

The soothing effects of Klonopin can be mimicked by a variety of other medications, according to an article produced by Medscape.

All of these medications work in a slightly different way inside the human body, but all of these drugs do tend to cause a sensation of sleepiness or sedation. That might be the attribute that helps people with anxiety to feel a bit calmer.

Unfortunately, many of these medications often take weeks to kick in, as they need to build up to a therapeutic level before they can deliver relief. This might mean that some people take medications for long periods of time without feeling soothed at all. Sticking with the therapy is key, however, as allowing the drugs to build up could bring about the changes people need in order to feel less anxious and out of control.

Other Therapies

While medications might have a role in helping some people with anxiety disorders, the drugs do have their limitations, and often, they’re used only as a short-term solution for nervousness. In order to really recover, people need to learn more about how to control their thoughts and feelings. Therapy is the best way to bring this sort of change about.

Some people with anxiety disorders benefit from exposure therapy, in which they spend time around the people, places, and things that tend to spark their nervous feelings. Some therapists can even use simulations in therapy in order to expose a person with anxiety to a more life-like representation of a situation that tends to provoke anxiety. Computer games featuring gunfire and explosions, for example, might be helpful for people with war-related anxiety disorders. According to a study in the Journal of Anxiety Disorders, there tends to be a dose-dependent relationship for this therapy, meaning that attending more often tends to bring about the best results, but going to any therapy session at all might be helpful for people with anxiety.

In addition to exposure techniques, therapists might help clients to learn how to control their physical responses to anxiety. By learning how to meditate, people might learn how to slow their breathing rates and heart rates during a moment of panic, so they’ll be less likely to spin into a full-blown anxiety episode.

At Black Bear Lodge, we utilize these innovative techniques to help our clients overcome their anxiety, and we can even help you move past a Klonopin addiction at the same time. Please call us at 706-909-9811 and we’ll tell you more about our programs.

How to Help a Family Member With a Klonopin Addiction

Benzodiazepines like Klonopin (clonazepam) can play an important role in the management of a chronic anxiety disorder. As an article in the journal Advances in Psychiatric Treatment points out, clinicians who carefully manage the administration of these medications may help their clients to overcome very serious mental health disorders, and if an addiction issue does appear, clinicians can take effective steps to resolve the problem without allowing anxiety to reappear.

But even though doctors and therapists will do the majority of the heavy lifting when a Klonopin addiction is in play, there’s a lot that families can do in order to support the addicted person and ensure that a true and robust recovery takes hold. These are just a few of the steps concerned loved ones can take.

Keep Learning

Most people know little to nothing about how an addiction develops, and modern media really doesn’t help to clear up the confusion. For example, in an article in Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, researchers found that movies tended to depict just four kinds of addicts:

Boiling an addiction down to a stereotype does nothing to help with the recovery process. In fact, it might even be harmful. It’s best to listen and talk to the person who has the addiction and really try to understand what that individual is thinking, feeling and trying to accomplish. By learning the specifics of a person’s addiction, families might understand how they can help.

Participating in group therapy sessions with the addicted person might also help to boost understanding. Counselors might take the time to explain how mental illness and chemical changes combine in the early stages of a Klonopin addiction, and they might also be willing to help interpret baffling statements an addicted person might make.

Express Support

People who have addictions to Klonopin might really want to get better, but they might also have dark moments in which they miss the drug and want to keep taking it. People like this might go back and forth on a regular basis, feeling motivated one moment and hopeless the next. It can be exasperating, but families that express their love and support might be providing the addicted person with a real gift. By outlining how much they want the person to recover, and how proud they are of the progress the person has already made, they might motivate the person to stay engaged and involved in the hard work of recovery, and that might make real healing all the more likely.

Unfortunately, some people who have a Klonopin addiction simply aren’t ready to get sober, and they resist the family’s attempt to help them to heal. They seem trapped in a cycle of addiction, and they’re unwilling to fight back. Being supportive in this situation doesn’t mean condoning the addiction. Families can help by continuing to express their concerns about the drug abuse, and discussing how therapies might help to make the situation abate. By keeping the lines of communication open, these families might eventually convince the addicted person to get the help that is so desperately needed.

If you’d like to find out more about how you can help a loved one with a Klonopin addiction, please call us at Black Bear Lodge. We have intake specialists available to take your call right now at 706-909-9811.

How Long Does It Take to Become Addicted to Klonopin?

You are worried about your or a loved one’s Klonopin use. Although you haven’t been using it for long, the drug plays a bigger role in your life than you’d like it to. Is it too soon to be addicted? How long does it take this disease to develop?

The answer is: It varies.

So many things influence if and when you become addicted. The drug used is only one of these. Consider what exactly addiction is. Determine your personal risk factors.

What Drug Are You Using?

Your drug of choice does matter when it comes to addiction development. It isn’t the only factor involved, but it does play a role. Abuse potential varies even within Klonopin’s drug class. This benzodiazepine class includes Klonopin, Xanax, Valium and Ativan. These are brand names for clonazepam, alprazolam, diazepam, and lorazepam. They are just a few of many benzodiazepines. Each one has its own potentially addictive effects and side effects.

CNS Drugs found that these drugs can be, “identified according to their abuse potential: very high abuse potential (flunitrazepam); high abuse potential (diazepam, clorazepate); intermediate abuse potential (alprazolam, bromazepam, clonazepam); and low abuse potential (other benzodiazepines).”⁴

Klonopin (clonazepam) may not fall into the “high abuse potential” category, but use still involves risk. This intermediate-risk also jumps dramatically if you use Klonopin in conjunction with other drugs or alcohol.

How Old Are You?

Age matters when it comes to addiction development. Using drugs like Klonopin when you’re young puts you at risk for addiction then and later.

The American Society of Addiction Medicine explains, “Frontal lobe morphology, connectivity, and functioning are still in the process of maturation during adolescence and young adulthood, and early exposure to substance use is another significant factor in the development of addiction.”⁵

This is a fancy way of saying when you’re young, your brain is still growing. It is making new and important connections. Using drugs like Klonopin interrupts this process. It makes you more vulnerable to addiction at the time. It leaves you at greater risk for addiction later. If you are young or used drugs when you were young, you may develop Klonopin addiction faster than other people.

Do You Know Other Addicts?

Addiction is an individual disease. It is also a genetic and social disease. When wondering how long it takes to become addicted, consider others around you. Do family members struggle with health issues like addiction? Do your friends? If so, you are at greater risk.

Your genetic makeup and the social world around you interact regularly. These factors can protect you from addiction or they can put you at risk. Know which is true for you. Be careful when using Klonopin. If friends and family abuse drugs or are addicted, you may quickly begin to struggle with similar issues as well.

Changing the Timeframe of Klonopin Addiction

If you are worried about Klonopin addiction, forget about the days, weeks or years of use involved. Think about how Klonopin affects your life or the life of a loved one. If it creates problems, it’s time to stop using. Call Black Bear Lodge for a free addiction assessment at 706-909-9811. We can help you determine your best next steps. We can put you in touch with our caring, experienced professionals and programs.

We offer integrated, holistic care to ensure you leave treatment in mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual health. Recovery is about more than no longer using a drug. It is about creating an enjoyable, rewarding life. It is never too early or too late to begin. Reach out to us today.

The Prescribed Uses for Klonopin (Clonazepam)

One of the first benzodiazepines developed and sold as a prescription, Valium entered the marketplace in 1963. Excitement about this and similar drugs led to skyrocketing prescription rates and the development of other benzodiazepine medications to meet the demand.

In fact, according to the Center for Substance Abuse Research (CESAR): “More than 15 different types of benzodiazepine medications” entered the market, all designed “to treat a wide array of both psychological and physical maladies based on dosage and implications.”⁷ Klonopin, a brand name for clonazepam, is one of these.

Reasons to Take Klonopin

Benzodiazepines like Klonopin vary in the duration and intensity of their effects, but all of them are classified as sedative-hypnotics. They calm overly active electrical signals in the brain. CESAR explains that all benzodiazepines display “one or more of the following drug actions: anxiety relief, hypnotic, muscle relaxant, anti-convulsant, or an amnesiatic (mild memory-loss inducer).”⁷

These effects dictate when, why and which benzodiazepine a doctor prescribes. Patients who experience seizures may find Klonopin prevents seizures or keeps them from being severe. Mental health professionals may prescribe it to treat panic or anxiety attacks. They may also prescribe Klonopin in conjunction with anti-psychotic medications that otherwise cause restlessness or other uncontrollable movement. Doctors may choose to prescribe it for insomnia or acute anxiety treatment.

Ativan or Xanax are more common drugs for these conditions as they are short-acting benzodiazepines. They offer symptom relief within minutes and only stay in the system for a short period of time. Klonopin is an intermediate-acting benzodiazepine. Its effects on brain and body last longer.

Reasons to Not Take Klonopin

Klonopin should not be used without a prescription. Even with a prescription, the drug has potential negative short- and long-term effects. Users may experience memory loss, depression, anxiety and poor motor coordination. Long-term effects can include serious damage to mental and physical health.

Psychology Today published a study that found “the brains of regular benzodiazepine takers were damaged and shrunken when compared to the brains of people who had not taken benzodiazepines.”⁸

Damage can occur even when Klonopin is used as prescribed. Recreational use or prescription abuse increases the likelihood of serious side effects such as dependence and addiction. Anyone with a history of drug or alcohol addiction should explore alternatives before using Klonopin. They should carefully monitor any use of prescription drugs and be open with medical professionals about their medical history. Every patient should discuss any and all side effects and symptoms with their health care provider.

Should You Quit Using Klonopin?

Klonopin has medical benefits. While relatively safe if taken as prescribed, it can also cause symptoms to worsen or new ones to appear. As with any medication, individuals and doctors should work together to develop a treatment plan and to adjust that treatment plan as needed. If you are taking the drug without a prescription or are worried about your relationship with it, you can take action.

Medical supervision during the detox process ensures your safety and greatly increases comfort and support. Talk with your healthcare provider or with recovery specialists like those at Black Bear Lodge to learn whether you should quit using Klonopin, and if so, how you can do so safely and effectively.

At Black Bear Lodge, we provide intensive, personalized treatment programs for clients struggling with prescription drug addiction. Our peaceful, secluded location provides a haven from stress and triggers. Call us at 706-909-9811 to find out how our rehab programs can help you lead the fulfilling, drug-free life you want.

Immediate, Short- and Long-term Health Risks of Abusing Klonopin

We all want to find moments of peace. We want to balance our busy, hectic, and even stressful lives with relaxation. This isn’t easy for anyone. It becomes even harder if you also struggle with depression, anxiety, or other mental health issues. You may be tempted to turn to a drug like Klonopin. It may seem like an easy way to escape or feel good.

However Klonopin ultimately only adds to your stress. It has immediate, short- and long-term health risks that complicate your physical and mental health. It takes away from your quality of life without providing any real, lasting answers.

Immediate Effects of Klonopin Use

Klonopin is a brand name for clonazepam. It is a benzodiazepine drug. Klonopin works by suppressing central nervous system activity. It makes the neurotransmitters and receptors responsible for calming mind and body more effective. This can help individuals who struggle with panic attacks, seizures, and other medical and mental health conditions. However positive immediate effects are balanced by negative ones.

Some users experience severe psychological side effects such as hallucinations or delusions after taking too much Klonopin. Because clonazepam can slow motor function, taking too much of this medication increases your risk of an accidental fall, drowning or motor vehicle accident. One of the greatest immediate dangers of Klonopin abuse is overdose. Klonopin can slow breathing, heart rate, and other essential body functions to dangerously low levels. When you use Klonopin with other benzodiazepines, opiates, or alcohol, the risk of overdose increases.

Benzodiazepine drugs like Klonopin are meant for short-term or as-needed use. The longer you take these drugs, the greater your risk of becoming physically or psychologically dependent. The longer you take them, the more likely to you are to become addicted or experience other serious side effects. Short-term risks quickly lead to long-term consequences.

Long-term Risks

Klonopin calms the central nervous system by altering the way your brain processes GABA, a neurochemical that induces feelings of relaxation, drowsiness and tranquility. Long-term Klonopin use interferes with your brain’s natural response to GABA. You come to rely on Klonopin to feel “normal,” even as other side effects accumulate. This is just one of many early signs of addiction. If you feel you need Klonopin or that you don’t feel right without it, consider reaching out for early help. The sooner you take action, the sooner you can find real balance and mental health management.

Long-term Klonopin use puts mental health at risk. Although short-term use can aid in mental health management, it does not provide lasting solutions.

Continued use leads to increased mental health concerns. ABC News¹² shares a study that found, “Patients taking [benzodiazepines] had about twice the risk of suicidal behavior compared with patients taking a placebo.”

Since individuals struggling with anxiety and addiction often also face depression, this increased risk should be taken seriously. Individuals who need a prescription should carefully monitor use and mood. Individuals using Klonopin without a prescription should consider various therapeutic alternatives.

Long-term Klonopin use also affects memory. BMJ¹³ explains, “Benzodiazepine use is associated with an increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease…Unwarranted long term use of these drugs should be considered as a public health concern.” The effects of long-term Klonopin use are serious enough to warrant a need for public action. Addiction is more than an individual disease. It affects families and communities. It affects you now and long into the future. Ending Klonopin and other drug use gives you the opportunity to restore and protect your mental and physical health. It gives you the opportunity to develop real coping skills and build a joyful, enjoyable, and drug-free life.

Ending the Health Risks of Klonopin Abuse

Black Bear Lodge, a secluded treatment facility in northern Georgia, offers a quiet haven for recovery. We understand benzodiazepine addiction and the importance of individual, integrated addiction care. Our personalized rehab programs help you realize your dream of a healthy, sober life. Call our toll-free number, 706-909-9811, to find out how you can find freedom.

Klonopin (Clonazepam) Addiction Symptoms

When it comes to addiction, knowledge is power. The more families know about how drugs works, the quicker they can identify addiction in themselves or loved ones. It is never too late to get help, but the quicker you find treatment, the better the outcome. Klonopin addiction has several universal and drug-specific symptoms. These will help you identify the disease. They will help you understand the importance of reaching out for professional help.

Klonopin’s Physical Effects

Klonopin causes a variety of physical, observable effects in users. The Food and Drug Administration¹⁴ explains that the following are the most common physical side effects:

• Drowsiness
• Problems with walking and coordination
• Dizziness
• Fatigue

Individuals who take Klonopin may seem drunk or exhausted. They may find it difficult to speak clearly or to move without stumbling or staggering. Experienced users will experience fewer side effects or will be better at hiding them. However they will exhibit signs of intoxication from time to time too. Individuals with prescriptions may experience these side effects.

While under the influence, people who take Klonopin might seem drunk or just exhausted, and they may find it difficult to speak clearly and move about from place to place without stumbling or staggering. Experienced users might be adept at keeping their physical symptoms masked and hidden, but they may experience breakthrough bouts of intoxication that families might easily spot.

Klonopin’s Effects on Mental Health

Klonopin creates psychological changes. It affects emotions, thoughts and mental health. It can contribute to depression or suicidal thoughts. It can worsen anxiety, the same mental health issue the drug is prescribed to treat.

Psychology Today shares a study that found that after long-term use or abuse, “A great majority of the patients had significant symptomatology, in particular major depressive episodes and generalized anxiety disorder, often with marked severity and disability.”¹⁵ New and worsening mental health symptoms may be a sign of Klonopin addiction.

Klonopin Addiction and Behavioral Changes

Klonopin changes how you think and feel. It also changes what you do and say. Individuals struggling with Klonopin addiction may begin to engage in dangerous or illegal practices. For example a study published in Fundamental & Clinical Pharmacology found many Klonopin users obtain the drug illegally.¹⁶ They buy Klonopin from dealers, steal the drug or shop for doctors who are willing to write prescriptions. Many people would never dream of stealing or lying before becoming addicted. The drug changes what you or a loved one is willing to do and say.

Responding to Klonopin Addiction Symptoms

If you notice physical, mental and behavioral changes in yourself or a loved one, don’t wait. Call Black Bear Lodge at 706-909-9811. We can help you assess your or a loved one’s addiction. We can help you take the next best steps. This may involve intervention, therapy, outpatient or inpatient care. Our experienced treatment team understands every situation is unique and every patient has his or her own recovery needs. Let us create a customized treatment plan for you. Find immediate health and long-term recovery. Reach out today.

What Are Street Names for Clonazepam?

Medications go by several names. There’s usually the generic name, a family name, and a brand name. If a drug is misused, it may also have one or more street names. Clonazepam is a drug in the benzodiazepine family. It’s sold under brand or trade names like Klonopin and Rivotril. Because it produces a sense of calm and relaxation, it’s also often misused or used without a prescription to get high.

What Does Clonazepam Do?

Clonazepam is used to treat any of the following:

• Anxiety
• Panic disorders
• Muscle spasticity
• Seizures
• Insomnia
• Alcohol withdrawal

Like other benzodiazepines, it works by decreasing activity in the brain and depressing the central nervous system. Clonazepam comes in tablet form, but the pills can be crushed or snorted to achieve a more immediate and powerful high.

Even when used as prescribed, its effects can lead to dependence and addiction. When individuals start turning to friends, family members and dealers to get more of the drug, they may begin referring to it by street names.

Why Do Street Names for Clonazepam Exist?

Street names help keep drug use and drug deals secret or inconspicuous. Knowing these slang terms can help friends and family members determine the substances a loved one is using. The most recognizable street name for clonazepam is KPin.

Other terms used to refer to the drug include the following:

• Benzos – short for benzodiazepine, the class of drugs clonazepam (Klonopin) belongs to
• Tranks – short for tranquilizers
• Downers – a common name for central nervous system (CNS) depressants
• Super Valium – while Klonopin and Valium are not the same, Klonopin is referred to by this name to demonstrate the similar effects of the two drugs
• Pin – derived from Klonopin

These are just a few of the many names used to refer to clonazepam. Old names fall out of use and new ones arise regularly. As Time explains, “As adults or authorities become wise to what one term means, that’s a signal that it’s time for a new one.”¹⁷ Street names change regularly to keep ahead of the law, in line with pop culture and more. However, no matter the term used, if you think a loved one is referring to drug use, it’s time to look for more signs and learn what to do next.

What Are the Signs of Clonazepam Abuse?

Many people who abuse drugs are determined to hide the signs of their drugs abuse so that they will not be forced to quit. In fact, this is so common that the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependency explains that secrecy itself is one of the primary signs of addiction.¹⁸ The very fact that a loved one is keeping secrets, acting suspiciously or attempting to hide what or how much of a substance he or she uses should make you start to take notice.

Additionally you can look for other behavioral changes such as the following:

• Difficulty concentrating
• Drowsiness
• Confusion
• Anxiety
• Irritability
• Weak academic or professional performance
• Loss of interest in hobbies
• Irresponsibility with finances
• Use of slang terms such as those mentioned above

When you notice any signs of addiction or suspect a substance use disorder, it’s time to start looking at intervention and treatment options.

Treatment for Clonazepam Abuse and Addiction

Ending clonazepam abuse begins with getting your loved one into treatment. Talk to him or her about the street names you hear, the signs of addiction you see, the worries you have. Ask him or her to talk to a medical or mental health professional. If these early interventions fail, you may want to hire a professional interventionist who can help you reach out more effectively.

Once your loved one agrees to treatment, he or she begins recovery with a detox program. Weeks or months of rehab may follow. All phases of recovery should involve compassionate, professional support and integrated care for co-occurring substance use, physical and mental health disorders.

If you or someone you know may be misusing clonazepam, reach out to Black Bear Lodge. Call our toll-free helpline, 706-909-9811, and learn more about signs and symptoms of addiction and what you can do to start making a real change today.

Continue Reading

• The Truth About Clonazepam Withdrawal
• Does Clonazepam Addiction Change a Person?
• Rediscovering Life without Clonazepam