Doctor Said I Should Stay On Clonazepam Indefinitely. 1 Mg

Posted on Thu, 16 Jul 2020

Question: Doctor said I should stay on clonazepam indefinitely. 1 mg per day. Extra half as needed. This is for panic and OCD. I also take abilify and protect for the ocd. Is this ok for long term.

Answered by Dr. Lekshmi Rita Venugopal (3 hours later)

Brief Answer:
Long term treatment with clonazepam

Detailed Answer:
Hello,
Thank you for trusting us with your health query

Clonazepam belongs to a class of medication called benzodiazepines. It has sedative properties, can cause addiction and tolerance, and sleep disturbances in individuals.

So ideally clonazepam must be used for the minimum possible amount of time at a minimum dosage that controls the symptoms.

However, it is also important to effectively control the symptoms of anxiety as well.
So we need to assess whether the benefits of treatment with clonazepam are outweighing the adverse effects for each individual. You can discuss this with your provider and decide accordingly.

Since you are not experiencing psychotic symptoms, you may also discuss reducing the dosage of Abilify and starting an SSRI (Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) for managing OCD and panic attacks. SSRIs are effective than antipsychotic like Abilify to treat OCD and panic attacks.

Hope I was able to help you
Let me know if I can assist you further

Regards
Dr.Lekshmi Rita Venugopal

Note: For further guidance on mental health, Click here.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Arnab Banerjee