Effects - A bit of a comparison between Clonazepam and Alprazolam.

[reef88]

Hello guys how are you doing? I've got a friend who once used to take some Alprazolam before giving a presentation ( 60 - 30 minutes before) because he's got decent anxiety. It's usually very manageable but when giving a presentation it all goes downhill.

Anyway, it would work great. I know it's because Alprazolam is fast acting and it's onset is pretty quick, overall I say it's the most effective if you want to get rid of anxiety as soon as possible.

Lately he has been giving some more presentations and this time he came across some Clonazepam (I don't know how he got it)

Now he asked me some advice on the subject, he asked me what dose should he take? He would take 0.5 - 1mg of Alprazolam, but now he doesn't know what dose with Clonazepam. He also asked be if 60 - 30 minutes before the presentation is enough for it to take effect or should it be way before seeing Clonazepam takes longer to take effect.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

[EmanEvan]

SWIM has had experience with both Clonazepam and Alprazolam. The peak concentration are taking Alprazolam is typically between 1.4 to 1.6 hours, with effects beginning usually within 20-30 min. Clonazepam, on the other hand, usualy takes anywhere from 2-3 hours to reach peak concentration. SWIM recommends taking Clonazepam about 2 hours before your presentation (instead of the 30-60 min it take for Alprazolam to kick in.

There are many other differences including half life and effectiveness. However, as far as planning to dose before a presentation, take it sooner than later! (not too late)

[Wayne Brady]

Check this out reef88. It is an equivalent chart. It shows Clonazepam as twice as strong as Alprazolam. I hope that helps.

[no eff eks]

Clonazepam and alprazolam are fairly close in terms of potency. Most of what I've seen says 2mg clonazepam is roughly equivalent to 1mg alprazolam (or more accurately, both are said to be roughly equivalent to 10mg diazepam). Personally I have found those reports to be fairly accurate.

I don't consider clonazepam a good drug for performance anxiety since it has a very long half-life (something like 30hrs I believe). It also takes longer to "kick in" than alprazolam which often leads people to believe the drug isn't working and taking more than they need. Still, if your friend is going to try this I'd suggest taking 1mg clonazepam (based on previous use of .5-1mg xanax) and dosing around 2-3 hours before the presentation.

I would recommend getting some experience with clonazepam and how it affects you before trying to give a presentation while under its influence. Keep in mind that the drug stays active for a very long time and the effects come on very subtly/gradually over a couple hours.

[EmanEvan]

Originally Posted by Wayne Brady

Check this out reef88. It is an equivalent chart. It shows Clonazepam as twice as strong as Alprazolam. I hope that helps.

This is quite debatable. Most charts show it being the same. And quite frankly this is only because the benzo is spread over the long half-life.

[reef88]

About both benzo's potency, my friend finds that they are roughly the same. Being Alprazolam just a little bit stronger. He'd say 0.75mg alprazolam =1mg clonazepam. or something like that.

Thanks everyone.

[dreamincolour67]

I've got plenty of legit experience w/benzos. At this time I take 4/mg clonazapam/day (pain med booster and helps w/pain cycle anxiety) and am given 2 mgs lorazapam in an IV push (auguments main ingrediant and acts for short term pain reduction) I was rx'd xanax back in the day and it did nothing for me. It's effects were gone as soon as I felt them, I swear. So that says something about how fast acting it is, I've heard it's the fastest of the benzo or one of them. So wouldn't that be best if you know how you react for something like a presentation?

Lorazapam (Ativan) is on the fast side of medium in terms of how fast it acts, half life, etc...Because I take the clonazapam maybe, or maybe because I just metabolize benzos like a starving garbage disposal lol, I can barely feel the 2 mgs. pushed in an IV (on top of my usual 4/mg clonazapam & 80 mgs methadone, and many other "this may make you sleepy" non controlled substance rx's and plenty of otc benedryl) They often push benedryl too in my IV--50 mgs, it auguments pain meds if anyone is interested. Lorazapam in tab (I keep 4 mgs always at home in case I can't get IV for breakthrough pain) takes 30-40 mins to work and peaks at about 1 hr for 2 hours. I take all benzos sublingually before swallowing excess..even it doen't help, it can't hurt, right? Lasts 4 hr.s IV push last 2hrs only. Peaks for 30 mins maybe? When I was prescribe Valuim tbs they were on the medium/medium or longer side of medium. Took 30-40 minutes to work, peaked about in 90 min and lasted 3-4 hrs I think.

Would never recommend clonazapam from my personal (legit rx'd) experience for a planned, timed limited event. I was started on 3 mgs. day. Barely felt it first day. Takes 3 days to fully feel my dose. Never feel a "peak" ever because its an even drug for long term use & its subtle. The only things I've only heard friends talk about using it outside the RX purposes is to handle excess anxiety (self treat by taking more) or to boost other drugs, like various stronger opiates. I've heard tell & seen using it w/an extremely strong opiate to intensify and give legs to the "high" (lol..I'd call it a nice "low" but who am I?) I've seen injecting it but someone here said its no use. But I've witness many many ppl do so w/their other spoon feedings (which I do not do). Pistaccio green, kind of pretty looking..They call clonazapam "pins" after the brand name, Klonopin. If you really want clonazapam afterall, I just hit apon an important thing. Everyone has the "pretty green" image. That's the color of the 1 mg. pills. I've had some horrid batches of generic 1mgs quality-wise. Once I even had w/d symptoms that magically dissapeared when I refilled. Once the pharmacy was out of 1 mgs and subbed 2mgs that I cut in half. No more quality issues. Not one time, ever again since I changed to the 2mg tabs.

I know what others say here about Klonopin and I would never suggest how someone else would react as far as sleepiness. And I am not posing as a doctor or phamacist. But I will say that 3 doctors and 2 pharmacists have told me that beyond how stupid the person may act and feel, clonzapam is actually fairly non-toxic. A person can (not should!!!) take tons of it and expect to survive. Some of them might look like such an ass they might wish they didn't or they might lose a few days. It's the weirdo benzo they say.

[P1-O2]

You should never mix benzodiazepines with strong opiates (or opiates at all). That's a recipe to stop breathing. None of the advice above is going to help the author of this thread with his performance anxiety questions.

[dreamincolour67]

RE: PO-02: Read before you say "no one" and "never"consider reading the entire post...I am legally prescribed 4mg/clonazapam/day and 80 mg/methadone/day by the same physician who has an excellent reputation. He gets awards for being "Doctor's Favorite Doctor" and is listed in "Best doctors in Seattle" without fail every year. When you say "never" you are saying I should ignore my doctor's orders because you know better what I should be do.

That is the only reason I addressed clonazapam's relative toxicity was because like it or not, people take medicines and other drugs they weren't prescribed. That is a fact.I never suggested anyone else should mix benzo's with opiates on their own, but some people will do so anyway. I was under the impression that this site was also for addressing the reality in safety issues for people who are not going to follow directions on what "they should never do". So I reported what appropriate professionals have told me about clonazapam in comparison to the other benzos. Never said what anyone should do with that information. If we're gonna go with "should" maybe we should just exclude all posts that don't regard legal scripts for the person named on the script?

My advice to the person considering clonazapam was to not choose that one to self-treat anxiety for a short term, planned performance. That he/she probably won't get the result he/she is looking for because clonazapam is rx'd for an entirely different purpose than alprazolam. Fact. It won't work for short term needs and he/she doesn't know how they will react. But it won't do them much good for a speach. It soundSo if we want to s like the questioner possibly doesn't have their own script for either benzo. so if we must stick to "should" and "always" maybe their post should be ignored. Because they "shouldn't" take another's meds. Never said he/she should mix it. I fail to see how suggesting that clonazapam is not a great choice for their purpose is "of no value."

I am new here, P1-02 stated that she/he can't give me "another rep". What is that? A threat to report me? Fine, go ahead. And I'll be sure to tell my highly regarded internist that P1-02 knows much more than he does about my personal medication list. I don't care anyways..I've seen some pretty amazing stuff on here, how to use heroin properly, which pills can be safely liquified and injected, etc..and they got actual answers. I report things I've experienced, medicines I currently take all prescribed legally by a single doctor and filled at a single pharmacy unless I'm away from town, and I get threatened and scolded. Fine, report me. Whatever.

dreamincolour67 added 40 Minutes and 15 Seconds later...

P1-02: I feel "flamed" and threatened by your comment about "giving me a another rep" (What is the other "rep" I have..I wasn't notified yet)..I tried to report myself for the purpose of getting myself off this site. If other people can discuss their cottons, etc..and get actual answers and I get what you snidely said for saying absolutely nothing that isn't personal experience, reports from professionals, or visual observations. there really isn't much for me to say. Except who do you think you are insulting my doctor, the ER doctors who treat me, the University of Wash. Med. Center doctor who gave me the IV(containing 2 mgs Ativan) recipe (for "death" according to you) knowing I take a fairly strong opiate and clonazapam? Forget it. I did nothing to deserve such snideness and you've done nothing to deserve the right to critique my doctor and consulting (consulting doctors not multiple doctors) doctors plan of treatment for me. If someone like you represents how people are treated on this site, count me out.

Reputation Comments on this Post:

You are taking offense with a member, where there is no offense meant. YOu may feel anything you like, but you have not been flamed in any way. Your post is seeking conflict, which is against the rules that you agreed with.

[KeepOnTokin08]

Hey there, In my opinion, Klonopin and Xanax are pretty equal in strength. The Xanax will hit ya quicker, the Clonazepam will last longer whe taken orally.

It sounds in his case, with the performace anxiety, a fast acting benzo such as Xanax or Ativan would be appropriate.

If he chooses Xanax, dose 0.5/1mg about 30 minutes before the speech.
If he chooses Klonopin, dose 0.5/1mg about a hour before the speech.

It factors down to tolerance and his anxiety levels, and if its for a speech, he would want to take the least amount for the desired effect, as he dont want to be brain farting up there during his speech lol

Stick with the .5mgs of either medicine if no/little tolerance although I suggest the xanax.

No doctor here, just saying.

Reputation Comments on this Post:

Informative post.