Overdose - Is an overdose from toxicity on Clonazepam possible?

[GForce]

I know that people can "overdose" on clonazepam but what the media reports as an overdose isn't always well-defined. What I mean by this is that people who die from benzodiazepine overdose often seem to die because of just overly depressing their CNS and so they stop breathing. What I want to know is can you actually take so much clonazepam that you'll die from toxicity to it? I know that overdosing is taking too much of a drug and dying as a result, so yes, technically you can die from an overdose. I'm curious if the drug ever becomes toxic to the body or induces liver failure.

[Solinari]

As far as i know benzodiazepines are very well tolerated and do not cause any organ damage that i know of. I couldn't find a lethal dose for humans, but i imagine it would be very very difficult to overdose on clonazepam because it would take a LOT of tablets to do it.

I would bet that most benzo overdoses are a result of some other drug like alcohol or opiates, and that overdosing on a certain kind of benszo alone is probably rare.

I really think you are talking hundreds if not thousands of pills to cause an overdose or any kind of toxic effect.

Reputation Comments on this post:

Careful how you phrase things. Perhaps hundreds of pills wouldn't kill you (but you appear to be speculating, use evide...

[Solinari]

Since some one gave me a negative rep for the previous post even although they offered no evidence to the contrary and my statement was CLEARLY speculation, ("really think" should have gave it away) i will post a paragraph from the overdose section of Wikipedia's Diazepam Article which in turn appears to be taken from the Journal of the American Medical Association...

The oral LD50 (lethal dose in 50% of the population) of diazepam is 720 mg/kg in mice and 1240 mg/kg in rats.[21] D. J. Greenblatt and colleagues reported in 1978 on two patients who had taken 500 and 2000 mg of diazepam, respectively, went into moderately deep comas, and were discharged within 48 hours without having experienced important complications in spite of having high concentrations of diazepam and its metabolites—desmethyldiazepam, oxazepam, and temazepam—according to samples taken in the hospital and as follow-up.[74]

Overdoses of diazepam with alcohol, opiates and/or other depressants may be fatal.[5][75]

While this is not about Clonazepam it is about a benzodiazepine and demonstrates that some one could take hundreds of pills (200 10mg tablets of diazepam) and even after going in to a "moderately deep coma", it did not kill them and complete recover seems apparent. If i was offering a statement as fact then i would have said so, saying "i really think" should clearly indicate it is an opinion and should not be taken as fact. If you want to refute or disagree with an opinion then reply and say as much, i really think the negative rep was unfair.

Reputation Comments on this post:

Good recovery in defending yourself

[Orchid_Suspiria]

Didn't a benzodiazepine overdose kill Judy Garland?

[Solinari]

Originally Posted by Orchid_Suspiria

Didn't a benzodiazepine overdose kill Judy Garland?

It appears it was a barbiturate overdose of secobarbital which is a definite risk with barbiturates, one of the reasons that benzodiazepines have replaced them.

On June 22, 1969, Garland was found dead by Deans in the bathroom of their rented Chelsea, London house. The coroner, Gavin Thursdon, stated at the inquest that the cause of death was "an incautious self-overdosage" of barbiturates; her blood contained the equivalent of ten 1.5-grain (97 mg) Seconal capsules.[90] Thursdon stressed that the overdose had been unintentional and that there was no evidence to suggest she had committed suicide. Garland's autopsy showed that there was no inflammation of her stomach lining and no drug residue in her stomach, which indicated that the drug had been ingested over a long period of time, rather than in one dose. Her death certificate stated that her death had been "accidental".[91] Garland had turned forty-seven just twelve days prior to her death. Her Wizard of Oz co-star Ray Bolger commented at Garland's funeral, "She just plain wore out." An estimated 20,000 people lined up for hours at the Frank E. Campbell Funeral Home to view her body.[92] Garland was interred in Ferncliff Cemetery, in Hartsdale, New York.

I would be very very surprised if someone could find a single case of a fatal overdose (even after coma) that was solely down to a single benzodiazepine and where no other factors contributed (ill health, elderly, or very young, etc.) I would be willing to bet if there is such a case then it would be one of a handful of cases and would have probably involve an unfathomable amount of tablets which would indicate a deliberate attempt at suicide.

[Psych0naut]

Anxiolytic benzodiazepines and hypnotic benzodiazepines both bind to different receptor sites of the benzodiazepine receptors. Anxiolytic benzo's generally only bind to one sub-receptor of the benzodiazepine receptors, while hypnotic benzo's bind to two different sub-receptors. For this reason, hypnotic benzo's often posses strong anxiolytic and anticonvulsant properties too, while the majority of the anxiolytic benzo's lack strong hypnotic and sedative effects. Hypnotic benzo's are much more toxic, and have been encountered in several cases of fatal overdoses as the single cause of death, which is much more unlikely to happen with anxiolytic benzo's. So it is possible to take a toxic dose of clonazepam, even a fatal one, but one has to take very high doses to reach toxic levels, often literally hundreds of tablets. For strong hypnotic benzo's like flunitrazepam, temazepam and midazolam, the fatal dose can be as little as a few dozen pills, way less compared to anxiolytic benzo's.

On the other hand though, research has pointed out that benzodiazepines containing a nitro-functional group are much more toxic due to the formation of superoxide free radicals through metabolition. These superoxide free radicals are known to be carcinogenic in man(cancer forming). Clo(nitro)azepam is a chloro and nitro-funtional group based benzodiazepine, together with nitrazepam(nitro based), flunitrazepam(fluor/nitro based) and nimetazepam(nitro/methyl based).

Reputation Comments on this post:

	Thanks for explaining this.
	Good information

[GForce]

Thanks for the information. This is what I thought to be the case, but I didn't know that a dichotomy existed among benzos in terms of toxicity. Very interesting stuff.

[JULIO JONESS]

Swim has been taking 1mg Klonopin for around 2 weeks now and some xanex for a little while longer. Swim was wondering how many 1mg Klonopin swim could take before a possible OD? Swim would like to try and take a lot to get rid of whats left. Anyone have any knowledge on this topic? And BTW swim has build some sort of a tollerence to them.

[razorwiredildo]

swim has been told that it is really hard to OD on clonazepam. more often, people wake up in jail with no memory of the preceeding hours.

[polidelaiko]

IF SWIY wants to get rid of the clonazepam for some reason, he could just feed the W.C. with them... or is he trying to O.D. on them? I'm confused.

[JULIO JONESS]

Originally Posted by polidelaiko

IF SWIY wants to get rid of the clonazepam for some reason, he could just feed the W.C. with them... or is he trying to O.D. on them? I'm confused.

No, SWIM does not want to OD at all just take around 6-10 and have a good time. Swim just wants to know if that's safe?

[fnord]

This link should help you out.

• http://www.drugs-forum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=18311

Reputation Comments on this post:

very helpful

[claroscura]

Clonazepam is not an overdose-friendly drug on its own. It is very difficult to find a lethal dose, but if someone were to take a large amount, because of its exceedingly long half-life, this person would feel sedated (and thus unmotivated and inactive) for weeks. Memory and coordination are both impaired during that time. As the effects wear off, the individual may experience severe anxiety.

Six or ten would very unlikely have fatal results in anyone with a tolerance. However, this is absurd for a recreational dosage unless SWIY's got a week or so with nothing else to do and nowhere else to go. Even then, there are reports of people who, due to benzo overdose, do extremely crazy things (such as drive) that leave them in jail.

It's hard to say what dosage to recommend to a stranger, but 2-3mg on a Friday night might be an excellent start. Then one might wait, see how one feels. Go from there.

[lostinla]

Swim's friend od'd on clonopin two weeks ago, took 8 mg at once (is used to one mg two times a day) and swallowed them with vodka. She ended up-with the police BUT they took her to the hospital , she was watched, given fluids, never did have problems passing out or no memory. She shouldn't have gotten in her CAR, there's where the police came in, so yes, drowsy, and would NOT reccommend this to anyone, as the others say, it's a confusing post, wants to get rid of some? Don't do it, that dosage 8-10 can be lethal esp when mixed with other meds. SWIY needs to be safe and respect the medicine

lostinla added 22 Minutes and 19 Seconds later...

One other thing --- if swiy is looking to 'almost' overdose to get enough attention say a 'suicide attempt /ER admit,but not really meaning it while trying to send the message' , wrong wrong wrong. Forgive me I could be way off, just wanted to figure the verbiage in that first post. Still pondering

[yosmokinman]

Thats what happens when alcohole joins the party. Without the vodka swims friend probably would have been fine.