Hi. I’m new here. Just a little history. At the age of 30 I started taking Lexapro for depression. I was on 10 mg and life was great. I then got married and titrated off at 38 in the hopes of having a baby (which did not happen). After being of for 5 years I started having panic attacks. I started back on the generic form of Lexapro from 10 mg to 20 mg. I also was prescribed Lorazepam to take as needed. I started feeling much better and no more panic attacks. My mom was then diagnosed with terminal cancer. I was stable throughout her treatment and my medications stayed the same. When she passed in March of 2019 I developed more anxiety and the panic attacks returned. So, my doctor added 10mg of generic Lexapro at night and switched me to Clonazepam. Since I started taking both medications back in 2017 that has been a slight increase in my alkaline phosphate. I did contact the manufacturer of Clonazepam and she shared that in the clinic trials there were reports of elevated alkaline phosphate. I’m wondering if anyone has had the same problem? I am more than willing to stop the Clonazepam as I now know what a nasty drug it is. Ironically my mom passed from liver cancer so I am a little freaked. I do a lot for myself mentally: run 6 days a week, acupuncture, Myofacial.... I just want to be healthy both mentally and physically without cause damage to my organs. I do not drink and I had an ultrasound of my liver in January and it showed nothing (liver looked good). I am going back for more bloodwork but searching for answers.
I don't have an answer, but a suggestion. Please talk to your doctor about tapering Clonazepam. It's essential to have a doctor's help if tapering off this, which I am doing.
I hear you there but I can't judge your doctor, because I don't know all of the details (and it's none of my business!) of why he prescribed it. I'm also glad that all is well with your health. This might be a good time to have an open dialog with her/him about how you want to improve your health and how the medication you are taking may affect it. I will pray that all goes well with you!
I used to take Clonazapam but have since gotten off of it after realizing that it wasn't really helping with my anxiety. My psychiatrist at the time told me that Clonazepam simply "masks" anxiety but does not really treat the underlying problem. I don't know if this is true, but that is how he worded it. I would recommend working with your psychiatrist to slowly taper off of it. Given that Clonazepam falls under the category of being a Benzodiazepine, it has the potential to be addictive or habit forming. It was difficult for me to get off of it and not take it even when prescribed only "as needed," however, I eventually did. You know yourself better than anyone else, especially since you are the one that is taking the pill. I'm sure you will be able to reach a good, informed decision.
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Clonazepam for Anxiety
Starting over
Panic and depression
Tapering off clonazepam
