OK, now Ive read on a lot of health sites that smoking cigarettes may decrease the effectiveness Klonopin. The question is does cigarette smoking inhibit the effects of the drug in your system for life each time you smoke, or only when you smoke and then the med starts working again. I do love what klonopin has done for my anxiety, but also enjoy a cigarette when Ive had a few drinks. Anyone out there please give me some feedback on your experience, or someone you know, or have read at an reliable source with smoking and Klonopin.

Probably most of you are saying "then dont smoke." But I just want to know the effects.

Thankyou, all responses will be appreciated.

I'm more concerned about your drinking on a benzo. Some docs will pull you off if they find this out as it's heck on your liver and the potential for accidental overdose is high. Why are you doing this? Much more lethal than smoking a cigarette.

Jackie

Surf
Yeah, I am new to Klonopin and I was wondering the same thing. There seems to be a a lot of contradictory information on the web about this. What I see the most is that klonopin decrease the urge to smoke. But I notice on my heavy smoking days the drug seems ineffective. I have been trying to cut back on smoking. I find that a lot of my smoking is out of habit and not chemical urge.
Just a side note this med makes me pretty drowsy. I can't imagine what it would do if I drank. That sounds like a bad idea.

Jackie, I do appreciate your concern. To let you know more of what im on, I take 2mg of klonopin, 80mg of Prozac, and 200mg of 5-htp. The thing is my friends go to the bar on Fri nights so I join the to have a good time. I live in a town right now that is so small there is nothing to do socially but go to the bars on weekends. The towns Sheridan, Wy and I moved here from Kentucky just to live out west, plus I have family out here so it was the obvious choice. I went to the local Community College and completely bombed the classes my first semester. I went back to Sheridan College after attending MSU and bombed the classes again. Right now, approx. 3 yrs later, Im passing two science classes, at SC, so I can bring up my gpa and get the heck out of here to live in a larger city.

The thing is I have been peer anti-social ever since I was 14 and with OCD and ADD its made my teen life a living hell. Ive been on almost every SSRI and always looked to them for relief from my anxiety. Finally last year, im 24 btw, im working at Walgreens and I stumble on 5-htp just facing the shelves. I start taking that with my Lexapro and I start feeling much better. I did that combo for a while and just less that a month ago my phyciatrist put me on Klonopin to take the edge off my anxiety. I started feeling even better, socially active, unafraid of saying the wrong thing or worrying about what I should say, not feeling like im on pins and needles, close to the edge. Im even more comfortable around girls/women im attracted to. Just to feel this lift off of always being uptight and irritable is phenomenal. So now that I feel that way, im living in this closed-off town with stuck-up, prudy, think they're better than everyone else girls around my age group and its really a bunch of crap. Since ive been feeling better ive been shot down by women way more than I ever would have back in Kentucky. As soon as the semester is finished, I wont leave right away, may stick around and have fun with my buddies camping and boating, but as soon as august comes around, im out of this cockeyed town.

Anyway ive read on drug and health sites to be causious of drinking alcohol and to tell your doctor before you do, but I abused that advice and went out and had a pretty good time. There was one occasion where we went up to a larger city, Billings, MT, and I got pretty drunk and ended up passing out, since then ive been drinking and have been fine, accept for my mood. Its all my friends do on the weekend and it would be very hard not to have just a few drinks with them. Now its been feeling like the drug isint making me feel like I did when I first started using it. Now I worried about the cigarettes because the known fact it may reduce the effectiveness, but ive read that drinking while on Klonopin only increases its affectiveness, so I took advantage of that and thought well, its not going to reduce the effect. This weekend Im going on a scuba diving trip this weekend and may not be drinking. I dont want that good feeling I had go away, right now its feeling good one day but not the next. I just want to be able to finally enjoy life and not be afraid of it with what if q's circling through my head. I will ask my doctor about the drinking issue when we meet not too far from now. My prescription is to take 2mg's at night, when Im going out on fri night lets say, I do not take it. I will either take it the next day around noon or that next night. Now the issue on smoking, I only do it when Ive been drinking and have only smoked one night in the duration of taking Klonopin, but as I said, I do not take it if im going to be drinking that night. Do you think that smoking that night decreased the effectiveness Klonopin has on my GABA?

Hope to here back from you please keep in touch.

Stevo

Surf
Well I did not quit smoking, but I reduced the number of cigarettes I smoke per day. I felt a better. That may have been just because I was smoking less and had achieved a goal. I'm not sure. Unfortunately the Klonopin seems to be wearing off. I am epileptic and Now I am having sleep induced mini-seizures. They start as soon as I fall asleep. Either My dosage is too low (@ 0.5 mg x 2 now) or the Klonopin is interacting my regular anticonvulsants. I really like the way this stuff worked at first and I wish I could get the back.

i have heard both. i have heard that smoking will cause more anxeity and that smoking will cause less. i have never heard of it hendering your meds. so smoking wouldn't be the issue. but back to the drinking just because you don't take it when you drink doesn't mean that it will not affect your meds and the way your meds work. please please understand that. i know it messes with the prozac. that could be why you feel like you are on a rollar coaster ride now. i know peer pressure is bad i so realize that but if the only fun that you really can have with them friends is drinking you might want to invest some time in looking for some new friends. i don't want you to think i am being mean but this is your health. no one elses but yours so you are the one who is going to have to pay the price for there fun. please consider that. love and god bless tonya. oh also what part of ky was you from?

Georgetown

I am still a little confused as to how well Klonopin is working. It works very well around my family. There was a certain level of discomfort in the past in family gatherings. It does not work so well around strangers. It is OK at first, but then it wears off. This may due to my lack of social skills or too low of a dosage. I do not know. I do feel very uncomfortable when I am alone. I find all of the sudden that I need other people. That is a good thing (motivation).

I'm not not sure if smoking had a major effect. When I smoked less It seemed that I was more talkative and outgoing. That may have just been a coincidence. Perhaps while I smoked less I just had more opportunity to interact. I took more chances. I went to new coffee shops and restaurants. I went with the intention of test driving the new med. That leaves open the possibility for a placebo effect. So many variables, who knows it could also be related to my diet, sleep, or other meds.

For the last two weeks Klonopin has disrupting my sleep. I have sleep onset seizures (I have epilepsy) that make going to sleep or taking a nap very difficult. Lack of sleep could be adding symptoms. I see the doc on Thursday and hope to come up with a solution.