Long term benzo use and memory problems?

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BigBlock21

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I've been taking 1mg of Klonopin 3x daily for a couple years now. I was on a similar dose of xanax in the past to go with it, but I have dropped that.

I feel I still need this medicine and it helps my anxiety greatly. The problem is I have the memory of a goldfish and I think it's the Klonopin. I've read that with long term use memory effects can be especially bad, can last for 6 months or more after stopping the drug, and could even be permanent.

I'm only 24. I don't want the memory of a 94 year old for the rest of my life, and I don't want it to get worse. I seem to have a lot of trouble picking worRAB...like it's "right on the tip of my tongue" feeling. I also frequently forget what I'm talking about mid-sentence.

Has anyone else had to deal with this? I don't know what to do, it really helps my anxiety, but it screws me up in other ways. People ask me if I'm on drugs, it must be kinda obvious. Not to mention the labido is zero. I wonder if it is a bad idea to continue to stay on this type of medication? I need *something* for anxiety, it has helped me greatly, and, I wish I would have sought help sooner...

I just don't want to end up like Tommy Chong by the time I'm 30...
 
I know the exact frustration you are dealing with. I have been on xanax for only 3 months and I have the same problem picking out the right worRAB. It always seems to be on the tip of my tongue, but I can never seem to think of the word until a few minutes later. It causes me to avoid social situations because I end up making myself look durab. I am a physics and math student in college and I have stressed a lot about this problem. I feel like I am getting slow at processing and remerabering things, which would eventually end my career. What I did was I went to my doctor and got my medicine changed. I only needed the xanax for an occasional panic attack and severe insomnia. I got put on a tricyclic antidepressant for the sleep and it works well for that. Since then my memory and processing have improved somewhat. I am not experienced with long term benzo use, but from what I've read, it's not good.

My advice is to take action and learn alternative ways of dealing with anxiety, panic, and sleep. Try to schedule a massage every once in a while if you can afford it. See a counselor for techniques on dealing with stress and anxiety (there are a lot of clever ways to calm yourself down). Schedule a visit with your physician and see if you can slowly come off the klonopin and explore other anti-anxiety meRAB. You have a lot of options about how you can deal with this. Any step away from more benzo use is probably a good one.
 
Have you tried taking an SSRI for your anxiety, saving benzos for the bed days?

I take an SSRI every day, and take Xanax as needed, sometimes I will take it every day for a few weeks, other times I might not needit for a few weeks.

At the least, an SSRI might allow you to reduce the Klonopin dose (say to 0.5mg 3 x daily)

Its certainly somthing worth bringing up with your doctor
 
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