Follow-Up:
I too am older lady, age 62 in Feb and been on Klonipin about 9 yrs now for sleep, and panic attacks and had been misdiagnoised for 25 yr as a psy scizo up too about 12 yrs ago and am now bi-polar and a model recently and wage earner for 30 yrs and grandmother and single parent mostly tho married 3 times and widowed and divoced twice making wrong choice about a lot of thing's entirely on my own now the last 10 yrs not working but PT. I was started on .5 and alleviated the panic attacks and am up too 2mg now with the combination of 16mg of Trilafon which I really don't appreaciate being back on as I was on Sequoqul and doing fine 3 yrs ago and had side effects from Trilafon and had been on it for 30 yrs and very pretty and my side effects are permenent but my sons insist, trilafon. It's all about sleep mostly as I need structered 9-10 hrs sleep even now and when I was 40 and even in College I could not stay up and cram and do all nighters as I had feelings that I would die tho not diagnoised with mental disorders till a year after my 1st divorce at 28 (anxiety then). Recently I was able too talk the Doctors, who I now detest all of them in the HMO's in theis particular area or county where I moved off of the combination of Depakote too on a mild dosage as I can't afford the co pay on all these meds and they all cause extreme weight gain and Depakote and Trilafon and Klonipin were causing a combination of problems, too much sleep and dowisness for 10 months and legthartic behavior and no motivation and with these problems I have the problems of the aged in physical sickly diseases such as incontinence, ulcertaive colitis and 3 major values of my heart damaged since childhood Rheumatic Fever and not a new drug for inflammaed bursa and arthritis which is really helping the injurgy's substained due too have too lift and bend and move myself and furn and dog twice too lesser quarters and arthritis and inflammed shoulder and bursa; I now take for pain relief with all this other crap; Celebrax the only thing I wish I was taking at all along with my Esterderm patch both of which cost $40 co-pay's mail ordered every 3 months but I need my sleep and too appease my one married son and myself that I won't end up in a hosptial I hate them for mental illness or any other reason. I went 16 yrs without hospitalzatin for mental and 20 yrs without a surgery till my hysterectomy or hospitilazation and have a big fear of homelessness or hospilization being my children say tho well off they will not provide tho I was the one that did for them when their father, my # 1 son of bastard who I put thru the university after I had graduated from the university deserted when I was 28 with two babies in diapers. That year of seperation is when my anxiety and my strong sense of well being and sleep got permenently disrupted and medications started and forced incarnation by my Mom a year later in another state as she thought she knew everything since she had been married for 3 yrs too a psy, superitendent of insane hospitals where she put me at 30 yrs old. They after several visits over a 4 yr period advised me I need drugs the rest of my life or I might end up staying in hospitals the rest of my life and when older be begging for meds would lie steal and cheat for meds, maybe that true as pain relief meds were hard too come by last year with new doctors and new practices when I could hardly climb steps and move due too a fall and now arthritis but that effected my sleep too is why they added Depakote too the program about 12 months ago but now I have been off of it now and on the same mild dosage of trilafon I had in 1970 but the Klonipin dosage is up too the higher level too get the sleep at nite all taken at bedtime without the Depakote but I am doing well considering except obsesity on a thin person as a child seems too have set in permenenttely the last 3 yrs which worries me too as I can't seem too change it and I don't overate much or binge. I feel it's the drugs that will kill me someday that I have taken for a lifetime but thank God in ways I was on drugs and meds during the late 60's and 70's and now as otherwise with the exposure I had too certain family members and men, husbands and sons in my life on pot and cocaine and alchohol, I could have some other serious addictions in my old age I don't have. Good luck, wish I had the will too ask the dr's for more cutbacks but I can't seem too now rock the boat at this time of my life