[Guest]

Dr.,

When I switched from Xanax to Klonopin, my Dr. gave me a higher dose of Klonopin than I had for Xanax (.25mg Xanax, .5mg Klonopin), he said that these were roughly the equivalents. However, I understand that effective doses for Panic Disorder generally range from 1.5 to 6mg (and as high as 10 sometimes), but Klonopin is lower (1.0 to 4.0mg). I don't understand how that can be the case if Klonopin .5mg is about equal to .25mg Xanax (seems like it is going in the wrong direction). In your opinion, what are the general doses for control of Panic Disorder with these 2 drugs (realizing of course that some people need much more or much less) Thanks as always.

[Guest]

In both instances, he is prescibing "the lowest dose" pill. The equivalence of both agents is really not too different. We typically recommend 1 mg daily as a low dose (may be split), 2 or 3 mgs daily as a moderate dose and above 4 mgs becomes a high dose. When you go to higher doses, Xanax can be more problematic than Klonopin. There is a trend for people on Xanax to increase their dose more than on Klonopin.
[quote] Dr. ,

When I switched from Xanax to Klonopin, my Dr... [/quote]