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clonazepam

Adjunctive therapy • Brands: KLONOPIN

Last reviewed: 2026-02-20

General information

Class: Adjunctive therapy
Common US brands: KLONOPIN
Typical dose range: Panic disorder (label): start 0.25 mg twice daily; increase every 3 days to 1 mg twice daily; maximum 4 mg/day.
Therapeutic drug monitoring not routinely recommended.
Last reviewed: 2026-02-20

Dosing & forms

Forms/strengths: Tablets: 0.5 mg, 1 mg, 2 mg (scored).; Orally disintegrating tablets: 0.125 mg, 0.25 mg, 0.5 mg, 1 mg, 2 mg.
Frequency: Panic disorder (label): start 0.25 mg twice daily; increase every 3 days to 1 mg twice daily; maximum 4 mg/day.
Typical range: Panic disorder (label): start 0.25 mg twice daily; increase every 3 days to 1 mg twice daily; maximum 4 mg/day.

Mechanism (brief)

Benzodiazepine; enhances GABA‑A receptor activity.

Metabolism & Half‑life

Metabolism: Hepatic
Half‑life: Steady-state mean 35 h

Therapeutic Drug Monitoring (TDM)

Recommended: No

View labelExact

Monitoring highlights

Sedation, cognition, gait/ataxia, and fall risk at each visit; counseling commonly covers driving and occupational safety after dose changes.
Respiratory risk (sleep apnea, COPD) and co-prescribed CNS depressants; overdose education is important, and some settings coordinate naloxone when opioids are unavoidable.
Misuse/diversion risk: PDMP review, documentation of indication/duration, and periodic reassessment with a time-limited plan are common.
Withdrawal risk: written taper schedules, tracking rebound anxiety/insomnia, and slower tapers for long-term users or higher doses are typical.

Sources

Klonopin (clonazepam) prescribing information — DailyMed (2025)
Evidence-based pharmacological treatment of anxiety disorders — Depression and Anxiety (2014)
Benzodiazepines for catatonia: systematic review and meta-analysis — Schizophrenia Research (2018)
ASAM guideline on benzodiazepines — Journal of Addiction Medicine (2020)
Evidence-based consensus guidelines for the management of catatonia: recommendations from the British Association for Psychopharmacology — Journal of Psychopharmacology (2023)