Well I'd just like to say thanks to everyone who responded or shared their own story.
Here is a small update a bit for anyone who might be interested:
Clonazepam only ended up exacerbating things in the end. Where lorazepam caught me off guard as I did not find it addictive, clonazepam I found to be very addictive as well as very debilitating and to have even worse withrdawal symptoms: Flu like feeling / fever / tachycardia / restlessness. These would present themselves about 2 hours before I took my dose, every night, after I cut down to once a day.
I understand that this is not typical and I seem to be more sensitive than most, but due to how diverse a messenger GABA is, the spectrum of possible withdrawal symptoms and their intensity can vary greatly from person to person.
Ultimately clonazepam debilitated me for about two months both physically and mentally. Ataxia and and weakness for physical and lethergy, amnesia and horrible sleeping patterns for mentally. It also , ironically and infuriatingly, skyrocketed my tolerance to lorazepam which I ended up begging to be switched back to as clonazepam litterally hijacked my life as I knew it.
When all this happened I was taking a max of 2 megs of lorazepam, and I then had to restart cutting down from 4 megs. It has been about six months and I have managed to cut down to 1.5 megs with a fair bit of difficulty. I give this info not for sympathy or pats on the back, but rather to show just how difficult it can be to get off this stuff.
As a final warming I will share another story I ended up learning by chance from a colleague: They had taken lorazepam twice daily for 15 years, and it took them 5 years to taper off. I think this is my 5th year taking lorazepam so if I can be rid of it in a year it wouldn't be too shabby.
Usually, long acting benzos are used to aid tapering off, and supposedly have a higher success rate. However, the long acting ones are lipophilic and have very long half-lives. Clonazepam has a half life of 50 hours, and diazepam which is most commonly used to taper off can be present as an active metabolite for up to ~330 hours. By contrast lorazepam is not soluble in water or fat, or even alcohol and has a half life of under half a day, generally. For whatever reason, this did not work for me, I could not tolerate the long acting ones. Also, Diazepam is Valium, one of the the most addictive things out there... so again if you can, steer clear of these things. Short cuts are not worth it if ends up costing you all that time and more in the end.
Finally, this is my opinion, my experience and a little bit of research in my own words - nothing more. For some these medications make life as enjoyable as everyone should be entitled to, so if you have a panic disorder and anxiety go to a doctor -everyone is different. The potential for physical addiction, and the danger of withdrawal is still greatly underacknowledged by the medical community and the pharma industry. This is just a warning I guess I wish I had gotten.
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Natural supplements are all well and good, but if you have serious depression you really should seek medical help. It's always good to have options to explore, and conventional medicine is often lacking, but I think it's irresponsible to promote these "alternatives" as sure fire cures to people with serious medical conditions. It may be beneficial. It may not be. The important thing is to be informed as a patient. You are ultimately responsible for your own well being, not your doctor.
It could have beneficial effects in some people as a mild mood enhancer, but it's certainly not a remedy for major depression. The important thing to remember is that it can interfere with the absorption and functioning of a lot of medications, so if you're already on medication you should definitely ask your doctor first.
Yet more good points. Enzyme inhibition, induction , etc can make all the difference and doctors (from my experience) are not usually well versed in pharmacokinetics (I am by no means an expert, I dabble at best) ... unfortunately in my experience pharmacists are not always much better, and tend to give only limited and watered down information at best so you really need to be careful even if your doctor says it is okay. Like MuppetFace said, the responsibility is ultimately yours. I just wish I had learned that BEFORE this haha... but hey, live and learn - right?