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Clonazepam (Klonopin)

Benzodiazepineprescriptionoral · inferred

Long-acting benzodiazepine (GABA-A positive allosteric modulator) for seizure disorders and panic disorder. Long half-life of 30-40 hours allows once or twice daily dosing. Extensively metabolized by CYP3A4 to inactive 7-aminoclonazepam. Risk of dependence with chronic use.

Projected serum levels — 0.50 mg, once daily

Clonazepam (Klonopin)
Clonazepam (Klonopin) modeled serum levels, 0.50 mg once daily over 15 days Population-based pharmacokinetic estimate. Steady state reached after approximately 2 days. 0 0.25 0.50 0.75 1 Day 0 Day 4 Day 8 Day 11 Day 15 Time on a regular schedule ≈ steady state · day 2
Clonazepam (Klonopin) modeled serum levels with a loading dose of 0.83 mg, then 0.50 mg once daily The first dose is larger so levels approach steady state faster. 0 0.25 0.50 0.75 1 Day 0 Day 4 Day 8 Day 11 Day 15 Time on a regular schedule

Maintenance schedule: 0.50 mg once daily (oral).

Loading schedule: 0.83 mg on day 1, then 0.50 mg once daily — reaching therapeutic levels sooner.

Modeled steady state after ~2 days: peak ≈ 0.66 mg, trough ≈ 0.30 mg body load. Population-based estimate over 15 days for a 0.50 mg dose at a 70 kg reference body mass — the interactive app scales curves to your doses, timing, and body mass.

Key facts

Category
Benzodiazepine
Route modeled
Oral
Model confidence
inferred
Half-life
35 h
Common dose
0.50 mg
Suggested maximum
4 mg/day
Reference dose range
0.13–4 mg (single dose)
Suggested cadence
once daily
Validated against
2 mg oral — Cmax 0.017 mg/L at 2 h

Documented interactions

  • contraindicated
    Carbamazepine (Tegretol) + Clonazepam (Klonopin) CYP induction

    Carbamazepine (Tegretol) inducer of CYP3A4 predicted to change Clonazepam (Klonopin) AUC by ~0.20x

  • contraindicated
    Clarithromycin (Biaxin) + Clonazepam (Klonopin) CYP inhibition

    Clarithromycin (Biaxin) mechanism_based of CYP3A4 predicted to change Clonazepam (Klonopin) AUC by ~10.00x

  • contraindicated
    Dasatinib (Sprycel) + Clonazepam (Klonopin) CYP inhibition

    Dasatinib (Sprycel) time_dependent_inhibitor of CYP3A4 predicted to change Clonazepam (Klonopin) AUC by ~5.00x

  • contraindicated
    Diltiazem + Clonazepam (Klonopin) CYP inhibition

    Diltiazem mechanism_based of CYP3A4 predicted to change Clonazepam (Klonopin) AUC by ~10.00x

  • contraindicated
    Efavirenz (Sustiva) + Clonazepam (Klonopin) CYP induction

    Efavirenz (Sustiva) inducer of CYP3A4 predicted to change Clonazepam (Klonopin) AUC by ~0.12x

  • contraindicated
    Grapefruit (whole fruit) + Clonazepam (Klonopin) CYP inhibition

    Grapefruit (whole fruit) mechanism_based of CYP3A4 predicted to change Clonazepam (Klonopin) AUC by ~10.00x

Serum checks 68 modeled interaction pairings for clonazepam (klonopin) across your whole stack — absorption conflicts, enzyme inhibition, and nutrient depletion included.

Research behind this entry

  1. Clonazepam in the treatment of panic disorder with or without agoraphobia: a dose-response study of efficacy, safety, and discontinuance Moroz G, Rosenbaum JF · Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology, 1997 DOI

    Multicenter fixed-dose RCT (413 patients) establishing minimum effective dose of 1.0 mg/day for panic disorder, with 62% of clonazepam patients panic-free at endpoint versus 37% on placebo.

  2. Efficacy, safety, and gradual discontinuation of clonazepam in panic disorder: a placebo-controlled, multicenter study using optimized dosages Rosenbaum JF et al. · Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology, 1999 DOI

    Multicenter RCT with optimized dosing confirming clonazepam efficacy for panic attacks and demonstrating a gradual taper protocol that minimized but did not eliminate discontinuation symptoms.

  3. Clonazepam pharmacokinetics, brain uptake, and receptor interactions Riss J et al. · Acta Neurologica Scandinavica, 2008 DOI

    Pharmacology review establishing clonazepam half-life of 30-40 hours, 85% protein binding, extensive CYP3A metabolism to inactive 7-aminoclonazepam, and rapid brain uptake.

  4. Pharmacological interventions for benzodiazepine discontinuation in chronic benzodiazepine users Baandrup L et al. · Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2018 DOI

    Cochrane review documenting the psychological and physiological dependence that develops with long-term clonazepam use and the difficulty of discontinuation, relevant given clonazepam's long half-life and common…

4 published studies referenced in the app, each with a plain-language summary.