I know that there are a few people here taking both, so I’m wondering: are they different in that regard?
I’m currently at about the worst I’ve been, and in about a month I’m left home alone for a while (about 5 days… not a lot to some, but to me right now). I don’t think I can handle that like this. Now, I do have a small amount of Valium at home (~20 5mg pills) but at the low doses I’ve taken, I haven’t noticed any big benefit. Would it be a wise choice to talk to my doc about temporary Klonopin for that period?
And, of course: do you think it’d help? The main problem is the huge visual sensitivity thing.
Tran,
I totally understand you not wanting to be left alone for 5 days.
Valium gives me a bigger hit than Klonopin, but it also makes me dopey. I can take Klonopin without SEs, but it doesn’t bring the dizziness down as much as an equivalent amount of Valium (although equivalencies are to be taken with a grain of salt)
You’ve got 20 5 mg pills and you’ll be alone for 5 days. That means you could take 4 of those a day. That’s 20 mg of Valium each day, which is quite a bit. If you’re not used to taking Valium, you might sleep most of the time.
Neither Klonopin nor Valium is not going to help your visual sensitivity. They work as vestibular suppressants. Thus, would help with the dizziness and would help you feel calm.
When you say “at the low doses you’ve taken” what do you mean by that?
Julie
I’ve mostly taken 2.5mg at a time so far, totaling 2.5-7.5mg per 24 hours (1x 2.5mg the last two days, both in the middle of the night). Even at that dose it makes me sleepy, both daytime and at night (which I really need since the serotonin syndrome!), but it doesn’t screw me up. I do think that (much) higher doses would, though.
Anyhoo, if it doesn’t help the sensitivity thing much, then I would rather save them for when they are really needed, like panic and bad insomnia. 
you can test it out and prove me wrong. It does calm down the entire nervous system, so who knows. the worst 5 mg will do is put you to sleep.