Clonidine is an antihypertensive drug that is mostly used in treating high blood pressure. You may know the drug by one if it’s brand names, however – Catapres.
People use the drug to treat Tourette’s syndrome and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder as well. It’s also beneficial for people experiencing withdrawal from an addiction.
In most cases, people use clonidine to treat nicotine, opioid, or alcohol withdrawal symptoms.
If you’re wondering “how fast does clonidine work,” it depends on the context of what you want it to work for. For issues with blood pressure, it may take a few days of use to see significant results.
In terms of the mental effects of use, those are active within an hour or two of ingestion.
What Is Clonidine Used For?
You may wonder why in the world there would be clonidine recreational use if it’s just a blood pressure drug. Beyond blood pressure, clonidine is used to treat several mental illnesses or difficulties. When it comes to addiction, most people use the substance to achieve an altered state of consciousness.
The drug suppresses the central system and relieves a little bit of the experience of pain. It’s also effective at producing a feeling of euphoria for a short time, depending on the dosage.
That said, it’s rarely sought out recreationally at first. Many people aren’t trying to find clonidine to get high. Instead, people get prescribed the drug and build up an addiction to it.
Individuals in recovery start to abuse it as it’s helping them with withdrawal. In this way, it’s a lot like methadone which helps people get off drugs while holding a strong chance for addiction.
Side Effects of Clonidine?
Difficulties arise when a person has developed a tolerance to clonidine, then stops taking it suddenly. Clonidine withdrawal is unique in that the sympathetic nervous system overacts when the drug is removed. That activity constricts the nerves a great deal and leads to a skyrocketing of blood pressure.
High blood pressure can lead to a lot of health effects including anxiety, or even an aneurysm. That constriction of the veins can also lead to hypertension, which is what the drug was created to treat in the first place.
Clonidine blood pressure issues aren’t the only thing to think about when you’re facing withdrawals. Many of the symptoms of withdrawal from clonidine are similar to those you face with other addictive drugs.
Some short term side effects
- Nerves
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Concentration issues
- Agitation
- Cold sweats
Long is that you might experience intensified depression and anxiety symptoms as your neurotransmitters try to adjust to the new situation.
Most cases of withdrawal last for a few weeks. You can expect the symptoms to start around half a day after you stop taking the medication as well. If you’re experiencing a dependency on clonidine, it is wise to seek help from a professional team that can monitor you as you go through the process.
Clonidine Overdose
It’s important to note that it is possible to take too much clonidine. An overdose will likely lead to several significant side effects:
- slow breathing
- fainting
- deliriousness
- slurred speech
- eventual shutting down of the central nervous system.
In other words, clonidine in too high of doses could lead to death. This occurs when you take more than you’re prescribed or develop a habit of using too often. Using too often will allow you to build up a tolerance, and you won’t overdose in the strict sense, but the onset health issues that come from misuse can kill a person.
If you or someone you love experiences the symptoms described above, it’s important to call 999. You can also call poison control to see if you’ve got anything to worry about when taking too much clonidine on accident.
Further, the information above makes it important for you to keep clonidine prescriptions away from and out of reach of small children. It’s a common household drug, and there are many instances of children getting ahold of prescriptions and needing to go to the hospital.
Does Clonidine Help With Depression?
Clonidine can be used to treat anxiety disorders, which depression is closely related to. The impact of clonidine on rates of serotonin or serotonin receptors isn’t particularly strong, so it might not be as effective as an SSRI or SNRI.
That said, there’s a lot of comorbidity among depressive and anxiety disorders. Treating an anxiety disorder is very likely to help the symptoms of depression. In many cases, the anxiety precedes depression and leads to changes in self-image and thought patterns.
These thoughts might be negative, difficult, and confusing. A common response to that line of thinking is a shift toward low self-esteem, isolation, and more. Those symptoms can produce the internal environment of depression and allow both conditions to get worse.
So, getting to the source of the issue might help relieve both conditions. That said, it’s not common that you would be prescribed clonidine for the sole treatment of depression.
Clonidine for Anxiety
Norepinephrine is a close second to serotonin when it comes to the relationship to mental health. “SNRIs” are selective norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors, a common medication for individuals experiencing depression and anxiety.
Clonidine, while not an SNRI, does have a significant effect on norepinephrine. Clonidine used for anxiety is effective because it addresses the imbalance of norepinephrine, which can play a part in the onset of anxiety symptoms and the side effects of disorders like Tourette’s.
Individuals with Tourette’s might use clonidine to reduce the frequency of common symptoms they experience from the disorder.
Clonidine for anxiety side effects is the same as the effects of using the drug for any other purpose.
Clonidine Treatment Options
If you’re experiencing clonidine side effects, know that there are options for you to get help. You’re not the first person to experience this kind of addiction, and you won’t be the last.
People might feel unsure about seeking treatment for clonidine because it isn’t always thought of as something that you can get addicted to. It’s a simple prescription drug, and it seems pretty harmless, right?
Wrong. It’s very addictive, and there’s no shame in finding yourself a little more dependant on the drug than you thought you could be. There are clonidine treatment options that can help you get off of the drug and reestablish your life the way it was before.
In fact, it would be unintelligent to try and get off of clonidine without the help of professionals. Some drug addictions are safe to quit cold turkey, but clonidine isn’t one of them.
The withdrawal symptoms can be intense enough to put someone in the hospital, and those effects are avoidable if you go through the process under the supervision of professionals.
The Reality of Clonidine Addiction
Addiction to clonidine presents similar symptoms to the addictions of other drugs. Failure to fulfil obligations that the person used to fulfil, secretive behaviour, personality changes, and the reorganization of priorities are all common.
The individual might use more and more clonidine as their tolerance increases, deepening the addiction and difficulty of withdrawals. Because the drug isn’t discussed often, there might be less apprehension about using it to produce a mental effect.
That makes it even more dangerous than the drugs that there’s a lot of awareness of. So, if you’re done with the prescription and feel difficulty getting off of this drug, take it seriously.
The consequences of this addiction could be as severe as an addiction of any other kind. It’s important to discuss the issue with someone close to you and decide if seeking treatment options is the right thing to do in your situation.
When that time comes, we’re here to help.
Want to Learn More About Clonidine Use?
Hopefully, our discussion of clonidine was helpful to you. Knowing things like “does clonidine help with depression,” clonidine symptoms, addiction, and treatment are all useful if you or a loved one are using the drug.
We’re here to help if you need help getting clonidine out of your life. Contact us for more insight into recovery options, pricing, scheduling, and more.
Sources
https://www.heart.org/en/health-topics/high-blood-pressure/the-facts-about-high-blood-pressure/what-is-high-blood-pressure
https://www.kenhub.com/en/library/anatomy/sympathetic-nervous-system
https://www.verywellhealth.com/norepinephrine-what-does-or-doesnt-it-do-for-you-3967568
