Clonazepam, side effects

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I'm hoping to get some others experiences with Clonazepam for comparison. I apologize if this is a repeat post, I tried to dig through existing posts and couldn't find what I'm looking for.

I was recently prescribed Clonazepam, initially for help with social anxiety (and other sources of stress in my life), but was told it "should help with everything" (also diagnosed with Asperger's). I have a lot of sensory issues, social issues, dealing with illogical behavior of others, focusing amidst ambient distractions (noise, smells, talking, light, etc.). I was told this would help with all that and the only side effect might be that I would feel tired.

I specifically asked about cognitive impairments (employed as a fluid/thermal analyst and need my brain working) and any other side effects and was told there shouldn't be any. I have been on Clonazepam for about a month and a half now (up to 2mg/day) and the only benefit I am realizing is that it helps me sleep. It seems to do nothing for focus or being able to deal with or block out distractions or adverse sensory input and definitely isn't helping with social anxiety. I've found the practitioner prescribing the medication to be a very poor listener and disingenuous. My brain function feels sluggish, I have a chronic restless/unsettled feeling, the source of which seems to elude me (other than being a side effect of the medicine), balance and coordination are worse, etc.

Are there others in similar situations and would anyone recommend sticking it out to see if it settles in and helps or was he feeding me a line of nonsense that will never come to fruition? I've heard the process to get off of this stuff is atrocious.

No, I wouldn't say the process of getting off of it, is atrocious----the atrocity happens, IMO, if you go off of it, "cold turkey"----it is possible that doing so, will cause hallucinations, at the very LEAST.

Have you ever considered that you might have ADHD, as well? It's an EXTREMELY common what I call "sidecar" (co-morbidity) of Aspergers; and, therefore, Ritalin would be quite appropriate. I feel that your experience with Clonazepam is proof-enough that you've got another "issue" going-on.

I'm sorry that your doctor doesn't seem to be listening----I HATE when that happens----and I would DEFINITELY get another doctor, if you can. We ASDers have enough to be getting-on-with, without having to deal with someone who isn't listening to us----ESPECIALLY a doctor!!

I'm fairly certain I have ADD or ADHD as well. I'm really not keen on medications anyway and was hesitant to try this. I really don't want to get into a long drawn out science project to see which medication might be more helpful than not. I'm leaning toward telling them stick the pills and I'll deal with it the way I have in the 33 years before knowing the reason I am the way I am.
Increased stress/responsibilities at home and work were the catalysts for seeking help with the things I couldn't fix on my own but I'm not sure this process is shaping up to be an improvement.
I appreciate the feedback.

I'm on Ativan twice daily and it has been a godsend for my social issues.

Anybody have experience with SSRIs for anxiety? The mechanism by which these are supposed to work seems more in line with something that would be much more appropriate/helpful than benzos.

I'm on a combination of sertraline and clonazepam, it's working for me right now.

It took me a couple months to adjust to the clonazepam, at first it just made me really sleepy, emotional and spaced out. Now, it keeps me calm the majority of the time and my panic attacks to a minimum.

What works for everyone is different, it took me YEARS to find a combination and multiple doctors visits to find the ones that worked for me.

That's good to know. Maybe I just have to bite the bullet a little longer and see what happens before trying a different course. Everything you describe I'm experiencing now.

Clonazepam banished my anxiety like a wave of a magic wand, with no adverse side effects. This was so remarkable at the time that I was compelled to research everything I could find about it. The most relevant thing I found was a number of studies which told me 1) that a significant proportion of ASD people tend to be deficient in the neurotransmitter GABA from birth and 2) Clonazepam raises levels of GABA in the brain. Certainly worked for me. I stayed on the same dose and made sure that I didn't increase it, and took breaks now and then. For me it was 100% positive, though people are different, one size never fits all. It increased my motivation, zapped my anxiety, and enabled me to achieve goals that I kept procrastinating over.

It helps to hear the positive experiences. The outlook was looking a little bleak but it seems I may not have given it a fair shot. I have the benefit of the psychologist and separate practioner prescribing the medication as far as clinical opinions/expertise so that should offer some benefit.

Also do not stop taking it unless the doctor orders it. I was taking a decent amount of lorazepam a couple years ago (another benzo) for a weeks long worth of panic attacks and I ended up almost getting addicted to it (went through withdrawals with it)

He did warn me strictly against stopping.

I've had good luck with it, I take it in concert with Xanax for acute anxiety, and it's helped a lot in keeping my general anxiety levels down. I take a fairly low dose daily, .5 mg, which I can bump up to 1 or 1.5 if I'm going through a stressful period, and I've not really had any issues with withdrawal or anything, even when I forget to take it for a few days.

I took Clonazepam during the summer of this year and it yielded a similar non-effect on me. They eventually put me on Escitalopram which seemed to easy my anxiety slightly. Doctor are quite dumb, so, I recommend going to your doctor with a plan with suggestion of which medicines that could help or other problems you could have such as ADHD. For example, my social anxiety effects me bad while talking to my doctor so I either wrote him a note before hand or let my mother talk to him for me.

I actually had a 3 page note that I took for the first visit for the same reason.
I've also come to the realization in recent years that professionals in their respective fields don't necessarily seem to be able to do some aspects of their jobs as well as, say, an Aspie who decides to educate oneself on a topic. I have started looking into this and which medications would suit my particular situation the best (hence the SSRI question). I'll give this some more time and if it doesn't pan out I'll go to him with my suggestions.
Thanks again to everyone for all the help.