Follow your doctor's directions. Call if you have any questions. If you are an adult, most doctors will tell you to start by taking no more than 0.5 to 1.5 milligrams (mg) of clonazepam per day, which may be taken all at once or divided into two or three doses. Often the medicine is started at 0.5 mg, taken at bedtime to promote sleep and avoid daytime drowsiness. To get better control of your seizures, the doctor may increase the dosage by 0.5 to 1 mg every 3 to 7 days. The maximum daily dose recommended is 10 mg. In a survey of epilepsy specialists, most recommended no more than 4 mg per day and usually prescribed no more than 2 mg per day.

If your seizures nearly always occur during sleep or first thing in the morning, the doctor may tell you to take all the tablets at one time, usually at bedtime. If daytime seizures occur, you may be told to take some clonazepam two or three times a day. Ask the doctor what to do if you forget to take a dose.

Children up to 10 years of age or up to 30 kilograms (about 65 pounds) of body weight need to start at a very low dose. They generally start by taking no more than 0.01 to 0.02 mg per kg each day (a total of 0.25 to 0.75 mg per day for a child weighing 65 pounds or more). This amount would be given in two or three doses.

The dosage for children should then increase by no more than 0.01 to 0.02 mg/kg every third day until a daily maintenance dose of 0.1 to 0.2 mg/kg of body weight (depending on total weight and age) has been reached.

Reviewed March 2005 by Steven C. Schachter, MD, epilepsy.com Editorial Board.