Guidance on .5mg Klonopin Taper

[[Buddie]]

I started tapering from 3mg of Klonopin in May. In 12 weeks, I dropped from 3mg to .5mg. The taper was way too rapid and complete and total hell ensued - I know everyone in this forum can relate.

I've been holding on the .5mg of Klonopin since October of 2022.

My doctor wants me to taper off the .5mg in 8 weeks which I believe is way too fast. I've been doing a dry taper. He wants to do the following:

.5mg to .375mg (25% reduction!! scary!)- hold for 4 weeks
.375mg to .25mg - hold for 2 weeks
.25 mg to .125mg - hold for 2 weeks
...Jump

Can someone suggest an alternative schedule? I know there are many people out there who are tapering from .5mg much slower using liquid or some other method. He says with a .5mg pill you can only make .125mg reductions (cutting the pill into quarters) so that's the best that can be done.

Can anyone recommend a slower taper plan I can review with my doctor?

Any guidance would be appreciated!

[[Buddie]]

Will your doctor support you going slower, if he will you have some options, are you interested in using a scale to weigh your dose or perhaps a liquid taper?  Heck, you can shave your pills to make smaller doses and while its not exact, Klonopin has a decent half life so many have used this method. 

[[Buddie]]

I think he would support a slower taper, but I know he's never worked with a patient on a liquid taper or dry micro taper. If I presented a dry micro taper, what kind of schedule would you suggest?

[[Buddie]]

I’m a fan of a patient led, symptom based tapers so while a schedule is nice to set expectations its not always realistic because life happens.  We have to adjust our tapers for illness, increased symptom severity, family obligations, etc. so what I’m hoping is he’ll be receptive to letting you guide your taper.  Have you shown your doctor this document?  Colorado Consortium Benzodiazepine Deprescribing Guidance

If you can get your doctor on board, we can help you figure how to weigh your doses.  I don’t have experience but we can find members who can give you some pointers.  I hear liquid titration works well too and once you get the hang of it, its easy. 

If you need more information upfront to speak with your doctor, let us know and we’ll get into specifics. 

[[Buddie]]

I'm on a slow taper of Klonapin (5%) every 14 days or so...it's slow and steady.  Most days I'm functioning fairly well.  I would suggest this method. I use a pill cutter and a jewler scale I bought on Amazon.

[[Buddie]]

I'm on a slow taper of Klonapin (5%) every 14 days or so...it's slow and steady.  Most days I'm functioning fairly well.  I would suggest this method. I use a pill cutter and a jewler scale I bought on Amazon.

I started a taper off 1mg clonopin (ClonazePam) (in am) Dec. 1. 2022. First cut at .25 mg (Dr prescribed) was too much so quickly restarted and visually cut approx. 1/4 - 1/3 of 0.25 tablet and held for one month. Finally got a scale, which is ridiculously sensitive and inconsistent, but I’m told it’s the way to go. I’m not ready for a liquid taper yet. I have cut between 5% and 10% since Jan. 1. 2023. I want to go faster, but I’m listening to my symptoms, which tend to hit 5 days into cut. Not terrible at 5% cuts so far. 10% is not great, but bearable.

My last cut was at three weeks instead of one month. I’m going to try this if I’m staying at 5% cuts.

My problem is I have no real idea what my dose is according to the jewelry scale. I’ve set it on “g”, which is for grams, but I’m always off by the number three to the right of the decimal point. I just hope it’s okay for the dose to not be exact down to the tiniest bit at this high dose. I’m sure it’ll matter once I get much lower. (Patience arrrrggggg).

Any thoughts from those cutting/shaving their pills and weighing? My mind is very visual.
Thanks and good luck to all of us.

[[Buddie]]

I'm on a slow taper of Klonapin (5%) every 14 days or so...it's slow and steady.  Most days I'm functioning fairly well.  I would suggest this method. I use a pill cutter and a jewler scale I bought on Amazon.

I started a taper off 1mg clonopin (ClonazePam) (in am) Dec. 1. 2022. First cut at .25 mg (Dr prescribed) was too much so quickly restarted and visually cut approx. 1/4 - 1/3 of 0.25 tablet and held for one month. Finally got a scale, which is ridiculously sensitive and inconsistent, but I’m told it’s the way to go. I’m not ready for a liquid taper yet. I have cut between 5% and 10% since Jan. 1. 2023. I want to go faster, but I’m listening to my symptoms, which tend to hit 5 days into cut. Not terrible at 5% cuts so far. 10% is not great, but bearable.

My last cut was at three weeks instead of one month. I’m going to try this if I’m staying at 5% cuts.

My problem is I have no real idea what my dose is according to the jewelry scale. I’ve set it on “g”, which is for grams, but I’m always off by the number three to the right of the decimal point. I just hope it’s okay for the dose to not be exact down to the tiniest bit at this high dose. I’m sure it’ll matter once I get much lower. (Patience arrrrggggg).

Any thoughts from those cutting/shaving their pills and weighing? My mind is very visual.
Thanks and good luck to all of us.

If you ask your question on the titration board, I could make sure someone drops by to give you some pointers. http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?board=164.0