CLONOPIN HELP! I can’t figure out taper dosage. Where is everyone?

Hi clearbluesky,

 

I skipped my weekend long reunion this year because no one planned on masking. Friends were not understanding. Pretty disappointing, but I wasn’t taking the chance. I’m sorry you got the virus and LC. That must be so very confusing. Not what anyone needs during withdrawal.

 

Paxlovid and Clonazpam (clonopin) are contraindicated in the list of drugs not to mix. One increases the others effects. It is in the list of drugs not to use with Paxlovid on any Google search. It does say you can hold or switch to another drug for 9 days, but we all know how disastrous that could be. No good option for us on clonopin. I don’t know what would happen if on a very, very small dose, but it’s just another good reason to get off these vile drugs.

 

I hope your LC symptoms subside soon. That seems to be the case with omicron. The earlier variants supposedly caused longer LC. Fingers crossed. I’m guessing you have some fairly decent immunity right now, so once you can push past the stress of going out, you could feel less isolated. Of course, there is the flu! Arrrrgh! You’re so close to the final stretch. ❤️

 

Morning Sun,

 

I purchased the scale you use, Smart Weigh Premium High Precision Digital Milligram Scale, but I think I have to return because it isn’t working correctly. Can’t get “cal” to blink to calibrate and “pass” each time. I did get it working once, but I weighed my pills as I’m taking them and they are definitely not adding up to anything near 0.875 mg. I chose the gn setting, but the weight is just completely different. Total weight came up as 0.290. (Using 0.5 + 0.25 + 0.625 as cut by hand). I’m not sure if this model weighs in mgs even though the description says it does. Any thoughts? I expected the weight to be slightly off, but this seems a bit weird.

 

Just realized I had cut from 1mg to 0.8125mg (NOT 0.875) on Dec 1st. So 15 days on this lower dose. My brain does just not do math. It would probably help if I knew the actual weight of the 0.5 pill I’m cutting.

 

And the first thing I did was cut my finger on pill cutter. Ugh! I need to calm down.

 

 

Preach! 

 

Yeah, you just need to surrender to the process. Chasing dates is futile. We all get get there in the end, it's HOW you get there that matters. Whether you suffer in agony or whether you try to remain functional.

It’s not easy. 

Yes, stay away from Paxlovid. It does not pair well with benzos.

 

Glad your scale arrived. You can use the gram setting just fine. That's what I use on mine. Your 170-mg tablets will read about .170 g on your scale, so that's pretty easy to work with. The decimal is just moved over to the left 3 places. I'm happy to answer any weighing questions; I've been filing and weighing my dose for over 13 months.

Hi CKing56

 

As hereforhelp also mentioned, I just use the gram scale. Just remember to forget about the API Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient. You are just going to be working with the weight of the tablet, not the strength of the tablet. So you probably know that once you turn the scale on, wait for it to display, then use the mode button to find ‘grams’, then press and hold mode for a few seconds until CAL appears, then just press mode again, and it should flash 20.000 after which you would sit your first calibration weight on the scale, wait until it flashes 40.000, the put your second calibration weight on and then it will flash PASS and the instantly go back to 40.000. Then you can take the weights off and it should settle at 0.000 and then I put a 5 cent piece on the scale so it’s not weighing at its lowest range. Then I sit the small plastic cup thingy on the 5cent piece and press TARE so it goes back to 0.000

 

You are then ready to weigh.

 

I’m tapering Valium, so one of my 2mg tablets generally weighs between 0.166 and 0.174, your may be slightly different.

 

If you have any questions, let me know!

 

 

Oh, and make sure your batteries are ok. They should be fine, but we don’t know how long they were sitting in the factory. The ones that came with my scale went flat very quick.

Thank you both, hereforhelp and Winters Sun,

I’ve just had a bad few days of wee hours anxiety and chills and was just thrown by the prospect of the scale not working. Now, I think maybe it’s my brain that’s just not working. I will try again with the scale as soon as I get a file to trim tablets.

 

I wonder if the taper from approx 1 mg to 0.8125 mg in just under 3 weeks was unwise. I’d miscalculated the cuts thinking I was at 0.875 because I’ve been cutting into bits from 0.5 tablets. I didn’t feel any major effects until maybe 10-12 nights in. The research suggests that I hold as opposed to going back up or cutting for a while. I’m just wondering if the early morning anxiety symptoms will eventually resolve to a point where I can continue to taper. I also think I’ve read too many horror stories and those alone are ramping up my fear of terrifying or life-threatening withdrawal symptoms to come.

 

Since Winters Sun and I are using same scale:

1. Do I need to calibrate each time I use scale?

2. Do I leave the 5 cent plus smallest plastic cup provided on the scale and weigh the meds in that?

 

Apologies for all of the drama and questions. This is my only support and the past few nights have been awful.

 

Merci

 

I wish I could answer your questions, but I don’t have experience, maybe you could post them on the titration board.  If you do, I can ask someone to drop by.

Thanks Pamster. Is there an easy way to move post? I searched titration board and found one, but it only had two very old posts. I’m not sure it’s the place to move to.

Thank you both, hereforhelp and Winters Sun,

I’ve just had a bad few days of wee hours anxiety and chills and was just thrown by the prospect of the scale not working. Now, I think maybe it’s my brain that’s just not working. I will try again with the scale as soon as I get a file to trim tablets.

 

I wonder if the taper from approx 1 mg to 0.8125 mg in just under 3 weeks was unwise. I’d miscalculated the cuts thinking I was at 0.875 because I’ve been cutting into bits from 0.5 tablets. I didn’t feel any major effects until maybe 10-12 nights in. The research suggests that I hold as opposed to going back up or cutting for a while. I’m just wondering if the early morning anxiety symptoms will eventually resolve to a point where I can continue to taper. I also think I’ve read too many horror stories and those alone are ramping up my fear of terrifying or life-threatening withdrawal symptoms to come.

 

Since Winters Sun and I are using same scale:

1. Do I need to calibrate each time I use scale?

2. Do I leave the 5 cent plus smallest plastic cup provided on the scale and weigh the meds in that?

 

Apologies for all of the drama and questions. This is my only support and the past few nights have been awful.

 

Merci

 

Hi CKing56

 

Sorry I left you hanging there… I had a couple of rotten days and couldn’t lift myself up, but slightly better now.

 

Yes…, once you calibrate, then put your 5cent piece (or similar) and your plastic cup on and press TARE, you simply weigh your doses in it. Every time you lift the cup off (after weighing) to put your dose in your dispenser and then put the cup back on the scale (on top of the 5cent piece), the scale should settle back at 0.000. If it doesn’t, then you simply remove the cup and 5cent piece and recalibrate again, although I have cheated myself at times when the fluctuation has only been minimal and simply pressed TARE again to return it to 0.000

 

I calibrate every time I use the scale. I weigh all my doses for the week in one night. I calibrate to begin, and then if I see the scale not settle back to 0.000 once I pick the cup up and slide my weighed dosage into the dispenser and put the cup back on the scale, I then recalibrate. It’s best to do all your doses in the one night. It may even take an hour to do them (with care), but once they’re done you know you’re good for a week. Sometimes I’ll notice the scale has fluctuated and I’ll wonder if I got the previous couple of weighs right, so I’ll recalibrate and check those last couple before weighing the next dose. You do get used to this, and you learn to trust that you are taking good care with weighing your doses.

 

Your reduction from 1mg to 0.8125 was a large reduction, and it would make sense to me that you would really feel the brunt of withdrawal at 12 days. I experienced the same at 12 days when I c/t’d clonazepam. I would imagine your morning anxiety will eventually settle right down as you recover fully from that sizeable reduction.

 

Don’t read too many horror stories, I did the same early on and benzo withdrawal ended up being all I would think about day and night, and that’s not good for us. We need to live life as normally as possible whilst we’re going through this, not spending every waking moment carrying fearful thoughts about the worst possible case scenario. Give yourself time to recover from that reduction, and then figure out what you feel your normal baseline of symptoms are each time you recover from a reduction. (Smaller reduction  )

THANK YOU WS, I’m so sorry that you had a few bad days. I know you will feel better in time. No worries on leaving me hanging. No apologies needed! I’m just so grateful there are very kind people here to help. ❤️

 

I just realized that I’d had the scale set to gn as opposed to g. I’d thought the measurements were in milligrams, but I guess that matters less than the actual weight, which right now keeps fluctuating every time I weigh the same pill. I’d just read on Amazon that the scale would decalibrate if moved and best to always recal.

 

I’m going to try to get some new batteries today, but it’s below freezing here and I’m still not feeling great. Very unmotivated, but the weather doesn’t help. A little better last night with breathing techniques and relaxation sound loop playing for hours, but nausea kicked in. The days are actually reasonably status quo… for now.

 

I guess it makes sense that a 20% reduction would cause issues. My poor calculations put me here. (My prescriber wanted me to cut either 0.25mg - 0.5mg per week!). I just thought the symptoms would have come sooner. Perhaps the long half-life explains it. I will soon weigh out a weeks worth at a time. I just got a pill case for that.

 

I’m sorry we all have to go through this. I’m glad you are well on your way out. Thank you, again for the wise advice and explaining the nitty-gritty of it all.

 

I hope I won’t be posting too many more measuring questions, but nothing seems quite accurate to me. I wish we had smaller tablets! Oh well. Another day further away from these horrible meds.

 

❤️

THANK YOU WS, I’m so sorry that you had a few bad days. I know you will feel better in time. No worries on leaving me hanging. No apologies needed! I’m just so grateful there are very kind people here to help. ❤️

 

I just realized that I’d had the scale set to gn as opposed to g. I’d thought the measurements were in milligrams, but I guess that matters less than the actual weight, which right now keeps fluctuating every time I weigh the same pill. I’d just read on Amazon that the scale would decalibrate if moved and best to always recal.

 

I’m going to try to get some new batteries today, but it’s below freezing here and I’m still not feeling great. Very unmotivated, but the weather doesn’t help. A little better last night with breathing techniques and relaxation sound loop playing for hours, but nausea kicked in. The days are actually reasonably status quo… for now.

 

I guess it makes sense that a 20% reduction would cause issues. My poor calculations put me here. (My prescriber wanted me to cut either 0.25 - 0.05 per week!). I just thought the symptoms would have come sooner. Perhaps the long half-life explains it. I will soon weigh out a weeks worth at a time. I just got a pill case for that.

 

I’m sorry we all have to go through this. I’m glad you are well on your way out. Thank you, again for the wise advice and explaining the nitty-gritty of it all.

 

I hope I won’t be posting too many more measuring questions, but nothing seems quite accurate to me. I wish we had smaller tablets! Oh well. Another day further away from these horrible meds.

 

❤️

 

You can post as many weighing questions as you need. The main thing is that we get you to the point where you understand what you’re doing and feel comfortable with it.

 

Just one other thing - make sure there’s no air moving around your room, like from a heat pump, air conditioner or open window. Also, make sure the scale is on a solid surface and there’s no vibration from music, tv or anything. The scales will fluctuate sometimes, it normal. Sometimes I turn it on and calibrate, and for whatever reason, they just seem to fluctuate. So I recalibrate again, and eventually it all settles down. I also think fluctuations often occur when the scale has only just been turned on. I’ve read that it’s best to let the scales warm up for 5 minutes.

Okay, you may hear me screaming from across the world if I get stuck. 😅 My artist brain just needs to remember the multiply by 0.9 for 10% reduction from current weight. The actual cutting might get difficult with the 0.25 tablets. File ready. Do people save the powder incase their doctors do something horrible and cut them off? No rush on answering that, if at all. I’ll be saving mine for awhile.

 

Yes! I read about the air, temps and movement. I didn’t know about warming it up. I thought it had an auto shut off. I’ll find out. I wish I could afford a fancy, very accurate scale. Alas, broke.

 

Thank you! I think feeling comfortable with these measurements will help a lot with anxiety. I just hadn’t meant to cut so fast and I don’t want to do that again.

 

Are you in Australia or NZ? My brother moved NZ when Bush was president. Little did he know what was to come. Don’t answer if this is against the rules. I just was wondering about time differences.

You can save the powder. I’m tapering Valium and I just tend to break and crumble the tablets with my fingers and then I save up whatever I have left over and use it the next week. You might want to file over a small container that comes with a lid.

 

I understand being broke… but honestly, these scales will do the job. Many members have used these cheap scales and as long as you’re careful and focussed when weighing, you should have no problem. At least you can get the 0.25 tablets, which is clearly better than 0.5 for weighing. We only get 0.5mg here in Australia… 

For sure. We only get the 0.5 here in the US too. I think Canada has the 0.25 pills for clonopin. I’ll def save up the powder. 

For sure. We only get the 0.5 here in the US too. I think Canada has the 0.25 pills for clonopin. I’ll def save up the powder. 

 

I believe there are .125 ODT’s in the US.

I just googled. I’ll have to speak to my provider to prescribe. Mayo or Cleveland say they are faster acting. Can’t it just be simple? 😩

The ODTs can be much harder to handle, file, and weigh accurately as they are very susceptible to moisture. Using them may be more trouble than it's worth, but I know some folks have done it.

The clonazepam ODTs from different generic manufacturers have different properties.  For example, the ODTs from Sun are much more ‘durable’ than the ODTs from Teva.  The Sun ODTs are packaged and dispensed in regular pill bottles; the Teva ODTs are supplied on cards containing 6 individual foiled blisters.

 

hereforhelp is correct that we have members who have used ODTs in conjunction with do-it-youself shave-and-weigh or cut-and-weigh dose reduction techniques. We also have members who use/have used ODTs to make do-it-yourself liquids.

Thank you both for the info on ODTs. I’m having a lot of nausea today and feeling really run down. I’m definitely going to ask my prescriber. I might be limited to what my pharmacy carries. I’m still struggling with getting the scale to calibrate. Arrrrgggg!

 

 

Haven’t read the full thread but chiming in on the .5mg tablets. You can definitely stay with these bc being scored that means the drug is evenly distributed. A good thing as you’re tapering down. I hope you have an uneventful taper!! Don’t let the symptoms or stories scare you, just keep doing what works best for you. 5-10% of your current dose every 2 -4 wks has been a great guideline for most on here. As the lower doses (less than .2mg) come along you might have to slow things down, you might not. Hopeful you can stay functional and this taper is just another task in your day.

 

I stayed with the .5mg orange Accord tablets down to .16mg when I switched over to a compound pharmacy that uses the pure Clonazepam /Klonopin powder with no filler and binders, and adds one ingredient to make suspension. (I got sensitive to many things so the pharmacist was great to work with me).

Down the road if you ever need advice on looking at reputable pharmacies for where you are, give Nick at Pharmacy Solutions in Arlington Tx a call. He is so so helpful and I bet can find you a place if it ever comes to that (and he would make sure that pharmacist knows how he’s handled klonopin compounds -he’s working with me and another user on here and we are both super sensitive so he’s so wonderful).

 

All the best!!

Hi CKing56

 

Can you tell me what’s happening when you try and calibrate?

 

I know you’re feeling unwell, so just let me know when you’re feeling up to it.

Thank you, all. I find the pills very hard to trim and the scale keeps registering different weights every time I re-weigh. It could be the cold. It could be my 320 year old house, but I’m wondering if I really need to do the 5 cent/plastic cup and take steps? Maybe my being nauseous is causing me to have no patience. Anxiety always hits my stomach hard and I guess that’s what going on. I’m trying to stay at the dose I mistakenly cut to (0.8125 mg) or about .298 on scale, but the weight keeps jumping all over the place.

 

Is it best to start with a full 0.5 pill and shave that down as opposed to trying to shave the quarter or eighth pieces I’ve eyeballed?

 

I agree I may need some other method when I get to the low doses, but I’m thinking the way things are going, that’s going to be a long ways off. I took a screen capture of the pharmacist’s name from Texas. I’m near Boston and one would think there would be better sources. Not that I can find so far.

 

So, I will try again with the divvying up of the doses tomorrow and hopefully, the nausea subsides. I should count myself lucky it’s not worse, but who knows what’s next? Is there any such thing as mild symptoms with 5% cuts and longer holds? I know there are no real answers. I’m just trying not to get discouraged, but as you know, it’s hard. Everyone has their Achilles heel. Or lower leg. Or entire body. Ugh.

 

If I don’t quickly reply it’s because I’m in nausea-land or still struggling with the scale and grinding down the pills which keep popping out of my fingers and flying across the room. GAAAAAAA!

When you say the scale keeps registering different weights every time you re-weigh - how much is the difference between the various weights? Is it a significant difference?

 

You don’t have to use the 5 cent piece… I just do it because I heard it is better to not weigh at the lowest end of the scale. Just use the plastic cup if you like, and remember you can always press TARE to zero the scale out if it’s fluctuating up or down. You don’t have to calibrate every time it fluctuates. I calibrate a fair bit, but I also use the TARE button if it’s only fluctuating up or down by 0.004 or so.