Alyce,
I started a dry taper on 11.27.22 from 1mg ClonazePam (once per a.m.). I use the orange (Accord) 0.5mg scored tablets. Sounds like you have the Teva (yellow scored). As [...] noted, pretty much the same. I received a ton of help from [...], [...], and also, Winters Sun. I am truly grateful!
I purchased the: Smart Weigh 50g x 0.001 Grams, Premium High Precision Digital Milligram Scale, Includes Tweezers, Calibration Weights ,Three Weighing Pans and Case.
I think this one is popular from Amazon: GEMINI-20 Portable Precision Digital Milligram Scale 20g x 0.001g
A few notes:
My 1st “doctor ordered” cut of 0.25mg was way too high. Major anxiety.
I somehow managed for a week, but decided to eyeball cut to 0.875mg instead of 0.75mg. It was still a pretty fast cut when I finally measured it out because it was actually more like a 15-20% cut. Very hard to be accurate by eyeballing.
I then bought scale, metal nail file, razor blades, weekly pill case.
Per suggestions, I continued a weighed dose of approx. 0.297 (this was the “g” weight on scale) for approx. one month. The above kind souls explained how to work out dosing weights:
Start with pill weight (on scale)
example: my 0.5mg pill weighs approx 0.170g on calibrated scale.
If that’s starting point, multiply 0.170 x 0.90 to get your 10% cut dose weight. (X 0.95 to get 0.5% cut)
Set up a taper schedule by multiplying each subtracted dose sum by 0.9 and put in a column in a dated notebook. Subtract the 5 -10% from last dose weight and NOT the original full dose weight. Use current dose weight each time you cut. Your 0.25mg pill will be approx. 1/2 of my 0.5mg. I had to stop thinking in terms of 1mg, 0.5mg, 0.25mg, etc., and stick to actual “g” weights from scale.
Other observations:
1. I let my symptoms guide me, not the date or schedule, but I will not updose. I’ve cut 10% as well as 7% and held. My first cut was held for a month. I felt the worst symptoms after about 12 days, but cut was pretty large (by mistake). I felt my 2nd cut symptoms about 4 days in. They’ve leveled out after a week. I’m going to hold for at least a couple of weeks and see how I feel.
2. The scales are crazy sensitive. I was told to buy new batteries. I think that helped.
I haven’t been able to get consistent readings on my scale, but my house is a crooked antique, drafty with forced air system. Scale should be very still, no air, no electronics nearby, no movements. Probably best not to touch surface scale is placed on. I tend to reweigh a lot. I cut each pill with a razor blade on top of a smooth glass surface (or fine china plate base). Then I weigh and shave off small amounts with file if necessary. I try to cut the 0.5mg tablet in half, and cut each half into halves or thirds and work from those bits. I assume it will get tougher as I get to much smaller doses.
3. I measure out all doses for each week, once a week, and put in pill containers. This way you should only have to calibrate each week before weighing. I guesstimate size and cut the pills before weighing and trimming.
I’m so new at this I’m not sure I should give advice, but it seems with the short time of your usage, plus current dose, you could just do smaller cuts and hold a bit longer and have minor symptoms. Your first cuts may have been too much too fast, but it seems that’s the “medical” schedule, which I hope most will ignore. I’m horrible at math, impatient and have been on these for over 20 yrs., so I know I have a long road ahead. Learning to slow down and if I have to switch to liquid down the road I will. Others have not, so I’m hoping I can continue to dry cut. It feels more comfortable at the moment. There are YouTube videos that show how to weigh meds using these scales. I put a couple at bottom.
Keep in mind that Clonopin is a very potent, long-lasting benzo, so 0.25mg is a low dose for Clonopin, but not a low dose of benzos.
I hope this helps, but listen to the others who have much deeper experience.
A few YouTube vids on scales. Not perfect, but general idea.
https://youtu.be/Mwb_Qa1UGv0Gemini Calibration
https://youtu.be/Z0PLuEuyGWw❤️
C
