Retired Military and have been on 4mg clonazepam since 2003

I am out of meds. Was on travel and lost my pills (first time, no kidding). I am thinking this is a good time to just come off of this drug because of the cognitive effects reported in older people. I am 53 and don't have panic attacks anymore, even when I dropped to 2 mg for a month about a year ago. I did experience mild withdrawal symptoms.

Hi subkiller

 

Welcome to benzobuddies,  you will get plenty of support here. Have you read the Ashton Manual, I will put a link here for you: “Professor Ashtons Manual” It is an authoritative resource on benzodiazepines and how to withdraw, the general rule of thumb is to reduce between 5/10% every 10/14 days

 

Please feel free to check out the forum and post to any of the dedicated boards, you'll find a great community of people who are here to support and encourage you.

 

For tapering advice General Taper Plans Board  For support with any symptoms you may have post here: Withdrawal Support

 

If you would be so kind as to add a signature (history of meds/doses etc) it will help members give you relevant advice this link will show you how to”Create a signature”

 

If you have any questions, let us know.

 

Welcome Aboard

 

Magrita

 

 

Hello Subkiller,

 

Welcome. I would strongly discourage a cold turkey off 4 mg clonazepam. It is dangerous. Not to scare you, but seizures are possible. I would urge you to find a way to refill your rx, then to taper over time.

 

Good luck to you,

Flip

hi subkiller,

i agree with Flip. 10 years on clonazepam is 9 years and 11 months and one week too long.

Benzos are emergency meds for short term use. i would advise you to find a Doctor

to work out a sensible Taper plan.

warm welcome

claudia

 

I don't have a choice as my doc will not refill early. I am using meds to mitigate seizures and symptoms much the way an inpatient detox would do. I have about 2-3 months supply of depakote, carbamazepine and gabapentin to control and mitigate symptoms. Day two and the only symptoms are insomnia and some visual disturbances.  I can increase all as necessary and hope to wean off all with a month. I am extremely strong willed, in good physical condition and not on any other drugs, nor have I abused alcohol or drugs in the past. The only thing I am worried about is seizures as my job is very flexible. My wife works from home, so I will not be alone. Has anybody tried this at home with the proper drugs?

Find another doc ASAP....you may be able to avoid the biggest nightmare of your life.  SERIOUSLY!

Also, after reading your signature, those seizure meds are a big time long term taper also.  You are headed for a train wreck.

Find another doc ASAP....you may be able to avoid the biggest nightmare of your life.  SERIOUSLY!

 

I don't have a choice as my doc will not refill early. I am using meds to mitigate seizures and symptoms much the way an inpatient detox would do. I have about 2-3 months supply of depakote, carbamazepine and gabapentin to control and mitigate symptoms. Day two and the only symptoms are insomnia and some visual disturbances.  I can increase all as necessary and hope to wean off all with a month. I am extremely strong willed, in good physical condition and not on any other drugs, nor have I abused alcohol or drugs in the past. The only thing I am worried about is seizures as my job is very flexible. My wife works from home, so I will not be alone. Has anybody tried this at home with the proper drugs?

 

sorry for the repost as there have been some relevant replies.  Thanks for the support/comments!

Inpatient detox programs are not what they are cracked up to be.....hopefully one of their victims will be posting shortly.  Were you put on the benzos for PTSD?

No PTSD..just panic attacks out of the blue.  Doc titred me up rapidly to control as they were very disturbing.  i am a fast metabolizer of anything that has a P450 pathway( anesthetic drugs, alcohol, opioids, klonopin).

I don't have a choice as my doc will not refill early. I am using meds to mitigate seizures and symptoms much the way an inpatient detox would do. I have about 2-3 months supply of depakote, carbamazepine and gabapentin to control and mitigate symptoms. Day two and the only symptoms are insomnia and some visual disturbances.  I can increase all as necessary and hope to wean off all with a month. I am extremely strong willed, in good physical condition and not on any other drugs, nor have I abused alcohol or drugs in the past. The only thing I am worried about is seizures as my job is very flexible. My wife works from home, so I will not be alone. Has anybody tried this at home with the proper drugs?

 

sorry for the repost as there have been some relevant replies.  Thanks for the support/comments!

 

i had to, i went to a detox hospital, they had no knowledge. i got similar meds

from them after i returned home. we are all different, my horror trip started a couple of weeks

later, and in your case it could be avoided.

 

carbamazepine is the anti seizure med , so i guess you are save there.

but why not do it the right way ? why take the chance to go through hell ?

 

if i had the knowledge then which i have now, i would have reinstated immediately.

i would have travelled around the world to find a Doctor , no joke.

Let me add more to this.  I am a psychiatric medication nurse with 20 years experience in forensic psychiatry.  10 years of 1 mg Xanax for insomnia after my son's suicide.  I never abused the med.  this experience has the potential to bring a gorilla to it's knees.  Everyone responds differently.  There is not much reliable information out there from the medical community.  Doctors are misinformed by the pharmaceutical companies.  With all my psyche med knowledge I was blindsided by my experience.  Can your flexible job situation cover you for two or three years while you slow taper through all those GABA damaging meds?  Then expect a year or two (if you are lucky) to recover enough GABA function to feel like a human being again.  Many, if not most relationships fall to the wayside as the symptoms you will experience are brutal and mostly invisible to your caregiver.  If you are willing to risk EVERYTHING, go for it.  You may have time to reinstate your dosage, I STRONGLY encourage you to do so.  I was forced off my benzo when my doc retired, I have been living a live of pure hell for 7 months and am looking at probably two more years before I find relief.  We are here to help, but you are free to do as you wish with your life.  We will support you either way.  But it is far better to be safe than sorry. 

Peruzer, I am sorry to hear of your troubles and your posts may cause me to reconsider my path.  i have been married for 31 years, going on 32 soon.  My sons are launched.  I could do inpatient, but think my course of drugs is very similar to what I would get in detox. I am not in the med field, but am a quick study as I flew for the Navy and am intelligent. I have had two operations in two years ( orbital fracture repair and a total hip replacement). Both times i recovered very quickly. i do not want to wreck my relationships but feel that it is time to come off this drug.  i can refill on 10 June but am out until then.  Will I make it? Sorry for the slow typing!

Clonazepam has a half life of 30-50hrs, Xanax 10-15 if i remember correctly

Also increasing seizure meds to avoid unpleasant symptoms is highly detrimental...you can actually end up with a seriously damaged seizure threshold and be on meds for the rest of your life.  Read some success stories, most all contain the statement "I thought I was dying".

I reinstated on the 9th day after an attempt in a detox setting. The hallucinations, tinnitus and muscle cramps were firmly in place by then, but I lived through it. Just get prepared for some real hellish body sensations.

 

Intelligence, will-power or historically quick recovery don't come into play here.

 

A quick word of caution about bringing your doctor into the loop on taper plans. Just know that often, when we tell out doctors we want to taper, they have been known to either taper us too rapidly or cut us off completely. They get scared and most of them are not trained in how to discontinue this class of medication.

 

 

Actually the Xanax half life is around 6 hours.  I was in tolerance (experiencing withdrawal sx daily) for most of my usage time.  I think there is about a week to reinstate, someone will have to clarify that for you.  You may be able to obtain a few doses through an emergency room.  When was your last dose?  I had an IQ of 138 prior to this experience.  I cannot do simple math at this point.  Couldn't add a $2 tip to a $17 meal ticket a couple of weeks ago.  I have been house pretty much in my bed and house bound with agoraphobia for 7 months due to this experience.  I am a navy brat and have much respect for you sir, but you need to get your shit together!

I don't have a choice as my doc will not refill early.

 

Hi, you should try and get back on the meds as soon as possible, it can be dangerous to cold/turkey these drugs. If you tell your doctor you want to taper off, and copy some relevant pages from the ashton to show your doctor you might be surprised at how helpful he/she might be.

 

“Professor Ashtons Manual”

 

Magrita

Dude - I am extremely strong willed too and never thought I would get sick from stopping this crap, but I was WRONG. This drug will bring you to your knees in a way you never imagined. Find another doc and taper off. Even with a 9 month taper withdrawal has seriously effected the quality of my life and I didn't take it for anxiety problems!!

I would also like to chime in that if you can force yourself to taper, you might be able to avoid a some potential long term changes in your nervous system.  Here is a research paper that explains what can happen during an abrupt cessation of a benzo:  Benzo Withdrawal, Glutamate Receptors and LTP

 

Good luck with whatever you decide to do. 

Sub,

No one can convince you how to come off these meds, that's your decision.  I was in the same boat, had a falling out with my doctor and was too stubborn to go to someone else in order to taper sensibly.  I didn't know about Ashton.  In spite of being on benzos for 14 years I didn't know anything about them, how they worked, what they did to the brain receptors, and what happens when they're discontinued.

 

In 2009 I did come off 4 mg of Xanax through an outpatient detox.  It was a fast taper, four days, and I continued to work.  I was on all the psych. drugs they use to get people off fast.  Seroquel for sleep.  200 mg.  I did sleep, but I also developed sleep apnea from this medication and landed in an ER with a cardiac issue.  I digress

 

I was able to stay off the Xanax but never really felt better, so I went back on after nine months.

 

So when I went off in 2013 after a very quick taper I never expected to fall into the 9th ring of hell.  I never expected after seven months to still be battling protracted withdrawal symptoms.  I never expected to still be out of work.  And now I have to worry about causing so much trauma to my CNS that it may take a very long time to get better.

 

So going off cold turkey is a crap shoot.  You might be okay.  And you might not.  If I had it to do over again, I would have found another doctor.  I never would have put my body through this.  you're in your fifties.  So am I.  Not kids.  Withdrawal is very hard on the body.  Good luck.

Thank s to all for the uniform input of a gradual taper. My last dose was yesterday morning at 0600. I am having mild visual disturbances and mild vertigo. Physical coordination mildly affected. Appetite is fine; no mental or other physical symptoms yet. One time,I forgot my clonazepam on vacation and ended up in a clinic after three days with a pretty severe panic attack.  but I feel I can mentally handle this now.  I can get my prescription on 09 Jun.  Does anyone think I can make it thru the next few days?

subkiller, in my opinion you probably will, because you know now what

to expect, you've got the anti seizure meds , so you should be ok.

fingers cross .

Thanks Morreweg and all, I will go back  on when I get my med on 09 Jun, start with a loading dose of 6mg and try 3mg /day and see what happens.  If successful, I will do a gradual taper from there. Symptoms will have to get a lot worse for me to beg my doc or go to the ER.  I am sick of being treated like an addict at the pharmacy! I will do the taper without telling my doc. While we have a good relationship over the 10 years I have seen him, the comments here make me think that is the best path.