Three months free from Clonazepam—feeling free and normal again!

I remember being utterly horrified at the stories on here and thinking there was no way to quit without going through hell. So, now that I’m on the other side, I thought it would be good to come back and share a story that wasn’t so frightening.

 

I quit cold turkey in late October, and though I had to grit my teeth through the first two weeks, I thought i was okay. Then, a month in, I was throwing up, unable to sleep for days, and generally miserable. My doctors wouldn’t entertain the idea that what I was experiencing was related to withdrawal, but of course when I started taking Clonazepam again the symptoms went away. I started up again on .5 per day ( I had been on up to 2mg a day for > two years) and weaned myself off by taking one .25 every other day, then every three days, etc etc, over a period of a month or so. This was a much better way to withdraw, and I didn’t really experience any horrendous  side effects.

 

I’ve been quite tired and had some intermittent joint pain that peaked about one month out, but other than that, I feel totally normal. I take plenty of Omega 3, glutamine, glutathione, vitamins D & B 12, alpha-lipoic acid, magnesium and zinc, plus curcumin and glucosamine sulphate for the joint pain. I don’t follow a great diet, so you may not need any of these if you’re eating properly. Once I felt up to it, exercise made a huge difference to my mood. I did 30 mins on the elliptical on slow setting the first few days, which was very humbling for a former marathon runner. However, I decided I would rather do less than the max and keep things sustainable while I built up my strength. I can’t stress enough how important it is to be gentle with yourself, during withdrawal and beyond. All in all, it’s been fairly uneventful. I know there’s scary stories on here, and I’ve definitely experienced the worst side effects, but when I took it slow and gave my brain lots of good fats and exercise, it was a pretty gentle withdrawal. Happy to answer what questions I can. Everyone’s experience is different, but I just wanted to share one that wasn’t terrifying. You can quit, and you won’t be broken forever. I don’t even think about benzodiazepines now—the only reason I thought of them was a movie I watched!

 

Good luck. You can do it!!!

Congratulations on being free ! ;D

 

Though your taper schedule was a little confusing for me. You said you went CT reinstated and then cut 0.25 every other day and then every other 3 days. I dont get it, forgive me...

 

I am tapering after 4 months use of lorazepam and feel like I can taper faster sometimes but I am afraid too.

 

Hi GoogleDog,

 

Sound a lot like my recovery.  I had to grit my teeth through the first two weeks, I thought i was okay. Then, a month in,  boom most if not all of my withdrawal symptoms returned.  Little or no sleep my blood pressure was spiking up to 200 systolic.  It was strange that my diastolic did rise as much maybe upper 90s to 100. Also loss of appetite anxiety chest pains and palpitations.  These were the worst.  Right now at 63 days bp is down to normal.  I had all the cardiac tests done nuclear stress ecg and echo all were good.  However I now am having some benign palpitations pvcs.  I'm just counting my blessing just hope the bp issues dont return.  Feeling OK today about 6 hours sleep that's better than 2 Weeks ago.  Hope your good health continues too.

Hello,

 

I went CT for a little over a month (maybe six weeks?) before it became apparent that it wasn't going to work. The withdrawal was horrendous. When I went back to my doctor, he prescribed me .5mg per day in the form of .25mg tabs 2X daily. For the first while, I took only .25  most days, and after about a week or two of that I started taking .25 every other day, then every three days, then half a .25 twice a week when I felt ready for it. I didn't follow a strict schedule and sometimes I took more, but I made 2 weeks' supply at the prescribed dosage last two months. I just did it by feel, which included taking a very small amount at least once every four days, even if I didn't feel like I needed it. I just gradually made the "very small amount" less and less, eventually getting down to half of a half of a half a .25mg tab. I wish I could be more specific, and that I'd kept track of my taper, but I found boxing myself into a tight schedule made me more anxious. For my temperament, it was better to just kind of wing it with no hard deadline to dread.

Hi GoogleDog,

 

Sound a lot like my recovery.  I had to grit my teeth through the first two weeks, I thought i was okay. Then, a month in,  boom most if not all of my withdrawal symptoms returned.  Little or no sleep my blood pressure was spiking up to 200 systolic.  It was strange that my diastolic did rise as much maybe upper 90s to 100. Also loss of appetite anxiety chest pains and palpitations.  These were the worst.  Right now at 63 days bp is down to normal.  I had all the cardiac tests done nuclear stress ecg and echo all were good.  However I now am having some benign palpitations pvcs.  I'm just counting my blessing just hope the bp issues dont return.  Feeling OK today about 6 hours sleep that's better than 2 Weeks ago.  Hope your good health continues too.

 

 

Yikes! I'm sorry you went through that--I know what an absolute horror it is. Six hours sleep is pretty heavenly compared to none at all. I hope your upward trajectory continues. I'm so glad you're healing.

 

 

GoogleDog,

 

Congratulations!

 

Did you have memory problems? How is your memory now?

Yes, but I don't know how much is from using benzos on and off over the years and how much is just how I'm wired. I do find I'm thinking clearer than I was, but chances are I still won't remember something someone tells me in passing a week later!  :-\

Goggle dog, congratulations!

Did you ever have head zaps or static noises in head and head pressure? And if so, are they gone?

That is a very annoying symptom.

 

I did get a few head zaps, but I kind of liked it??? They’re gone now.

 

Goggledog, that response "kind of liked it" made me laugh!

Heaven help us. You didn't have any insomnia? Lucky you..

Hello,

 

I went CT for a little over a month (maybe six weeks?) before it became apparent that it wasn't going to work. The withdrawal was horrendous. When I went back to my doctor, he prescribed me .5mg per day in the form of .25mg tabs 2X daily. For the first while, I took only .25  most days, and after about a week or two of that I started taking .25 every other day, then every three days, then half a .25 twice a week when I felt ready for it. I didn't follow a strict schedule and sometimes I took more, but I made 2 weeks' supply at the prescribed dosage last two months. I just did it by feel, which included taking a very small amount at least once every four days, even if I didn't feel like I needed it. I just gradually made the "very small amount" less and less, eventually getting down to half of a half of a half a .25mg tab. I wish I could be more specific, and that I'd kept track of my taper, but I found boxing myself into a tight schedule made me more anxious. For my temperament, it was better to just kind of wing it with no hard deadline to dread.

 

May I ask how you got 0.25mg tablets of clonazepam?  My doctor says the smallest dose they come in is 0.5mg and that's all I can find when I google it, too.  I'd love to be able to get smaller tabs for my taper.

My doctor told me to take .25 also. He ordered the .5 and I just split it down the middle and took half day and the other half night.