Klonopin taper

Hi I’m bi-polar with an anxiety disorder with panic attacks taking 8mg of klonopin 1500mg depokote and 600mg of Seroquel xr. I just switched pdocs and I have to quit taking the klonopin. I’m extremely scared, because I have been  educating myself on benzodiazepines. I just started my taper at .25mg. I have been taking a high dose of benzos for 23 years.

Welcome to BenzoBuddies!  We are glad you decided to join us.  You'll find a lot of support and information on this forum, which is the only one of its kind online. I'm sorry you are in this situation, though its not uncommon for this kind of thing to happen with a new doctor.

 

For those starting a taper, we generally recommend starting out at a rate of 5 to 10% every 10-14 days, then adjusting the taper to suit your own needs.  Note: very short term users may be able to taper faster.

 

Withdrawal symptoms, which vary widely but commonly include anxiety and insomnia, often occur during a taper, but these are temporary and will get better in time.  In general, first tapers are easier, but cold turkeys or multiple withdrawals may be more severe and longer lasting.  Here are a few links to get you started:

 

The Ashton Manual, a concise reference for tapering and symptom issues.

 

Withdrawal Support (during your taper)

 

Once again, welcome!

Thank you for your support and information on tapering  down. My pdoc wants to get me on a lower does of klonopin then crossing over to Valium to finish the taper. I will need all the help I can get!

Welcome aboard. That’s a high dose of Klonapin. Equals 160 mgs of Valium. Are you having any withdrawal symptoms at that dose? Given the length of time in, the dose and your anxiety disorder, maybe the doc will consider a microtaper when you get down further. Hopefully you can get down to

1 or 2 Klonapin daily without too much trouble if you taper slowly. You will find a lot of helpful information here.

 

Carol

Welcome....you’ll find lots of support here.

 

It seems like people that have been on high doses didn’t have too much trouble getting down to a lower dose pretty quickly and then the microtaper or slower taper starts.

 

That’s just what I’ve notuced from reading here , so try not to be too scared, but totally understandable.

I just started the tapering yesterday, so I’m not having withdrawals yet. I will let you know when I’m starting to feel the withdrawals. My pdoc said if .25 was to fast we could do .125mg.

I just went through a pretty rapid taper going from a solid 2mg Klonopin/day to 0.25 mg day in about 2/3 mos. It’s in my sig. The drop to 1.0 was doable. The drop to 0.5 was semi doable. But the 0.25 was really difficult and when I tried to cut to 0.125 one day, I jumped back up quickly the next day but it remained difficult.

 

I just crossed over to a 10 mg Valium taper when I explained the Ashton Method to my doctor. She didn’t want me to do it but she agreed.

 

I have a loved one close to me with Bipolar II. He told me that sleep is really important and I know his Seroquel helps with that. Hopefully your Seroquel can act as a buffer?

 

Try not to be too scared. I educated myself too and that made the initial drops much easier to handle. Hopefully your pdoc will let you go slower at the lower doses. I hope so.

 

I just went through a pretty rapid taper going from a solid 2mg Klonopin/day to 0.25 mg day in about 2/3 mos. It’s in my sig. The drop to 1.0 was doable. The drop to 0.5 was semi doable. But the 0.25 was really difficult and when I tried to cut to 0.125 one day, I jumped back up quickly the next day but it remained difficult.

 

I just crossed over to a 10 mg Valium taper when I explained the Ashton Method to my doctor. She didn’t want me to do it but she agreed.

 

I have a loved one close to me with Bipolar II. He told me that sleep is really important and I know his Seroquel helps with that. Hopefully your Seroquel can act as a buffer?

 

Try not to be too scared. I educated myself too and that made the initial drops much easier to handle. Hopefully your pdoc will let you go slower at the lower doses. I hope so.

 

Wow good job on your klon taper

I’m really struggling with min

How was the valium crossover and what made you switch ? I’m considering it.

When you started your taper how long before you started feeling poor? It’s been 3 days and I don’t feel anything yet. I know what it feels like, because a so called friend stole half a bottle of Ativan and I ran out and had no medicine for 5 days. I will never forget how awful I felt!! Also you said it was easier to drop 1mg than .25mg. Am I correct in my understanding? How much did the Valium help? I’m lucky to have a great pdoc associated with a major university to help me through this. Has anyone heard of Gabapetin helping?

 

Wow good job on your klon taper

I’m really struggling with min

How was the valium crossover and what made you switch ? I’m considering it.

 

Hi offandon. It’s only been a couple days on the Valium so when I can give you an informed opinion, I will. So far, so good. Not perfect, but better.

 

I switched because I had tried Valium once before and knew I didn’t react poorly; And I thought I’d do better with the Ashton Method than a liquid or dry micro-taper of Klonopin.

 

Wow good job on your klon taper

I’m really struggling with min

How was the valium crossover and what made you switch ? I’m considering it.

 

Hi offandon. It’s only been a couple days on the Valium so when I can give you an informed opinion, I will. So far, so good. Not perfect, but better.

 

I switched because I had tried Valium once before and knew I didn’t react poorly; And I thought I’d do better with the Ashton Method than a liquid or dry micro-taper of Klonopin.

 

Thank you. Sorry nascar for interrupting your thread.

When you started your taper how long before you started feeling poor? It’s been 3 days and I don’t feel anything yet. I know what it feels like, because a so called friend stole half a bottle of Ativan and I ran out and had no medicine for 5 days. I will never forget how awful I felt!! Also you said it was easier to drop 1mg than .25mg. Am I correct in my understanding? How much did the Valium help? I’m lucky to have a great pdoc associated with a major university to help me through this. Has anyone heard of Gabapetin helping?

 

I’m new here so I don’t have as much knowledge on Gabapentin but if you do a search, I know you’ll find people who have used it because I’ve seen it while searching the forum.

 

I’m sorry...I think what I said came out wrong. I was trying to say that the cuts were the most difficult when I got to a low dose. For example, it was easier for me to go down from 2.0 to 1.0 than it was to go down from 1.0 to 0.5 mg. And the drop from 0.5 mg to 0.25 mg was harder. I’m guessing that’s due to the cumulative loss from my very rapid taper of 50% every 2-3 weeks.

 

So your doctor is saying to cut 0.125-0.25 every 2 weeks? And then when you get to a lower Klonopin dose, your doc will cross you over to a Valium taper?

 

 

.25mg a month. I have been on 8mg for 23years, so doc wants to take it very slowly.

.25mg a month. I have been on 8mg for 23years, so doc wants to take it very slowly.

 

Sounds like you have a great doctor. When you first posted, I thought the drop was quicker.