The last bit of my K taper..

Hi Guys,

First of all. Thanks for all the wonderful information on this forum. I've read pretty much everything and have been working my dose down.

I feel 'stable' on 0.25mg clonazepam (down from 1mg). Before joining the forums, I dropped from 1mg to 0.5mg which was a bit painful but it's done. I'm now on 0.25mg at night for sleep. I almost feel it's psychological to take it at night before sleep. I daresay I'm asleep before it's kicked in, and awake when it's mostly worn off.

I can see light at the end of the tunnel. I've just got a pill cutter to cut the 0.25mg halves into 0.125mg halves. I'm tempted to jump from 0.125 and see how I go. My biggest problem is sleep as I'm sure it is with many others. The other things I was considering was crossing over to 1mg Valium at night after the 0.125 felt stable and see how I go. Then cross to 0.5v, then jump. I had a pretty terrible experience crossing over to valium last time, but it was probably too low of a dose.

I have some other options - I could start on Lexapro, but I'd rather not (or any anti depressant really) - I remember getting off them last time, and it was fairly painful but not as bad as benzos.

So any suggestions for this last bit? I've read a lot of people talk about how it's the hardest part. The fact that I can 'feel' 0.25mg seems a positive sign, whereas a few months ago when I only took 0.25mg by accident I was awake within a few hours.

Thanks buddies!

Hi Guys,

 

First of all. Thanks for all the wonderful information on this forum. I've read pretty much everything and have been working my dose down.

 

I feel 'stable' on 0.25mg clonazepam (down from 1mg). Before joining the forums, I dropped from 1mg to 0.5mg which was a bit painful but it's done. I'm now on 0.25mg at night for sleep. I almost feel it's psychological to take it at night before sleep. I daresay I'm asleep before it's kicked in, and awake when it's mostly worn off.

 

I can see light at the end of the tunnel. I've just got a pill cutter to cut the 0.25mg halves into 0.125mg halves. I'm tempted to jump from 0.125 and see how I go. My biggest problem is sleep as I'm sure it is with many others. The other things I was considering was crossing over to 1mg Valium at night after the 0.125 felt stable and see how I go. Then cross to 0.5v, then jump. I had a pretty terrible experience crossing over to valium last time, but it was probably too low of a dose.

 

I have some other options - I could start on Lexapro, but I'd rather not (or any anti depressant really) - I remember getting off them last time, and it was fairly painful but not as bad as benzos.

 

So any suggestions for this last bit? I've read a lot of people talk about how it's the hardest part. The fact that I can 'feel' 0.25mg seems a positive sign, whereas a few months ago when I only took 0.25mg by accident I was awake within a few hours.

 

Thanks buddies!

Sounds like you're doing great!  Since you're at a low dose I would continue down your path and not add anything else into the mix or switching your meds around but I'm not a doctor and not nearly as far as you in my taper.  I plan to jump at 0.125mg of X for sleep but we'll see as I get closer.  Not sure how long you've been on K but you're likely just down to a psychological dependence at this point like you're saying.  Be grateful for the sleep you do get and don't freak out if the first couple nights aren't a picnic.  Keep in mind every bad night makes you more tired for the next night and look at this positively.  I'm down half of my original dose of X for sleep within a month and the last two nights haven't been great but I'm working through it. 

I tried Lexapro months ago and it elevated my anxiety to new heights especially in the beginning.  It does take awhile to settle in but just know this if you do decide to try it that it might impact your anxiety levels initially and if you're responding well to the medication you'll notice steps in the right direction after a period of time.  I didn't notice any positive impact over a month so quickly tapered off of it and actually felt relief without it.

Hi Guys,

 

First of all. Thanks for all the wonderful information on this forum. I've read pretty much everything and have been working my dose down.

 

I feel 'stable' on 0.25mg clonazepam (down from 1mg). Before joining the forums, I dropped from 1mg to 0.5mg which was a bit painful but it's done. I'm now on 0.25mg at night for sleep. I almost feel it's psychological to take it at night before sleep. I daresay I'm asleep before it's kicked in, and awake when it's mostly worn off.

 

I can see light at the end of the tunnel. I've just got a pill cutter to cut the 0.25mg halves into 0.125mg halves. I'm tempted to jump from 0.125 and see how I go. My biggest problem is sleep as I'm sure it is with many others. The other things I was considering was crossing over to 1mg Valium at night after the 0.125 felt stable and see how I go. Then cross to 0.5v, then jump. I had a pretty terrible experience crossing over to valium last time, but it was probably too low of a dose.

 

I have some other options - I could start on Lexapro, but I'd rather not (or any anti depressant really) - I remember getting off them last time, and it was fairly painful but not as bad as benzos.

 

So any suggestions for this last bit? I've read a lot of people talk about how it's the hardest part. The fact that I can 'feel' 0.25mg seems a positive sign, whereas a few months ago when I only took 0.25mg by accident I was awake within a few hours.

 

Thanks buddies!

 

Sounds like you're doing great!  Since you're at a low dose I would continue down your path and not add anything else into the mix or switching your meds around but I'm not a doctor and not nearly as far as you in my taper.  I plan to jump at 0.125mg of X for sleep but we'll see as I get closer.  Not sure how long you've been on K but you're likely just down to a psychological dependence at this point like you're saying.  Be grateful for the sleep you do get and don't freak out if the first couple nights aren't a picnic.  Keep in mind every bad night makes you more tired for the next night and look at this positively.  I'm down half of my original dose of X for sleep within a month and the last two nights haven't been great but I'm working through it. 

 

I tried Lexapro months ago and it elevated my anxiety to new heights especially in the beginning.  It does take awhile to settle in but just know this if you do decide to try it that it might impact your anxiety levels initially and if you're responding well to the medication you'll notice steps in the right direction after a period of time.  I didn't notice any positive impact over a month so quickly tapered off of it and actually felt relief without it.

I had the same issues with Lexapro at the beginning. Anxiety through the roof for about three days. It settled and I am very glad I stayed with it...I was able to speed up my taper because of the reduced symptoms. I honestly don't believe I would have made it without the SSRI. However, everyone reacts differently to these meds so it can be trial and error.

I would not discourage anybody from getting off Klonopin as they see fit, but be aware that .125 is still a significant dose. K is a very concentrated benzo. I would recommend a slower taper for reduced symptoms.

Can a jump be done from .125? Of course it can... and many can do it just fine. It may be very symptomatic to quit from that dose however. Why not consider a longer taper for a less difficult time?

Strength to the buddies and I wish you both success. There is not one path to getting off this stuff.

Thanks for all your kind words. I remember each cut, I had problems for a bit. I cut pretty fast from 1mg down to 0.25mg. I feel like riding the 0.25mg train for a while then do the last part when I feel ready, I have no intention of updosing.

I've been reading up on other meds like remeron, seroquel etc but I'm not sure it's a wise idea. Today I've been feeling bone tired all day, tried to nap but it was more a 2 hour "lay in bed and try not to feel anxious". At least my brain wasn't overthinking everything.

One of the online benzo calculators says:

1.3 mg Valium dose equivalent to 0.125 mg Klonopin

I might try a hard crossover to ~ 1.5mg valium then taper down from that. 1.5mg Valium is virtually nothing.

Thanks for all your kind words. I remember each cut, I had problems for a bit. I cut pretty fast from 1mg down to 0.25mg. I feel like riding the 0.25mg train for a while then do the last part when I feel ready, I have no intention of updosing.

 

I've been reading up on other meds like remeron, seroquel etc but I'm not sure it's a wise idea. Today I've been feeling bone tired all day, tried to nap but it was more a 2 hour "lay in bed and try not to feel anxious". At least my brain wasn't overthinking everything.

 

One of the online benzo calculators says:

 

1.3 mg Valium dose equivalent to 0.125 mg Klonopin

 

I might try a hard crossover to ~ 1.5mg valium then taper down from that. 1.5mg Valium is virtually nothing.

I was originally prescribed 7.5mg of Remeron at night which is essentially a gigantic histamine block but was really sedated during the day even after 9 hours of sleep.  I couldn't shake it and ended up being depressed because of it.  I cracked that sucker in half and I can say it has helped.  I sleep 7-8 hours at night and it's a bit of a struggle to get out of bed but once I'm up I feel good.  It has helped my taper tremendously but everyone is different.  I tried Trazodone before the benzos and ended up taking too much which exacerbated my issues and resulted in an ER visit where I was given X. 

My doc almost laughed when I said I was at 3.75mg of Remeron at night and basically said I didn't need it but if it's helping me get off the benzos then he's all for it.

The only thing I'll say about V is that it's going to take a bit to build up based on it's half life, and your acute symptoms after withdrawl may be longer.  Again, everyone is different but it's possible that you're not going to see much benefit initially unless you updose during your crossover.  That's why I hesitated to try it even though my doc did fill a script for it as a back up.