Should tapering from only 0.5 clanozapam be that hard?

Hello everyone,

 

So, I started taking clanozapam about 12 years ago after a horrible derealization experience. I took 0.5 mg three times per day. I was also put on 300 mg of the SNRI effextor to help with the derealization/existential thoughts + my OCD (which started several years earlier).

 

Six years after that I gradually stopped taking the benzo because I didn't felt I need it anymore. And...I mostly didnt.  I went down to 2 pills per day the 1 then nothing...I wasn't tapering off, I was unaware of such things as withdrawal symptoms...I simply saw that I still felt fine and had no use to them. The weird thing is that I had no WS. And that after taking 1.5 a day for six years. Maybe because I was on the SNRI?

 

A year after that I started taking 0.5 mg about 3 times a week, before I needed to drive on an highway. I've been doing that for like...4 years. I think.

 

Last year I got off the SNRI. I tapered down and it wasnt fun but I did it.

Not too long after my last dose, several weeks maybe, I had a hugeeee panic attack. very intense Derealization and, for the first time, also experienced some DP. (Didnt felt out of body though...just feeling like I dont exist. Like...what the hell am I?). It was terrifying and after that I started taking 0.5 mg per day.

 

fast forward to now, 9 months later - Im tapering down from the benzo as they dont seem to help that much. Or at all, actually. Anytime I start to feel a bit better with the DR/DP I have a setback and go back to square 1. its like a week/2 week cycle. Feel a bit better then boom. No progression. I started to think that maybe the benzo prevents my brain from healing, as I had setbacks in the past but eventually I was able to move forward and now I seem to be stuck for months with no end in sight. But I just dont understand how the hell could I take in the past 3 times the amount I'm taking now and feel good while now third of it makes me feel bad.

 

So, I started to tapper. reducing 0.1 mg per 2 weeks (switched to liquid form of clanozapam in order to do that). I'm now on 0.3 mg per day and its just...hell. bloody hell. I dont understand why it's so tough. I'm tapering slowly, right? and the initial amount wasnt that much. The amount of anxiety I feel just dont seem proportionate to the amount of clanozapam I'm decreasing. only bloody 0.1 mg.

That makes me fear that Its not the benzo at all that made me to get stuck in my DR/DP anxiety cycle, and that getting off them wont make me feel better either, only worse.

Maybe the anxiety isnt a withdrawal symptom at all? since it is the only WD i seem to have?

 

Would love to hear your input.

 

Bloody hard guys.

 

cheers

anyone?  :'(

Based on what you said it sounds like withdrawals to me.  People go very slow and still suffer. I am going at a moderate rate and suffering pretty bad. I have windows of feeling ok though. I was always at a low dose. Check my signature. The dose doesn’t always matter. Everyone reacts differently. I’m sorry your having a rough time.

thanks for the replay.

how can you cut your pills? it sound almost impossible to get those exact measures from cutting.

 

 

I use a razor blade and the Gemini scale you can get on amazon. You weigh the pill and shave off a little everyday. Some people also do a liquid taper. Have you heard of the Aston manual? I highly recommend looking it up. It has tons of valuable information. It’s where most everyone here has started with.

 

 

 

So, I started to tapper. reducing 0.1 mg per 2 weeks (switched to liquid form of clanozapam in order to do that). I'm now on 0.3 mg per day and its just...hell. bloody hell. I dont understand why it's so tough. I'm tapering slowly, right? and the initial amount wasnt that much. The amount of anxiety I feel just dont seem proportionate to the amount of clanozapam I'm decreasing. only bloody 0.1 mg.

 

 

No, you definitely are NOT tapering slowly.

 

If your starting dose was .5mg, and you cut .1mg, that's a 20% reduction.  And if you do that per 2 weeks, that's over 40% per month!  And at .3mg, a .1mg cut is 33%!

 

Most folks here are doing maybe 10-15%/month.

Thanks for your responses. Maybe I was moving too fast and should slow the pace. Didn't expect it to be that bloody hard for such a small amount.

 

thanks guys/gals.

 

Personally I cut 10% of the weight of my pill per week. Maybe some say that’s fast. I’m just listening to my body. I don’t feel great but I’m not on my deathbed so I just keep going.

Go at your own pace Dan. I went at 10% sometimes then much more from .5-.25. Then I had to slow way down at .125. But just keep in mind there is no small dose of this drug. It is dreadful. Justvfollow a symptom based plan. The scale helps immensely.

Dan Snow-  I was taking klonopin .5mg sometimes two per day for 10 years for sleep- When prescribed originally my doc told me that I could take 1 or 2 (.5 mg) as needed so I was haphazard in my dosing- Sometimes I would go for 3 or 4 days at a time without any- some days I'd take .25mg some .5 some 1mg-  I stopped gradually but by no means a slow taper.  I now believe I was constantly going in and out of WD- Had no symptoms that I attributed to withdrawal at the time but I did have the same headaches, dizziness, brain fog, leg burning (in waves) etc that I had had throughout using but I didn't connect them-probably symptoms were from my body constantly trying to heal.  This time I am having those  symptoms in addition to many others and I'm tapering very slowly-it's been very difficult.  From my reading I have to think it's what's called Kindling- http://w-bad.org/kindling/  Although what happened to me isn't clear cut kindling it sounds like that factored into my withdrawal last time and probably yours now-  Good luck!

Yes I had interdiose withdrawal myself but had no idea until I had the same symptoms during my taper just more intense. Who knew.

thanks for the responses. Wish you all (and me) fast and easy recovery.

Best of luck to us!

Wishing you a fast recovery.

 

SaraSue 

 

 

 

So, I started to tapper. reducing 0.1 mg per 2 weeks (switched to liquid form of clanozapam in order to do that). I'm now on 0.3 mg per day and its just...hell. bloody hell. I dont understand why it's so tough. I'm tapering slowly, right? and the initial amount wasnt that much. The amount of anxiety I feel just dont seem proportionate to the amount of clanozapam I'm decreasing. only bloody 0.1 mg.

 

 

 

 

No, you definitely are NOT tapering slowly.

 

If your starting dose was .5mg, and you cut .1mg, that's a 20% reduction.  And if you do that per 2 weeks, that's over 40% per month!  And at .3mg, a .1mg cut is 33%!

 

Most folks here are doing maybe 10-15%/month.

Can you tell/give me the model number of you scale please?

I hope it's working well for you

 

Thank you

Gary