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Coming off klonopin


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Hello, I believe I need help. I've been taking klonopin for the past several years, for the first three years it was roughly every three days, sometimes two. But for the past year it's been every day or two days. Two weeks ago, I noticed a very unusual side effect: Depersonalization. I would be fine for part of the day and then like a light switch, it would be turned completely upside down. Nothing would feel real, my body felt like it's not really attached, and I would slightly faint or dizzy. Yesterday I went to the hospital but there wasn't much they could do. I left feeling worse than when I got there.

 

My prescription for klonopin is officially 0.5mg three times daily, but I have never taken it that long. I believe, after researching, that I have the Kindling effect. During the side effects, I increased my seroquel from 300xr to 300xr + 50ir and it worked. For a little while. Then it came back a few days later and I increased it to 300xr + 100ir and again, it worked for a little while.

 

I never wanted to have this happen, I wanted to use it responsibly but it appears that this is not the case anymore. I hope to follow the ashton manual (without substituting klonopin for diazepam, is this possible?) and be off of it for good.

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This link explains the mechanism of benzo's, and is a great place to start self educating.

http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?topic=66397.0

 

This is a list of withdraw symptoms:

https://www.benzo.org.uk/manual/bzcha03.htm#4

(interestingly, I share your list of symptoms, add terrible cold spells and we could be twins)

 

Tapering is the safest, and most tolerable method for getting off of benzo's. Here is our taper info:

 

The max recommended cut is 5-10% every 2 weeks. Many of us have to go slower, depending on our medication and what we can handle. Here are the boards on tapering. Feel free to print out anything you wish, and share it with your doctor. From there, you can formulate a plan, and, you are always free to change it up if it's not working. It can take some trial and error. What works best for me may not be what works best for you. Starting at a regular dose with regular intervals until you feel stable can help before you begin. As you don't dose everyday, that might mean every other day, this is something you may want to workout with your doctor, or even experiment with until you feel your ready to start tapering.

 

As to substituting, you don't have to crossover to another benzo to taper.

 

http://www.benzo.org.uk/manual 

 

http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?board=56.0

 

http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?board=145.0

 

This is a list of withdraw symptoms:

https://www.benzo.org.uk/manual/bzcha03.htm#4

 

In the forums pertinent to your circumstances, you will find other buddies going through their own tapers. This is a good place to ask questions, and receive guidance.

 

Again, welcome to Benzo Buddies, you have come to a safe, confidential informative support group, and we are happy to have you as a member. You can do this, with knowledge and finding coping skills.

 

Please take some time to Create a Signature. This will help other members understand your history so they will be better able to support you. Go to the top of the page and select Profile, then choose Forum Profile, insert drug history/timelines into the text box and click Change Profile.

 

We look forward to reading more from you over the forthcoming days and weeks.

 

Take care,

BB Team

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Thank you for your informative reply. I plan to use the ashton manual (starting at 1.5 per day) and I have a very precise gem-20 scale that can measure in .001 grains (I believe there are 15.4 grains to 1 gram, I mostly use it for reloading ammo on the weekends but it will be repurposed).

 

The symptom was very scary, for the past two weeks I thought I was going to die. Again, I would feel fine for half the day, then the next half was complete hell. It felt like a dream-like state, anxiety levels off the charts, I could not eat well. I walked all the way to the hospital yesterday and it was a terrible, terrible experience. There were no rooms available, I had to be placed on a bed in a crowded hallway. And I was largely ignored. 5pm had rolled around and nobody brought me my pills or even a bottle of water, eventually i saw a doctor who advised NOT continuing to increase the seroquel because it can lower the seizure threshhold. I was increasing it too quickly (50mg the first day, 100 the third) and it's a good thing he told me to stop because I was planning to keep doing it, believing it was the seroquel withdrawals. During the last four or five years I've had to slowly increase my seroquel due to it pooping out, starting from 50mg and currently at 300-350.

 

Another part is that there was a lot of uncertainty...Was it the klonopin? Was it the seroquel? (I took more seroquel and felt good for a few days, maybe that's the issue, I should keep doing that!)

 

I never intended for it to come to this, but after researching what kindling is and how it works, it sounds like what I did. I did not know this would happen.

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Your very welcome. I learned the hard way that seroquel has to be consistent, same dosage, reasonably same time frame for dosing.
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I know that feeling, sometimes I just want to take a 50mg for the heck of it. Seroquel is good for sleep but it also caused weight gain and cholesterol issues for me.
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  • 3 months later...
Didn't know where else to post so I just found my introduction, but I'm still cracking away at it! Doing good, the last 0.5mg hasn't been as rough as I thought it would be.
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Hello rsx,

 

When I read what you wrote in your first post it made me so sad.  You said "I never wanted to have this happen, I wanted to use it responsibly but it appears that this is not the case anymore."  I want you to know that from what I can see, you did use the drug responsibly, but as happens to most of us here, your body became tolerant to it and you needed more to achieve the same effect.  This is what happens and it's not your fault!  This drug is only recommended by the manufacturer to be taken for 2-4 weeks, not years, they know how powerful it is.

 

Your symptoms sound like Klonopin withdrawal to me, I don't have experience with seroquel but I have plenty with Klonopin and yours sound very familiar. 

 

If you're interested in hearing how our members are tapering their benzo's, you could start a thread on the Planning your Withdrawal (Taper Plans) board, just select the direct taper tab.  And it sounds like you could use some feedback about your seroquel use, there are many threads on that subject on the Other Medications board.  You could take a look at those, or start a thread of your own discussing your concerns.

 

Pamster

 

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rsx-

 

I have had to stop tapering the seroquel for now. I am really struggling to cut my xanax down, and don't need the extra distress to my CNS. Just a heads up to let you know to leave the sero alone when the z-drug cuts are not going well.

 

 

-Peace

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  • 2 weeks later...

Just read these replies, much appreciated! Haven't messed with the seroquel, still at 350mg per day and I've been on 10mg of paxil for a very long time. Right now I'm at 0.3mg of klonopin and doing fine, the end is hopefully not too far away.

 

Looking back on it, I can see how it got out of control. I was taking it every 3 days for years and it was fine, but for the last year it was every 2 days, and sometimes the next day, and the doses were roughly 1mg each. Figure it was only a matter of time before I got hooked, I have nobody to blame but myself and I'm still honoring the commitment I made back in July. Assuming it all works out, the best part is not having to weigh the pills anymore. I do want to continue taking benzos because I recognize they have a legitimate use but the next phase is to be clean for a while then take it about once a week as needed, this is in contrast to the every 3 day schedule I was on. I like taking benzos because they work, but now that I have my mind back I don't want to lose it again. One concern I have is the itch in the back of my mind to take it more often, like how a drug addict will always be a drug addict. I was a cigarette smoker for a long time and quit 10 years ago but it's always in the back of my mind. I went to vaping and hookah and clove cigarettes and quit all that stuff (along with caffeine) earlier this year. The most I do now is eat a lot and drink decaf.

 

Good luck to you, Baddove. I know you can do it, stay strong!

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Hi rsx,

 

I'm glad to hear things are going well for you, it's nice to see someone who isn't having a rough time.  Yes, benzo's can be a useful medication, hopefully you can figure out the best use for them going forward.

 

I hope you'll keep coming back to let us know how you're doing, we love success stories!

 

Pamster

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It's not the first drug I kicked, quitting smoking was just as bad but for different reasons. The only way to quit that was to go cold. I had withdrawals for about six months, in one form or another, with cravings, and they were relentless. I understand most people who use tobacco feel miserable and want to quit but it's just too damn hard. At least with tapering benzos, it gives you breaks in between where you feel ok but I do recall those random moments of dread and terror. Scary stuff. More than once I had to sit down and keep repeating it will blow over, it's just how the withdrawals feel, keep sticking it out. And I've had no cravings since July, the need to dose feels like a foreign concept at this point. I'll take what's required but it doesn't make me feel good. I feel fortunate to have my mind in one piece again and I hope everybody will have the same benefit. I also had support from my grandparents and my primary care doctor, everybody's been really cool. With the exception of my psychiatrist, I have a new one from six months ago and she does not know anything about this because I feel these doctors are to blame for over-prescribing and their lack of knowledge of the ashton manual. I have a very large supply of excess pills, my prescription is still currently 0.5mg three times a day. It has to be more than 500, maybe even 1,000 but I ignore them because it does not interest me.
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  • 1 month later...
Whoever said the last 1/2 milligram is the worst was correct. It requires half the dose for twice as long, normally I was able to come down 0.1 every week or so. With this situation it's been 0.05 every two weeks. The withdrawals for the current cycle (0.2) and the last one (0.25) have been pretty bad, mostly related to restless leg syndrome which can be very painful and a good reason to lose several hours of sleep each night. It's been a week on 0.2 and the rls subsided last night, up until then it's been lousy.
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Hi rsx,

 

I've heard that too, the last is the worst, but then comes the jump and from what I've seen, its no picnic either.  I didn't taper, I quit cold turkey so I know about the big jump.  :D

 

I'm sorry to hear about your restless leg, I've heard that's miserable, I'm glad you had a break last night.  You're doing great though, you're almost there and once off of the drug, you'll begin the real healing, and boy is it great to finally get there!

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Hi rsx,

 

I've heard that too, the last is the worst, but then comes the jump and from what I've seen, its no picnic either.  I didn't taper, I quit cold turkey so I know about the big jump.  :D

 

I'm sorry to hear about your restless leg, I've heard that's miserable, I'm glad you had a break last night.  You're doing great though, you're almost there and once off of the drug, you'll begin the real healing, and boy is it great to finally get there!

 

The restless leg symptoms went on for more than two weeks with no end in sight. Some nights were very painful and I couldn't get to sleep until after midnight. I was miserable. This doesn't sound like the withdrawal symptoms from a benzo taper because it would not go away, normally whatever withdrawals I was having would disappear in a week and I would take another week off before tapering again. I did a fair amount of research the other day and as it turns out, there was a substantial report about how Seroquel causes restless leg syndrome. And it's not just that, Klonopin relieves rls so if I had to guess what's been going on, the two drugs were fighting each other and now that I'm taking such a small dose, the Seroquel is winning.

 

Normally I take 300mg xr and 50mg regular every night, I cut the 50mg down to zero and wasn't able to get any sleep but the symptoms disappeared. From there I cut the 50mg into four quarters, took one then waited and within an hour I was asleep and the problem was gone. So the plan now is to postpone the next Klonopin taper by a few days (I was supposed to taper again today) and wait until the lower dose of Seroquel balances out. I feel mostly fine this morning, just grogginess while waking up but otherwise in good health.

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Great job of diagnosing your restless legs, good grief, I'm so glad you figured it out and that you got some sleep.  I think it's an excellent idea to hold off on your cut, good plan. 

 

This process teaches us to be very careful about what we put into our bodies, I know I've become a lot more discriminating, I don't think we can go wrong advocating for ourselves when it comes to our medical needs.

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Great job of diagnosing your restless legs, good grief, I'm so glad you figured it out and that you got some sleep.  I think it's an excellent idea to hold off on your cut, good plan. 

 

This process teaches us to be very careful about what we put into our bodies, I know I've become a lot more discriminating, I don't think we can go wrong advocating for ourselves when it comes to our medical needs.

 

I know, this year I quit vaping and gave up all caffeine (but I still drink decaf coffee) and I've learned that it's best to do one thing at a time. No point in tapering off the klonopin during the middle of lowering the seroquel because anything could go wrong and I can't do anything about it if I don't know what's causing it. Changing one variable at a time is best. But I did find out that a seroquel taper is a joke compared to the benzos, shouldn't take long. I wouldn't mind coming off the 300mg of seroquel because all it did was made me gain weight and mess with my cholesterol, I have to take a fiber supplement to keep it down.

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Absolutely, it's best to keep the variables to a minimum, this process is crazy enough without wondering if another medication could be causing us issues.  Heck, when we're in benzo withdrawal, we question everything from other medications, foods, drink, you name it, we're trying to figure if and how if affects us.  :D

 

 

 

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  • 1 month later...
Hopefully this is the last post I need to make on this thread, but I'm officially done! I was reading through the messages, restless leg syndrome was another benzo withdrawal symptom but it had me fooled. During the last month or so, I cut the seroquel from 350mg to 200mg, planning another 100mg drop next time I see the doctor in a couple of months.
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  • 2 weeks later...
It's been two weeks as of today, still having mild headaches but it's manageable. The bigger issue: After having restless leg syndrome for the past few months, every day, I finally figured out it's due to Paxil. It's also causing sinus problems before bed, every night. I'm taking 10mg and attempted to do a 20% cut, that went down in flames so I bumped it up to 10% and it's doable, I think. Is there any section on here for ssri's? That would really help.
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Your symptoms do sound manageable, that's good to hear!  Interesting you've found the culprit for your other issues, sounds like you need to take this one slow too.

 

Here is a link to our Other Medications board, you can do a search for other threads discussing Paxil, or start your own.

 

There is also a poly drugging support group which may talk about it. http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?topic=132299.0

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Paxil was the miracle drug for years. No side effects and it worked wonderful, never had to increase my dose. Hardly anybody takes 10mg, it goes up to like 60 I think. Thought I would be done with my digital scale, but here I go again :idiot: .
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