Losing My Mind

Hi all,

Just looking for advice not medical opinion. I c/t quit clonozapam 10 days ago from approx 3 weeks taking it .5mg 2 times a day and 6+ years of st John's wart. I'm having the most terrible insomnia with my first 0 sleep night. I feel like I'm losing my mind becaue I got tinitus as another symptom that doesn't stop. Should I reinstate and taper as my dr says he will give me up to 6 months, or should I stick it out? It's honestly almost more than I can take. Also what risk of kindling to you think there might be?

Lilbig,

These first days are very rough.  You need to survive the early days.  If you feel you can’t take it (only you can decide that), type reinstatement in the search engine and you’ll find threads that were opened with posts from people relating their reinstatement experiences.

I see you are on St. John’s Wort.  I’m not sure how much that may be playing into how you are feeling, but when you remove the benzo completely, maybe you are feeling the effects of that supplement without them being masked by the benzo. 

Just a thought.  You may want to go on the Alt Meds board and ask about St. John’s Wort.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

Sofa

Hi all,

Just looking for advice not medical opinion. I c/t quit clonozapam 10 days ago from approx 3 weeks taking it .5mg 2 times a day and 6+ years of st John's wart. I'm having the most terrible insomnia with my first 0 sleep night. I feel like I'm losing my mind becaue I got tinitus as another symptom that doesn't stop. Should I reinstate and taper as my dr says he will give me up to 6 months, or should I stick it out? It's honestly almost more than I can take. Also what risk of kindling to you think there might be?

Yes, I would reinstate at a lower dose (ie around 1/10th of the original dose). Then increase as needed to stabilize. The problem with CT'ing is that the symptoms can continue to worsen for awhile after jumping. If you can, I would get your doctor to prescribe diazepam instead of clonazepam. Diazepam is lower potency and easier to taper. It also has a longer half life. 10mg of diazepam is about equal to 0.5 of clonazepam, although it varies by person. So you could start with 2mg of diazepam or 0.1mg of clonazepam and then increase as needed. I wouldn't worry about kindling. It's much better to taper than to cold turkey. CT'ing can result in a longer and more intense post-withdrawal syndrome.