Hey everyone!

Hey everyone. It's nice to meet you all. I'm joining Benzo Buddies because I'm going to start tapering Clonazepam soon and have sone questions that between Google and my doctors I keep getting different information. I started on 0.5 mgs of Clonazepam twice daily. I'm now on 1 mg twice daily. I've been taking Clonazepam for a little less than 2 years.

Hello sandstorm2001, Welcome to BenzoBuddies!

 

We're glad you found us, and it's so wise of you to educate yourself about the tapering process before you begin.  You're on a pretty hefty dose of Klonopin so we typically suggest reducing by about 5-10% every week or two to minimize withdrawal symptoms.  Is there a reason why you want to taper from the drug?  Have you felt any odd sensations that you're attributing to it?

 

Take a look at our  Planning Your Withdrawal (Taper Plans) board, there you'll see the methods we support and if you'd like member suggestions just start a thread to get some feedback.

 

Have you heard of  The Ashton Manual, its a great resource for understanding what benzo's do to us and some of the withdrawal symptoms we experience.

 

One last thing, not everyone will suffer from benzodiazepine withdrawal syndrome, so you may be one of the lucky ones, I hope so anyway.

 

Pamster

Welcome to BB sandstorm200. I am curious. What were you taking the K for and what is the reason for wanting to get off it now?

Thanks both of you! The reason I got on them was I went to a therapist after my anxiety and panic attacks got so bad that I couldn't even drive or work anymore. I went and saw a therapist and then saw their psychiatrist. He put me on the Clonazepam and Mirtazapine and I've been on both almost 2 years. At first it worked well but in the last 6 months it's gotten to the point that I'm almost a hermit. Luckily I had Googled Clonazepam (something I wish I had done before getting on them) so when they tried to bump me up to 3 mgs daily I turned it down. Anyway so I thought this medicine isn't doing  anything. So I started telling them I wanted off of it. I tried to taper once and failed. So two questions. How do I know if I really need to get off the Clonazepam? And what's the consensus? Is it better to be off of them no matter what and try to find other medications or ways to deal with my anxiety and panic attacks or do some people need to just stay on them their whole lives? Then I'll save the big question that I keep getting mixed answers on for after so I don't overwhelm anyone.

I have a question for you, so we'll do this together.  When you say you failed your first taper, what happened, why did you fail, can you describe what you felt?

 

Most people who end up here figure out they need to taper from them when they begin tolerance to the drug, meaning the dose must be increased to achieve the same effect.  Since they can't keep raising the dose they decide they must get off.  Another reason is inter-dose withdrawal, people begin withdrawing between doses making it very uncomfortable waiting for the next dose, this happens most often with short acting drugs like Xanax and Ativan.  Another reason to get off them is they begin to change us, we go from active and involved to distant and apathetic, disinterested in the things which used to bring us joy. 

 

I guess there are people who can stay on them a lifetime, but for those of us who begin to experience these symptoms, the drug actually begins to cause the things we went on them to treat.  Insomnia will get worse and anxiety will get worse, just two of many issues the drug begins to intensify.

 

 

I should mention that along the way we found out alot of my anxiety and panic was caused by my hypochondria and health anxiety. When I failed the first taper it was a decrease from 1 mg tablets twice daily that I would take 1 in the morning and 1 around 5ish eveyday. They wanted me to drop to 0.5 mgs 3 times a day. They said it would even it out more even though it was a lower dose. So the first day I have a ton of panic attacks ranging from mild to "I'm dying and need to go to the hospital" (could just be my hypochondria playing tricks on me) That night I couldn't sleep well (hypochondria again?) It's like every symptom I read about was coming true and it had only been day 1. Day 2 I wake up and take 0.5 again. Began to experience horrible panic attacks again. At this point Im irritable and frustrated. I made it through about 3 or 4 hours before I took another half and then started taking 1 mg twice daily again. So was it all my anxiety playing tricks on me or was I really having withdrawl symptoms over the course of 27-28 hours. Symptoms after the first 2 or 3 hours even. Either way I called my doctor and told them I had gone back up and "failed".

Fear is one of our worst symptoms so it's hard to tell if what you were feeling was real withdrawal or the fear of withdrawal.  This process turns us all into hypochondriacs, the medical and pharmaceutical industries are making billions on us because the symptoms we experience make us crazy and send us to the ER all the time.  So much time and money have been wasted by us chasing the reasons for the symptoms we feel when most of it boils down to benzo withdrawal and the only thing to help is time.

 

I believe you may have had some anticipatory anxiety about your dose reduction but I also believe you felt what you felt.  Given your health anxiety, I feel a very slow taper would be best for you.

 

 

Thank you. I think long and slow is the way to go. I've been fortunate enough to have doctors that will listen and trust me. So for the big question. I've heard yes and no. Is it possible to have a seizure while tapering? Or as long as you have some Clonazepam in your system is it impossible to have one?

Well now, you'll find here we don't speak in absolutes because there are too many unknowns when dealing with an internet peer support forum.  However I will say that I've not seen any members who after joining us have mentioned having a seizure, either tapering or quitting cold turkey.  Keep in mind, I've not read every post on the forum and there have been over 3 million of them so there's that.  I have read a few who have said they had them before they joined us, but what do we really know about anyone, right? 

 

 

You said you went cold turkey. Can you share some of the symptoms you felt?

From chapter 3 of The Ashton Manual

 

 

 

PSYCHOLOGICAL SYMPTOMS

      Excitability (jumpiness, restlessness)

      Insomnia, nightmares, other sleep disturbances

      Increased anxiety, panic attacks

      Agoraphobia, social phobia

      Perceptual distortions

      Depersonalisation, derealisation

      Hallucinations, misperceptions

      Depression

      Obsessions

      Paranoid thoughts

    Rage, aggression, irritability

      Poor memory and concentration

      Intrusive memories

    Craving (rare)

 

PHYSICAL SYMPTOMS

      Headache

      Pain/stiffness - (limbs, back, neck, teeth, jaw)

      Tingling, numbness, altered sensation - (limbs, face, trunk)

      Weakness ("jelly-legs")

      Fatigue, influenza-like symptoms

      Muscle twitches, jerks, tics, "electric shocks"

      Tremor

      Dizziness, light-headedness, poor balance

      Blurred/double vision, sore or dry eyes

      Tinnitus

      Hypersensitivity - (light, sound, touch, taste, smell)

      Gastrointestinal symptoms - (nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea,

      constipation, pain, distension, difficulty swallowing)

      Appetite/weight change

      Dry mouth, metallic taste, unusual smell

      Flushing/sweating/palpitations

    Overbreathing

      Urinary difficulties/menstrual difficulties

    Skin rashes, itching

    Fits (rare)

Been over 48 hours since I took 2 mgs. Wondering if my the 2 is just now leaving my body cause I'm feeling some bad symptoms

Half life for Clonazepam is between 18-50 hours, so you're right on time.  Are you okay, are you fearful?

So Pamster, even after dropping 6mg Klonopin, you didn't experience seizures? Wow! I guess everyone is different, but for safety's sake, I would employ a slow taper as mentioned.

Dave.

So Pamster, even after dropping 6mg Klonopin, you didn't experience seizures? Wow! I guess everyone is different, but for safety's sake, I would employ a slow taper as mentioned.

Dave.

 

I was given a prescription for phenobarbital by the detox center I walked out of when I found out my detox consisted of 2 doses of Klonopin. 

Sorry for the late response but thanks for responding. Ive been talking with my mom and time slipped away and all the sudden I wasn't anxious anymore. Fearful yes. I could feel it rising. I tried to eat some dinner earlier but felt like throwing up the whole time. I just ate and felt fine though. It just felt like my heart was beating weird even though when I took my pulse it was normal. At one point it started beating out of my chest and felt weird to walk. Kind of like I had "sea legs" or like my legs were made out of jello. Im staying optimistic and positive so far as it seems to have just been a bad panic attack. But since I've hit the window of the 2 mgs leaving any idea of how long it might take for my body to adjust to the new dose?

Hey sandstorm, I'm going to answer your post on your other thread, okay?  Not many members visit the introductions board so I think you would get more replies if we move it there.  http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?topic=237720.0