Klonopin .5 mg

Hello all,

 

I hope everyone is well. I have been consistently taking klonopin .5 mg once a day. I would break the pill in half during the morning take half a pill and then take the other half at night. I decided to try to taper off and only take .25 mg or half a pill once a day at night for the last four days. Lately, I have been waking up with cotton mouth, tunnel vision and ringing in my head. Are all these symptoms since I cut down half a pill?

It sounds like you're experiencing withdrawal symptoms and typically with Klonopin because of it's long half life, they will start to show up around day 3.  You did a 50% cut to your dose, this is not recommended, we suggest only about a 5-10% reduction every week to 10 days.  I'd slow things down if I were you, you'll likely begin to feel more symptoms soon.  Here is a list of the possible symptoms you could experience.  https://www.benzo.org.uk/manual/bzcha03.htm

Do you recommend I go back up to .50 a day and then reduce to .40? Also I’m unsure how to measure .40 mg in pill form.

Some members will go back up in dose in an effort to stabilize so they can do a slower taper, the trouble is, once your body goes into withdrawal mode this is difficult to achieve, some have to go on a higher dose.  The decision is yours about what to do now, you can hold this dose for longer to see if your body adjusts to this dose then if you feel stable, you can go much slower or you can try to go back up. 

 

People get really creative about cutting pills, they get metal nail files and shave their pills, or they crush and weigh them to get their dose, lot of ways to do this.

 

 

Hi Thatguy19,

 

How long have you been taking Klonopin when you decided to make that cut?

 

Thanks.

Hi Thatguy19,

 

How long have you been taking Klonopin when you decided to make that cut?

 

Thanks.

 

Yes Thatguy19, a history of your journey would help us help you.  Here are the instructions how to put it in your signature.  Add your history/signature 

I have been taking klonopin for almost a year now. I have adjusted my doses all the way from 2 mg a day to .50 mg to now trying. .25 mg. I have included my schedule on klonopin below:

 

5/24/19 - 5/31/19 - 1.0 mg per day

6/1/19 - 6/14 - 0.5 mg per day

6/15 - 6/29 - 2.0 mg a day

6/29 - 8/1  1.5 mg a day

8/2 - 8/18 1.0 mg per day

8/19 / 8/29 1.5 mg a day

8/30 - 12/27 1 mg a day

12/28/19 - 2/2/20 - .75 mg a day

2/3/20 - 4/13/20 .50 mg a day

4/14/20 - present .25 mg a day

Thanks for the information, I've updated your signature.  I have a question, how long were you on the Klonopin before you decided to taper it?

Hi Thatguy19,

 

When approaching for the first time the taper process, frequently we thought it would simply consist of reducing a small amount of medication every period of time until we get to the final dose. Then it comes to put it in practice. We have in our hands tablets in a bottle, so what do we do now? Easy! we'll split a tablet to small and equal parts.

 

Let's take the example of someone who like me uses a 0.5 mg Clonazepam tablet for his current dose of 0.5 mg/day. Using a tablet splitter/knife/razor, he separates the tablet to quarters, each containing 0.125 mg of drug. With some dexterity he will get 4 quarters of nearly the same size. I did not have the same ability and although I used a tablet splitter, the parts crumbled most of the time during the separation. Sometimes they resulted in more than 4 parts! This operation was sometimes source of frustration as I stared down at the tiny crumbs! I frequently wondered who is that gifted person who is able to further split a tiny tablet to 1/8 and obtain 8 exactly equal parts. I guess only a few can do it but I have not yet known one. So in our example we will stick to the quarters of a tablet.

 

First day, buddie tosses a quarter over 4. His intention is to hold the dose for a period of time more or less long, say one or two months. But look! What we are just witnessing is a 25% cut! As the general recommendations are to reduce between 5-10% every 10-14 days, this is definitely a huge reduction. Although buddie will be holding for one month or more, the sudden reduction at the moment will create a shock to his CNS. If I can interprete the vocal reaction of the organism in human words, it would be: "Hey chump! Enough joke! Slow down will you?". Depending on a number of different parameters, buddie might feel or not symptoms during this phase or those symptoms remain manageable for him.

 

One month elapsed then buddie tosses a new quarter over 3. It is now a 33% cut!! :( He starts to feel withdrawal symptoms, some are known, others were not present before. They might again be manageable or they might well be very unsettling. This is a way the organism protests against the damages buddie was self inflicting ("Good Heaven! You did it again didn't you? Can't stand it any more!").

 

Then following his schedule the heroic buddie grits his teeth and holds another month or more hoping that the body will adapt by miracles to this important change. Insomnia, foggy minds, blurred vision, dizziness, you name it, follow. Guess what! buddie cuts again! Again a new quarter off but this time over 2 and it results in a 50% cut!!!. :(

 

The wall mentioned by several "tablet splitters" appears when symptoms start from a no-symptoms or little-symptoms state, increase in intensity and stay persistent whatever dose you try to turn to or however long you hold. No way to stabilize and advance in the taper. One feels stuck. The damages inflicted to the CNS by abruptly suppressing benzo appear permanent and there is no sign they will ever improve.

 

Things become suddenly clear when we read about how many similar situations got a happy end. It was when buddies, in a desperate attempt to get out of the mess, switched to Liquid/Dry Micro Taper. With this method, there is no more constraint to reduce a quarter of a tablet at a time. The reduction becomes now a micro-reduction and buddie can easily and accurately taper with doses even lower than 1/16 of a tablet. Doing so will definitely minimize suffering through smaller, more precise and stable reductions compared to tablet splitting which becomes less precise as doses reduce. Needless to say that this controllable pace is essential to the success of the taper process.

 

In your case, I would try to:

1. Come back to the dose you last felt somehow stable and comfortable with.

2. Hold there for one or two weeks to establish a solid base to start a Micro Taper.

3. Research and select a Micro Taper Method: Dry Cut or Liquid Titration.

4. Prepare yourself your medication or get it prepared by a phamacist

5. Create a tentative Taper Plan (here)

6. Launch yourself with the first micro reduced doses for a week or two!

7. Fine tune your Taper Plan, slow down if too fast, to adapt to the way your body reacts to the reduced dose

 

Wish you all the best!

 

Thank you I will try that.

Thanks for the information, I've updated your signature.  I have a question, how long were you on the Klonopin before you decided to taper it?

i have bee. Taking it for almost a year.

Hello, Thatguy19.

 

If you have not already done so, you might want to read the following:

 

Titration: FAQs