How do I taper off of Klonopin? Seems next to impossible

Hi All,

 

I tried tapering off of Klonopin from 4 mg to 3.75 mg. After about 3-4 days, my joints swelled up, I got a fever, sore throat, and assorted horrible symptoms. I was on 2 mg but developed tolerance. I'm despairing..this thing's made me lose my immunity, sanity and everything else. Anyone experienced symptoms with this kinda taper?

im brand new so no advice but i feel your pain  im on a lower dose but when i cut down a couple years ago i had those symptoms  Could barely move my hands  im in a taper now and achy  i find it challenging during tis time of COVID 19 to know what is Withdrawel or illness hope you find relief 

Hi Ash

 

Your symptoms occurring a few days after a reduction is normal.  Klonipin has a long half life.  It can take a few days and up to a couple weeks to notice symptoms.  This is why it’s advised to reduce only 5-10% of your dose each 10 days.  You can also wait longer if symptoms are very difficult. 

 

Withdrawal is very common from benzos.  Most have some kind of symptoms.  Some mild and some much more challenging. 

 

You can taper by reducing as noted above in my post here.  To get such small reductions isn’t possible with pill cuts.  You will need to compound your pills into a liquid and measure doses.  A compound pharmacy can do this for you.  Your doctor has to prescribe it that way.  You need to be very clear that you want to reduce at most 10% each 10 days to 2 weeks. 

 

I’m sure others will give you ideas here about how to make smaller reductions. 

The symptoms you describe are pretty normal.  Some level of discomfort is probably going to occur during your withdrawal.  To some degree, you get to control the level of discomfort by adjusting the size of your cuts.  You tried cutting by 0.25mg and now you know how that's going to feel.  If you can handle it, then you can continue with cuts of that size.  If it's overwhelming, then consider a smaller cut.

 

A lot of people pick up a little Gemini-20 scale (~$22 on Amazon) to help with pill weighing.

 

Is your therapist giving you advice for how to cope with the withdrawal symptoms?  Your ability to 'distract' when symptoms flare will help you thru this ordeal.

following

 

I didn't experience those symptoms but I did experience withdrawal. I titrated using whole milk. Started at 3 mg. I am on .5 mg now. It took me a few years to get to .5 then I stopped the taper and held at .5 for a few years. Yes I know, that seems insane. I had to keep slowing down due to being on them for over a decade, and having a period of taking very high doses right before the taper. I would take two mg pills and titrate the other.

 

I always recommended going slower. People argued against it back then (around 2014 or so). But I think I suffered much less for it, which still seemed pretty awful, but compared to some of what I read here, I suspect I had it far easier.

 

Try titrating if you like, and maybe try with 10% or even less. I think I started at 7% but dropped after a few cuts. I ended up tapering at 5% for the bulk of my taper and doing holds that were three weeks or so because withdrawal didn't hit me until around two weeks or maybe 1.5 weeks. Then I added a few days to just be stable before my next cut.

 

The way I see it, if you go slow and minimize your withdrawal then that's all the more chance you have at a more normal life.

 

 

OMG I nver knew getting off of Klonopin can take years. Yesterday's panic attack will remain forever etched in my mind.

OMG I nver knew getting off of Klonopin can take years. Yesterday's panic attack will remain forever etched in my mind.

 

It doesn't have to take years, but for those of us who get dependent on these drugs, it usually takes at least some months.  Healing rates vary a LOT.

 

I'm sorry you had a panic attack.  I had a couple of those.  Freakin' scary.  I guess the attack itself is usually very brief - mere seconds - but it would leave me shaken for some time.  I hope you're doing better today.

It doesn’t have to take years.  But it’s not a fast thing.  It’s taken me 9 months from .5 to .0625 once daily.  The final reductions are usually more challenging than the start.  So, go slow, make smaller cuts at 10 % each 2 weeks.  If you rush, you’ll likely struggle.  Follow symptoms. 

Hey, Ash!

 

I was where you are now this past October, and I was terrified. Don’t be. You can do this.

 

The key to tapering is listening to your body, and finding out what level you’re comfortable cutting. Your body will tell you when you’re going too fast, or cutting too much.

 

I started out cutting .25 mgs every 2-5 weeks until I got down to taking .25 mg per day, at which point I started making cuts of .0625 (1/8 of a .5 mg pill). The .25 mg cuts were rough, but I gritted my way through them, thinking that this was how it had to be if I was going to reach my goal of being off Klonopin by late-January. The cuts caught up with me, as did life, and I started taking longer between cuts to stabilize. I wish I had made smaller cuts more often, because the .0625 cuts are comparatively easy for me. I still have minor side effects, but nothing like I was having with the .25 mg cuts.

 

I switched from 1 mg pills to .5 mg pills to make them easier to break into smaller pieces.

 

Don’t be intimidated by how long your taper takes. It’s your taper, and you’re in control of it. It’s like being on a roller coaster, but you are in total control of how fast or slow you go, and how drastic the drops will be.

 

I’m down to .0625 mg/day now, and may make one more tiny cut before jumping off, depending on how I feel.

 

How long have you been taking benzos? Have you quit taking them at any point before?

Can't thank everyone enough for the various types of tapers. My psych gave me Fluvoxamine to help with anxiety and depression. I'm now on 3 mg Klonopin and contemplating going down to 2.5 or 2.75 mg.

 

The other, more frightening alternative is to totally go off the med in a hospital setting but that can be very, very rough is what people say. I'll be posting my taper journey and asking silly/ stupid questions as I go along. Thanks again!! 

Just something from my perspective:  I was dumbfounded when I finally got it through my head how long my taper was going to take.  It was especially upsetting because I took a couple of big cuts (like you are planning) at the beginning.  I paid for those cuts HARD and now simply won’t do that to myself. I listen to my body.  I am now at just above half of my original dose and holding for stability for a little while.  And, most importantly, I am feeling SO much better from a cognitive and energy perspective now that I do not have so much Clonazepam in my system. That helps me a lot - so if my journey to walking off is long, it’s okay because I am really feeling very much like my old self again.  So I am not at all upset with how long it might take, so long as I remain high functioning.

 

Your next cuts seem a bit large - are you sure you wouldn’t be happier trying a smaller cut and seeing how that goes this time around?  If you think it was too small you can always take the next one a few days sooner or take a bigger cut on schedule.  But aim for what will keep you improving functionally.  Some wise people here gave me the same advice and I good just virtually hug them for it!

 

Best wishes,

Butterfly 🦋