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Is Inter-dose Withdrawal an Issue with Klonopin? Titration Questions


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I've decided to do a liquid taper with Klonopin.

 

I've always been on 0.5mg once a day at night before sleeping. But I've made the switch to 25% of this dose in the morning, and 75% at night to "keep my blood levels more steady" when I start to titrate.

 

However, I haven't even started titrating yet, and I already notice I'm getting more symptomatic. Was this a good plan? Or was I fine just titrating down from my one dose at night without splitting up dosage throughout the day?

 

I'm worried about getting interdose withdrawals as I titrate if I'm only dosing once at night. But it feels like my body is already so used to taking the full dose at night, that taking 25% in the morning instead is just useless, and 75% at night feels almost like I did an entire cut of 25%.

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Klonopin’s half-life is short enough that it’s recommended that you dose twice daily to avoid interdose withdrawal. I would encourage you to go more slowly while you are switching to two doses instead of one so that your body is able to adjust more easily and smoothly. Don’t start titrating until you feel stable.
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Klonopin’s half-life is short enough that it’s recommended that you dose twice daily to avoid interdose withdrawal. I would encourage you to go more slowly while you are switching to two doses instead of one so that your body is able to adjust more easily and smoothly. Don’t start titrating until you feel stable.

 

Gotcha, thanks for your response. Couple of questions:

 

1. I have the most issues at night, and really have trouble sleeping (panic attacks, etc.). Would I be ok to do a 80/20 or 75/25 with the larger dose being at night for the most relief when I need it? Or would 50/50 be better in the long run?

 

2. When you say more slowly switching to 2 doses, you mean titrating down my night dose while slowly bringing up my morning dose correct? Instead of just abruptly switching like I did in one day correct?

 

3. A bit off topic from my question. But I recently tried a dry taper cutting 25% a few weeks ago which I posted about (before I found this forum). This gave me severe withdrawal symptoms, and I haven't felt the same since. My anxiety has definitley been much worse even though I'm back to the 0.5mg daily dose. Is it possible that I messed up my CNS and should wait a few more weeks or a month until I start trying to titrate?

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Klonopin’s half-life is short enough that it’s recommended that you dose twice daily to avoid interdose withdrawal. I would encourage you to go more slowly while you are switching to two doses instead of one so that your body is able to adjust more easily and smoothly. Don’t start titrating until you feel stable.

 

Gotcha, thanks for your response. Couple of questions:

 

1. I have the most issues at night, and really have trouble sleeping (panic attacks, etc.). Would I be ok to do a 80/20 or 75/25 with the larger dose being at night for the most relief when I need it? Or would 50/50 be better in the long run?

 

2. When you say more slowly switching to 2 doses, you mean titrating down my night dose while slowly bringing up my morning dose correct? Instead of just abruptly switching like I did in one day correct?

 

3. A bit off topic from my question. But I recently tried a dry taper cutting 25% a few weeks ago which I posted about (before I found this forum). This gave me severe withdrawal symptoms, and I haven't felt the same since. My anxiety has definitley been much worse even though I'm back to the 0.5mg daily dose. Is it possible that I messed up my CNS and should wait a few more weeks or a month until I start trying to titrate?

 

Splitting the doses evenly is best for Klonopin and shorter acting benzos that way you maintain a steady level of the drug in your system throughout the day. Most people don’t do this with Valium because of it’s long half-life, but I do dose twice daily myself.

 

Yes, when I say switch more gradually I mean titrating your morning dose up while lowering your nightly dose until they are equal. I am not surprised that you are having symptoms by going so quickly.

 

Many people including myself have noticed that when they tried to make big cuts and then went back to the original dose the original dose no longer works as well as it did. I had this happen with Klonopin and Valium. The best idea is to get stable before you attempt to taper.

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Hello, somethingoranother.

 

Given that you have only been taking clonazepam for 3 months, you might find the following post about splitting doses of interest.  (The author is the founder of BenzoBuddies.)

 

http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?topic=163449.msg2969556#msg2969556

 

Interesting read, and thanks for the link! I'm not sure if what he's said would be best for me. As I personally know I am dependent on Kpin based on the withdrawal symptoms I've had from a 25% cut 2 weeks ago, which I couldn't bear and had to go back up to my full dose.

 

I guess this would just have to be a case of whether interdose effects are manageable for me when I try to titrate again. As I understand he's saying that splitting up my dose to take throughout the day could lead to deeper dependence. But is there any scientific backing to this?

 

I've now seen people suggest to split up a Kpin dose twice a day, and other posts say to just stick to one dose if you haven't taken it that long so dependence isn't deepened.

 

But I've seen scientifically that splitting a dose would be better for maintaining blood levels. On the other hand, I've not seen any papers on splitting up a prescribed dose deepening dependence.

 

Idk, I'm just a little confused about this.

 

 

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Klonopin’s half-life is short enough that it’s recommended that you dose twice daily to avoid interdose withdrawal. I would encourage you to go more slowly while you are switching to two doses instead of one so that your body is able to adjust more easily and smoothly. Don’t start titrating until you feel stable.

 

Gotcha, thanks for your response. Couple of questions:

 

1. I have the most issues at night, and really have trouble sleeping (panic attacks, etc.). Would I be ok to do a 80/20 or 75/25 with the larger dose being at night for the most relief when I need it? Or would 50/50 be better in the long run?

 

2. When you say more slowly switching to 2 doses, you mean titrating down my night dose while slowly bringing up my morning dose correct? Instead of just abruptly switching like I did in one day correct?

 

3. A bit off topic from my question. But I recently tried a dry taper cutting 25% a few weeks ago which I posted about (before I found this forum). This gave me severe withdrawal symptoms, and I haven't felt the same since. My anxiety has definitley been much worse even though I'm back to the 0.5mg daily dose. Is it possible that I messed up my CNS and should wait a few more weeks or a month until I start trying to titrate?

 

Splitting the doses evenly is best for Klonopin and shorter acting benzos that way you maintain a steady level of the drug in your system throughout the day. Most people don’t do this with Valium because of it’s long half-life, but I do dose twice daily myself.

 

Yes, when I say switch more gradually I mean titrating your morning dose up while lowering your nightly dose until they are equal. I am not surprised that you are having symptoms by going so quickly.

 

Many people including myself have noticed that when they tried to make big cuts and then went back to the original dose the original dose no longer works as well as it did. I had this happen with Klonopin and Valium. The best idea is to get stable before you attempt to taper.

 

Makes sense. Thanks for the help. Would you still recommend a 50/50 split even though my sleep is most affected by my current issues? I would want more dosing towards the night. But if 50/50 would be better in the long run I can deal with it while slowly titrating to that dosing ratio.

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Just FWIW, I was originally dosing 2x a day, but when I got to 0.50mg in my taper, I switched to once a day for simplicity's sake. I thought about it a lot, and made the tradeoff because for me, simplicity was going to be more important than avoiding interdose withdrawals.

 

Good luck!

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Just FWIW, I was originally dosing 2x a day, but when I got to 0.50mg in my taper, I switched to once a day for simplicity's sake. I thought about it a lot, and made the tradeoff because for me, simplicity was going to be more important than avoiding interdose withdrawals.

 

Good luck!

 

Interesting... how'd you find inter-dose withdrawal at this level? Did you get pretty bad symptoms or was it fairly manageable? I agree, it would be so much easier just to dose once a day. I'm just worried if I'll have any crazy symptoms waiting 24 hours for my next dose.

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I've decided to do a liquid taper with Klonopin.

 

I've always been on 0.5mg once a day at night before sleeping. But I've made the switch to 25% of this dose in the morning, and 75% at night to "keep my blood levels more steady" when I start to titrate.

 

However, I haven't even started titrating yet, and I already notice I'm getting more symptomatic. Was this a good plan? Or was I fine just titrating down from my one dose at night without splitting up dosage throughout the day?

 

I'm worried about getting interdose withdrawals as I titrate if I'm only dosing once at night. But it feels like my body is already so used to taking the full dose at night, that taking 25% in the morning instead is just useless, and 75% at night feels almost like I did an entire cut of 25%.

 

Somethingoranother;

Were you having interdose withdrawals at .5 nightly?  Any problems during the day? I was on 2mg X nightly and suffered terribly during the day before making the connection to Xanax.  That was was fueled my decision to take X three times a day.  I did go down too soon, and will move more slowly at my next jump.  I was curious what your symptoms were like at .5 per night.....

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I've decided to do a liquid taper with Klonopin.

 

I've always been on 0.5mg once a day at night before sleeping. But I've made the switch to 25% of this dose in the morning, and 75% at night to "keep my blood levels more steady" when I start to titrate.

 

However, I haven't even started titrating yet, and I already notice I'm getting more symptomatic. Was this a good plan? Or was I fine just titrating down from my one dose at night without splitting up dosage throughout the day?

 

I'm worried about getting interdose withdrawals as I titrate if I'm only dosing once at night. But it feels like my body is already so used to taking the full dose at night, that taking 25% in the morning instead is just useless, and 75% at night feels almost like I did an entire cut of 25%.

 

Somethingoranother;

Were you having interdose withdrawals at .5 nightly?  Any problems during the day? I was on 2mg X nightly and suffered terribly during the day before making the connection to Xanax.  That was was fueled my decision to take X three times a day.  I did go down too soon, and will move more slowly at my next jump.  I was curious what your symptoms were like at .5 per night.....

 

:thumbsup:

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I've decided to do a liquid taper with Klonopin.

 

I've always been on 0.5mg once a day at night before sleeping. But I've made the switch to 25% of this dose in the morning, and 75% at night to "keep my blood levels more steady" when I start to titrate.

 

However, I haven't even started titrating yet, and I already notice I'm getting more symptomatic. Was this a good plan? Or was I fine just titrating down from my one dose at night without splitting up dosage throughout the day?

 

I'm worried about getting interdose withdrawals as I titrate if I'm only dosing once at night. But it feels like my body is already so used to taking the full dose at night, that taking 25% in the morning instead is just useless, and 75% at night feels almost like I did an entire cut of 25%.

 

Somethingoranother;

Were you having interdose withdrawals at .5 nightly?  Any problems during the day? I was on 2mg X nightly and suffered terribly during the day before making the connection to Xanax.  That was was fueled my decision to take X three times a day.  I did go down too soon, and will move more slowly at my next jump.  I was curious what your symptoms were like at .5 per night.....

 

Yes, I think I'm having interdose withdrawals. I never increased my dosage above 0.5mg for the 4 months I've been on Kpin. However, my first taper attempt was far too quick, and only lasted 4 days before I had to jump back to my original dosage. Since then, I am noticing my anxiety levels are higher than before - almost like my first taper attempt had a lasting negative impact. And I particularly notice that I start to get quite a bit anxious and agitated within 2 - 3 hours before I'm supposed to take my next dose. I did not experience this prior to my first taper.

 

It's not unbearable, but it's noticeable enough to affect me. However, I refuse to up my dosage above 0.5mg per day. I plan on staying here for the next week or so until I steady out, and then I'll try to liquid titrate. I'm just worried about my interdose withdrawals getting continually worse if a titrate on only one dose a day.

 

In your case though, Xanax is much shorter-acting than Klonopin. From what I understand, your interdose withdrawals may come on quicker and more intensely.

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I've decided to do a liquid taper with Klonopin.

 

I've always been on 0.5mg once a day at night before sleeping. But I've made the switch to 25% of this dose in the morning, and 75% at night to "keep my blood levels more steady" when I start to titrate.

 

However, I haven't even started titrating yet, and I already notice I'm getting more symptomatic. Was this a good plan? Or was I fine just titrating down from my one dose at night without splitting up dosage throughout the day?

 

I'm worried about getting interdose withdrawals as I titrate if I'm only dosing once at night. But it feels like my body is already so used to taking the full dose at night, that taking 25% in the morning instead is just useless, and 75% at night feels almost like I did an entire cut of 25%.

 

Somethingoranother;

Were you having interdose withdrawals at .5 nightly?  Any problems during the day? I was on 2mg X nightly and suffered terribly during the day before making the connection to Xanax.  That was was fueled my decision to take X three times a day.  I did go down too soon, and will move more slowly at my next jump.  I was curious what your symptoms were like at .5 per night.....

 

Yes, I think I'm having interdose withdrawals. I never increased my dosage above 0.5mg for the 4 months I've been on Kpin. However, my first taper attempt was far too quick, and only lasted 4 days before I had to jump back to my original dosage. Since then, I am noticing my anxiety levels are higher than before - almost like my first taper attempt had a lasting negative impact. And I particularly notice that I start to get quite a bit anxious and agitated within 2 - 3 hours before I'm supposed to take my next dose. I did not experience this prior to my first taper.

 

It's not unbearable, but it's noticeable enough to affect me. However, I refuse to up my dosage above 0.5mg per day. I plan on staying here for the next week or so until I steady out, and then I'll try to liquid titrate. I'm just worried about my interdose withdrawals getting continually worse if a titrate on only one dose a day.

 

In your case though, Xanax is much shorter-acting than Klonopin. From what I understand, your interdose withdrawals may come on quicker and more intensely.

 

Yes, kindling can happen, but you'll adjust as you give your body the time it needs to "normalize". From Benzo Awareness Day group:

 

"Similar reports of worsening withdrawal come from benzodiazepine patients who have tapered off of the drug prior and on a second or third taper attempt, they notice more severe symptoms while attempting to wean. One explanation for this occurring is a phenomenon called kindling."

 

Hang in there!

 

Jeff

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When I switched from twice to once a day, my symptoms' schedule also changed, but I don't remember too much. I do remember a few evenings of looking at the clock and waiting for my dose, but that memory doesn't really affect me today.

 

It was when I got down to 0.5mg that I switched to evening only. Before that I was trying to keep the same ratio AM to PM that I was originally prescribed (0.25 AM and 0.5 PM) through my taper.

 

Good luck!

 

 

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I've decided to do a liquid taper with Klonopin.

 

I've always been on 0.5mg once a day at night before sleeping. But I've made the switch to 25% of this dose in the morning, and 75% at night to "keep my blood levels more steady" when I start to titrate.

 

However, I haven't even started titrating yet, and I already notice I'm getting more symptomatic. Was this a good plan? Or was I fine just titrating down from my one dose at night without splitting up dosage throughout the day?

 

I'm worried about getting interdose withdrawals as I titrate if I'm only dosing once at night. But it feels like my body is already so used to taking the full dose at night, that taking 25% in the morning instead is just useless, and 75% at night feels almost like I did an entire cut of 25%.

 

Somethingoranother;

Were you having interdose withdrawals at .5 nightly?  Any problems during the day? I was on 2mg X nightly and suffered terribly during the day before making the connection to Xanax.  That was was fueled my decision to take X three times a day.  I did go down too soon, and will move more slowly at my next jump.  I was curious what your symptoms were like at .5 per night.....

 

Yes, I think I'm having interdose withdrawals. I never increased my dosage above 0.5mg for the 4 months I've been on Kpin. However, my first taper attempt was far too quick, and only lasted 4 days before I had to jump back to my original dosage. Since then, I am noticing my anxiety levels are higher than before - almost like my first taper attempt had a lasting negative impact. And I particularly notice that I start to get quite a bit anxious and agitated within 2 - 3 hours before I'm supposed to take my next dose. I did not experience this prior to my first taper.

 

It's not unbearable, but it's noticeable enough to affect me. However, I refuse to up my dosage above 0.5mg per day. I plan on staying here for the next week or so until I steady out, and then I'll try to liquid titrate. I'm just worried about my interdose withdrawals getting continually worse if a titrate on only one dose a day.

 

In your case though, Xanax is much shorter-acting than Klonopin. From what I understand, your interdose withdrawals may come on quicker and more intensely.

 

Yes, kindling can happen, but you'll adjust as you give your body the time it needs to "normalize". From Benzo Awareness Day group:

 

"Similar reports of worsening withdrawal come from benzodiazepine patients who have tapered off of the drug prior and on a second or third taper attempt, they notice more severe symptoms while attempting to wean. One explanation for this occurring is a phenomenon called kindling."

 

Hang in there!

 

Jeff

 

I just want to clarify that what Ultra shared is for those who have tapered off a drug completely and stopped taking it for some period of time before taking it again and attempting a second taper at that point. If you have never stopped taking benzos, but have had some failed taper attempts, it’s believed that this can lead to tolerance and a decreased efficacy of the same dose of drug. For instance, during my first attempt at tapering Klonopin I cut my dose in half from 1 mg to .5 and stayed at that for a week before I couldn’t deal with the symptoms and went back to 1 mg. At that point I started to notice the 1 mg didn’t seem to work quite as well and with each subsequent taper attempt this became more noticeable.

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I've decided to do a liquid taper with Klonopin.

 

I've always been on 0.5mg once a day at night before sleeping. But I've made the switch to 25% of this dose in the morning, and 75% at night to "keep my blood levels more steady" when I start to titrate.

 

However, I haven't even started titrating yet, and I already notice I'm getting more symptomatic. Was this a good plan? Or was I fine just titrating down from my one dose at night without splitting up dosage throughout the day?

 

I'm worried about getting interdose withdrawals as I titrate if I'm only dosing once at night. But it feels like my body is already so used to taking the full dose at night, that taking 25% in the morning instead is just useless, and 75% at night feels almost like I did an entire cut of 25%.

 

Somethingoranother;

Were you having interdose withdrawals at .5 nightly?  Any problems during the day? I was on 2mg X nightly and suffered terribly during the day before making the connection to Xanax.  That was was fueled my decision to take X three times a day.  I did go down too soon, and will move more slowly at my next jump.  I was curious what your symptoms were like at .5 per night.....

 

Yes, I think I'm having interdose withdrawals. I never increased my dosage above 0.5mg for the 4 months I've been on Kpin. However, my first taper attempt was far too quick, and only lasted 4 days before I had to jump back to my original dosage. Since then, I am noticing my anxiety levels are higher than before - almost like my first taper attempt had a lasting negative impact. And I particularly notice that I start to get quite a bit anxious and agitated within 2 - 3 hours before I'm supposed to take my next dose. I did not experience this prior to my first taper.

 

It's not unbearable, but it's noticeable enough to affect me. However, I refuse to up my dosage above 0.5mg per day. I plan on staying here for the next week or so until I steady out, and then I'll try to liquid titrate. I'm just worried about my interdose withdrawals getting continually worse if a titrate on only one dose a day.

 

In your case though, Xanax is much shorter-acting than Klonopin. From what I understand, your interdose withdrawals may come on quicker and more intensely.

 

Yes, kindling can happen, but you'll adjust as you give your body the time it needs to "normalize". From Benzo Awareness Day group:

 

"Similar reports of worsening withdrawal come from benzodiazepine patients who have tapered off of the drug prior and on a second or third taper attempt, they notice more severe symptoms while attempting to wean. One explanation for this occurring is a phenomenon called kindling."

 

Hang in there!

 

Jeff

 

I just want to clarify that what Ultra shared is for those who have tapered off a drug completely and stopped taking it for some period of time before taking it again and attempting a second taper at that point. If you have never stopped taking benzos, but have had some failed taper attempts, it’s believed that this can lead to tolerance and a decreased efficacy of the same dose of drug. For instance, during my first attempt at tapering Klonopin I cut my dose in half from 1 mg to .5 and stayed at that for a week before I couldn’t deal with the symptoms and went back to 1 mg. At that point I started to notice the 1 mg didn’t seem to work quite as well and with each subsequent taper attempt this became more noticeable.

 

Actually, I've talked to many people who have done both...gotten completely off a benzo and then started over with a taper, as well as those who had some failed attempts and then started again only to find tougher withdrawal symptoms. I guess it's just all over the map since every body out there is so different. For me, it's just setup the plan/goal and then get started...we go through whatever it takes to get from point A to point B. I guess it's best to just get stable where we are currently and then taper down slowly and carefully while listening to our bodies. If we can go faster, then do it, if not, then slow down or hold. Also, focus on the good things in life and not too much on the taper and process. Getting bogged down in it will only create challenges. Heck, we'll ALL get there!

 

Next!!!

 

 

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