I'm going to a doctor

Hey everyone,

 

Weeks ago I thought about going CT with Klonopin (currently taking 4-8mg per day), but again thinking well and from some advices of some members from here I decided to start a taper. The things is that I have developed a huge tolerance for it, so I have no idea on how I should start it... Maybe changing to Valium would be a good start? I'm going to talk to a doctor next week, but I'm afraid he prescribes me "unnecessary meds". I'm just desperate, anxious all the time, I have hit tolerance and I have no idea what to do... 

I'd suggest you try to get stable on the minimum amount of 'K' possible.  Do you think you can get by on 4 mg per day?  You could also split your dose to get better coverage during the day.  Maybe you're already doing that.

 

Consider finding a good therapist to help you learn to cope with the anxiety.

I haven't read your previous posts so perhaps you can answer a few questions for me. 

 

What is your daily dose?

 

Do you take your doses at the same time each day?

 

Why were you prescribed Klonopin?

 

Have you started to taper, or have you tapered in the past?

 

It would be great if you could answer these questions for us in your signature, so we could see at a glance where you are in your journey, here are the instructions: Add your history/signature 

 

I wouldn't recommend crossing over to Valium at this time unless you're having difficult reactions to the Klonopin, the amount of Valium your Dr would need to prescribe each day would be between 80 to 160 mgs of Valium a day and I don't see a Dr willing to do that, I could be wrong though.

 

I feel the first thing you need to do is find a consistent daily dose, find the least amount of Klonopin you can feel fairly stable on and take that for a few days, then begin your taper, what do you think?

I'd suggest you try to get stable on the minimum amount of 'K' possible.  Do you think you can get by on 4 mg per day?  You could also split your dose to get better coverage during the day.  Maybe you're already doing that.

 

Consider finding a good therapist to help you learn to cope with the anxiety.

 

Yes, I could do it - Maybe it would be better than suddenly switching to Valium? Thanks!

 

I haven't read your previous posts so perhaps you can answer a few questions for me. 

 

What is your daily dose?

 

Do you take your doses at the same time each day?

 

Why were you prescribed Klonopin?

 

Have you started to taper, or have you tapered in the past?

 

It would be great if you could answer these questions for us in your signature, so we could see at a glance where you are in your journey, here are the instructions: Add your history/signature 

 

I wouldn't recommend crossing over to Valium at this time unless you're having difficult reactions to the Klonopin, the amount of Valium your Dr would need to prescribe each day would be between 80 to 160 mgs of Valium a day and I don't see a Dr willing to do that, I could be wrong though.

 

I feel the first thing you need to do is find a consistent daily dose, find the least amount of Klonopin you can feel fairly stable on and take that for a few days, then begin your taper, what do you think?

 

What is your daily dose?

It depends, I don't have a "fixed" dose, somedays I take 4mg, 6mg or 8mg, it really depends on how I'm feeling.

 

Do you take your doses at the same time each day?

No, recently I started to develop this crazy messy sleeping schedule, I usually take I'd say 3-4 hours before going to bed, but somedays I go to bed 10pm, somedays 2am, or there are nights that I can't sleep (so I end up sleeping when it's already morning).

 

Why were you prescribed Klonopin?

For anxiety disorder and panic attacks

 

Have you started to taper, or have you tapered in the past?

No, I never tried it, I'm a newbie when it comes to taper

 

_

 

I get it, it would be a huge amount of Valium...

Got it, so for example taking 4mg for some days then starting to reduce it?

 

And thank you for the link, I'll do a signature.

The approaches we generally try to emphasize usually involve making small changes to dosing, so it would be good to avoid the 4, 6, 8 (depending on how you're feeling) and settle on a single dose.  There may be days when your stress level causes you to feel like more would be better.  That's why therapy is important.  You want to start relying more on you instead of the drug.

 

Once you can get nice and stable, you can begin a nice slow taper.  Again, the dosing changes (during the taper) should be fairly small.

The approaches we generally try to emphasize usually involve making small changes to dosing, so it would be good to avoid the 4, 6, 8 (depending on how you're feeling) and settle on a single dose.  There may be days when your stress level causes you to feel like more would be better.  That's why therapy is important.  You want to start relying more on you instead of the drug.

 

Once you can get nice and stable, you can begin a nice slow taper.  Again, the dosing changes (during the taper) should be fairly small.

 

I understand, wouldn't a "liquid" taper be better in this case? Because I have seen people in this forum going to "1mg" to "0.975mg", I mean, how you even do that?

Hello, Hermann14.  There are multiple ways to titrate (make small reductions) in dose.  To learn more:

 

Titration: FAQs

 

Hello, Hermann14.  There are multiple ways to titrate (make small reductions) in dose.  To learn more:

 

Titration: FAQs

 

Thanks!

The approaches we generally try to emphasize usually involve making small changes to dosing, so it would be good to avoid the 4, 6, 8 (depending on how you're feeling) and settle on a single dose.  There may be days when your stress level causes you to feel like more would be better.  That's why therapy is important.  You want to start relying more on you instead of the drug.

 

Once you can get nice and stable, you can begin a nice slow taper.  Again, the dosing changes (during the taper) should be fairly small.

 

I understand, wouldn't a "liquid" taper be better in this case? Because I have seen people in this forum going to "1mg" to "0.975mg", I mean, how you even do that?

 

The pills weighs a lot more than 1 mg.  It's 99+% binders/fillers.  So it's pretty easy to weigh out pill pieces that represents 0.975mg.

The approaches we generally try to emphasize usually involve making small changes to dosing, so it would be good to avoid the 4, 6, 8 (depending on how you're feeling) and settle on a single dose.  There may be days when your stress level causes you to feel like more would be better.  That's why therapy is important.  You want to start relying more on you instead of the drug.

 

Once you can get nice and stable, you can begin a nice slow taper.  Again, the dosing changes (during the taper) should be fairly small.

 

I understand, wouldn't a "liquid" taper be better in this case? Because I have seen people in this forum going to "1mg" to "0.975mg", I mean, how you even do that?

 

The pills weighs a lot more than 1 mg.  It's 99+% binders/fillers.  So it's pretty easy to weigh out pill pieces that represents 0.975mg.

 

My hands have been so shaky I can barely hold a pill (believe me), I think the best method for me would be try a wet one maybe... Here where I live it's pretty expensive or difficult to a pharmacist manipulate your pills also. Anyways I think that for the amount I'm taking I'll do a more faster taper, I'll stick to 4mg meanwhile and see where it goes... thanks

 

Are you only going to take 4 mgs a day, even though you've been taking anywhere from 4-8 mgs a day?  Please pay attention to how you're feeling, its a good idea to try to stabilize on the least amount in order to begin your taper, but if 4mgs is too big of a cut right out of the gate, it's going to be difficult to stabilize.

 

Let us know how you're feeling, okay?

Are you only going to take 4 mgs a day, even though you've been taking anywhere from 4-8 mgs a day?  Please pay attention to how you're feeling, its a good idea to try to stabilize on the least amount in order to begin your taper, but if 4mgs is too big of a cut right out of the gate, it's going to be difficult to stabilize.

 

Let us know how you're feeling, okay?

 

Yes, I decided to stop with the "random" 6 or 8mg doses. I think 4mg is a good start, I wouldn't say it's a big cut...

I've been feeling a little discomfortable lately but nothing I can't handle 

You sound good confident, this is a good start.  How long have you only been taking 4 mgs, it can take up to a couple of weeks to fully realize a reduction. 

Thank you! My prescribed dose was 2mg (this in 2014) and I started to take 4mg two years ago (and then randomly taking 6mg and 8mg started to happen around 1 year ago). But if you are asking when I started to take 4mgs without these "random doses" it was just yesterday, or better, when I decided I would not be taking more than 4mg*

I was asking how long you've been taking the 4 mgs you've decided upon, thanks for letting us know it was only yesterday.  Please be aware you may begin to experience symptoms soon and if you do, don't wait too long before you decide that 4 mgs might not be enough to stabilize on.  I understand you want your starting dose for your taper to be 4 mgs but your body may have other ideas. 

 

Once severe withdrawals set in it can be difficult to pull yourself back out of them without significantly increasing your dose so its best to be proactive.  As you can probably tell, I'm concerned that 4 mgs isn't enough.

 

 

I was asking how long you've been taking the 4 mgs you've decided upon, thanks for letting us know it was only yesterday.  Please be aware you may begin to experience symptoms soon and if you do, don't wait too long before you decide that 4 mgs might not be enough to stabilize on.  I understand you want your starting dose for your taper to be 4 mgs but your body may have other ideas. 

 

Once severe withdrawals set in it can be difficult to pull yourself back out of them without significantly increasing your dose so its best to be proactive.  As you can probably tell, I'm concerned that 4 mgs isn't enough.

 

I understand, I'll see how I'll deal with the 4mgs in some days and I'll let you guys know, thanks! 

A little bit of discomfort is probably ok.  I agree that if you start to feel really poorly, consider increasing the dose.  Again, I think you want to find and get stable with the minimum dose that you can deal with fairly comfortably.

I started to feel worse just 1 day after, it's like I haven't take any pills. I'm getting more and more worried because no doctor will prescribe 6 or 8mg Klonopin at once, also the public healthcare system here where I live isn't scheduling appointments untill next month and I'm almost running out of pills! Would it be too risky to do a "quick taper"? Unfortunately I feel like I will end up doing CT, I'm sorry but I can't take these chemicals anymore

 

(also I'm sorry about poor communication, English is not my first language)

I did a c/t from a klonopin equivalent of 1 mg and it was horrible.  I would not recommend that route. 

 

A 'fast' taper from 4 mg will still take quite a bit of drug.  A 100-day linear taper (1% reduction per day) will require 100 2mg pills.  That's a very aggressive taper rate.

 

I'm not sure what you should try to do since you're using up your pills too fast.  Try to work with your doctor, I guess.

I started to feel worse just 1 day after, it's like I haven't take any pills. I'm getting more and more worried because no doctor will prescribe 6 or 8mg Klonopin at once, also the public healthcare system here where I live isn't scheduling appointments untill next month and I'm almost running out of pills! Would it be too risky to do a "quick taper"? Unfortunately I feel like I will end up doing CT, I'm sorry but I can't take these chemicals anymore

 

(also I'm sorry about poor communication, English is not my first language)

 

I was afraid of this, I'm sorry.  I didn't realize you were going to run short of pills, can you tell us what your exact circumstances are, no judgement, okay?

 

How many pills do you have, what dose are they and do you have any refills?  You mention you can't get in for an appointment until next month, do you have a relationship with your Dr, could you ask for a refill before you see him/her?

 

I also quit cold turkey and advise against it, it's very painful.  Getting the chemicals out of your body is just the beginning, it takes your body a long time after that to heal from the damage so tapering can allow you to somewhat control the symptoms as you go.

 

Let us know what you're facing with your supply and we'll work with you.

My only choice now is to wait untill 1st July and talk to a doctor,

 

I still have 10 pills of 2mg each (I will take 2mg per day untill there...). Since it's an appointment with a doctor of the public health system (I live in Brazil), I can only get the prescription on 1st July. I could make an appointment with a "private" doctor but that would cost me too much money. I understand the dangers of cold turkey (mainly coming from a high dose), thank you badsocref and Pamster for your support!

I'm so sorry, this is going to be rough.  Are there any emergency room options, in some countries if you show up at an emergency room they have to treat you.

 

Please keep talking to us, we'll do all we can to help you through this, keep educating yourself about what symptoms to expect.  Reading chapter 3 of Professor Ashton's manual helped reassure me because she explained why we feel the symptoms we do, it lessened my fear.  https://www.benzo.org.uk/manual/bzcha03.htm

I'm so sorry, this is going to be rough.  Are there any emergency room options, in some countries if you show up at an emergency room they have to treat you.

 

Please keep talking to us, we'll do all we can to help you through this, keep educating yourself about what symptoms to expect.  Reading chapter 3 of Professor Ashton's manual helped reassure me because she explained why we feel the symptoms we do, it lessened my fear.  https://www.benzo.org.uk/manual/bzcha03.htm

 

Thank you