From Once Daily to half twice a day?

Hey all,

Been a while since I've posted here, had reinstated to "normal" dose after a too abrupt cessation dozen years ago but started retapering a few years ago but have reached a plateau since about 8 months. Of course, I'll go on reducing when I feel more ready very soon, but something struck me today so I'll ask:

I'm now down to 1 mg  / day of Clonazepam (Rivotril/Klonopin), with an extra 5 mg of leeway per month (other than my baseline 1mg daily) for when panic attacks too unbearable, also been weaning off how much leeway I give myself, was at 15 extras per month last year. I've asked to have my pills in 0.5 mg format so they'll be easier to taper further so my 30 mg monthly (+5 mg extra) are actually 70 x 0.5mg tablets.

Now to get to my question: I've ALWAYS taken any dose I'm at ONCE a day. Minus the year I was Benzo free a long time ago, I've been taking them daily once a day (except when I take extras which obviously occurs the same day as a separate dose) for 20 years. I don't know why it only occured to me today, but considering the the half-life to be 19-60 hours, there is a possibility that maybe my body regulates them at 19 hours, leaving 6 hours of "in between doses" withdrawal effects. One of the main reasons I redecided to withdraw till zero is because I still have had very bad panic attacks and baseline anxiety even on larger doses of Benzos, and I figured that with all these years of tolerance build up, maybe all the therapy I've been doing, I'm still swimming against the tide because of the very fact I might often get higher anxiety just from the fact I'm in between two doses at times, or more often than I could think.

I want my withdrawal to go as smoothly as possible to avoid a relapse. Would it make sense that instead of taking 2 x 0.5mg at the same hour each day, take them twice a day 12 hours apart? It makes sense in my mind but I'm scared my body might still "expect" 1mg per dose. Has anyone tried this or see no reason why it would play out negatively?

Hi,

Im fairly new to this group.  I ve been on .5 klonopin for almost a year. I tried to cut back too quickly and had horrible reaction with severe anxiety and almost sent me to a psych ward. Re Instated to . 5 and started cutting by weighing my oill and cutting 10 percent off.... Im headed to my second cut today.  So far, no big asjustment.... I dont know a lot about his but I do take my pill in 2 separate dosages a day... half in the am about 11 oo am and the other in the late afternoon about 5:00 .... If you hae  a psychiatrist, discuss with him your concerns... Im doing a very slow taper know 10 percent every 2 weeks... been told this is the best way. hope that helps... Because Like I said when I cut my dosage in half it made me crazy, almost went to a psych rehab and considered going toi the hospital 2x ... so far , so good with slow taper... be well!

Hey all,

 

Been a while since I've posted here, had reinstated to "normal" dose after a too abrupt cessation dozen years ago but started retapering a few years ago but have reached a plateau since about 8 months. Of course, I'll go on reducing when I feel more ready very soon, but something struck me today so I'll ask:

 

I'm now down to 1 mg  / day of Clonazepam (Rivotril/Klonopin), with an extra 5 mg of leeway per month (other than my baseline 1mg daily) for when panic attacks too unbearable, also been weaning off how much leeway I give myself, was at 15 extras per month last year. I've asked to have my pills in 0.5 mg format so they'll be easier to taper further so my 30 mg monthly (+5 mg extra) are actually 70 x 0.5mg tablets.

 

Now to get to my question: I've ALWAYS taken any dose I'm at ONCE a day. Minus the year I was Benzo free a long time ago, I've been taking them daily once a day (except when I take extras which obviously occurs the same day as a separate dose) for 20 years. I don't know why it only occured to me today, but considering the the half-life to be 19-60 hours, there is a possibility that maybe my body regulates them at 19 hours, leaving 6 hours of "in between doses" withdrawal effects. One of the main reasons I redecided to withdraw till zero is because I still have had very bad panic attacks and baseline anxiety even on larger doses of Benzos, and I figured that with all these years of tolerance build up, maybe all the therapy I've been doing, I'm still swimming against the tide because of the very fact I might often get higher anxiety just from the fact I'm in between two doses at times, or more often than I could think.

 

I want my withdrawal to go as smoothly as possible to avoid a relapse. Would it make sense that instead of taking 2 x 0.5mg at the same hour each day, take them twice a day 12 hours apart? It makes sense in my mind but I'm scared my body might still "expect" 1mg per dose. Has anyone tried this or see no reason why it would play out negatively?

I'm not sure what the half-life of k is compared to xanax....I was on Xanax at bedtime only, and did end up splitting up the dose when I started my taper.  It didn't provide tremendous relief, but it did keep my symptoms steadier throughout the day.  When taking at bedtime only, my symptoms were awful toward the end of the day.  I was going to bed at 7pm just so I could take my dose and get relief. 

One other thing I might add is that once I started my taper I dosed 4x a day, then decreased to 3x and now am at 2x a day.  I originally thought I had to pick a plan and stick with it, but it ended up not being a huge deal for me to try dosing different ways during my taper.