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cold turkey


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To the group,

 

I had gone cold turkey once.  Do I understand it correctly that this will cause more suffering when I try to slow taper?  I'm really suffering over what I did. 

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Nobody can tell you that. But let me tell you this. Before I knew about kindling I cold-turkeyed many times with no issues. Finally, when I reinstated again I tapered with no issues, then reinstated and tapered again with no issues. I wouldn't even be on this forum if a couple of rescue doses following my previous taper hadn't sent me into a world of hurt. While everybody is different, with a slow enough taper, and comfortable dosage cuts, you shouldn't have too much problems. But, once off, stay off for good. If a need arises for a benzo, search for alternative solution (e.g. if you have a surgery, get propofol instead of midazolam, tizanidine instead of clonazepam for muscle spasticity, and so on and so forth).
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Thank you.  That helps so much!!  I'm just in a world of hurt thinking that I think I made a made a mistake by going cold turkey.  I guess I did make a mistake.  I didn't consult a doctor.  But everybody makes mistakes.  I'm not sure I understood you correctly.  Did you say when tapering that at times you had to temporarily take a higher dose to get through it?
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No, no, tapers have been largely symptom-free. After finishing the taper I took amitriptyline, which caused numerous side-effects for which I had to take diazepam in order to counter them.
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It would be great if you could put this information in your signature, that way people won't have to ask you like I have, they'll be better able to advise you that way.  I see you've already put something in your signature space but I'll leave these instructions just in case.  Add your history/signature 

 

How long did it take you to get from 3 to 2 1/2 mgs, going slow is so important, for most of our members, it's the only way to remain functional.  Also, tapers will need to be adjusted from time to time, many members have found that the lower in dose they get, the more they have to slow it down, make smaller reductions and perhaps hold for longer. 

 

Are you dry cutting your pills, what dose are they?  1 mg or .5?

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It took me about two months to go from 3 mg to 2 1/2 mg.  I'm dry cutting the pills.  The pills are 1 mg.  For the next refill I plan to get .5 mg.  Today I feel agitated without reducing the dose.  I had been talking to my therapist, not my psychiatrist.  He had suggested I go into a treatment facility.  That would be a huge jump to travel and have to get a house and cat sitter.  What he said has caused a huge amount of anxiety.  I still can't decide what to do.  I plan to cut the 2 1/2 to 2 3/8 mg.  Is now the right time to cut it again?  Is there a way to cut the pills besides dry cutting?    thanks
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Tapering 1/2 mg over two months sounds reasonable, but I'm glad to hear you're going to get the smaller dose pills, that will help your dry cutting.

 

How long have you been holding this dose, this will help determine if it's time to make another reduction.  Also, most members report that they know it's time to reduce again not because they're feeling great but because they can face the thought of another reduction.  With Klonopin, I've read some members say they feel the worst about 3 days in but by about day 7-10, they begin to feel somewhat stable and know they can make another reduction.  I didn't taper so I'm just repeating what I've read.

 

It's very possible to feel agitated without reducing your dose, our symptoms wax and wane without a reason.  Or the stress of trying to decide about going to a detox facility is causing your agitation.

 

As for making dose reductions, you can use shave your pills to get fairly accurate reductions or you can get a jewelers scale to crush and weigh your doses or you can ask your Dr to provide a prescription to take to a compounding pharmacy.  There are more ways to accomplish this, I'm just giving you a few.

 

I would like to add that from my time here, I've only seen one member say that a treatment facility worked for them.  Most will taper you too fast and send you home to suffer the worst of the withdrawal symptoms, most reinstate and do a slow taper on their own after wasting the money and suffering unnecessarily.  Doing this in the comfort of your own home with the support of your Dr and of those who understand what you're going through is the best method we know.

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