Desperate!

Hi I'm a mother to a 30y.o. disabled man who was put on clobazam and other drugs whilst in residential care with numerous side effects.  He is now in my care. He has been taken off drugs at my request and after consultation with doctor n specialist  as I want to trial cbd oil.

He is now one week off clobazam but sideffects are not sleeping without sleeping pill. He wakes up with fright and starts hyperventilating. This goes on for hours b4 getting to sleep usually 2am even later. Last nite was no sleep at all. I am at my wits end and I heard about yr forum hoping someone has had same experience and as to how they have dealt with it. Thank you

Hello Myhorseshae, welcome to BenzoBuddies,

I'm sorry to hear your son is suffering, but we need more information. 

1. What was his dose of Clobazam?

2. Was he tapered off of it?

What he's experiencing are normal symptoms of benzodiazepine withdrawal, these symptoms can persist for week, months and years depending on dose, time of use, health conditions and about a hundred other factors.  The best thing you can do is educate yourself about what he's going through and what to expect going forward, we'll help you.

The Ashton Manual is a good resource for understanding what benzo's do to us and chapter 3 will list his symptoms.

Post-withdrawal Recovery Support is where you can ask other members questions about what he's feeling.

Ask questions, we're here to help.

Pamster

Sorry and thank u for yr reply.

He was on 2 x 10mg tablets at night for I think 9 years

I have tapered off down to half a tablet as per dr instructions that is half a tablet every 2 weeks.  but this is causing serious sleeping issues and hyperventilating.

I noticed last night wen I gav him clobazam and sleeping pill he became hyper even tho extremely tired from no sleep night b4  hav just spoken to a lady who is going thru hell too and she has joined this group. A friend of my sister.

She said perhaps I shd give the now 1/4 tablet in the morning so wont interfere with zyplicone for sleep. I thort that was a great idea and will try tomorrow.

Any advice is most definitely appreciated. Thank u.

It sounds like he's being tapered too quickly, we suggest reducing the dose by about 5-10% every couple of weeks depending on symptoms, they should guide you on this otherwise, we become non functioning.  Many in the medical community aren't familiar with nor recognize the difficulty we have in tapering off of these drugs because some won't experience what we do, we're the exception.

He's been on the drug for a long time so it's important to taper off slowly to allow the brain to repair the damage done by the drug as you reduce.  Once off the drug there is still much healing to be done which can take weeks, months and years so please, slow this done, he's being tortured by going too fast.

Splitting his doses will help with interdose withdrawal, this is when the drug wears off between doses and we start to go into withdrawal in between.  As for him getting hyper after you gave him he nighttime doses this happens sometimes, it's nothing to worry about for now.

Please keep talking to us, we want to help you both figure this out.

Thank u for that info I'm at my wits end as another nite ot no sleep.

Iv taken dose down to half a tablet so will split one quarter in morning and one quarter at 8pm. Hes been on half for a month I think.

Or do u think he needs to go up to one tablet per day and half dose that a.m and half 8pm? Thank u

Its difficult to know what will work at this point, once our body goes into withdrawal it's really tough to pull it back out.  Some will go back up in dose but find that they need to actually increase it higher than the original dose to stabilize. 

Since he's in your care, are you willing to have him go back up in dose in order to get stable then reduce him very slowly, will his Dr agree to this and provide the necessary doses?  Getting off of benzo's can take months and sometimes years in order to remain functional so you have a decision to make about how to care for him, I'm so sorry you're dealing with this.

I worry about the Zopiclone too, it will need to be tapered, its called a non-benzodiazepine but it works on the same part of the brain that benzo's do. 

Sorry I forgot to ask. I looked at ashton's withdrawal sheets and there is nothing for clobazam. I noticed that other drugs were used as substitutes. Is that wot I am supposed to do too. Sorry not sure of wot I am doing.

And are these meds titrated in water and not tablet form? not sure on percentages 5% of on half a tablet or one full tablet if u think I shd take it back from half to one. Hes been on half for 3 weeks now but had a one week stop in between. Sori to be so thick. Really appreciated yr help. Just saw yr msg and yes I am hapi to up dose to one tab split in half am n pm. Thank u

I’m sorry you and your son are struggling so. I believe being here will help you a lot.

I’m here to support my husband. I know about caretaker struggles all to well. I found that being informed on what benzos do and what I can expect is the best thing I can do. I’m afraid I have to tell you that it’s a long process... so you need to be kind to yourself. I would like to say you need to take care of yourself but I’m not very successful at that either. ..I have come to forgiving myself for not having the answers or magical healing powers though and it helps. Think about getting somebody to help you- a friend, a neighbor, whoever so you can do something fir yourself to take your mind off this terrible experience , even if it’s just for 30 minutes or an hour. Caretaker burnout is real and then you can’t help your loved one. So you need to keep yourself ok in order to help him. I pray it will be all worth it in the end.

You are not alone.

Sorry I forgot to ask. I looked at ashton's withdrawal sheets and there is nothing for clobazam. I noticed that other drugs were used as substitutes. Is that wot I am supposed to do too. Sorry not sure of wot I am doing.

And are these meds titrated in water and not tablet form? not sure on percentages 5% of on half a tablet or one full tablet if u think I shd take it back from half to one. Hes been on half for 3 weeks now but had a one week stop in between. Sori to be so thick. Really appreciated yr help. Just saw yr msg and yes I am hapi to up dose to one tab split in half am n pm. Thank u

I know this is terribly confusing but if you'll do me a favor and start a thread on the taper board we can help you figure this out.  http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?board=56.0

Thank u for yr very kind words - betterday. I felt really alone until now. This group is fantastic and I really appreciate all the advice. Pamster - thank u.

I will try putting on board as requested. Thanks

Thank u for yr very kind words - betterday. I felt really alone until now. This group is fantastic and I really appreciate all the advice. Pamster - thank u.

I will try putting on board as requested. Thanks

You are very welcome. you can send me a private message if you'd like.