Johns Hopkins

Anyone detox at Johns Hopkins?

 

Just wondering if it’s better to do it there cause they have the best doctors

Do they really though?  Have you ever been to John’s Hopkins?

Never been there for this.  Is that where you did your rapid taper?

Paxia, was your rapid taper, looking back on things, a bad decision?  How do you feel today?  I’m stuck on Ativan.  Getting next to no sleep for the last 3 months.  The sleep deprivation is killing me.  My primary care doctor referred me to a sleep neurologist but my appt isn’t until may.  My doc wants me to switch to clonazepam straight out - no crossover.  I’m depressed and extremely scared

I did my rapid taper at home. Under the direction of my Johns Hopkins primary care physician. I have a whole Johns Hopkins team. None of them believe what I’m going through is withdrawals. I think you are giving them way too much credit. I’ve been seeing Johns Hopkins physicians my whole life. There really isn’t anything extraordinary about them.

Paxia, how are you doing now?

Paxia, was your rapid taper, looking back on things, a bad decision?  How do you feel today?  I’m stuck on Ativan.  Getting next to no sleep for the last 3 months.  The sleep deprivation is killing me.  My primary care doctor referred me to a sleep neurologist but my appt isn’t until may.  My doc wants me to switch to clonazepam straight out - no crossover.  I’m depressed and extremely scared

 

I personally think it was. I wasn’t in tolerance. I could have slowly tapered and had probably little to no withdrawals. But instead I listened to my doctor and here I am now. In utter hell!  I had to be put on Metoprolol in order to be able to function. Still dealing with an immense amount of side effects. I have high heart rate, low blood pressure, temperature dysregulation. Panic, anxiety the whole list of 199,980,568 side effects listed.

Most doctors are not benzo wise as they are doing what they were taught about these meds - which all of us on here know is completely wrong.

 

Most detox centers will taper you way too quickly, and if you have side effects that look like psychosis they may try to put you on an AD etc.

 

It is advised it is best to crossover to Valium for the taper. Can you see a different doctor? You probably don't need a sleep neurologist as benzo taper or benzo tolerance produces sleep deprivation. I experienced this with Ativan. I wa sin tolerance and I woke every two hrs with extreme nightmares for almost a year. No-one knew what was causing it. It was when I played Dr. Google I found benzo harm and figured it out for myself.

 

You could taper on the ativan, but bc it is short lasting it would be best to have equal doses throughout the day so you don't get interpose withdrawal.

 

and by the way...I sleep a solid 8 hrs most nights now.  Been free of the meds for a year.

Tried crossing to Valium but didn’t work.  Would clonazepam be ok?  That’s what my doc wants to switch me to.

Tried crossing to Valium but didn’t work.  Would clonazepam be ok?  That’s what my doc wants to switch me to.

 

There's a whole board devoted to clonazepam withdrawal. You'll find people who tapered directly off of clonazepam who can tell you how to do it. You'll either have to make a liquid suspension, or do a dry taper method with a scale. There are people on that board who can guide you on which method to use that would work for you, the equipment you'll need, and some are math whizes that'll help you create a tapering schedule with how much to weigh or measure for your doses. So yes, you can taper off using clonazepam. While Valium is the easiest to taper from, not everyone tolerates it well. Go visit the clonazepam board and talk to the folks over there.