8mg klonopin for 2 years symptoms

Have Not tapered yet because of numerous failed attpts.

My Symptoms progressively are:

-Tremendous time distortion (exaple: 2 weeks ago feels Like ,2 years ago. 24 hours feel Like 2 or 3. 1 day Has passed before I Had even time to Review what happened.

-Inability to feel present because I don't feel enough Input from my senses

-Feeling Like I'm asleep and awake at the same time

- Feeling Like my adrenaline/dopamine receptors are Not functoning, Like I don't get a Shot of wakefulness or so During days, even with strong Coffee or cigarettes.

-tremendous fatigue at Times

-spending 16-20 hours With ear plugs and Windows covered

(Sensory overload while too little sensory Input registering at the same time.

I wonder If my Body went Into progressive so/dr to from These Pills because every Single week for years my whole world got progressively smaller and I'm baffled about what is causing it.

What bothers me is Not so much the Symptoms but rather that they are Just progressing and got Worse week by week and I'm so used to it now & I need more and more stimulants even though I reached tolerance half a year ago.

Are These Symptoms Common at my Dose?

I felt tremendously better even a year ago.

The Problem Is that These Symptoms really began at an equiv of 0.5mg k... So that's a Bit drastic of a symptomology.

Thank you.

8mg of Klonopin is an extremely high dose.  Most people here took 1-2mg daily.  I took 3-4 for almost 20 years. 

Your experience sounds very similar to mine, although mine took me longer to really deteriorate to the point I felt I had to get off this stuff.  Benzos inhibit your emotions and senses, and in turn you lose a sense of connection to the world.  You can lose connection to time as you mentioned.  And yes, my world started to feel a lot smaller.

8mg of Klonopin is an extremely high dose.  Most people here took 1-2mg daily.  I took 3-4 for almost 20 years. 

 

Your experience sounds very similar to mine, although mine took me longer to really deteriorate to the point I felt I had to get off this stuff.  Benzos inhibit your emotions and senses, and in turn you lose a sense of connection to the world.  You can lose connection to time as you mentioned.  And yes, my world started to feel a lot smaller.

Thanks.

How did your deterioration Look Like?

Was it weekly progressive also?

I'm so sorry to see how the Xanax has imprisoned you, I hope you can find a way out soon.  You might want to talk to some of the members in this support group, they may be able to relate to what you're going through.  http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?topic=219884.0

Is this Copy/Paste

Im Not on xanax.

Thank you

I'm so sorry to see how the Xanax has imprisoned you, I hope you can find a way out soon.  You might want to talk to some of the members in this support group, they may be able to relate to what you're going through.  http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?topic=219884.0

 

Is this Copy/Paste

 

Im Not on xanax.

 

Thank you

No not copy and paste, just and oversight, my apologies.   

I was taking between 6-10 mgs of Klonopin when I quit, I was a mess, my personality changed drastically, I reacted inappropriately at work, for some reason I talked really loud, I guess that's because my senses were so dulled by the drug.

When I quit cold turkey, the first 3 days were wonderful, I felt clear like a veil had been lifted, I could see, smell, hear and speak with clarity, then of course the symptoms hit.

Are you thinking about tapering again, you mentioned previous attempts, were they too fast, is that why they failed?

I'm so sorry to see how the Xanax has imprisoned you, I hope you can find a way out soon.  You might want to talk to some of the members in this support group, they may be able to relate to what you're going through.  http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?topic=219884.0

 

Is this Copy/Paste

 

Im Not on xanax.

 

Thank you

 

No not copy and paste, just and oversight, my apologies.   

 

I was taking between 6-10 mgs of Klonopin when I quit, I was a mess, my personality changed drastically, I reacted inappropriately at work, for some reason I talked really loud, I guess that's because my senses were so dulled by the drug.

 

When I quit cold turkey, the first 3 days were wonderful, I felt clear like a veil had been lifted, I could see, smell, hear and speak with clarity, then of course the symptoms hit.

 

Are you thinking about tapering again, you mentioned previous attempts, were they too fast, is that why they failed?

Hi,

thank you very much for sharing your experience

For two years I'm trying to Taper...

The problem is I don't find people I can relate to...

My sensory perception got diminished week by week, in a 100% linear Fashion, in all the Times I've posted in this Forum I could Not find anybody with this progressive Speed of decline..

I know the drug is Not good for me & I want to Taper.

However I need 100% conviction it's from the drug.

Otherwise it's only 50% which makes me think might be other Things at Play.

That 50% makes the withdrawal Symptoms Not worthwile enough because while in withdrawal I don't See how the drug is causing those Symptoms and I quickly Go Back before Tapering Fürther. (I get significant Symptoms cutting from 8mg to 7,75mg)

It's a Matter of knowing causality & having 100% belief.

Thank you.

8mg of Klonopin is an extremely high dose.  Most people here took 1-2mg daily.  I took 3-4 for almost 20 years. 

 

Your experience sounds very similar to mine, although mine took me longer to really deteriorate to the point I felt I had to get off this stuff.  Benzos inhibit your emotions and senses, and in turn you lose a sense of connection to the world.  You can lose connection to time as you mentioned.  And yes, my world started to feel a lot smaller.

 

 

Thanks.

 

How did your deterioration Look Like?

Was it weekly progressive also?

It’s kind of hard to describe and it progressed really slowly.  The Klonopin also disconnected me from myself, which made it even harder to realize things were changing.  Even though I met my wife while I was on Klonopin, it happened so slowly that she didn’t really know I was changing either.  Eventually some events transpired where it was obvious something was wrong but it wasn’t a “you have changed” situation. 

Early on, there were some definite signs though.  About 4 months in, I cheated on my girlfriend which was extremely out of character for me.  I wasn’t that into her but even in the past, I was always a faithful guy.  Had never considered anything like that.  I guess the worst part is it didn’t bother me at all. 

Also, about 4-5 months in I found myself not really caring about school.  There was one class I absolutely bombed and did zero work for.  The professor let me slide because I was graduating that semester.  This was very strange for me as I had always been very studious. 

That time distortion thing is real too.  I don’t think I ever had it as bad as you say, but earlier in my life I had an incredible sense of knowing how much time had passed.  I had an incredible sense of direction.  But, I lost both of these.  It’s like you lose that sense of orientation and self, lose connection to the world.  When I saw a beautiful sunset, I no longer had an emotional reaction.  When I saw weeds in my yard, it didn’t occur to me to go pull them.  I became severely out of touch.  Lost many of my values. 

I'm so sorry to see how the Xanax has imprisoned you, I hope you can find a way out soon.  You might want to talk to some of the members in this support group, they may be able to relate to what you're going through.  http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?topic=219884.0

 

Is this Copy/Paste

 

Im Not on xanax.

 

Thank you

 

No not copy and paste, just and oversight, my apologies.   

 

I was taking between 6-10 mgs of Klonopin when I quit, I was a mess, my personality changed drastically, I reacted inappropriately at work, for some reason I talked really loud, I guess that's because my senses were so dulled by the drug.

 

When I quit cold turkey, the first 3 days were wonderful, I felt clear like a veil had been lifted, I could see, smell, hear and speak with clarity, then of course the symptoms hit.

 

Are you thinking about tapering again, you mentioned previous attempts, were they too fast, is that why they failed?

 

Hi,

 

thank you very much for sharing your experience

 

For two years I'm trying to Taper...

 

The problem is I don't find people I can relate to...

 

My sensory perception got diminished week by week, in a 100% linear Fashion, in all the Times I've posted in this Forum I could Not find anybody with this progressive Speed of decline..

 

I know the drug is Not good for me & I want to Taper.

However I need 100% conviction it's from the drug.

 

Otherwise it's only 50% which makes me think might be other Things at Play.

 

That 50% makes the withdrawal Symptoms Not worthwile enough because while in withdrawal I don't See how the drug is causing those Symptoms and I quickly Go Back before Tapering Fürther. (I get significant Symptoms cutting from 8mg to 7,75mg)

 

It's a Matter of knowing causality & having 100% belief.

 

Thank you.

A simplistic question for you, do you have quality of life now?  If the answer is no then I wonder if taking a leap of faith and tapering off the drug and allowing your body to recover would be worth a try?  As I see it, this is the only way you can find out if it's the drug causing your problems.

I understand there is a lot of pain and uncertainly between taking that leap and recovery but if you feel this bad while taking the drug then tapering from it might be your only option to achieve quality of life.

It would be wonderful if we could be sure what causes what but the only thing we have are the clues our body is sending us and we have to interpret them and make decisions based on those interpretations. 

I hope you find relief whatever you decide to do.

I know the drug is Not good for me & I want to Taper.

However I need 100% conviction it's from the drug.

This does not sound to me like a realistic expectation. My experience of benzo tapering, and health and healing in general, has been entirely by trial and error. I've become very clear that doctors, even highly paid experts, have at-best suggestions of personal experiments to try involving their preferred forms of medicine. In my experience these experiments often have unexpected, and sometimes completely unexplained, results. From my many trials and errors, I now try to take a slow and cautious approach to medicine, making adjustments as minimally and as gradually as possible.

It seems like before you, whatthelol, is a medical mystery; likely you've identified one of the key players as benzodiazepines, especially because your clonazepam dose is so incredibly high.

The biggest danger I found in using any psyche medications is their capacity to impair our judgement. When this happens, as has happened to me a few times in just the last year, my ability to discern and deduce the cause-and-effect of my dosages or dosage patterns becomes compromised, and I end up "flying blind". In all cases, a gradual reduction of the medication was the best and safest option to restore clarity and higher functions, but it was very hard for me to come to this understanding in at least three unique situations because I was so impaired.

I suggest a gradual reduction of medicine, if for NO other purpose, than to improve your mental acuity and awareness of reality. This alone, I believe, is worth the trouble of withdrawal; decision making is the foundation of independence and health, two things I value highly in my life, and which I would like you to have in yours.

As Pamster mentioned, a "leap of faith" is sometimes all we have to go on when making adjustments to our situation.

Please consider posting on the tapering boards if you decide to step forward into a gradual reduction of clonazepam; the direct taper board seems appropriate at your doses, but if you are super sensitive there are some very gentle but more involved ways to titrate and the titration board is better for these inquiries.

I'll be praying for you! Let us know any way we can help. 

Thank you very much for all your sharings!

I try to respond to them If I can later. I've been Feeling tremendously exhausted lately.

But could you give me a reality Check?

Is 8mg really such a tremendous Dose that it Could affect Me that much?

Thanks & Love

 

 

Is 8mg really such a tremendous Dose that it Could affect Me that much?

 

Thanks & Love

Yes, it is considered an abnormally high dose. In this community on average you'll find people who have been prescribed within a range of 0.5-2mg. In tapering my dose I initially struggled to find a doctor that was willing to prescribe at "such a high dose of 2mg". Three doctors told me they were not comfortable prescribing me K at 2mg.

In hindsight I can now tell after one year on 2mg, how it started affecting my memory, mood, sleep, I started getting anxiety (which I didn't have prior to starting K) and at the time I didn't know it was side effects of the drug. So yes, I can only imagine the possible side effects at 8mg.

But could you give me a reality Check?

Is 8mg really such a tremendous Dose that it Could affect Me that much?

I agree with Jelly Baby's observations. This was floating around the web at drugs.com...

The initial dose for adults with panic disorder is 0.25 mg twice daily. An increase to the target dose for most patients of 1 mg/day may be made after 3 days. The recommended dose of 1 mg/day is based on the results from a fixed dose study in which the optimal effect was seen at 1 mg/day. Higher doses of 2, 3 and 4 mg/day in that study were less effective than the 1 mg/day dose and were associated with more adverse effects. Nevertheless, it is possible that some individual patients may benefit from doses of up to a maximum dose of 4 mg/day, and in those instances, the dose may be increased in increments of 0.125 to 0.25 mg twice daily every 3 days until panic disorder is controlled or until side effects make further increases undesired.

https://www.drugs.com/dosage/klonopin.html