What to expect ??

I know everyone is different , but what should I expect? . Im starting my taper this upcoming Tuesday . I've been taking Ativan/Klonopin .05 Mg for a little over 4 months ....scared to death after reading all the horror stories here.

Thanks for any advice/comments

You should probably post this in withdrawal support. Not a lot of Buddies read intros. Maybe a mod will move this for you?

 

Anyway. It doesn't all have to be doom and gloom. If you follow a percentage and symptoms based taper you can likely minimize wd symptoms.

 

I have had a fairly good experience in comparison to others. Mine is not a horror story. Of course wd is not great and some days I do feel miserable but it's definitely tolerable and I still have some quality of life.

 

What you can expect? It's really difficult to say as that depends entirely on the individual. The best advice I can give is to stay positive and not get fixated on your symptoms or what could go wrong.

 

Good luck! You can beat this!

Thank you for the response :} .....Im just not looking forward to the withdrawals ...what sucks more is I wont even know for about 3 days after lowering my dosage 

Are you only taking 0.05mg? Klonopin usually comes as 0.125, 0.25, 0.5 and so on. If you are really taking 0.05 and not 0.5mg, that is a very tiny dose!

 

You can update your signature as well and this will help others identify you. You can also join us on the short-term users thread. I can't remember the link, but if you search for JBen01, he's an admin and shortie too (yeah, we call ourselves shorties, haha).

 

There are many people there who have mild withdrawal.

 

I am not one of them (I am a horror story, ugh), but I did everything wrong - couldn't have done it worse. Don't do what I did, and you will be much better off!

Hello, thanks . Im taking 0.5 twice a day  . I thinking of trying to cold turkey ...sick of begging my dr. to quit trying to do a quick taper on me 

Oh gosh, I'm sorry. CT was a horror show for me, I wish I had tapered. That said, I had such scary interdose withdrawal, I am not sure how I would have done and I was on short-acting xanax with no approval for cross-over. Cross-over works poorly for xanax due to receptor binding differences, so I would have had to use klonopin.

 

Even if you can do a short taper, I believe it would be better than CT. If you do a fast taper or CT, consider using a helper med like baclofen or gabapentin (or trileptal). There is a small case series on baclofen that was quite encouraging, but small. There is also a paper on pregabalin helping people after taper. Both papers feature a rapid taper. I think all of these things are a bit questionable and unknown. Let me know if you want to see the papers or more info. Birdman used baclofen immediately after a CT and did really well. A lot of people have used gabapentin with mixed results - some great, others less so. Had I known about the studies back when I stopped, I would have done one or both. I am doing baclofen now with ok results, but I am likely on a much too low dose (only 12mg - most take 30-60mg for best results). I chose a lower dose because I started it so far out. I also tried Lyrica but it made me feel weird. I am now on a trial of 8mg 3 times a day (a 25mg cap split). It's also probably too low to do a lot, but I am just trying to nudge the system.

 

Good luck and let us know how we can help.

Guitar,

 

Not everyone has a horrible experience withdrawing. People on here are often reaching out for help hence the disproportionate number of people who appear to be really struggling. I am 5.5 weeks into my taper and I am not having horrible WD symptoms. My biggest symptom is insomnia but I had that before I started my taper. I decided to do a liquid taper and not throw anything out just in case I lose my Rx. I am stock piling my Xanax. I hope the best for you as you embark on changing your life and ridding yourself of this drug. Everyone is different. I have gotten away with large cuts and a rapid taper so far but I don't know if that will continue to be the case.

 

Keep us updated on your taper and how it's going. Liquid vs dry, the % you're cutting etc. Have a great Friday and an amazing weekend preparing to start your taper. Sorry your Dr. is pushing you to go fast. That's rough. I empathize.

 

 

HM

Hello, thanks . Im taking 0.5 twice a day  . I thinking of trying to cold turkey ...sick of begging my dr. to quit trying to do a quick taper on me 

 

I'm sorry to hear your getting rushed by your doctor.

 

Is your doctor willing to keep prescribing your current dose? This seems to be generally safer for taperers than doctor-led or cold turkey reductions. If your doctor will keep prescribing, I think it's likely you can taper safely at home.

 

The forum generally supports individuals who haven't managed to do a rapid taper; often times, like myself, buddies have done rapid tapers before, and often without WD symptoms. We turn to the forum when our luck runs out and we can't survive that approach any more.

 

Doing a reduction and holding for 2 weeks will likely give you a good sense of what you're body can handle. Since you're considering cold turkey, maybe just try taking 1/4 off your day-time 0.5mg tablet; that'll be a 12.5% reduction and it's easy to do with a decent aluminum pill splitter. In my experience, clonazepam reduction symptoms peaked between days 5-7 and I was usually recovered by day 14.

 

Your metabolism may be slower or faster than mine, but you'll know in 2 weeks if you want to do this kind of thing again and at a rate like 12.5%/ 2 weeks. Most importantly, you will likely recover from 12.5% in two weeks or soon there after, unlike what seems to happen to many buddies who are rushed or go cold turkey.

 

I think experience is so valuable over worrying and wondering. 

If you’ve only been taking .5mg for 4 months, the odds are good that your withdrawal will be minimal.  90% of the folks on this board are severe cases. 

 

I got off multiple times in my first 5 years from about 2mg without much hassle and only a couple weeks taper.  Then I went 3mg+ daily non-stop for 13 years, got off and met hell. 

 

I’m not a doctor but I wouldn’t just stop at your current dose.  A 4-6 week taper gradually reducing the dose might be warranted.  If you’ve only been taking for 4 months, a long taper where you reduce by 10% every two weeks can actually make you more dependent. 

If you’ve only been taking .5mg for 4 months, the odds are good that your withdrawal will be minimal.  90% of the folks on this board are severe cases. 

 

I got off multiple times in my first 5 years from about 2mg without much hassle and only a couple weeks taper.  Then I went 3mg+ daily non-stop for 13 years, got off and met hell. 

 

I’m not a doctor but I wouldn’t just stop at your current dose.  A 4-6 week taper gradually reducing the dose might be warranted.  If you’ve only been taking for 4 months, a long taper where you reduce by 10% every two weeks can actually make you more dependent.

 

Hey djej2010, can you site any references for this statement? Thanks!

Overall, this is not a predicable process. I was on a lower dose than you and for less time but had severe interdose withdrawal. I am a horror story and was incapacitated for 8 months. I’m slowly emerging, but wish I had done it differently.

 

I recommend setting yourself up for success. Get your doctor to agree to a taper or tell them you want to continue a few more months and taper on your own so you can get the rx. See if they will prescribe helper meds to have in case you need them for after you jump. You don’t have to take them but better to have the option.

 

Listen to your body in the pace of taper I’d you can.

If I’m reading this correctly it seems that you are taking .5mg of clonazepam twice a day, so your actually taking 1 full milligram of the drug per day.  To me that seems like too much to jump from. That’s an equivalent of 20 mgs of diazepam per day. You keep mentioning that your on .5 mg (or .05mg which seems to be a typo) a day when in fact you’re taking that twice per day, so you’re actually taking 1 mg per day. There is a pretty big  difference between the two. I just wanted to clarify that. Please correct me if I’m wrong.

During the rapid taper I had where I cut 25%/week I had severe insomnia (staying up all nights, for months, finally restored 3 months after the last dose last June) along with headaches, severe mortal fear, severe chest pain, followed by paws

 

During the taper, it was much more manageable, I never went more than 1 nights without sleep, actually I still end up sleeping usually at like 6am to 11am, but during that time I was able to complete school and I say "only" go to the hospital a few times. I think it might have helped that I was on gabapentin too, but the tapering, though slower, had much more managable withdrawals, especially with the aid of other, multiple therapies I had for dealing with anxiety (biofeedback, cbt, meditation, visualization, etc etc) I could almost live normal life; though I don't know how much of this is just gabapentin masking the withdrawals, we will see how confident I feel when I start tapering THAT 

 

So I guess the typical list, insomnia, head pressure, dizziness, chest pain, palpitations, adrenaline rushes, sudden impending fear, "feel like you are about to die" (literally the definition of fear) but it was so so bad with the rapid taper, I can't imagine how much worse cold turkey would be.  but perhaps rapid taper rapid recovery? who knows. Just try to ask if you are doing it from a place of impatience or a place of wanting your best chance at success. Cold turkey is fine if it is a conscious decision you are making, being because you're willing to bear the harshest of withdrawals, but not if it's because you just want the convenience of getting off the drug asap. I guess it depends on your constitution. A few years ago I was able to easily take xanax on and off without much issue, it could be that you are one of those cases too if it's your first time.

Clarifying post - I am not providing medical advice. If you felt that I did, I apologize. Please check with you doctor on any medicine. I am not advising to do anything without the advice of your doctor.

Clarifying post - I am not providing medical advice. If you felt that I did, I apologize. Please check with you doctor on any medicine. I am not advising to do anything without the advice of your doctor.

Clarifying post - I am not providing medical advice. If you felt that I did, I apologize. Please check with you doctor on any medicine. I am not advising to do anything without the advice of your doctor.

 

Hi fluffernutter,

This seems redundant to the disclaimer that is posted automatically below every single post...

 

Suggestions, opinions and/or advice provided by the author of this post should not be regarded as medical advice; nor should it substitute for professional medical care. Consult your doctor before making any changes to your medication.

 

I tried to PM you with this information but it seems like your PMs are turned off. I hope you're doing okay!