Diazepam for 2 months (on & off) - Clonazepam for 2 weeks. Help needed.

I started taking diazepam end of May due to increased anxiety about some physical symptoms. I took between 2.5 - 5mg per day and there were some small gaps of 3-4 days and one gap near the beginning of about 9 days. Took until the end of July. Overall I took it for about 2 months but not every day. Its effects would work for maybe 4 hours.

Psychiatrist then wanted me to go on Clonazepam .5mg 3 times daily because I was freaking out from severe anxiety, but I thought that was too much so I have been taking .25mg twice a day – around 1pm and 7pm. This has been for 2 weeks and I REALLY don’t want to be on Clonazepam anymore because of the horror stories I have been reading about. I know that generally these drugs shouldn’t be taken for more than 2 weeks. That in itself causes me a lot of anxiety.

I have no idea how dependant I am on any of these and my high level of anxiety and panic is due to physical sensations. That’s why I started on diazepam in the first place. Initially i would take it at night to sleep.

The anxiety trigger started with a feeling of blood pooling pseudo-numbness in a few fingers in my left hand at the end of May. As I was getting more anxious over the next week or so the sensations (small pains, burning, and sensitivity) began to start in my left arm, shoulder and chest. Few weeks later it also started in my right arm/shoulder. I think a lot of this was from anxiety, being very tensed up. I know anxiety and depression can cause physical symptoms like this. Now ive been on the Clonazepam for 2 weeks and im getting these sensations still but more widespread over my body. Its hard to tell if its mainly from anxiety or the medication or both.

I just want some help in figuring out from people with a lot of experience what to do about tapering. I have been speaking with a Mental health nurse (im in London UK) but she doesn’t seem to think I have any dependency from the diazepam even though I was taking it for 2 months (again, not everyday). I feel like im stuck regarding how to stop taking these and also how to deal with my health anxiety without them. I feel like im not getting much help from the mental health team regarding how to stop taking these as they don’t think I have any kind of dependence and put my concerns down to being anxious but I think I must have some dependency by now.

I know that I haven’t been taking diazepam or Clonazepam for as long as a lot of people on this forum, but I am extremely scared of dependence and withdrawal. At the same time, I still have an anxiety issue because of the physical sensations (again I think a lot of it is from anxiety and quite possibly some now from the benzos), so im not sure how to cope with the anxiety without benzos as when I have anxiety attacks I tense up and make the pain and sensations worse. I tried breathing exercises and meditation but the anxiety can be overwhelming and im hyper vigilant and oversensitive to any small pains or weird sensations. So im basically stuck in a loop of getting extremely anxious about these weird sensations which then makes them worse.

Can anyone offer advice on how to start coming off of these? I looked at the Ashton manual for Clonazepam tapering ( Schedule 5) but im not sure if its appropriate for my situation. It also refers to taking 3 times per day and I take it twice per day (.25mg). I also don’t know if that plan is for people that have been on it for a longer time than me as I don’t know what level of dependence I have.

It says to switch over back to diazepam for some reason but I really don’t know what to do to ensure I can stop these benzos safely and comfortably.

Im also on Venlafaxine. Was on these initially from around 2001 until last year when i stopped. Started again on 75mg for about 5 weeks and now up to 112.5mgs 3 days ago. This increase is also possibly going to cause more anxiety in the meantime, so im scared about how to manage it.

If anyone could offer advice it would be highly appreciated as im extremely scared, worried and anxious about what to do or where to even start. Ive read through a lot of the posts on this forum but it seems overwhelming and i cant figure out what the best plan is.

You could be right about the Ashton method not being right for you since you haven't been on the drugs for very long, but we do need to count both the Diazepam and the Clonazepam when totaling your usage, so about 10 weeks which is more than enough time to become dependent.

Are you interested in going back to the Diazepam to taper?  My feeling is that if you're doing okay on the Clonazepam it would be better to stick with that rather than add more time to your total usage by crossing back over.

It looks to me as if the benzo's aren't helping you with your health anxiety but adding to it so its probably best to discontinue it and the only way we're going to know if you've become dependent is to begin a taper.  I'd start by eliminating about 10% and try that for a week to see how you handle it.  If you have unmanageable symptoms then you'll know you're dependent and the reduction was too much.

Unfortunately this experiment has you as the subject, I'm sorry.

Thanks for your reply.

Is there any difference in going back to the diazepam to taper? I thought that Clonazepam was "worse" from a tapering or withdrawing perspective in terms of side effects and difficulty stopping. Is this wrong? Thats why i didnt really want to take Clonazepam for more than 2 weeks.

How would the taper work if i swapped back to diazepam? The calculator said .25mg Clonazepam was equivalent to 5mg Diazepam. Would it be a case of just swapping them over directly? So i would take 5mg diazepam instead of the .25mg Clonazepam for both doses during the day? Im not sure if it works like this. The clonazepam seems to work for a longer period.

Also should this be scheduled i.e. take it at the same time everyday or just when im feeling anxious? I take it currently at around 1-2pm and again around 7-8pm. Would i need to change this to maintain certain levels throughout the day?

The dilemma i have is that the benzos do keep me calm and mostly stop me freaking out whenever i feel some odd physical sensations, but the longer i take them the more i will get used to them and itll be harder to stop as well as causing a lot more side effects like the odd sensations i get at the moment that make me anxious.

It was extreme debilitating anxiety i was having about these pains/sensations and i worry about how to deal with that level of anxiety without these horrible drugs.

I have a meeting tomorrow with a mental health nurse who thinks i have no dependance. I was tyrying to explain to her that i believe i must have some by now but she seems to dismiss a lot of my concerns putting it down to being anxious.

Since Valium has a longer half life its considered to be the best in terms of smooth tapers but Clonazepam has a fairly long half life as well so it's not a bad one for tapering either.  As far as it being worse, in my opinion, there is no worst benzo, they're all bad.

Doing a crossover correctly involves slowly withdrawing one drug while adding Valium in, this is because Valium takes a bit of time to build up in the blood.  To do this right might take you about two weeks, withdrawing .25 Clonazepam while adding 5 mgs Diazepam then doing the same the next week.  Professor Ashton allowed 1 week for each stage.  I didn't want to see you take the drugs for 2 weeks longer but if you'd be more comfortable going back to Diazepam and if your doctor will supply you with a prescription then we'll be happy to help you with a taper plan.

I understand benzo's are good at their job but for many of us they cease keeping us from anxiety when we become tolerant to them.  They begin to cause anxiety and it's a lot worse than the normal stuff, I never suffered with anxiety until I started taking Klonopin, I originally took it for sleep.

I guess we don't know for sure if you are dependent yet but I've seen it happen in 10 days.