big wave 10 days after dry cut taper

Hi guys,

I have been doing well.  I started at 2 mg clonazapam tapering down to 1.75 mg on July 23rd..and have since cut to 1.625, then 1.5 mg after two weeks on each. I always notice 3 days AFTER my taper to new lower amount begins I have a terrible day of sweats, headache, muscle aches, nausea, feelings flulike...but then after day 5, it's all better , and i have very little symptoms at all...until i get ready to do my next taper down.

 

I am at day 10 of 1.5mg now, and at day 14 i am scheduled to go down to 1.375 mg for two weeks.....today i am functional, but have severe muscle pain in my back , left shoulder and neck..and i am nauseaus again...not understanding why for the past week i felt fine on 1.5mg, and now on day 10 of it, prior to tapering down again i have a wave day. 

 

during my taper, i have been blessed with always being functional...just having a lot of window days, and day 3 is always a wave day, and now this is the second time right before i am scheduled to taper down on day 14, day 10 is another wave day...still functional, but weak jelly legs, back pain, nausea, h/a and feeling very weak..

 

any ideas?  My dry taper has been 7.8% each time since i started, and i remain there for 2 full weeks, even though i have felt much better in between. I don't think i am rushing it at all, but would love to hear what you all think.

 

thank y ou for your suggestions

 

Lisa

moving this up , so hopefully someone will reply and help me out.

 

thank you all

So i seem to be doing something wrong.  Everyone has responses on the withdrawal support board, until you get all the way down to this post...and nothing.

 

any suggestions on how i can get people to help me and offer support or guidance. Happy to change whatever i need to.

 

thanks

LISA

Sorry to hear you're struggling but good to hear you remain functional! Tapering is a very individual process and it seems you're finding your threshold...I would suggest cutting less or giving yourself a little more time between cuts. The beginning of a taper usually is easier as there is still plenty of med to keep the brain happy but as you cut it can become more difficult.

So i seem to be doing something wrong.  Everyone has responses on the withdrawal support board, until you get all the way down to this post...and nothing.

 

any suggestions on how i can get people to help me and offer support or guidance. Happy to change whatever i need to.

 

thanks

LISA

 

The best thing to do is give it time and observe how you react. It is not uncommon with the long half life not to feel cuts until day 10-14. Your symptoms day window could be changing as cuts are catching up to you. Smaller cuts or waiting longer can be helpful. Sorry you aren’t getting much action on your post. It’s all so individualized sometimes people just don’t know how to respond.

Thank you so much for your suggestions.  It is day 11 of my tapering, and i was going to reduce again on Wednesday, but i have developed a terrible ''temple headache'  on my right side of my head..come and goes every few minutes, and neither advil, or tylenol has worked...it didn[t wake me up..but it is a new symptom and it's a very painful headache..

 

any suggestions to help this headache and is it common?

 

Lisa

Yes it’s common. I have had that off and on at the temple. When I had head pain the only think that brought relief for me was laying down with an ice pack on my head.

wow your headache description and when you get it has been my experience two  Im almost off this stuff. it happened each time ugh

nurse,

you are also tapering quite fast -- like 16% a month -- so just be careful that that doesn't start to sneak up on you at some point

as I got down lower in my taper I had to slow to a 2% every 2 weeks to a month. Maybe just going too fast?

Sorry you’re struggling!

Treelover, what were your symptoms when you only dropped 2% per month?  Im just curious, as that is such a very low taper per the ashton manual or others on here who recommend 6-8% with each taper and hold until you feel ok?

 

thank you for helping me understand and plan ahead

 

Lisa

My biggest symptoms post taper is a floaty boat feeling. It’s like my brain can’t tell where my body is in space. The ground feels like a trampoline in the afternoons between doses.

 

My eyes get very hard to focus and I have spots of light and visual imprinting. I look at something then see the afterimage everywhere.

 

Also the run of the mill tachycardia, lightheadedness, sob that comes and goes randomly, and tingling in random places.

 

Also a good run of brain zaps with head movement. It starts for me at about day 3-4 after a cut and resolves in 10-14 days typically.