.25mg of Klonopin taper

[[Buddie]]

Hi,

I am taking .25 mg clonazepem now. I was prescribed .5 mg in Jan. 2021; reduced it to .25 mg (give or take a few nights I needed .5 mg) in July and here it is Feb. 14, 2022 and I want to go off it completely. I find the liquid method very hard to follow.

I want to reduce to .125 mg clonazepem soon and stay there for four weeks or more and then to go off it completely.

My question is, since I took it originally for anxiety and to sleep (had insomnia), does gabapentin help with those issues and with tapering off it? I take 300 mg gabapentin for essential tremor. I thought it could help with sleep and in withdrawing from clonazepem. I also take 3 mg melatonin and read magnesium helps with sleep.
 

Any thoughts please? Thank you.

[...]

Edit: Changed subject title.

[[Buddie]]

Hi [...],

I'm not sure if you're asking for taper help or medication information but if you want to talk about Gabapentin there is a lot of information on the Other Medications board, you could start a new thread or do a search.. Or, you can take a look at this thread in support groups for those withdrawing from it.  http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?topic=84267.0

If you'd like to discuss magnesium, there is a lot of discussion on the Alternative Therapies & Supplements board.

If you'd like taper help, let us know.

[[Buddie]]

Hi and thank you,

I think I am asking for tapering advice. It's a relatively small amount I'm on - .25 mg. My issue is if I taper to .125 ng I may not sleep as well and if off it completely I may not sleep well. I have a sleep coach who gave me going advice. But he ultimately believes in taking no meds or other aids to sleep.

The other threads are interesting. Apparently melatonin and valerian and magnesium are all useless when it comes to helping withdraw from clonazepam. Okay. Glad to put those to the side then. I'm glad to have Dr. Ashton's advice any day.

So, in terms of tapering, should I taper down to . 125 and hold for 4-6 weeks and then go off it? Slow enough? I've taken .5 mgs. for 6 months and then .25 mg clonazepam for past 6-7 months.

Thank you for your help and advice.

[...]

[[Buddie]]

How did you feel when you made that 50% reduction from .50 to .25? 

[[Buddie]]

Thank you for your help and this question. I think I was fine but some night it just wasn't helping me sleep through the night. That's why I was taking it.

My psychiatrist actually gave me clonazepam to relax into going to sleep and mainly to relieve anxiety the next day. So, she was trying to reduce my anxiety. She also tried a few antidepressants but I wasn't helped by them. They made me more agitated. Mirtazapine helped me sleep but made me terribly constipated. That was a big disappointment bc it helped me sleep and increased my appetite which I could use.

So, basically reducing it from . 5 to . 25 mg was okay. No major problem or side effects.

[[Buddie]]

Some people can get off of these medications with little to no problem, you appear to be one of them, I'm happy for you because for our other members a 50% reduction in dose would have sent them to the ER.

I can't in good conscience suggest another 50% reduction to you even though you appeared to tolerate the last one but if you think its best then I'll go with your decision.  I'd be very interested in knowing how it goes for you, we rarely see this happen here so it would be a good learning experience for me.

[[Buddie]]

Well, thanks. I think the .5 mg was a relatively small dose, no? And I was taking it for six months (not that long relatively speaking and a smallish dose) when I cut it to .25 mg. I'm not good with shaving 10% off a small pill and managing withdrawal using a liquid form is too complicated. I really don't think anyone would be so sick and need to go to an ER right on such a small amount, no? I would hope not. I think that leaves me with yes making it .125 mg and staying there for a month or so. Yes?

[[Buddie]]

Please understand that a .25 mg dose of Klonopin is not small, it's equivalent to 5 mgs of Valium, its an extremely powerful benzodiazepine. 6 months is more than enough time for your body to build dependence, the drug manufacturers suggest using this drug no longer than 2-4 weeks.  You're very lucky to have this reaction to this drug class, our other members, me included have and are suffering terribly but you don't appear to have this issue so I'm very happy for you.

As I mentioned, I hope the best for you and it appears you can reduce your dose by 50%, but if you feel unpleasant symptoms you can always go back to .25 and taper a little more gradually from there.

[[Buddie]]

Thank you, [...]. I'm very sorry you and others are suffering so. That's why I want to go off it before I wind up on it longer and at even higher dosages.When you explain it like that, it does sound more significant. But I don't know how I can shave down a smaller cut w/out just creating irregular size dosages and I don't know if it will dissolve in liquid or how to measure it out and that way is just too difficult. Is .25 one night and then .125 the next and keep doing that for a time a way to taper it to zero?

[[Buddie]]

[...]

[...] has already fully recovered from her benzo use many years ago. She was trying to say she suffered severe withdrawal when she was coming off. We generally don't recommend alternating doses when trying to taper. Your brain needs consistency when tapering and that means the same dose at the same time.

If you're interested you might want to look into this post from [...] and we can help you with it:

We will will be happy to help you but we don't make taper schedules for members.  I did a water taper for the last bit of my clonazepam taper using the method in this short YouTube video.  This method was easy to mix and to use:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whpciMUXHfY

My taper was shorter than 300 days because I used less water but you can make it whatever length you want.   With a water taper you just have to be sure you shake it well and take it immediately because the pills don't fully dissolve.  What I suggest you do it watch the video and see if that seems like something you can do or if you have any questions.