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.25mg of Klonopin taper


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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.

 

katyee8

 

Edit: Changed subject title.

 

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Hi katyee8,

 

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.

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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.

 

katyee8

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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.

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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.

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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?

 

 

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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.

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Thank you, Pamster. 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?
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katyee8

 

Pamster 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 Kate08 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:

 

 

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.

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Thank you. I am glad Pamster has recovered now and is off any benzodiazepems for many years. Thank you for your help. I get it. Keep to a steady dose. Thank you for the video which is clear and understandable. But I think it would be better for me to do a direct taper using cuts. I will figure out if I can make a smaller than 50% cut from .25 mg. I'm not sure if I can w/outnthem being different sizes.
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Thank you very much. I am thinking about cutting .25 mg into three pieces and taking 2/3rds of .25 mg for a few weeks or more and then possibly going down to .125  mg. I'll try to see if I dry cut the .25 (half of the .5 mg tablet).

 

Better to take it slowly. I want to see under Other Meds if people feel gabapentin helps them go off it and sleep better.

 

Best,

 

katyee8

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Hi katyee8, thank you for reacting so positively to our concerns, we've just seen so much pain we worry when we see others attempt something we know can cause suffering, so we get a little overly protective.  ;)

 

I'm confident in your approach and really, if you feel good you can certainly speed it up, we just typically advise the slow approach because it's easier to speed things up than get hit with symptoms.

 

You're going to do great, you have such a good attitude.  :thumbsup:

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Thank you so much, Pamster. I'm so glad you're off of them for many years. I just want to be careful and wondered how easy it is to cut a small half pill (.25 mg) into smaller pieces. I'm going to try. I think my psychiatrist is really not that up on how to go off of the clonazepem. And she wasn't that concerned about keeping me on it. That's the conundrum. I also was on zoloft for 10-15 years (doesn't help me anymore and I'm taking any antidepressant) and now I have essential tremor that might have been made worse or it started bc of the zoloft (same psychiatrist). I suggested to her last week that I wished she had rec'mded I stop zoloft sooner and stopped clonazepem sooner and she felt criticized and really shut down. it was not pleasant. Maybe I should not have said that or said it in a softer manner. I don't know. I am seeing her again next week (she hasn't returned my calls so I'm not going to leave any more voice mails) and the next day seeing a good GP and get his advice.

 

Warmest wishes,

 

Katyee8

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The conversation with your doctor didn't go well did it, this happens a lot because many of our members feel betrayed and when they express this things change. 

 

It sounds like you're concerned about pill cutting, you might want to try shaving the pill into little piles and just eyeballing them, I've seen members who don't want to go the liquid route or shaving and weighing on a jewelers scale use this method. 

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Thank you, Pamster. Yes. That's right. I hope we have a good session next week (with my psychiatrist).

 

Yes. I will try and shave them into smaller pieces using a razor blade I guess or maybe the pill cutter - not sure which.

 

Thanks so much for your replies and great help. I am very grateful you are there and helping me and others.

 

Best,

 

Katyee8

 

 

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Hi katyee8

 

You have raised concerns several times about sleeping. I want to share my advice and what I've learned from my experience here. I love your sleep coach who believes in no meds. In my opinion when we start searching for other prescription or OTC meds to help with sleep we just find ourselves in a pattern of tolerance again. That means your body adapts to the meds and all sleeping meds eventually lose effectiveness and then you are back to square one where you have to find something else to sleep. I believe our bodies know how to sleep we just have to give it time to overcome whatever "got it out of the rhythm".

 

It's likely going to be really hard. I know from experience. When I started my taper and I got lower I started averaging 3 hrs sleep per night. It's been my pattern for a couple of months now. BUT I've accepted that's the way it's going to be for now and come hell or high water, I'm going to allow my brain to learn to sleep by itself. Is it fun? No. It's tough lying in bed awake for hours on end waiting to sleep, but it sure beats chasing the next pill to make me sleep. Acceptance is key. Knowing it will come eventually, because I've read it happen to so many people on here.

 

Some nights I will take a very low dose of melatonin (0.5mg) to see if it helps. I don't think it helps, but maybe the placebo effect does. I don't think trying supplements or natural remedies will do harm unless you are sensitive, but personally I will stay away from prescription meds or OTC sleeping aids. It's just my opinion. You can use or disregard whatever helps and whatever doesn't.

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Thank you very much, Jelly Baby. Cute name too. Yes. I am very focused on sleep bc it's been the main issue for me for over a year now, along with anxiety and I think they influence each other. Yes. That is my sleep coach's advice. And yet I find myself looking to take 300 mg. gabapentin to sleep as I taper off of .25 mg of clonazepem (both an hour before bedtime). In addition, I recently purchased 135 mg tablets of magnesium and then an herbal blend with 3 mg melatonin and valerian root and a separate 1 mg of melatonin. So, it gets ridiculous and I'm the first to admit that. And somewhere I read that Dr. Heather Ashton felt that melatonin and magnesium or any other supplements are not shown to be effective when it comes to withdrawl from benzodiazepems. But they may help ease you into sleep or it's the placebo effect. Sleep is what concerns me. I would like to just taper off the clonazepem without any of the other meds/supplements but I think that would make it harder.

 

Also, I take gabapentin for a tremor that was caused or maybe got worse from taking zoloft for many years. it doesn't help the tremor but it relaxes me and makes me feel weird too. I read it helps you get off benzodiazepems. But bc I don't want to feel weird I don't want to take more than 300 mg. 1x a day at night.

 

Please continue to make suggestions. I am open to any you have. I don't know how you can only sleep 3 or a little over 3 hours a night. That's so hard to imagine. You're really toughing it out but is that the only way to go? Thank you for your help.

 

Katyee8

 

 

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I know a lot of members said they found this post very helpful:

http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?topic=235100.0

 

It becomes easier to accept over time and you learn to function on whatever sleep you get. Like I said it's not a walk in the park, but you learn to live with it because you know this is not going to last forever. Short term pain for long term gain.

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Thank you. It is helpful. It sounds like my sleep coach a little. Acceptance.

It doesn't sound easy but it's good information. Thank you again.

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Hi,

Another question. I keep a running log. In Jan. 2022 I did take . 5 mg of clonazepam on certain nights - a half dozen. But the majority of nights I was taking . 25 mg of clonazepam. As I mentioned, my start in taking clonazepam was .5 mg in Feb. 2021; reduced it to .25 mg in July 2021 but did take .5 mg on some nights after that. So, wanted to withdraw from it starting in Jan. 2022 and most nights took .25 mg but a few nights .5 mg. And starting Feb. 1, 2022, I took only . 25 mg each night. I feel somewhat anxious now but not sure if that's a withdrawal effect or not. Should I wait to taper (go down by .0625 mg) until the end of Feb.? I'm going to try and shave .0625 mg from .25 mg).

 

Can I count the start of withdrawal as Jan. 2022 or really Feb. 2022 (not July 2021 bc I did take .5 mg certain nights?)? Any suggestions please?

 

btw, I am trying 135 mg magnesium citrate for anxiety 2x today and eliminated melatonin at night but take 300 mg neurontin an hour before bed and . 25 mg clonazepam (for sleep). I don't want to take neurontin more than once a day for help with sleep and withdrawal.

 

Thank you very much for your ongoing help.

 

katyee8

 

 

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I'm not sure what you're asking, why does it matter when you count the start of withdrawal?  Sorry, I'm not understanding.  :-[

 

Also, if you're only feeling "somewhat anxious" to me that means you're most likely stable which means its probably time to make a reduction.  We define stable as able to carry out your daily tasks, it doesn't mean feeling good.

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