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How to properly taper


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So my doctor told me to taper by 16% per week and I know that’s way too much. I purchased my scale and intend to taper by 10% every two weeks. My question is- being that I take a day snd night dose. 1mg in the morning, and 1mg at night- do I taper 5% in the morning, and 5% at night to make up the 10%, or do I take the 10% from either day or night?
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Since your dose is so large at the moment, have you considered cutting your pills, its much easier to do this in the beginning.  What is your pill size?
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I would probably cut 5% from each dose right now. Your dose, as Pam said, is quite high and this could help minimize symptoms and keep and even and steady dosage of the medication in your system.

 

 

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I have been cutting my pills, and I’m using a pill cutter. I have a pill cutter that should be arriving today for smaller pills- smaller pieces in my case. I also have a scale that should be arriving Monday or Tuesday. I saw a tutorial from a member here on YouTube showing how to use the scale, and suggested shaving down small amounts with a metal nail file, because cutting such a small amount as 5 or 10% could cause the pill to just crumble. Does all of this sound about right to you? I want to do this the safest way possible. I live with my two boys and have been hospitalized because of this previously thinking I could just stop taking it. My doctor upped my dose after my son’s father passed away and I had no clue that any of this could happen trying to come off of the clonazepam. It was not explained to me.
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We can help you with learning how to shave and weigh your pills if you want to go that route now but first we'll need to know your pill size.  You can put this kind of information into your signature, that way we won't have to keep pestering you with questions.  Here are the instructions but if you need help just put the information here and a team member can do it for you.  Add your history/signature 
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I think I put the correct info for pill size in my signature, but not sure. And I would appreciate the help so much. I get my scale Monday or Tuesday.
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Hi Ann...best of luck to you on your tapering journey.  There are some great people here.  I take it that you have not started to cut pills yet as your pills are 1mg and you take it twice a day.  As pianogirl suggested, and as I have done, I dose twice a day, and always keep the morning and night doses the same...so I make equal cuts to each dose.  Yes, trying to cut 5-10% off a pill will often result in overcutting and then adding back crumbs and it's a mess.  Filing is the way to go and do it over something where you can easily place the filings into an airtight container.  Weigh frequently as not to overfile.  At some point when you get more confident with the scale, you can mess around with cutting.  Perfection will not be possible with these scales, so don't agonize over being perfect.  Depending on the scale, you may weigh the same pill 10 times and get 10 different results all pretty close to each other, but still different.  At your dose, being as close as you can get is probably good enough and when the time comes when you need to be more precise at lower doses, your knowledge base will be higher and with this forum, you'll find out how to do it.  These scales do better with higher weights, so when you scale comes, calibrate it per instructions, weigh 10 pills and divide the total by 10 in order to get your per pill weight in grams.  Knowing the weight and dosage of your pill is the basis for every other step, and you already know the per pill dose.  When you know the weight, you can then ask for calculation help here.  I will quickly add this....the total pill is 100%.  If you wish a 5% cut, you are taking 95% of the total pill.  A 10% cut is 90% of the total pill....a 15% cut is 85% of the total pill and so on all the way down the line.  So if you want a 5% cut and your pill weighs .170gm...it's .170 x .95 for the new pill weight that you need to file down to.  Just that easy.  Best wishes to you.
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Hi again Ann1982, Enufalready2021 has given you some great tips but please keep asking questions until you're comfortable. 

 

Thanks for letting us know your pill size, would your doctor agree to prescribe a smaller dose pill, this would allow you to comfortably cut your pills which is the easiest and least risky method of tapering, at least until your doses get smaller.

 

As you can see from this website Clonazepam comes in smaller sizes plus ODT which go a lot smaller.

 

Per DailyMed (see link below) ...

 

In the US, clonazepam orally disintegrating tablets (ODTs) are available from four manufacturers: Par, Teva, Alembic, and Sun.

 

All four manufacturers make ODTs in the following strengths: 0.125mg, 0.25mg, 0.5mg, 1mg, 2mg.

 

The ODTs from Par, Teva, and Alembic are supplied in foil blister packs.

 

The ODTs from Sun are supplied in a regular bottle.

 

DailyMed

https://dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/dailymed/

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Thank you Enufalready2021 for the great information. I greatly appreciate it. Pamster you have been great. I will begin this journey as soon as I get my scale tomorrow or Tuesday. Thank you!
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Ann1982, Bob7 tapered off benzos and has helped lots of our members.  You might want to look at his signature because he has some thorough explanations (with videos) of how he made his own capsules to taper from.  Even if you don't want to use his method you still might find helpful info there.  All the best to you.
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