My Taper Plan and Need Math Double Checked Please

I have decided to to continue coming down very low and slow off of my klonopin. I have had so much stress the last 4 years and now it is time to hopefully work on me.

I was below 2mg in 2020, but after my Mom's surgery and a medication induced setback, I had to up dose. Last year in 2021, I had to change from Brand K to the new generic Teva 2mg which didn't work initially. The brand, which I had tried before was too strong and wore off very quickly, causing horrible panic. The switchover was rough, as it is so much weaker. I did this right before my Mom died of Covid. Too much stress. I had so much to do after she died. I also have a brother who is in an ALF with health issues, so I am his health care proxy.

I got up to 4mg over period of 13 months.I went from dosing at night to 3 times a day. So frustrating, but I had to just to function.  I am now at 3.875mg, as I made a .125mg cut in Oct/Nov.

I felt it.

My plan is to make .05mg cuts every 2 weeks for a total of .1mg/month. I have weighed and crushed my .5mg pills. I have taken the .125mg off of the morning dose. I am now going to cut from the afternoon dose. I want to leave my bedtime dose alone until I am done with this dose.

The math: .05mg x .169gm/.5=017gm. I rounded it off to make it easier. I weighed 10 pills .5mg and the average was .169gm. My dose is is .45mg.

The reason I don't want to just cut them is because I am not sure of how accurate it is. If anyone has any suggestions, I would be grateful. Right now, I think this will hopefully be a good plan.

I Pray that I made sense.

Thanks,

Dana

I meant to add that I subtract .017gm from .169gm to get a weight of 152gm.

I really hope this makes sense.

Thanks,

Dana

Hello, Dana.  You have certainly had more than your fair share of stress over the past four years. I’m so sorry about your mother’s death as well as the ongoing challenges you face as your brother’s health care proxy.

Other than a minor typo (152gm should be .152gm), your math looks AOK to me.

Given your history, your decision to ‘start low and go slow’ for your first set of reductions makes sense (see note).  As I’m sure you know, it’s far easier to speed up a taper that is going well than it is to slow down and recover from a too-rapid taper.

Note: Decreasing your total daily dose by 0.1mg (from 3.875mg to 3.775mg) will be a 2.58% reduction.

Libertas,

Thank you so much for checking my plan and the math. Not quite a month ago I accidently made a 9% cut in a week. I tried the liquid which was probably not accurate and then I dry cut a seemingly small amount. What a nightmare. I am finally to the point of resuming.

I figured by cutting .05mg every 2 weeks would be better than lopping off .125mg by using a pill cutter. It is slow and the percentage is low which I wanted. It is time consuming to weigh and crush, but I know that by mixing it well, it is pretty uniform. I sure hope so.

I don't mean to keep bringing  up my Mom, but it had so much to do with my up dose.

I will probably keep updating on here how I am doing and when I will make my next .05mg cut. I just started yesterday so I will be at this dose for 2 weeks.

Thanks again for your help and support. I am Praying that your taper is going well.

Also will get to updating my signature. Not much to update really.

Dana