Dealing with possible Interdose w on clonazepam…want to survive for my family

Hi all,

 

I am a 39 year old mama of 6.  3 years ago I was given SSRIs and they ruined my life.  I spent the last part of years thinking I had a chronic illness and being tested for Parkinsons, MS, brain tumours, vitamin deficiency.  I finally figured out that the medication was causing these issues and false diagnoses.  My doctor continued to believe it was my own anxiety. 

 

To help with my withdrawals and lack of sleep with the SSRIs (which I stopped immediately after he tried to put me on a 3rd one) he suggested clonazepam.  At first it was awesome to sleep but the lethargy was debilitating.  I learned about week 7 about the terrible effects of benzos and decided to taper myself. 

 

I successfully got to 0.5 and when I tried to switch to 0.25 I had terrible symptoms, most concerned me was the suicidal ideations.  I am now holding at 0.5 mg.  I am sensitive to everything and last night was the worst.  I discovered that lidocaine, magnesium, caffeine, decongestants (my doctor insisted), quinine cause setbacks and maybe the fact that I took them all in the past three days has contributed to this setback. 

 

Does anyone have any ideas?  Should I continue to hold?  Are these just setbacks or Interdose withdrawal?  Something else? My doses are now 0.25 mg in morning and 0.25 mg at night.  I took melatonin this morning at 3 am to help me sleep. 

I'd suggest holding longer.  How long have you been taking it?

 

A taper that is symptom-based and at a rate of 5 - 10% of the current dosage every 2 weeks or so is recommended here.  It's not surprising that you suffered terrible symptoms after going from .5 mg to .25 mg (a 50% reduction).

 

 

Please taper at your own pace. I have to taper EXTREMELY slow. Going at what my dr. said almost killed me. Real slow! Blessings!

I’ve been on it for about 13 weeks but at 7 weeks I tapered after researching benzos.  My doctor is unreceptive and not helpful and believes I am a hypochondriac.  I’m going to try and hold.  Do I hold until the symptoms subside and then taper again? 

 

I little confused

I’ve been on it for about 13 weeks but at 7 weeks I tapered after researching benzos.  My doctor is unreceptive and not helpful and believes I am a hypochondriac.  I’m going to try and hold.  Do I hold until the symptoms subside and then taper again? 

 

I little confused

 

I'd hold until symptoms become manageable and you're able to function adequately, meaning you're able to do your basic daily activities.  Once you reach that point (and you may have already), you can taper from .5mg slooowwyy -- around 5 - 10% (or slower) depending on what symptoms, if any, you experience.  So your first cut would be 5 - 10% off your current dose of .5mg.  And then your next cut would be based on your reduced dosage.

I am so sorry for all the diffulties you have endured. It's really tough when we are misdiagnosed especially when medications are causing our problems. I don't think you have interdose withdrawal. I think the problem is you cut your dose by 50%. When your body is physically dependent on these drugs, making too big cuts result in really bad withdrawal symptoms - I experienced it too.

 

You didn't say what your original dose of Clonazepam was and how long you've been tapering? How long have you been holding? It would really help us if you could Add your history/signature.

 

 

I added my schedule in my signature if that helps.  I’m doing well today back on the 0.25 mg once in the morning and then again closer to bed coupled with melatonin.  I am going to hold for a bit and then taper again.

 

 

Thanks for the updated schedule. I'm still not sure when you went down to 0.25mg and how long you've been holding at 0.5mg, but I'm very glad you're seeing some improvement now. You're tapering seems quite agressive and fast and it might help to hold here for a while because cuts have a tendency to "catch up with you". What this means, is if you make a number of big cuts like you've been doing, they accummulate and then you get hit with a lot of symptoms, not just because of your most recent cut, but because of the accummulation of cuts. It usually helps to give your brain time to adjust to all these big changes. 

Great advice on here. 50 percent cut and that would put me in a tail spin. 5-10 percent like everyone is saying sounds ideal.  Another option is to Look into NAD patches as another option to help taper.

Hi Crystal1982,

 

so sorry to hear you're going through a rough time. It breaks my heart to keep reading stories of people being prescribed Benzodiazepines and getting misdiagnosed.

 

Benzodiazepines cause physical dependence within days. Clonazepam is a very potent Benzodiazepine. Most people tend to come off the Benzo's with Diazepam (Valium). 1mg. Clonazepam equals 20mg. of Diazepam.

 

https://www.benzo.org.uk/manual/bzsched.htm#s6

 

I recommend reading the Ashton Manual.

 

Best of luck.

 

Hi all,

 

I am a 39 year old mama of 6.  3 years ago I was given SSRIs and they ruined my life.  I spent the last part of years thinking I had a chronic illness and being tested for Parkinsons, MS, brain tumours, vitamin deficiency.  I finally figured out that the medication was causing these issues and false diagnoses.  My doctor continued to believe it was my own anxiety. 

 

To help with my withdrawals and lack of sleep with the SSRIs (which I stopped immediately after he tried to put me on a 3rd one) he suggested clonazepam.  At first it was awesome to sleep but the lethargy was debilitating.  I learned about week 7 about the terrible effects of benzos and decided to taper myself. 

 

I successfully got to 0.5 and when I tried to switch to 0.25 I had terrible symptoms, most concerned me was the suicidal ideations.  I am now holding at 0.5 mg.  I am sensitive to everything and last night was the worst.  I discovered that lidocaine, magnesium, caffeine, decongestants (my doctor insisted), quinine cause setbacks and maybe the fact that I took them all in the past three days has contributed to this setback. 

 

Does anyone have any ideas?  Should I continue to hold?  Are these just setbacks or Interdose withdrawal?  Something else? My doses are now 0.25 mg in morning and 0.25 mg at night.  I took melatonin this morning at 3 am to help me sleep.

Hi Crystal1982,

 

so sorry to hear you're going through a rough time. It breaks my heart to keep reading stories of people being prescribed Benzodiazepines and getting misdiagnosed.

 

Benzodiazepines cause physical dependence within days. Clonazepam is a very potent Benzodiazepine. Most people tend to come off the Benzo's with Diazepam (Valium). 1mg. Clonazepam equals 12.5mg. of Diazepam.

 

I recommend reading the Ashton Manual.

 

Best of luck.

 

Hello, Naf1983.  Thank you for helping other members by sharing information about the Ashton Method.

 

Might I ask what reference source you are using for ‘1mg of clonazepam equals 12.5mg of diazepam’?

 

For the purposes of diazepam substitution, Ashton used an equivalence of approximately 10mg of diazepam for 0.5mg of clonazepam (i.e. approximately 20mg of diazepam for 1mg of clonazepam).

 

Reference Source:

Benzodiazepine Equivalence Table

https://www.benzo.org.uk/bzequiv.htm

Hi, I have 2 sources:

 

https://www.benzo.org.uk/manual/bzsched.htm#s6

 

Ashton actually says 1mg. is equal to 20mg. Diazepam.

 

https://www.drbeeker.nl/benzoconversie.pdf

 

This is a Dutch table I found which says it's 12.5mg.

 

Honestly I did have to really look.

 

Hi Crystal1982,

 

so sorry to hear you're going through a rough time. It breaks my heart to keep reading stories of people being prescribed Benzodiazepines and getting misdiagnosed.

 

Benzodiazepines cause physical dependence within days. Clonazepam is a very potent Benzodiazepine. Most people tend to come off the Benzo's with Diazepam (Valium). 1mg. Clonazepam equals 12.5mg. of Diazepam.

 

I recommend reading the Ashton Manual.

 

Best of luck.

 

Hello, Naf1983.  Thank you for helping other members by sharing information about the Ashton Method.

 

Might I ask what reference source you are using for ‘1mg of clonazepam equals 12.5mg of diazepam’?

 

For the purposes of diazepam substitution, Ashton used an equivalence of approximately 10mg of diazepam for 0.5mg of clonazepam (i.e. approximately 20mg of diazepam for 1mg of clonazepam).

 

Reference Source:

Benzodiazepine Equivalence Table

https://www.benzo.org.uk/bzequiv.htm

Thank you so much for finding and sharing the reference source, Naf1983.  I cannot read Dutch so please correct me if I’m wrong, but the equivalence chart you linked to may not be intended for use with diazepam substitution (e.g. it may be a guide for equivalent therapeutic doses which are typically lower than those Ashton used for substitution).