Tolerance

Hi everyone and good morning. I’ve been reading a lot since I watched the new documentary on Netflix and found the Ashton manual and this community. I am just becoming familiar with the symptoms of tolerance. For years I’ve thought how well I was doing on Klonopin and not having to increase my dosage. In fact, I always lowered my originally prescribed dosage of 1mg to .5mg.

 

In 2018, I broke my foot and was bed ridden for 4 weeks. It was horrible and my anxiety increased so I upped my dosage back to 1mg and began taking more throughout the day to calm down. About 2-3 weeks into the crisis, I started to get ringing in my ears out of nowhere. This raised my anxiety even higher with questions of why this and why that, coupled with the idea that there was something terribly wrong with my broken foot and I’d never be able to walk again. Panic attacks set in along with uncontrollable crying on a daily basis. I believe I was up to 2mgs a day by then, between the 1mg for sleep and the .5 twice a day.

 

Then, a new mysterious symptom arose. I began to feel tingling in my left calf (broken foot side). This quickly developed into tingling up the leg and involuntary muscle spasms. I thought I was developing Parkinson’s disease which only exacerbated my anxiety. This all developed in 2018. Today, I have tingling in all my extremities and burning feet. I chucked it up to anxiety after all the mri, neurologists, rheumatologists, psychiatrists and GPS all told me it’s nothing serious or life threatening.

 

Fast forward to today and learning more about benzos than I ever had in my entire life. I’ve learned that tolerance is when the medication stops working and needs to be increased and that symptoms of withdrawal can become present even though I still take the medication.

 

My question is, could my symptoms be just that?  Am I in a state of tolerance to klonopin and without raising the dosage my body is reacting to the lack of more?

 

I am not sure if this is the correct thread to leave this. Please let me know your thoughts. I am on the path to begin taper and could really use some help to get started.

 

Thank you and I wish you all an easy day.

 

Serene <3

I absolutely believe your symptoms are related to your body's dependence on the drug and tolerance to your dose.  I found comfort reading the symptom list in Professor Ashtons manual, it let me know what I was feeling was normal. Ashton manual symptom list

 

I'm glad you've been educating yourself, this will help control your fear which is a very powerful symptom we face so the more you know, the less you'll fear.

 

 

Thank you Pamster! 

So many of us think we have other disorders because of the myriad of symptoms in tolerance or from withdrawing.  Just got back from a neurologist today because of tingling in my feet and hands.  But I have been tested for everything in the past 7! Months because it mimics other diseases.  The anxiety is another symptom but it more often than not causes us to lose confidence in ourselves.  It is part of the healing. 

Im pretty sure ive reached tollerance for xanax after 4 months taking it every night for sleep. Just a few weeks ago i noticed that i wasnt falling right to sleep anymore, was laying there and staying up for hours. I could no longer feel the affects of xanax like i use to. It use to knock me right out. Not anymore.

I’ve been in tolerance stage unknowingly for years and suffering mentally and physically thinking I had some life threatening disease(s). I’ve tried getting off klonopin before, several times, but always went back because of fear and feeling strange. I’m just happy that I never went beyond 2mgs. I’ve been at .5-1mg for a long time now. I’d say at least 5 years. I sleep well but now I’m beginning to have insomnia/broken sleep and somewhat disturbing dreams. I’m not increasing my dosage. I’m ready to end this nightmare already. I have just about every withdrawal symptom in the book and I’m plain ole exhausted.

 

I hope you can find clarity, get stable and get off this insane merry go round of toxicity. I wish you the best outcome <3