I need help getting off klonopin

Hi everyone, I’ve been on a milligram and a half (1.5) of Klonopin for the last 2 1/2 years and I’m trying to find a good taper for myself. I know everybody’s story is a little bit different and what works for someone may not work for someone else. . I’d like to share some things about me. If anyone has some insight on what they think the best taper would be for me. I’m 25 years old when I was 18 I was prescribed Ativan for 3 years for panic disorder, agoraphobia, and generalized anxiety disorder, which I have suffered from for as long as I can remember I still battle with that. I ended up having breakthrough withdrawal on my Ativan, and I didn’t know it was happening to me until I found out that the Ativan was no longer working for me, my psychiatrist gave me no help. She told me that I’d have to go to detox to get off the Ativan because I had been on it for so long even though I was prescribed it I went to rehab for 5 days and they finished tapering me after only a week when I got home, I was going through terrible post acute withdrawal syndrome I didn’t even know what it was at first until my psychiatrist told me and said it was normal. It was complete hell for months I had suicidal ideation, intrusive thoughts, depression. I lost 20 pounds I couldn’t eat I couldn’t sleep. My legs kicked all day and all night long, and I just prayed that It would go away and it was the only time in my life that I didn’t want to be here and then my mom died. I’ve always been agoraphobic and I knew I wouldn’t be able to attend her services without some thing so I called up my psychiatrist and she put me on Klonopin now I’ve been on Klonopin for 2 1/2 years and I desperately want to come off of it but I don’t wanna go through the torture that I did before , I wanted to get off of it sooner but this last year and a half I’ve been my grandmother’s caretaker she relied on me and I knew I couldn’t taper and take care of her.  She just passed away this month and I know that I need to get off of it now I don’t wanna live my life like this but I’m scared. Switching to Valium isn’t  an option for me, my psychiatrist told me to take away .5 mg every two weeks and it’s just too hard the withdrawals unbearable. Every time I try to do that I physically can’t. she offered to prescribe me ativan while tapering I’m not sure what to do. Please if anyone has any insight let me know I just want my life back.

I’m very sorry to hear about your mom and your grandmother, you’re a good person to take care of them but now it’s time to take care of you.

 

I just need to clear up one thing, you mentioned Valium, are you thinking about crossing over to it?  Klonopin is fairly long acting so if you want to taper from that, we can help.

Hi Cami,  I'm sorry you are going through this.  Have you gone to any grief counseling groups for help with working through that?  I'm not trying to pry but I believe I am partially in this situation due to similar circumstances in my life.  Like you, I want off the medication so I can move forward with my life.  As far as reducing you will find a lot of wise people here that really know how to go about this.  I have been helped a lot.  Some times I'm better than others, but for right now I can say I am comfortably uncomfortable.  The hardest thing for me has been to mentally accept that this is a process and not a race. 

Sorry I was talk texting so I just realized how jumbled my words came across. What I meant to say is I saw that alot of people switch over to Valium for me that isn’t an option with my psychiatrist. I’m hoping to just wean off my klonopin at a slow pace but I don’t know how to start or how much to take away to make sure that I’m safe and as comfortable as possible. I know It won’t be easy but I just really want my back this isn’t living it’s barely surviving benzos make my anxiety go away I’m grateful I was able to drive and fully take care of my grandmother because of them but unfortunately they also make me terribly depressed and the withdrawal isn’t worth staying on them. I don’t know how to respond to everyone but yes I’m doing counseling I’ve been in therapy for majority of my life. I’m all alone I don’t have any other family members left and I’m hoping to get some help on here.

Okay good, most members are able to taper from Klonopin, what size are your pills and are you interested in cutting/shaving, or dry or liquid titration?  Here are some Titration FAQ’s.

Okay good, most members are able to taper from Klonopin, what size are your pills and are you interested in cutting/shaving, or dry or liquid titration?  Here are some Titration FAQ’s.

 

Why was I told that liquid titration wouldn’t work with klonopin? I mean, I was linked to a video where it’s successfully done yet I was told that it’s risky? Anyone wanna answer that one?

Okay good, most members are able to taper from Klonopin, what size are your pills and are you interested in cutting/shaving, or dry or liquid titration?  Here are some Titration FAQ’s.

 

Why was I told that liquid titration wouldn’t work with klonopin? I mean, I was linked to a video where it’s successfully done yet I was told that it’s risky? Anyone wanna answer that one?

 

Klonopin/Clonazepam does not mix well with water, its a little better with whole fat milk but it basically disperses rather than dissolves. This doesn’t need to stop you from using it, it just means you’ll need to make sure you agitate it well before consuming it.  In fact, we can’t guarantee any benzodiazepine’s solubility when making a home brew so we treat then all as suspensions, not solutions. 

Even the compounded "solutions" are suspensions and have a note on them to shake vigorously before dosing.

Whether a given liquid is a suspension or a solution depends on the formulation used.  I am aware of three formulations that yield suspensions and four formulations that yield solutions (all of the latter use the pure active drug substance as the drug source … not regular tablets).

 

 

Whether a given liquid is a suspension or a solution depends on the formulation used.  I am aware of three formulations that yield suspensions and four formulations that yield solutions (all of the latter use the pure active drug substance as the drug source … not regular tablets).

 

That's a good point, Libertas. If the pharmacy can get the API, a solution can be made. That was not an option for me when I tried, but some compounding pharmacies can do this.