I Can't Take It Anymore!!! Klonopin Raipid Taper Fail!

!!!!!!!!!!!  I just can't take it anymore!!!!!!!!!!!  The withdraw symptoms have caught up to me me with a vengeance!  My heart was pounding hard and also fluttering out of control.  I was also really dizzy.  It scared the Sh*t out of me!  I had to take 3mg total today, to get my blood levels of klonopin back up to near normal levels to what they used to be before I started the rapid withdraw.  I now have to slow down my taper schedule to avoid post-withdraw symptoms.  So, I am still yet undecided on my new taper plan as of yet, but tomorrow I will know.  I was so sure that I was doing the right thing...    Please give me some advice, fellow benzo buddies! 

 

-SkyZone-

Hey Sky Zone,

 

Many of us have tried to outfox benzos because we think we can be strong and brave and use our will power to beat benzos.

 

This is one case where will power means absolutely nothing. We each have to learn in our own way just how horrible these drugs are.

 

I think you realize your taper has been too sporadic and way too fast. Now you know.

 

My best advice is to find a dose where you are stable and not having horrible symptoms and then proceed with a very slow taper. In the beginning you would be wise not to exceed 5% cuts, holding for 10-14 days. You certainly don't want to induce a kindling response.

 

If you need specific help on cutting, just ask and we can make suggestions based on our experience. You certainly are not alone in tying to tough it out and go too fast.

 

Good luck!

Flip

 

I'm looking forward to seeing what you decide and what BenzoBuddies advises. We are in the same boat and I'm days away from your spot.

 

I'm almost finished reading the Ashton Manual. Did they tell you to read that? They told me in my first post to read it.

Hi SkyZone

 

By your signature, you've been going pretty quick and in different increments, so that could explain why you are now besieged with w/d sxs.

 

It's been said, slow, slower, slowest -

 

The Ashton Manual is akin to the 'Holy Grail' of benzo withdrawal, it does cover off most of anyone's questions in relation to safe withdrawal.

 

StaffyGirl

 

Thank You, Staffy.

Thank You, Rain.

 

I am beginning to find that we are both going through a similar delima.  I am also looking forward to what you are going to do about this as well.

 

  I might as well read the Ashton Manual.  I have read some, but an unsure if my psychiatrist will be willing to prescribe me valium to help with the taper.  i don't even know how well I can trust him.My appointment is in Jan.  I have refills until then.  I am trying to figure out if I should schedule an earlier appointment or just take a certain dose and reduce the doses myself until then, out of fear of telling him something that might risk me loosing my refills until Jan. 

 

I sure hope that when I do speak with him, he makes the right decision for me and not put me on a 2 week or so rapid withdraw and call it to be done with.  Yikes!!

 

 

I'm looking forward to seeing what you decide and what BenzoBuddies advises. We are in the same boat and I'm days away from your spot.

 

I'm almost finished reading the Ashton Manual. Did they tell you to read that? They told me in my first post to read it.

Thank You for the advice.  It is greatly appreciated. 

 

Hey Sky Zone,

 

Many of us have tried to outfox benzos because we think we can be strong and brave and use our will power to beat benzos.

 

This is one case where will power means absolutely nothing. We each have to learn in our own way just how horrible these drugs are.

 

I think you realize your taper has been too sporadic and way too fast. Now you know.

 

My best advice is to find a dose where you are stable and not having horrible symptoms and then proceed with a very slow taper. In the beginning you would be wise not to exceed 5% cuts, holding for 10-14 days. You certainly don't want to induce a kindling response.

 

If you need specific help on cutting, just ask and we can make suggestions based on our experience. You certainly are not alone in tying to tough it out and go too fast.

 

Good luck!

Flip

Hi Sky.  Boy it's hard for us to watch someone rapid taper and then crash and burn like you've done.  But so many of us really just have to learn through hard, hard experience.  I CT'd my first time, and I almost died.  At least you have time to catch yourself and salvage your taper.  I hope a reinstatement and slow taper work for you. 

 

I know it's considered easier to taper from valium than clonazepam by some, but I'm not sure I would try the crossover if you can keep the interdose withdrawals at bay by breaking up your dose to 4 times per day.  Sometimes it's best to stick with what the body is used to.  Have you considered trying a liquid titration with the C?  A lot of people have successfully come off that way. 

I was frustrated by the Ashton manual having no taper plan for klonopin that didn't involve crossing over to Valium when I first read it.  But I quickly found this site and realized I didn't have to do it that way.  I was able to get from 2mg/day plus an additional 1-3mg/day several times a week, stabilized to just the 2mg/day, then down to 1.5 or so fairly easily and quickly (by quickly, I mean within 6-8 weeks).

 

But I've slowed down since then, sticking to 8-12% cuts every two weeks.  I'm doing dry cuts, using a combination of .5mg pills (scored and easy to split) and .125mg wafers (not scored, but still easy to split using a pill cutter).

 

That's what has worked for me, but others find titration easier.  I may too, once I get to the lower doses.

 

I've also read here where some have talked about riding out w/d problems at the lowest possible reinstatement dose, trying to find the balance between uncomfortable but manageable versus unbearable.  With the goal of stabilizing at the lowest dose they can reasonably get by on.

 

Whatever you decide, I hope things settle down soon.

Thank you all for the responses.  I wil be alright.  I am goign to do more research and thinking before I make a decision on waht exactly to do.     

 

-SkyZone-

Skyzone, my buddy!  Oh, how I feel your pain my friend.  I did the same thing thinking, just like Fliprain said that I could "outfox benzos because we think we can be strong and brave and use our will power to beat benzos".  How true this statement is.

 

My heart goes out to you and Rainlove.  Klonopin is a beast and "tapering" it by .25 increments is WAY TOO fast. You need first and foremost a safe, slow taper plan or you're going to wind up in sheer misery.  Benzo's don't just go in your bloodstream, they attach to your entire central nervous system. Your nervous system controls your entire body.  Every part of your body hurts because your nerves are everywhere. You can be in pain from the top of your head to the bottom of your toes.  Every cell in my body was in screaming agony because I thought I could just stop taking K and with the power of my will be okay. After all I had quit smoking and other meds with no problem, no withdrawal and made it by willpower.  Benzo's are not like this and once you realize this, you'll treat wd differently because you'll understand that you cannot outwill, outwit or outthink benzo's.  They are a powerful synthetic drug and our bodies just cannot cope with them.

 

I didn't actually taper from K because after my miserably failed "fast taper" and cold turkey I wound up in the ER.  I ended up tapering Ativan. But if I could do it again I would have opted to taper Valium.  No matter which drug you taper, make sure you do it by about 10% every two weeks. This is a fantastic gauge that does work for most people. There are so many people who are skilled in Klonopin tapers. Find them, find what they do, never rush it unless you enjoy pain, misery and reinstating.  Ugggghhh.  Dont' get to the dreaded reinstating point.  I mean, who wants to do this benzo business more than once, right?

 

I have to be honest, I hate the term on this forum that's going around of "rapid taper" that's just a cold turkey if you ask me. It's not a taper at all.  A taper should be smart and slow and planned.  Nothing in wd can be rushed. It doesn't work.  If you watch people's posts who "rapid taper" or cold turkey you'll discover quickly that almost all of them reinstate or continue taking (the other lovely terminology) "rescue doses" which never rescue anything, but keep you sick and addicted longer.  This is not wisdom and it's not freedom.  Ultimately the goal is freedom from benzo's and there really is only one way to freedom here. Going slow, planning, thinking it through and then following that plan. Of course you can tweek it as you go, but if you stick to a smart plan you'll have success and become benzo free.  Attitude is also everything here.  If you keep the right attitude about wd, you cannot fail.

 

My prayers are with you buddy.  Please let us know what you come up with .

 

Much love,

Cedar

Hi Skyzone,

 

I have been in the same place as you several times the last couple of years, been so lost and feeling like there was no way to move forwards at all, every cut sent me deeper into the hells of w/d, and I just felt like I could not take any more.

 

I found that diluting the Valium with water (20:1 ratio) and making tiny daily micro cuts (in the beginning 0.005mgs a day, going up in time to 0.01 with occasional 0.02mg cuts) allowed me to keep moving forwards.

 

I did this with the help of Jana at BDR.

 

I did not feel any better doing this, there was no let up of any symptoms, but there was no worsening either, as there had been with previous larger cuts.

 

I never believed I would live to see the day when I was completely free of Benzos, but I am 6 days off today, and getting off came much faster than I had originally thought.

 

I had planned to stop at the end of January 2013, but upping my daily cuts brought that forward to the end of October 2012.

 

I would highly recommend this approach, I think once you run into bad w/d symptoms that it takes a while for these to lift anyway, but I do not think I would now be free of Benzo dosing if it were not for this approach.

 

Hope that helps you, wish you luck whatever you do.

 

Henryk.

 

Thank You all for your responses.  They really are appreciated. 

Hey there, Cedar.  I was thinking of decreasing my dose by 0.25mg/day increments every 30 days.  This sounds pretty reasonable to me.  Please let me know what you think.

 

Skyzone, my buddy!  Oh, how I feel your pain my friend.  I did the same thing thinking, just like Fliprain said that I could "outfox benzos because we think we can be strong and brave and use our will power to beat benzos".  How true this statement is.

 

My heart goes out to you and Rainlove.  Klonopin is a beast and "tapering" it by .25 increments is WAY TOO fast. You need first and foremost a safe, slow taper plan or you're going to wind up in sheer misery.  Benzo's don't just go in your bloodstream, they attach to your entire central nervous system. Your nervous system controls your entire body.  Every part of your body hurts because your nerves are everywhere. You can be in pain from the top of your head to the bottom of your toes.  Every cell in my body was in screaming agony because I thought I could just stop taking K and with the power of my will be okay. After all I had quit smoking and other meds with no problem, no withdrawal and made it by willpower.  Benzo's are not like this and once you realize this, you'll treat wd differently because you'll understand that you cannot outwill, outwit or outthink benzo's.  They are a powerful synthetic drug and our bodies just cannot cope with them.

 

I didn't actually taper from K because after my miserably failed "fast taper" and cold turkey I wound up in the ER.  I ended up tapering Ativan. But if I could do it again I would have opted to taper Valium.  No matter which drug you taper, make sure you do it by about 10% every two weeks. This is a fantastic gauge that does work for most people. There are so many people who are skilled in Klonopin tapers. Find them, find what they do, never rush it unless you enjoy pain, misery and reinstating.  Ugggghhh.  Dont' get to the dreaded reinstating point.  I mean, who wants to do this benzo business more than once, right?

 

I have to be honest, I hate the term on this forum that's going around of "rapid taper" that's just a cold turkey if you ask me. It's not a taper at all.  A taper should be smart and slow and planned.  Nothing in wd can be rushed. It doesn't work.  If you watch people's posts who "rapid taper" or cold turkey you'll discover quickly that almost all of them reinstate or continue taking (the other lovely terminology) "rescue doses" which never rescue anything, but keep you sick and addicted longer.  This is not wisdom and it's not freedom.  Ultimately the goal is freedom from benzo's and there really is only one way to freedom here. Going slow, planning, thinking it through and then following that plan. Of course you can tweek it as you go, but if you stick to a smart plan you'll have success and become benzo free.  Attitude is also everything here.  If you keep the right attitude about wd, you cannot fail.

 

My prayers are with you buddy.  Please let us know what you come up with .

 

Much love,

Cedar

Thank you, Cedar, Flipper, Sage, Genoa and Henry for your support.  I am thinking hard about a taper plan.  I really don't want to have to titrate.  I am now back up to 2mg/day klonopin.  I was thinking 0.25mg/day dose reductions every 30 days sounds like a plan to me.  What do you all think? 

Thank you, Cedar, Flipper, Sage, Genoa and Henry for your support.  I am thinking hard about a taper plan.  I really don't want to have to titrate.  I am now back up to 2mg/day klonopin.  I was thinking 0.25mg/day dose reductions every 30 days sounds like a plan to me.  What do you all think?

Hey SZ. I wrote on your other thread what I think about this. 

 

That sounds like a good idea.

Hi SkyZone: I thought I would post, even though I am on Xanax.  Cedar states "Klonopin is a beast and "tapering" it by .25 increments is WAY TOO fast. You need first and foremost a safe, slow taper plan or you're going to wind up in sheer misery". I agree, why,

because I learned the hard way. I was tapering .25 every 14 days. It was pure misery. It does not work, for me. I only "updosed"

once.Stablizing from the "BRUTAL" 1.00 mg rapid taper prior.  My tapering will now be .0625. Being consistant

on a dose thats reasonable to handle with the least amount of symptoms is the only way to go. I believee that rescue doses

updosing etc are indicators of tapering way to fast. Our brains need to heal along with getting these benzos out of our systems.

Please listen to those who have gone before us and succeeded.

NotForMe   

Thank you.  I suppose I might be having to make klonopin smoothies after all. 

Sky zone, the titration sounds like a huge pain in the rear. It's very simple once you do it. I resisted for a long time and finally gave in and tried it. Piece of cake . I liked the feeling I got of being in control of my dose and cuts. It gave me some power back.

 

There are plenty of people who can help you with it when you're ready.

Flip

Thanks, Flip. 

Sky -

 

Sorry you crashed hard.

 

Benzos just can't be told what to do.

 

They tell us. No pushing through with willpower here. If you do, it will cost you with a long healing after jumping.

 

Flip has made some good points. I think slow and steady wins the race. It gives your body time  to heal and normalize on the way down.

 

I am not a fan of crossing over, as I think that can complicate getting stable, but we have to find out what works for us.

 

I hope you figure something out that works.

 

 

Hold on bud, and keep posting.

 

 

River

Thanks, River.  I am confident I will make the right decision. I am happy you are all here for support. 

Hi SkyZone, What are your symptoms?

Right now,.. just slight irritability and nervousness.  I really hope my new taper plan works out, since I don't want to cross over to valium.