tapering off klonopin

Also did anyone else get indigestion ,and a very bad stiff neck and feel like you couldnt see well going off meds? Im going crazy i swear im trying to stay busy but i cant think see or barely turn my neck

Sweet Pea hang in there and yes, indigestion, diarreaha, blurred vision, muscle stiffness that is all part of withdrawl.  You are not alone.  Keep doing as the moderators have instructed and you will get off of these meds.  Again stabalize your doses and find what works for your body.  We all go through it!  It is hard but just try to stay mentally strong. 

 

mal

Thanks im trying but the mentally strong is so hard i try to do things but my chest is burning and i cant see or even hear well and so therefore i feel ther is something physical wrong with me no happiness or joy even though im spending these days with my hubby ,i think im gonna need something to get me thry this i think my dr is wrong...i might do better on a med to help with the anxiety and depression as these klonopin and xanax no longer work ....why do they make us sick now?

I think you sound a bit more in control!! Yes, there are so many different feelings and none of them are good.  The burning is another side effect and tightness in the chest too.  I think your anxiety magnifies them.  There are times during my cuts that I start to get too caught up in all the different sensations and then I can only focus on them and it makes it worse.  That is when I tell myself that I need to think about other things and get busy doing something.  I'm not saying it is easy but every day closer to being off makes us better.  I find too that too much time reading all the different stories can make it worse too.  Try to limit your time on this site to maybe a couple of times a day and maybe that will help to take your focus off of the withdrawls.  I think we can read the stories and then we get caught up with all the different thoughts.  At least try it you might feel better not being so focused on all this.  We are all here when you truly need us.  Good luck

 

mal

You dont hink it will matter i so which i had of taking only half this morning i am so nervous confused heartrate dizzy head feels like its burning are all these w/d symtoms? I wish i could cut back on the klonopin to 2 1/2 pills right now

 

You'll be able to start cutting the klon very soon. As soon as you are done with the xanax.

are you on 1/2 a xanax now? How many days have you been doing that now?

 

 

about 4 days on thr 1/2 xanax

about 4 days on thr 1/2 xanax

 

ok, then in the next couple of days, you can cut to a 1/4 pill. Lets say Thursday, ok?

 

And take your 1/2 klon pill every 4 hours, since that made you feel a bit better. 

im so scared im feeling worse today and my hubby goes back to work tommorow,,,,i hope im not messing up taking the klonopin like i am

 

 

 

the dr i saw on mon thinks i should go back on more xanax..arent xanax nad klonopin pretty much the same..what purpose would going back on  xanx serve..the dfr thinks my body has had it so long it needs it and other meds wont work for me my pshy dr wont call me....my vision is getting to where i cant see adn my anxiety is bad blood pressure ias going whaycky as i am

SP again it is side effects.  My vision has gotten so bad I had to go by reading glasses and I still have a hard time.  You need to continue to taper and get off of these drugs.  I can't tell you whether to add more xanax or not but I can tell you I am tapering off of xanax and I can't wait to get it out of my system.  I too am not feeling well today.  Have had chills and great weakness.  It is a withdrawl.  I know this drug is leaving my system and my system is reacting.  I also have dry mouth.  This is not fun and we are all going through this.  I will be off soon and I know I will still feel it for awhile because it will gradually leave my system.  It does not end over night it will take time.  You need to hang in there!  I am and that is all you can do.  Don't let the pills win!!!!

 

mal

shouldnt the klonopin be helping me with the xanax withdrawal maybe its cause i have been on these drugs for 18 years and im not gonna be able to get off then

I think they have told you that you stayed on the xanax too long and your system got use to both.  You should have dropped it when you first started the Klonopin.  You are tapering now and I think you should continue.  I do believe once you are down to the Klonopin and you stabalize you should start to feel better.  You will only get off if you stay strong.  It is easy to go back on and it is hard to come off.  Only you can decide if you are strong enough to win this battle!  I think you can do it!!

 

mal

I was put on the klonopin to get off the xanax..thats why im on both the dr did it....i should have been off my last xanx by now but because of excess anxiety dr had me go abck  up on the klonopin a while back to 3 klonopin and to stay on the xanax longer ,i have called the pharmissts  and they say going off xnax will not cause vision problmes  im so con fused    who do we believe    ........im so sick of feelong this way as im sure everyone going thru it is,,,but im wondering if im having withdrawal or something else.and the culture they did on my blister was all messed up so they didnt learn nothing from it,,it got froze or something

oh does tapering or w/d cause bad Indigestion

SP  I answered that already yes it does cause stomach issues.  My stomach is very tight and nervous feeling.  It is withdrawls!  There are many that have had vision problems so I would believe them over the pharmacists.  My pharmacist said prilosecOTC would not cause my heart rate to go up and all the shaking but 1 hour after I took it I thought I was going to crawl out of my skin.  That is when I started on xanax.  It was an adverse reaction to the prilosec that caused my problems along with all the meds I received when I was in the hospital from an accident. Listen to what people say on here!  They are or have lived it!!  Stay strong!

 

mal

shouldnt the klonopin be helping me with the xanax withdrawal maybe its cause i have been on these drugs for 18 years and im not gonna be able to get off then

 

Sweetpea -

 

I was on my benzo for nearly 20 years and am now off it.  The klonopin is helping you taper the xanax. I think you would feel even worse without it and, as you know, you can't just stop taking it even if it weren't helping.  You need to taper off of klonopin after you are through with the xanax. Both xanax and klonopin are benzos but the xanax doesn't stay as long in your system as the klonopin.  That is why your doc put you on the klonopin, to make it easier to taper off the xanax.

 

I think it's terrible that your psych doc won't return your calls.  When is  your next appointment?  He (she?) is the one who prescribed the klonopin, right?  I think it's a mistake to increase your xanax dose. In fact, I think your are set to reduce to 1/4 pill tomorrow, right?  I am virtually certain taking more xanax will not help you feel better and will cause another set of problems.  Plus, you have to go through all you are going through now when you eventually have to taper off of it.  I doubt that your psych doc will keep on prescribing both xanax and klonopin for very long but that is between the two of you.  If you don't want to come off these bad drugs and your doc will keep on prescribing them for you, then that settles that. 

 

 

i want off i just feel like im dying and i m trying not to lose my mind  every part of me feels sick

i want off

 

I'm so glad to hear that, sweetpea.  I do believe that you will feel better when you are farther along in your taper. I know eljay told you it would be good to cut the xanax down to 1/4 tomorrow (thursday) so I hope you will follow her advice.  Another week or so and the xanax will be history. 

Oh everyone this morning my lips are all numb again my throat is dry and feels like its swelling i can barely stand up i feel ill to tummy i dont know wht to do,my dr wont do nothing till i see him on aug7 when he hymytizes me, im hoping i can do the cut today,,nothing is helping an di cant sleep i hurt all over im scared im shakey i want to drive to see my dad and i feeel like im going to pass out im scared na no place to turn thedrs wont do nothing for me..and now im worried i shouldnt be cutting my klonopin in half and taking it every 4 hours like i have been the pas few days,,praying i make it im so cinfused i can tthing straight

Oh everyone this morning my lips are all numb again my throat is dry and feels like its swelling ..and now im worried i shouldnt be cutting my klonopin in half and taking it every 4 hours like i have been the pas few days,,praying i make it im so cinfused i can tthing straight

 

With the numbness and feeling of throat swelling I think you are over breathing again.  Here's a link back to some things to try when this happens:

 

http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?topic=8418.msg108278#msg108278

 

Learning how to calm yourself down is very important.  It's hard to do when you are upset but that is the very time you need to be able to do it.  Please try and tell yourself "I can do this" over and over again because you can. 

 

You need to keep on the same schedule with the klonopin, honey.  It isn't good to bounce around with your doses and probably would make you feel worse. 

I am still getting my klonopin every 8 hours just cutting the pill in half and taking it every 4 hours because i seen to have more confusion when i take a whole one and i feel like my head is caving in ona whole one im sure that dont make sense...pharmissit said it should be ok but i dont know if they know anything..do u think that could be whats messing with my vision...do u know if anyone in here is in the medical field? I so am scared and having hard time seeing...........i must feel better or im gonna lose it

Sweetpea - Here's them message you just sent me:

 

Hi,I was noticing you tapered off or got off your benzos in like what 3 months,,,and you said you were on them for 20 years,im wondering i know you read and reply to how bad im feeling..i have been tapering off the xanax since april 23 08 and im still on it was on xanax and klonopin for 18 years..off the xanx from may 07 till feb 08 and in that time was on klonopin......and im still on the klonopin how were you able to get off aftr so many years so fast and please did u feel like im feeling or am i going crazy i do constant worry and nothing helps me with that,Im so shakey and now my vision is all messed up and when i take a whole klonopin i feel worse thats why im cutting them in half and doing it ever 4 hours im hoping thats ok..could you share any awful things u went thru whike coming off might help me...im so happy u got off..did u go off becasuse they werent helping you or making u sick...i understand if you have to answer this in forom..thanks

 

==================================================

 

First, you wanted to know a little about my taper.  I did decide to quit because they were making me sick.  Mine was mostly mental (depression) but I was also very anxious and worried, so the benzo wasn't helping me anymore.  I started my taper on Feb. 4, cut every 2 weeks and finished July 13, more than 5 months.  If you are interested, here is a link to my initial postings:

 

http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?topic=7207.msg77295#msg77295

 

I did not suffer as much as you or some of the other people on the forum.  If you read Vicky and Jenilyn's success stories, you will see that they suffered a lot.  Some people definitely have a harder time than others and you are one of the unlucky ones. 

 

While I was tapering I did a lot of relaxation exercises every day, several times a day.  I had to keep practicing over and over and trying new things from time to time and still do.  I believe it will be something I will need to do all my life.  As far as really difficult times, I had nothing compared to yours.  I surely had - and have today - the blurred vision (I keep rubbing my eyes and cleaning my glasses but nothing works).  I had muscle cramps, especially at night, a tingling or numb sensation various places and an unsteady feeling, like I was walking on a boat that was moving on the waves.  There were others but you get the idea.  It was often upsetting and uncomfortable but I believed what they told me here and knew they would pass - and they did. There are still symptoms that come and go now that I am off and I also trust that one day they will stay gone. 

 

I hope this information helps. I think taking the klonopin more frequently works better for you based on what you posted about how awful you felt when you took larger doses less often.  That's kind of what this process is about: trying different things to get through it and sticking with whatever helps.

thanks beeper,where would i read about their stories,i just took 1/2 klonopin and got the numb lips and stuff im so dizzy,and my pharmacists insists withdrawal or going off my xanx will not mess up my vision im so scared its something else

 

Colin created a new board, Success Stories, a few weeks ago and so far there are 6 stories posted.  Vicky and Jenilyn's stuck in my mind because they had such a rough time yet are all healed and are moderators here now, helping others.  Here's the link:

 

http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?board=89.0

 

About the vision:  By all means go to an eye doctor and have it checked if that will ease your mind.  Mostly likely it is the xanax and klonopin causing it but there are other causes possible, of course. Do you wear glasses or contact lens?  I wear glasses and a few years ago my vision got very blurry. The eye doctor figured out that I had diabetes which my medical doctor had missed.  I started treatment and got new glasses.

 

I am not saying you have anything wrong with you other than those nasty drugs.  I am 99% sure the blurry vision is related to benzos and will clear up in a few days.  As I remember, when I got this symptom when tapering, it lasted about 5 days.  Every one is different, though. 

 

SP all that we can tell you is what is going on with other people.  I can testify that my vision has gotten worse being on this medicine and I have prescription glasses and I needed to buy some reading glasses because my prescription wasn't working anymore.  Others have reported vision problems too.  I hate to say this but pretty much everything we are experiencing are withdrawls and it sucks!!!.  I have had a bad couple of days and my stomach is hurting.  I know it is the nerves coming back to life.  It doesn't mean that this is easy.  To be honest this is probably one of the hardest things I have ever done.  God will get you through this.  He has gotten you this far and you are still functioning.  That is great!!  Try to relax and remember to not weaken to this medication.  You will win this battle.

 

mal

ok the drs office i went to on monday called me and the blister i have is herpes simples virus and she said it can lay dormant in the body and excess stress can bring it out as cold  sores and such,mine is on the crack of my rear they want  me to take a antibotic called valtrex and i read online it can cause mental confusion,she said i dont have to take it as it wont take away the virus  im so afraid of medications i dont know what to do,the nurse said i could take it or not i dont know what to do im scared im always afraid i will be allergic to meds..and after the r prednisone and avelox im scared