Benzos Clonazepam (Klonopin) Discontinuation

[Pharmosis]

Great forum! BL is the best drug harm reduction forum on the Internet in my view.

I would appreciate some advice. I am in the process of withdrawing from clonazepam. I have used it, as prescribed (up to 2mg per day), for the past 18 months. I have never used it recreationally, nor have I ever consumed above the prescribed dosage of 2mg. In terms of dosage and length of time, I have been taking it in the following manner:

Months 1 - 8: 1.5 - 2mg per day
Months 9 - 14: 1.5mg per day
Months 15 - 17: 1mg per day
Month 18: 0.5mg per day (I was on this dose for three weeks before stopping).

Without advice from a medical professional, I have been gradually withdrawing from the clonazepam in the past nine months because I am aware of the physical dependence risk associated with long term benzodiazepine use (I live in the UK, by the way). I have not taken a 0.5mg dose since Saturday morning and I feel okay at present. Unfortunately, a few weeks ago I started to become hypersensitive to the clonazepam (whilst still at 1mg per day). Right now, if I take even a tiny 0.25mg dose I start to experience paradoxical effects such as increased depression and anxiety whereas this never happened before; it was extremely effective before this strange reaction. Therefore, I decided to take the 0.5mg dose per day for three weeks and jump off cold turkey from there.

To other members who have been in a similar situation, and also taking into consideration my dosage patterns (as specified above), do you believe it is reasonable to discontinue from 0.5mg? I am anticipating some spikes in anxiety et cetera; however, I believe that the withdrawal symptoms should be tolerable. Lastly, I know that clonazepam is potent, but I do not agree with Ashton's assertion that 0.25mg clonazepam = 10mg diazepam; for me, 1.5 - 2mg clonazepam = 10mg diazepam (although I actually believe that equivalencies are contingent upon therapeutic indication).

Let me know what you think.

Cheers.

 

[Zerwas]

Just on the equivalence topic:

It is either mentioned that 10mg Diazepam equals 0,5 or 1mg Clonazepam (never heard the 0,25mg which would be ridiculously potent).
Your assumption (10mg Diaz=1,5-2mg Clonaz) is definitely too high. 2mg Clonazepam and also 1,5mg are much stronger than 10mg Diazepam. Clonazepam just does not have as strong sedation and muscle relaxation properties as Diazepam and thus, feels weaker in terms of recreational value and "getting high".

I am somewhat in the middle of 0,5-1mg=10mg Diaz. So about 0,75mg=10mg Diazepam.

To your taper= I think it is adequate. Good luck and see it positive that you get these paradoxical effects It maybe will help to stay abstinent.

Z

 

[Pharmosis]

I greatly appreciate the swift response, Zerwas. Indeed, I meant to write 0.5mg clonazepam = 10mg diazepam (typo on my part). There seems to be no consensus whatsoever as regards benzodiazepine equivalency. I have taken diazepam before and 2mg diazepam felt very similar to 0.5mg clonazepam for me; therefore, I think it is a highly subjective topic.

I am pleased that you think CT'ing from 0.5mg is reasonable; I am grateful for your input.

Best.

 

[Zerwas]

No problem, my pleasure dude.
Another option would be to skip days inbetween before completely jumping off: Like one day 0,5mg, the next day nothing and the day after that again 0,5mg.
Or of course going even further down to 0,25,which would probably be the best.

 

[Methacodone]

I have successfully tapered off of benzos using Clonazepam before.
I was abusing Alprazolam and Diazepam, doses range from 4 to 6mg of Alprazolam, or 40 to 60mg Diazepam. For about 7 to 8 months.
I got put on Clonazepam to detox, going down .25mg every 2 weeks. Got started on 5.5mg.
After I got down to my last dose of .25mg, I had no physical withdrawal whatsoever. I was even getting my 8 hours of sleep every night.
The ONLY thing I was uncomfortable with, was having VERY vivid scary nightmares, which I did research on, and it did say that nightmares are common with benzo withdrawal, which lasted nearly a month.
I started getting scared to sleep because of that, ya it was that bad and scary. But glad that is over now!

That was last year. Now I'm BACK on benzos, legally with a script of 10mg Diazepam tablets and 1mg Lorazepam tablets. 3 tablets of each, daily.

 

[EnlightenedOne1]

I have years of experience with benzodiazepine usage, cessation, post acute withdrawal syndrome, tapering, etc. In my opinion, I think you are fine and you may have some sleepless night and exacerbated anxiety, but it will eventually dissipate.

Also, congratulations on possessing the will power to do this. I took Clonazepam for 3 years straight, got arrested and detoxed in 5 days and had a handful of grandmal seizures that just about killed me.

Fast forward to the present day, I was off of benzos for 7 years until last December I got back on them because my anxiety reached an all-time high..I knew EXACTLY what I was getting into and where this would end. It's now 10 months later and I've been taking 4mgs of prescribed clonazepam daily. I'm ready to slow taper, so I visited a psyhiatrist and she has me on an 8 month taper reducing 0.5mg per month. I'm currently supposed to be taking 3.5mg a day but most days I take 3mg and somedays I take 4-5mgs...This week I'm really going to adhere to the taper and make sure I take the dosages at the same time each day. This week I'm dropping my dose down to 1.5mgs in the morning and 1mg at nighttime (2.5mgs total).

 

[Pharmosis]

I really appreciate all of the replies; thank you. I apologise for not responding to your posts individually, but I do not have the time right now.

Unfortunately, I had to reinstate 0.5mg because I felt like I was going completely insane last night. I was experiencing symptoms of mild psychosis (paranoia, delusions and mild hallucinations), extreme anxiety and extreme insomnia. This combination of symptoms proved to be WAY too much for me to handle, so it's clear that a jump from 0.5mg is far too much for me. As such, I'll stabilise on 0.5mg and take it from there. Perhaps I might be one of those people who needs to do the extremely slow taper (i.e., 0.5mg to 0.25mg to 0.125mg et cetera). I not wish to go down the diazepam taper route because I still wish to collect my repeat prescription for clonazepam; my plan was to discontinue my daily use of clonazepam and use it only PRN for emergencies (for severe panic attacks).

Best,
Pharmosis.

 

[Methacodone]

Diazepam is the king of benzos imo.
It's VERY recreational, euphoric, very long half life, muscle relaxation, and best to detox off of any benzo.
Almost all drug rehabs use Diazepam to detox people off both benzos, and alcohol. It's also very useful for opiate withdrawal, in combination with buperenorphine and methadone is godly effective and will have any addict feel happy with the right dose.
Diazepam is better than Clonazepam for detoxing off benzos because you can go down all the way to 1mg. Keep in mind, .25mg Clonazepam is equivalent to 5mg Diazepam.
Diazepam comes in 10mg, 5mg, and 2mg tablets, very easy to get down to 1mg by just 1/2ing a 2mg pill.
Clonazepam comes in 2mg, 1mg, and .5mg tablets, they also have klonopin wafers that come in 2mg, 1mg, .5mg, .25mg, and .125mg. So the wafers will def be more effective cuz you can get to lower doses. But the wafers are so much more expensive because they only come in brand name products, no generic wafers.
So yeah, you tell me, will it be easier to taper down all the way to 1mg Diazepam and getting off, or .125mg klonopin? That's comparing 2.5mg Diazepam to 1mg Diazepam in equivalent form. Keep in mind, MOST places don't even carry klonopin wafers. So the lowest dose to come off Clonazepam will be .25mg, a 1/2 of a .5mg tablet. So, is it easier jumping off of 5mg Diazepam, or 1mg Diazepam?
Diazepam for the win!

 

[Pharmosis]

I respect your preference for diazepam, Methacodone. For my situation, clonazepam is vastly more effective than diazepam. I have been diagnosed, by a psychiatrist, with five severe psychiatric illnesses, which are as follows: melancholic depression, OCD, panic disorder (with psychotic features), social anxiety disorder and anxiety NOS. I have been prescribed sertraline (50mg) and clonazepam (0.5-2mg daily) for these illnesses. Unlike diazepam, I find that clonazepam is an extremely broad medication that has — in addition to its anxiolytic and anticonvulsant actions — antiobsessional properties and antipsychotic properties. Overall, I think that clonazepam is an outstanding psychatric medicine when taken as prescribed (and treated with respect). Now that I have reinstated the 0.5mg dose, it seems to be working again without the aforementioned paradoxical reactions; as such, I have decided to continue using 0.5mg daily indefinitely.

Although it is none of my business that you use, or have previously used, diazepam recreationally, with all due respect I passionately believe that abusing any form of benzodiazepine is a terrible idea. For me, benzodiazepines are exceptionally therapeutic and useful as medications for a variety of indications including psychiatric illnesses. It is unfortunate that they also induce profound euphoria in some people, which obviously means that they intrinsically possess an extremely high abuse potential, especially when combined with opiates including heroin, oxycodone and morphine (for potentiation). I treat clonazepam with a vast amount of respect because I believe strongly that it is an invaluable psychiatric medication that has strong efficacy in a variety of mental illnesses.