Clonazepam possible withdrawal

[Bluedotinspace]

Hi i have been taking Clonazepam for anxiety and panic attacks about a month ago at 0.5mg as needed.The problem is that i kind of ran into a bigger and free stash of these pills and have been popping anywhere between 1 and 2.75mg(1.5mg average) at night after school.now my free supply has dried and my script is running short and i fear the dreaded benzo withdrawal hell that i have been hearing about wich im not gonna lie scares me to death.(wich i hear can be a result) and being an anxious person i am fearing for my health and possibly my life,or even my education wich is my number one priority right now. I am a 22 year old male that weights 160 pounds and measure 6 foot one.For reasons id rather not get into i cannot get my doctor or pharmacist involved.Should i be worried at all about even the mildest symptoms,or intense ones,dying,seizures??? Thank you for your advice if you have any.

 

[touchofgrey92]

When I worked in the factory a few years ago I got real hooked on benzo's, all different types. Benzo withdrawal is the worst type of withdrawal I have ever felt. Listen to some of the OG's on here. It's good that your already taking this seriously friend. It took me a good 6 months to feel pleasure again.

 

[ovo1024]

So an average of 1.5mg a day? How long exactly have you been doing this? The good news is if it hasn't been more than a couple months you should be okay as far as seizures go because that's not a high dose. How many do you have left exactly? Start tapering now. Since they are .5mg pills you can try talking just 2 a day then down to 1. Since your supply is running low you could also start talking half of 1 to hold you off if symptoms get real bad. Please comment back on the specific details

 

[Lorne???]

If you have 1mg a day until refill your ok, always go to the Er if symptoms get too bad or BP exceeds 150/120, and 170 BP is medical

0.5mg PRN and a brief binge is'nt much, just take lowest doses possible and consider know if this is worth it

Feel for benzodiazepine wd and any legitimate need for them; Be Well

Lorne

 

[ovo1024]

If you have 1mg a day until refill your ok, always go to the Er if symptoms get too bad or BP exceeds 150/120, and 170 BP is medical

0.5mg PRN and a brief binge is'nt much, just take lowest doses possible and consider know if this is worth it

Feel for benzodiazepine wd and any legitimate need for them; Be Well

Lorne

Lorne he said he found a stash of a bunch of these .5mg pills so I'm assuming he has no legitimate script. But yes if it was just a month or so long binge of 1.5mg a day withdrawal shouldn't be very intense.

 

[Bluedotinspace]

Thank you all for your insight.it started with a legit script and a friend stopped taking them and gave them to me but i felt so good being anxiety free that i upped the dose,often going up to 2.75-3 mg when i REALLY wanted to chill after a bad day.but on average i took 3 0.5mg pills so 1.5 maybe 2mg towards the end(this has been going on for a month) tommorow im getting a refill of 30 0.5mg pills how should i proceed to not feel withdrawals or is it inevitable?

 

[ovo1024]

Thank you all for your insight.it started with a legit script and a friend stopped taking them and gave them to me but i felt so good being anxiety free that i upped the dose,often going up to 2.75-3 mg when i REALLY wanted to chill after a bad day.but on average i took 3 0.5mg pills so 1.5 maybe 2mg towards the end(this has been going on for a month) tommorow im getting a refill of 30 0.5mg pills how should i proceed to not feel withdrawals or is it inevitable?

If only a month you took them like you say, then withdrawal won't be that bad. Definitely not life threatening or no grand mal seizures. But do expect insomnia, increased anxiety, depression, and just overall not to good mentally. With those 30 pills you're getting try taking .75-1mg a day for the first 10 pills then .5mg-.75mg a day for the next 10 pills. With the final 10 pills try taking half of one each day until they are gone. You will then be good to stop taking all together, look to get into therapy for your anxiety bro

 

[Keif' Richards]

OP, am I understanding correctly that this usage has only been going on for about a month? That's what I've gathered, so if there are details that I'm missing, let me know. Your dosages are not extreme and you haven't been using them for that long. I give you kudos for being cautious though. If you dig around a little bit, you'll find that Benzodiazepines are truly not meant to be taken for longer than two weeks. It's just a fact, but MD's just seem to be blissfully unaware.

If this has only been going on for a month, I would recommend cutting your dose in half for a few days and then just jumping off. If I'm being completely honest with you, you can expect a little bit of discomfort and probably some insomnia, but you are not anywhere near Delirium Tremens or epileptic seizures. You're not in that league, so you don't need to be afraid. At most, it will be unpleasant dude, so you should have nothing to fear!

 

[Bluedotinspace]

They are .5mg pills,im getting 30 today,how should i proceed with tapering?

 

[ASP1RE]

as someone who is prescribed 3mg a day and sometimes run out a few days eary, id say do what feels best, but stay on top of it. your seizure risk is really low . For me if im out or have to ration i on for a few days the worst that happens is intense anxiety, and for me high bp sweating and anger.I also have a beta blocker that helps with the sensations tho so your mileage may vary.

 

[ASP1RE]

If you have 1mg a day until refill your ok, always go to the Er if symptoms get too bad or BP exceeds 150/120, and 170 BP is medical

Lorne

I slightly disagree... of course go to the ER if it starts to get bad, but every state is different. when i was withdrawing and having a mageer panic attacks due to being diagnosed with a seizure disorder, only the er doctor could prescribe any thing so i waited for 5 hours in the middle of the night , in the middle of the week. And then on my discharge papers they said i asked for ativan even tho i just asked for something for my anxiety . with my BP was almost 200/100(my systolic raises more in stress)

edit** Maybe that came off harsh. I love my Dr. but ive never had good luck with hospitals...so im kinda biased

 

[Keif' Richards]

They are .5mg pills,im getting 30 today,how should i proceed with tapering?

It is difficult to give you a precise dose that will work for you. In my opinion, the rule of thumb when going through withdrawal, with access to drugs is this:

Functionality is important. A lot of us have jobs and other responsibilities that cannot be put on pause because we're not feeling well. The part that you probably don't want to hear, is that you're going to experience some minor discomfort. What you need to do is ensure that you are able to sleep at least 4-6 hours per night, drink water and eat food. If you cannot do these things, the downward spiral into breakdown-ville happens quite fast. After two nights of no sleep, your ability to think and reason properly goes out the window.

So, what you need to do is use just enough of the Clonazepam (Klonopin, Rivotril) to allay your symptoms to the point that you are able to accomplish these basic things. If you choose to sedate yourself completely, you will only be restarting the cycle.