Xanax taper with klonopin

[Justsomedude208]

Hi, so I'm new to BL but not new to addiction. Not really sure where I should post this so if I make any mistakes please correct. Anyways I've been prescribed Xanax .5 for 3 years. I rarely took them until the last two months. I got a rx of 1mg Xanax and started taking them more often trying to take as long of breaks as I could (3-4days) to avoid addiction but the last 2-3 weeks I've used Xanax nearly everyday at about 4-6mg a day. I asked my doc to switch me to klonopin about 4 days ago. My last dose of Xanax was about 5 days ago and I haven't taken klonopin for the last 50hrs. I took the klonopin for 2days (4mg a day) and haven't taken any benzo for about 50 hours. My question is should I taper again with a lower dose of klonopin or am I in the clear? I am now at 50hrs starting to feel minor physical symptoms such as headaches but I am willing to obstain from them as long as I don't have a seizure. I have strong willpower. I've gone cold turkey off IV H use twice and am now 2+ years clean from opiates. Any advice helps, thanks

 

[Raysu]

What is your goal exactly? I would not risk stopping the meds you've been prescribed! Take the clonazepam as directed and if you don't feel you need the meds then discuss it with your doctor and develop a plan with them to taper off safely. Even 50 hours is not enough time for the clonazepam to have cleared your system-do not risk seizure/death by stopping CT!

 

[Justsomedude208]

My goal is to not be physically addicted to benzos. I have never had an issue in the past with benzo addiction but I have anxiety and started to use the Xanax more and more until I began to use it for recreation. I asked my doc to switch me because I knew that klonopin is a good taper and Xanax isn't. My doc doesn't know I am having physical symptoms of addiction and I sorta don't want her to out of fear of getting labeled as a drug abuser. I am carrying around klonopin in case I start to have tremors but I would really just like to not be on benzos anymore. I have tried over 15 different medications such as sari and others but unfortunately all of them have had bad side effects. I don't want to loose my prescription for benzos just in case I have a bad panic attack and I have the willpower to have them with me and not take them. I was uneducated on benzos until this last week. I was under the impression that physical addiction wouldn't take place until 2-3 months of use but I have learned that is not the case with benzos.

 

[Raysu]

You're at a good point as far as your relationship with the doctor goes to have an open dialogue about your concerns. You don't have to go into detail about the rec use or even the physical tolerance (that's generally assumed at this point anyway). Simply explain that this is the ideal medication as it helps the most with the least side effects but you want to know the best way of taking it on an as needed basis because you want it to remain as effective in a low dose for the long run. The issue is that some medication manage the condition better when taken at a steady amount as opposed to on and off. For example if you only take clonazepam when you are having a panic attack they may be more frequent as opposed to having a constant level of clonazepam on board at all times. In my opinion it can be done with this one (I was on it for the better part of a decade) but when I didn't take it regularly it greatly altered my sleeping patterns so for me I saw better results overall when taken regularly. The other thing to consider to is that if you need it for anxiety and you want to back off your dose then you need to compensate by adding other coping skills. Personally, until you have those tools in place you should refrain from cutting back for the primary reason that you need safe alternatives and you need to be prepared for the rebound anxiety that comes with dropping/ceasing benzos. Also it is worth considering that if the only thing that causes you to want to stop the medication is the fear that it will lead to addiction there are measures you can take to prevent that. There is a stigma associated with addiction and since you've already been tempted in that way then your fear is not unfounded but even that should not prevent you from being treated adequately for your anxiety.

 

[Justsomedude208]

Thanks for all your thought put into your posts. I will definitely have a conversation with my doc on Monday and hopefully I can manage until then. God bless

 

[Ilove2nod]

^Have you ever tried valium (diazepam)? I have been taking klonopin or valium everyday for the past 5+ years, started on klonopin as the first benzo I was ever prescribed and it always worked great but after being on it for about 2 years, I felt like changing to something different so I tried valium and loved it, it was even better(just a little bit, not that much better, it was just different overall) than klonopin IME I traded out my 4mg a day of kpin for 40mg of valium a day(and currently am back on klonopin 3-4mg a day).. It has a very long half life like klonopin does, but its duration of action is different with everyone, for me it would last a good 8 hours at least for every 10mg or so I took, and klonopin has always been about the same for duration of action about 8 hours more or less per 1-2mg, depending on my anxiety that day and how bad it is.. I have never tried to get off benzos, but have heard that valium is the best one to use for a taper, because it has such a long half life, even longer than klonopin I am pretty sure, its duration of action can be less or more than klonopin, it all depends on the person.. and for other various reasons, I am sure you could do it with kpin too if you have the will power.. I have no desire to get off benzos, I really need them or I cannot function like a normal person at all.. they were a very important missing link in my life for nearly 20 years... and when I found them it was truly like I turned on a light in a very dark room. Also I really do not believe any of these benzo conversion charts when it comes to comparing valium with klonopin or Xanax saying 10mg of valium=0.5mg of klonopin or Xanax.. I believe its more like 10mg of valium=1mg of klonopin or Xanax, maybe even 1.5mg..

 

[Justsomedude208]

I will have to talk to my doc but as far as klonopin goes. It doesn't affect me at all. I took 4mg of it when I first got the rx and it didn't affect me whatsoever and 4mg of Xanax is enough for recreation so I don't believe that they are equal at least not for me

 

[Ilove2nod]

...Everybody is so different with benzos.. I don't even know how they can make a conversion chart, to accurately depict how one will react from one benzo to the next, and how they could possibly know how potent one would be compared to another.. like when they made the benzo conversion chart was this studied on humans? animals? and how did they come to these conclusions... no one person is the same with benzos. period. 4mg of klonopin gets me feeling great, and takes away all of my anxiety, while 4mg of Xanax turns me into a mumbling idiot, and while it still takes away my anxiety doesn't work nearly as well as 4mg of klonopin would, or 40mg of valium would.. Its just funny to me how they most doctors think that the benzo conversion chart is so spot on! its not!

 

[Sobrietysucks]

...Everybody is so different with benzos.. I don't even know how they can make a conversion chart, to accurately depict how one will react from one benzo to the next, and how they could possibly know how potent one would be compared to another.. like when they made the benzo conversion chart was this studied on humans? animals? and how did they come to these conclusions... no one person is the same with benzos. period. 4mg of klonopin gets me feeling great, and takes away all of my anxiety, while 4mg of Xanax turns me into a mumbling idiot, and while it still takes away my anxiety doesn't work nearly as well as 4mg of klonopin would, or 40mg of valium would.. Its just funny to me how they most doctors think that the benzo conversion chart is so spot on! its not!

Lol true don't trust the conversation charts they are bogus 100% bs listen to me. I can take 40mg valium and feel ok but 1mg Xanax and I'm fuckex up!!!!!!! Wonder how many people died converting high doses . Bigger dose equals bigger percent in strength difference... Deffo fatality

 

[Relapz]

I don't want to give you false hope my friend, but at this point you may not be physically dependent on them. I took xanax for a month straight at a dose of 3-6 mg and when I stopped my withdrawals were not nearly as bad as i expected. That being said I did do an ativan taper in detox along with suboxone for coming off of H, but it was not as bad as i thought.

That being said, becareful, if you know you are addicted do not just stop Cold turkey. Best of luck

 

[Ilove2nod]

OP, seriously if you have not tried valium, it is one of the best taper drugs for benzos. I used to be prescribed them, but back on kpins now. And as far as the half life, they have some insane half life of like 80-100 hrs or something? not entirely sure if that is the exact half life but I'm pretty sure I read that somewhere, and it would make sense too, which is a plus for a good benzo to use when tapering, more so than klonopin's half life which is like half of valiums, it is still got a long half life, and usually a longer duration of action than valium too even though the half life is shorter than valium, its wierd. I mean I love both of them.. but when I would ever run low on my valium, not even trying to get off them, just when I would take too many or something and couldn't get my script filled so I would have to taper for a week or something around there and take less, it wasn't nearly as bad to me as it is with klonopin, when I have to take lower than normal doses of my kpins I get mean, very anxious/nervous about the stupidest things, and just become very quiet and shy and have trouble making eye contact, due to my social anxiety.. I think valium was much easier to lower my dose with if I had to when I still had it, it wasn't nearly as bad as when I have to cut my kpin dose in half or even less than that IME. That's just me, some people, valium doesn't even work at all for them, and you could be one of those people. And also valium with a lot of people has a shorter duration of action, compared to klonopin at an equipotent dose... for me they are about the same duration... every one is very different though.. but most doctors will prescribe valium for a benzo taper over klonopin for a taper. I would look into it, unless you think it wont help you and have already tried valium and don't like it.. hope you can make it off them, I know I cant! I don't have any desire to either, I don't take them to have fun, I take benzos because I truly need them to act like a normal human being..

 

[opiatekrzy]

Klonopin is ideal for a substitute to Xanax when tapering, they are pretty much does equivalent so you can taper with the same MG Klonopin vs. Xanax, how you choose to do it is up to you, regardless the withdrawal will be very uncomfortable no matter how you looknat it, Klonopin has a longer half life will make the withdrawal LESS uncomfortable ...it will go a long way verse tapering with Xanax itself...good luck

 

[opiatekrzy]

Lol true don't trust the conversation charts they are bogus 100% bs listen to me. I can take 40mg valium and feel ok but 1mg Xanax and I'm fuckex up!!!!!!! Wonder how many people died converting high doses . Bigger dose equals bigger percent in strength difference... Deffo fatality

I feel you on that!!! However when I have zero tolerance to Benzos I notice I get way more fucked up on a 10mg valium VS 1mg Xanax....but as you were saying ...as time went on with tolerance ...I can eat 100mg of valium and feel nothing, yet 2mg of Xanax I get fucked up....I think valium is stronger when one has no tolerance ...it's weird