Mental Health Need Help With Safely Coming Off Of Depakote ER and Klonopin For Harm Reduction

[Flowing]

I have been a lab rat for psychiatrists for almost 20 years now. I never wanted to take any psychiatric medications but through a combination of coercion and force as early as my teenage years I got stuck in the mental health system. There is a lot more to my story and I could write an entire book about the intricate details but I need to focus on what is happening now for this thread.


My latest combination of medications prescribed is Depakote ER and Klonopin. I would like to safely come off of these medications and never have to deal with anyone in the mental health system again. My main issue with Depakote ER is that Depakote ER's smallest dose is 250 mg. I am prescribed both 500 mg and 250 mg pills. I am unable to come off Depakote ER without serious withdrawal and harm at a rate of dropping 250 mg for each interval of time. The ideal solution for coming off of Depakote ER is to switch over to the regular Depakote since the smallest dose is 125 mg. Even coming off Depakote at 125 mg at a time can cause serious withdrawal and harm. However, I know that custom doses of regular Depakote can be made so something safe like 67.5 mg pills can be created so my withdrawal symptoms are minimal and I can actually made it off the drug completely. My psychiatrist is refusing to switch me over to regular Depakote even though I have tolerated the medication in the past.


Now, as for coming off of the Klonopin, I know that it will be very difficult to do so but it is still possible. Once again, the dosage is an issue. I am prescribed both 2 mg and 1 mg pills. Unlike Depakote, I can cut the Klonopin into fourths with a pill cutter. However, I need the .5 mg Klonopin pills so I can get the fourths down to .125 mg to minimize withdrawal symptoms, reduce harm and come off the drug completely. My psychiatrist is refusing to give me the .5 mg pills even though the psychiatrist agrees that I should lower the amount of benzos I am taking.


The psychiatrist doesn't understand that pulling someone off of either of these medications so quickly and with such large drops in dosages is what leads people to go crazy and wind up in the inpatient unit again. Then the psychiatrist says that the mental illness has returned instead of realizing that it was withdrawal symptoms that caused the inpatient hospitalization.


So, I've been honest with my intentions of wanting to come off the medications. The psychiatrist is refusing despite that I am being nice and showing medical literature that talks about how people should be weened off of psychiatric medications. Now the psychiatrist has cancelled my disability income and my medical insurance. It will run out in about 30 days. I will only be able to see this psychiatrist perhaps one more time to plead my case. I need any doctor out there to be open-minded enough to follow my plan because I know it will work for me. It has worked for me in the past before where I was being polydrugged on 4 medications and I got myself down to being medication free and I was able to live a normal life. However, I was accidentally given a high dose of Valium during a hospital stay about a year later and that caused me to go inpatient again and be polydrugged all over again.


I intended on just giving up and settling to be on these harmful meds for the rest of my life but I want off them now and will do anything I can to accomplish this. My pharmacy and pharmacists are very compliant and told me that all they need is a prescription and they will be able to make any custom dose of medication for me. So it's really the doctors and prescription pad standing in my way of a life of misery and a life of freedom. Psychiatrists and neurologists are the only doctors I know of that can prescribe Depakote and Klonopin. GPs do not prescribe Depakote and are hesitant to prescribe benzos like Klonopin. I should also note that my family is not supportive in any way. So what exactly can I do my situation? Here's some possibilities I thought of:


1) On my final upcoming visit to the psychiatrist, demand that I receive the cross-over to Depakote and the smaller Klonopin pills or else I will pursue legal action.
2) Call my general practitioner and plead my case there.
3) Contact more psychiatrists and tell them that I no longer have a psychiatrist and then say I was taking the custom doses of medication right off the bat.
4) Try different online pharmacies to get the medications I need. Although I have no idea what would be considered a trustworthy online pharmacy and I would need a valid prescription anyway right?
5) Contact different charities and tell them I am a benzo addict and need Klonopin.
6) Go to the emergency room at the nearest hospital and say that I'm suicidal and be sent into an inpatient facility and plead my case there.


There are actually other scenarios I've thought of but I don't want to break any rules or laws. I apologize if I broken any rules here but please know that I am hurting so badly from being on these toxic medications and now my money, insurance and psychiatrist are being yanked away from me. If anyone has any suggestions on what to do, it would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Flowing]

It turns out I have less than 10 days now to get things straightened out. I need help immediately otherwise I'm going to cold turkey from 1250 mg of Depakote ER and 3 mg of Klonopin to 0 mg of both. This will most likely cause me to have a seizure from the withdrawal since these are both mood stabilizers that are also used to treat epilepsy. Can anybody please offer some advice on what to do?

 

[paranoid android]

My advice would be to see another doctor ASAP and tell them what happened. That's cruel and unusual punishment taking someone off not 1 but 2 anti-convulsant/anti-Manic drugs. I was on Depakote (called Epival here) and i made it up to 1000mg's i believe. I can't quite remember as it was a long time ago and Clonazepam at the same time to treat anxiety and bipolar disorder. I was also on Seroquel at the time as well as Gabapentin for neuropathic pain.. The Epival didn't help much so it was pretty much the Seroquel and Clonazepam holding me together.

I remember that even though i was on 2 different anti-convulsant's besides the Epival my doc put me on a slow taper coming off it. I was tapered off over maybe a month or more as i went faster then i was supposed to which i wouldn't recommend anyone doing. As for the Clonazepam you can't taper in 10 day's. Go to the ER if you have to and explain the situation as that is just cruel. You will get the Depakote no problem but depending on the doctor you might get a different benzo such as Valium, Clorazepate, Lorazepam or fuck knows what. But id say they would give you the Clonazepam though and bring the bottles with you to show them you are on these meds. If anything happens to you that doctor could very well be held liable. In fact i would file a complaint against your doctor ASAP.

 

[Capt. Spaulding]

I have come off Depakote ER before but started using it again silly me, my dose was 2x500mg. I just dropped 1 dose and a week later I dropped the other one without having any withdrawals. You could also divide the tablet at the breakline if you're expecting withdrawals , it won't mess with the extended release, it only does that if you would crush the tablet.

I don't think quitting clonazepam at the same time as Depakote is a good idea though..

I'm on Depakote to stabilize my mood and not epilepsy btw.

 

[paranoid android]

^ Coming off both at the same time is a awful idea. A good idea would be to taper off the Clonazepam slowly then when your over that taper off the Depakote.

Also just because you aren't taking these drugs for Epilepsy does not mean that you won't have a seizure from stooping them abruptly. Both are strong anti-Convulsants so i wouldn't risk it plus going cold turkey off benzos should be avoided at all costs as benzo wd can be fucking brutal for some people.

 

[Flowing]

Thank you for your replies. I just wanted to come here and provide an update. It was quite a battle that I was involved with for over a month. I've gotten my Klonopin switched to all .5 mg tablets so I am going to be able to taper off that very slowly this year. The only way I was able to do this was to threaten my pdoc with legal action. I was also promised to be switched over to regular Depakote from Depakote ER so I can withdraw slowly with 125 mg tablets but I have to come off of the Klonopin first. So at least I've got a withdrawal plan and at least I didn't have to drop off all my meds cold turkey. As a side note, there is no break line for the Depakote ER pills I have. It's probably because they are generic tablets. I've also been told to never break an ER or XR pill in half and that it cannot be compounded, hence the need for a switch to regular Depakote. I've had bad experiences when taking half of pills that I was told not to split in half such as Wellbutrin. Also, the dosage is not a 1:1 ratio for Depakote ER to Depakote and my pdoc didn't even know the formula offhand without buying the latest psychopharmacology stuff from Stahl and DSM V. Sigh.

 

[Capt. Spaulding]

Thank you for your replies. I just wanted to come here and provide an update. It was quite a battle that I was involved with for over a month. I've gotten my Klonopin switched to all .5 mg tablets so I am going to be able to taper off that very slowly this year. The only way I was able to do this was to threaten my pdoc with legal action. I was also promised to be switched over to regular Depakote from Depakote ER so I can withdraw slowly with 125 mg tablets but I have to come off of the Klonopin first. So at least I've got a withdrawal plan and at least I didn't have to drop off all my meds cold turkey. As a side note, there is no break line for the Depakote ER pills I have. It's probably because they are generic tablets. I've also been told to never break an ER or XR pill in half and that it cannot be compounded, hence the need for a switch to regular Depakote. I've had bad experiences when taking half of pills that I was told not to split in half such as Wellbutrin. Also, the dosage is not a 1:1 ratio for Depakote ER to Depakote and my pdoc didn't even know the formula offhand without buying the latest psychopharmacology stuff from Stahl and DSM V. Sigh.

Great to hear about your withdrawal plan! About breaking the Depakote ER this is what it says in the informations leaflet:

"Do not crush or chew extended-release tablets. Doing so can release all of the drug at once, increasing the risk of side effects. Also, do not split the tablets unless they have a score line and your doctor or pharmacist tells you to do so. Swallow the whole or split tablet without crushing or chewing."

I've used the generics for a while but I now use the brandname and they both have a scoreline. Anyway good luck!