Benzos Advice Needed for Klonopin Withdrawal

[Gorillaboy21]

Sorry I haven?t replied. I once again had to detox off of gabapentin like an idiot and it was one of the worst 2-3 days I?ve ever experienced in my life. No amount of H would stop it

 

[Speed King]

Stay away from Valium, at least for. Now

It is a common misconception that Valium is a "long acting " benzodiazepine; it takes effect rapidly by any route, and hits somewhat hard(not like xanax or anything l) yet hard to the benzo naive, or at high doses. It also lacks the serotoninergic effects of Clonazepam, which contribute to its anti -panic properties.

Anyway, Valium and Clonazepam both have a mean t1/2 of 30-40 hours, yet Clonazepam last much longer, especially at those doses.
Valium is highly lipophilic, so it rapidly penetrates the CnS - Problem is that it rapidly exits, and then enters other tissues in the body, where it hides out, with the molecules slowly coming out and being metabolized. It's also highly protein bound. Clonazepam is poorly lipophilic, lending it a gradual onset, yet prolonged peak. Also it is 20-30x more potent

And finnaly it is well established that attempting a valium taper (or ti a lesser extent, likely nordazepam) protocol is extremely difficult when the patient is on Clonazepam, especially at high doses or long periods -
They attempt secondary medication along with a taper of the klonopin itself. People have mentioned secondary meds, you are in a fairly high dose thought, 4-8mg Clonazepam per day? That is over 100mg Nordazepam and valium, 7-14mg Ativan, ~ 200mg temazepam.. Blah blah

Point is, Dr appointment. You seem to have the means, so help yourself. Good luck

I've taken a fair share of benzos. Clonazepam, Etizolam, Xanax, Valium, Temazepam, Ativan,misc.

i disagree w/ the clonazepam being 20x stronger then Vaium. it works for me after taking clonazepam.

Now some Triazolam or clonazolam or that Xanax RC that lasts ala as clonazepam sounds nice!


oh yeah, HR. no matter what you are taking benzo wise, slow taper is the best. Afa Lyrica, I have been able to stop a pretty decient diazepam script by taking Lyrica. it wasnt a taper, i just noticed it worked .

I also stopped clonazepam from over a year usage in 5 days. That sucked bal*s.

If you can use a razor, cut some pills down. I suggest quartering them. Again, take a fair amount of time tapering if you can.

Afa the diazepam goes, use that as a taper once you cut the clonazepam dose down. i don't suggest jumping unless you have to. Lyrica is excellent, but gabapentin works well also.

This is a process. It will take some time to be sucessful.

I had temazepam scripted. Temazepam is a metabolite of Valium. I found that they were too hit or miss for me.

Ambien is a good sleeper.

Whatever you do, try to stay away from short acting benzos. Not for a taper. 8 Mg of clonazepam is a fat dose.

You don't need that high of a dose.


Bottom line, like Lorne??? pointed out, you have a solid tolerance. Take your time with a gradual taper.

Don't over think it either. that defeats the purpose.

As far as the opiates go, unless you really have to, I'd re think about that. Again, little bit at a time if you must, but I'd probably taper the clonazepam for awhile before the hydrocodone.

I am simply trying to save you the pain that comes if you do this incorrectly. Start slow!

 

[FLEXURE]

Hello All!

Thank You For Your Replies And Input, "Jekyl Anhydride", "Gorillaboy21", And "Speed King". Please know I Read, and Appreciate, ALL of the Replies And Input I receive. I haven't been on here in a day or so, and I regret I did not check for replies, and respond sooner.

​

I kept my scheduled General Practitioner's Office Visit, on Saturday, 06-16-18, and was Finally able to let him know First Handedly what I was going on with my medications.

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My overall Doctor's Visit was a positive one!

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He agreed it would have been "A Better Strategy" for him to have started me off on a lower dose of the Cymbalta (Duloxetine), rather than 60mg's A Day, while at the same time tapering me off of the Celexa (Citalopram), 40mg's A Day, rather than to have stopped it abruptly. I have been taking the Celexa for 17 years (+/-), without any issues.

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He suggested we stop the Cymbalta altogether (which I had pretty much already done), and instead go back to my taking the Celexa (Citalopram) 40mg Tablets, 1 Time/s A Day (40mg's A Day), as I had been.

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He also suggested I continue to take my Klonopin (Clonazepam), 2mg Tablets, 3 Time/s A Day (6mg's A Day), as I normally had been, also for 17 (+/-) years, and issued me a new prescription for that.

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Needless to say, I wholeheartedly agreed, ESPICIALLY since it seems the Cymbalta may have been the major role in this "Medicinal Whirlwind" in the 1st place!

​

It was Father's Day today yesterday, and was up at "The Crack Of Dawn"! I started to Post this Reply in the wee hours of this morning, and was kind of "fading out", so I went to bed. I must not have clicked on the "Post Reply" icon before I did, so I had to re-write it.

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I began to give the details of my Doctor's Visit, and it was getting nearly Unbearably Long, and I suspect it might have been a "Hard Read".

​

I'll spare everybody of that, and instead I anticipate I'll be posting the outcome of my Doctor's Visit later today.

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Thank You All!​

R.​

 

[FLEXURE]

Hi All!

Well, I feel like I'm "Leveling Out Somewhat" to being myself again after this 2+ week period of getting un-snarled from these med's.

I'm back on my Klonopin, 2mg's, 3 times a day, my Celexa, 40mg's, 1 time a day, Hydrocodone, 5/325, 2 times a day if the neuropathic nerve damage gets severely painful (I'm going to try to hold off on that, at least for a while.).

I'm taking other med's too, but these were the ones that got all "out of whack" when my General Practitioner (under the suggestion from my Orthopedic Surgeon for my lower back injury) switched me straight from 40mg's of Celexa a day, to 60mg's of Cymbalta a day.

It's been a wild ride so far, and I hope this feeling of "Leveling Out Somewhat" continues until I'm 100% back to normal (Whatever "Normal" Is!).

I'll just have to TRY to be "Patient" (Not one of my Strongest Virtues!), and see what happens.

As Always, Thanks Again!

R.

 

[FLEXURE]

Med's For: "Panic Disorder", "Anxiety Disorder", And "Neuropathic Nerve Damage".

Hello All.

My hopes are to make this "Thread" as easily located as possible to help the many other people I know who must be going through this, or something very similar.

It's truly is hard to believe I started this "Thread" 6 weeks ago, asking all of you for any and all advise, primarily concerning the Klonopin and Celexa for the "Panic/Anxiety Disorder", and the Hydrocodone for the "Neuropathic Nerve Damage" sustained from injuring my lower back while working.

After years of extremely frustrating trial and error, a benzodiazepine is the only thing that even comes close to controlling the "Panic Disorder", and the Klonopin is the one that works the best for me.

The Celexa seems to help with "Anxiety", but it's difficult to say how much due to the Klonopin helping the "Anxiety" as well.

The Hydrocodone just barely takes the edge off of the pain of the "Neuropathic Nerve Damage", but I'm on a relatively low dosage of that, so we'll see how that goes.

I'm still not 100% through all this, but I'm a whole lot better than I was 6 weeks ago. The pain caused by the nerve damage is not well controlled, and I'm still experiencing waves if anxiety and panic, which seems strange. Also, part of this is now going to be getting myself back into shape physically, while attempting to recover the "pause in productivity" I had for a while.

But I Repeat: I'm A Whole Lot Better Than I Was 6 Weeks Ago, And I'm Thankful For That.

All of you who "Replied" were of significant help while I was getting my medications back to where they were. Even those of you didn't "Reply" helped me without knowing it, by having documented "Threads" and "Posts" accessible for me to reference.​

With the introduction of the Cymbalta, about 2-1/2 months before I started this "Thread", things got pretty "screwed-up" for a while.

The Cymbalta and I didn't "play well together" at the higher than recommended starting dose I was prescribed, but I continued to take for about 2 months, hoping the undesirable side effects would eventually subside as my system adjusted to it.

After the 2 months of that, I made the mistake of stopping the Cymbalta abruptly.

That really "screwed things up", especially when I started playing "mix-and-match" with my other prescriptions, in a desperate, and futile, attempt to pull myself out of a steady barrage of severe "Panic Attacks".
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I will be continuing to check in on this "Thread", and other areas of this site, both to help other members in whatever way I am able, and to continue my own gaining of the useful knowledge made available on this site.

Thank You All.

R.

 

[FLEXURE]

I'm Causing My Own "After-Shocks". Very "Stupid" Of Me.

Hello Again All.

I got my Hydrocodone for my "Neuropathic Nerve Damage" refilled, and after only a few days, I was taking 2 times as much as prescribed. The 5/325mg's, 2 Times A Day, wasn't getting the job done to relieve my lower back and down the fronts of my thighs literally feeling as there was a "Blow-Torch" on these areas after only a relatively short period of walking, or standing in one place.

I tend to go "Overboard" while engaged in my self-imposed responsibilities as an "On And Off Site Engineer And Contractor".

I have a controlled "Panic/Anxiety Disorder", and I'm sure this is a contributing factor in "pushing myself" harder than I should, especially when I'm supposed to getting myself "built back up" after my recent fight with getting my medications "back on track".

This taking my prescribed medication any way other than prescribed has to stop. I know "will-power" and "self-discipline" will play a big part in this.

I'm once again wondering if there's any type of "Natural Supplement" with a "Calming Effect" that actually works.*

*I have to keep in mind I'm also taking Klonopin and Celexa for the "Panic/Anxiety Disorder".

Thank You In Advance For Any Advice, And Also Allowing Me To Vent A Little.

R.