Benzos am i worrying too much or is this a real problem

[anxietanxiety]

since feb 11th i have taken 96 .5mg clonazepams. so that's been about 66 days, or about 1.5mg a day. which is exactly what i was prescribed for my anxiety. prior to that refill, i took 90 over the course of about 160 days.

i don't take it as prescribed though, i tend to miss a day, or sometimes a few, and then binge later on to catch up.
the last 3 or 4 days i may have taken anywhere from 2-5mg a day, so im definitely increasing my dosage. hell, it might be a bit more, i tend to forget how many i took and take more.

i can sense that this might be a problem for me, so what should i do? am i already at a point where i have to consider tapering or should i just stop for a few weeks? all the horror stories have me scared.

assuming i can take this responsibly (because it does improve my quality of life substantially), would i be ok at 1.5mg a day, 1mg a day, or .5mg a day forever? or am i better off just shelving it for the occasional panic attack and trying to find some other way to deal?

 

[pbuilder]

Shelf it for the occasional panic attack and find other ways to cope. exercise, meditation, good diet, cognitive behavorial therapy, yoga.

Long term benzo dependence is one of the hardest addictions to break because of the severity and length of the withdrawals, and i find being on benzos for a prolonged period of time eventually always leads to depression and a numbness that makes feeling happiness almost impossible.

 

[AnythingEverything]

Taper and shelve it, if you can. I know I can't but that's because im a hopeless addict. Recognising your patterns now while you're still on a low dose and a few months in is a good thing, but you definitely still need to taper properly.

Im still on a low dose of Benzos (taper has been going for nearly 3 years now) and it does nothing at all, I don't even know ive had it even if I have a few days worth at once. But benzo withdrawal is its own special kind of hell ?.

Benzos are not meant to be prescribed/used for more than a few weeks at a time.

Get out asap while you can. If you are able, put them away for what they are supposed to be used for, if you can't (like me) taper off. No matter what you do, I would start putting other coping mechanisms and plans into place now. Good luck

 

[Gyrospeck]

I'd recommend you start a quick taper immediately. Start with 1mg/day for 2-3 days, then move to .5mg/day for another 4-5 days. If you are able to break up your pills into .25mg increments, it may be worth staying on this dose for a couple of days before stopping completely. You haven't been on the drug very long, so don't get stuck in a long and drawn out taper. I think that would ultimately make things worse. All that said, listen to your own body and slow down if you don't feel safe.

As for staying on clonazepam for life, I'd advice caution. I would ask yourself if you can control your dose because you'll need to be able to make the drugs work for decades (you can't increase your dose forever). Also be warned that the drug will become less effective over time and side effects tend to get worse with time. You should also be aware that quitting will only get harder the longer you use and the higher you dose. I do believe that some people ultimately benefit from using it for their lifetime, however, so I'm not going to give you a definitive answer.

I'd recommend you continue reading about the drug, asking questions on the forums, and think long and hard about what's best for you.

Also don't be afraid to try alternative approaches besides drugs. Even if you decide you stay on clonazepam for your life, you'll need to learn some other techniques for anxiety or you'll wind up full circle.

Best of luck.