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Mental Health Clonazepam, should i get off it?

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cbtodacb

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Aug 28, 2012
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I always hear about how bad it is coming off benzos. I take clonazepam 6mg daily. I've noticed a loss of mental sharpness but it could be the Lyrica.
I've been on clonazepam for probably 2 months now. Should I get off it now rather than taking it long term?
 
6mg daily is kind of a lot.... you probably have started on a lower dose, what was it? how long have you been on 6 daily?
I would definitely see to tapering down from 6 to a more normal dose like 3 or 2
It's true that getting off benzos can be and feel nasty, the loss of mental sharpness is probably more due the heavy amounts of benzo you take daily
Try to out a half mg every week or two until you get down to 2-3
 
Start tapering. I was taking a similar amount for 2 years and switched over to valium. It's less potent and has a longer half life then klonopin. So it's really good for tapering. The good thing you got going for you is you've only been taking it for 2 months. At the rate your going though if you continue, it will be much more difficult to stop. So your best bet is to taper ASAP.

Check out www.benzo.org.uk/manual/

This is a great site with a lot of information on benzodiazapine tapering/withdrawal and the best way to go about it. I switched to valium and was able to use the guide on this site to get clean from benzodiazapines!
 
Ya 6 mg in ywo months....Either your doc doesn't care or your obtaining them a different way......A slow taper is your best bet....I am only on 1 mg of klonopin a day.....I have been on klonopin for five years and even tho the mg has varied from 3 mg to just .5 once a day. I never went to four mg but I switched to xanax then back to klonopin. SLow SLOW taper for you.....I don't think you should be a six mg but hey I thought I had bas anxiety.....It's going to be rough but you can do it.
 
If you're questioning the medication's value versus its negative effects on your life, IMO tis is a clear indication that you should cut it from your life. That's both my opinion, and my experience. I kick myself every day for having reintegrated clonazepam (or ANY benzo) into my life!

They have proven, for countless individuals such as myself, to be drugs with long-term, paradoxical and debilitating effects on human cognition, and even on human life. These are the risks to consider against the benefits when choosing whether or not to use them in one's life.
 
Vaya said:
If you're questioning the medication's value versus its negative effects on your life, IMO tis is a clear indication that you should cut it from your life. That's both my opinion, and my experience. I kick myself every day for having reintegrated clonazepam (or ANY benzo) into my life!

They have proven, for countless individuals such as myself, to be drugs with long-term, paradoxical and debilitating effects on human cognition, and even on human life. These are the risks to consider against the benefits when choosing whether or not to use them in one's life.
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I would add that if the OP wants to quit, they should do so under the supervision of their doctor.
 
Talk to your doctor about tapering down. If anxiety effects your life than clonazepam could be very beneficial.
 
I'd say that if a doctor wants you to take a drug after expressing your concerns, and they are a trusted doctor, you should probably take it. However I think dosage is negotiable. 6mg would probably hamper anyone's ability to think.
 
I would say that you are at the point where the rebound effects from not taking it is now causing you anxiety. This is one of the big negatives with treating with Benzos for a long period of time. You won't know if you really still have anxiety because you will now have anxiety from the withdrawal of the benzo. The effect will also diminish as your tolerance goes up and if you are already taking 6mg then you are already on what would be considered a high dose. If you don't quit now the medicine will just become less and less effective and the withdrawals will be much worse.
 
Jerry Atrick said:
Um, replace the word quit with taper so the OP doesn't freak out 8(
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I agree but I do not think the OP even needs to worry if they just quit, because they haven't been on it long. This does differ from person to person I think, but I really don't think they are going to need to have a medically supervised withdrawal from it like you would if you were on it and on a larger dose for an extended period of time. I say this because I have been on higher doses of Klonipin for longer periods(more then a year) of time and I didn't have many bad withdrawals. Then again I have withdrawn from opiates so my definition of "not that bad" may be different then others.

Tapering is always better the cold turkey, especially with benzos because the withdrawal can actually kill you. I would rather quit opiates cold turkey because tapering just makes the withdrawals last longer, even though they may be weaker. Withdrawing from opiates can't kill you like it can from benzos so the need to taper isn't as important and I myself would rather get it over quicker rather then making the symptoms not as bad but dragging them out.
 
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