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Benzos How long can I take Klonopin without risking withdrawals?

M

Mafila

Bluelighter
Joined
Feb 4, 2009
Messages
93
I'm sorry if this was asked a hundred times before on the forum, but I searched and searched and couldn't find the answer. I've been on about 4-8mg of Suboxone a day for the past year and a half, taking more some days and less on others. Recently I lost my job, my semester at school as ending, and my connection is dry for a month since I don't have the money to see doctors. Over the past few weeks I decided that I want to take this opportunity to detox off of Suboxone before I have to get back to my assortment of responsibilities. The taper I have done might have been too fast, decreasing my dose by half every other day, but I've had no choice since I only have less than a quarter left now. I'm going to do a tiny .5mg piece each day for the next few days until I'm out, and then I'm going to detox at home. I have four Klonopins but will get more if needed, I will only use them during the hardest days of detox, but because my Suboxone detox may end up being over a month long, I have a lot of worries about developing a dependence on benzo's while detoxing from Suboxone.


Now to the point: How long can I take Klonopin without risking withdrawal?


Sorry for the big semi-offtopic post, I'm normally just a lurker and I usually tend to type more than anyone cares to read.
 
Says on the label that patients using more than 4 weeks should discuss about tapering program with their Dr but also mentions that in rare cases dependance might occur within a week (less than 1 patient of thousand).

So I would keep that four weeks as a maximum.

Although I used clonazepam daily for four months and did not have any WDs quitting cold turkey.
 
MrRoot said:
Says on the label that patients using more than 4 weeks should discuss about tapering program with their Dr but also mentions that in rare cases dependance might occur within a week (less than 1 patient of thousand).

So I would keep that four weeks as a maximum.

Although I used clonazepam daily for four months and did not have any WDs quitting cold turkey.
Click to expand...

Thank you. If I will be taking them daily then I will try to keep one week as my maximum. I will most likely be taking them every other day or two though so in that case I might stretch it out to two weeks. But after the two week mark I'll be too worried about withdrawing to keep taking them.
 
In my experience, whenever I was kicking junk I didn't bother to monitor the amount and length of time for my benzo intake. I just wouldn't take excessive amounts. I took them for some time, and I did taper my dose, but I believe that if you take them for a few weeks you will be in the safe zone. Maybe look at an anti-depressant, because thats the most essential tool (for me) relative to post-benzo use for sub detox. I took Remeron for 2 months and then quit. Now I am off everything. Hibernation.
 
If you are taking it everyday then you could get withdrawal after just 10 days if you are in a sensitive state like opiate withdrawal. I recommend cycling anti-anxiety meds at the tail end of an opiate detox.

Ask your doctor about gabapentin. Its different than a benzo so you can minimize your intake. It makes me feel great.

You could also cycle with phenibut as well. I personally like this product called kavinace which combines phenbut and taurine and b6. This particular combo allows you to take a much lower dose of phenibut without experiencing the negative side effects.
 
i've been put on 2 .5mg clonazepams a day for 3 months... am i looking at withdrawal symptoms?

I'm on my second refill and i can already tell i have a tolerance. I take 3 instead of 2 a day now because 2 just doesn't cut it. I had to buy a couple extra from a friend (same dose) just to make up for my lack of pills before my next refill.

I'm also on lorazepam and i started that this month at 0.5mg but no refills. with the ativan and klonopin together, am i gonna WD?
 
I would worry about the sub withdrawal more than anything else. Detoxing off of that shit can be hell because it's so long and drawn out. Even after you wean yourself off the subs, you'll still be surprised out how long you'll still feel "off" or uncomfortable. As far as the klonopin is concerned, I've personally done it for a couple weeks straight and didn't really develop that bad of withdrawal although everyone's body chemistry is certainly different. I'd say after 2 weeks of steady klonopin use, you will probably start developing minor withdrawal symptoms. Hopefully you'll be one of the lucky ones and not feel any discomfort. Just make sure you take them when the sub withdrawal is almost unbearable, and not when you just want a buzz. Good luck to you.
 
It is really only supposed to be about 2 weeks of benzo use and you could experience withdrawls. IME, however, you would probably need about a month of constant benzo use to feel the withdrawls I didn't go through withdrawals from xanax until about 9 months of taking it everyday, not to say I wouldn't have experienced it if I stopped before that.
 
It took me awhile to realize the severity of benzo withdrawls because of the way I was using them. I'd fill my script, binge for 3-5 days until I ran out, do the same thing with my temazepam script until those were gone (1-2 days...temazepam would wear off in a couple hours and I'd re-dose) and once all the benzos were gone I'd binge on opiates and the like until the month was up and I could fill my script again. There seemed to be no consequence to my use, (except cravings for more benzos) so I just kept taking them like they were going out of style.

After a period of months of this, it kinda all hit me like a ton of bricks when I hadn't had xanax in a few days, popped 50mg tramadol and had a grand-mal seizure.

To answer your question, it can take anywhere from 10 days to a month of constant use.
 
i've been on klonopin for two months and lorazepam for one month... and i don't refil for 9 days and i only have 1 days dose left of klonopin and 1 days dose left of lorazepam... scared what's gonna happen to me.. contemplating going to a walk in clinic and telling them i ran out and explaining all the stressed that i've been going through lately..
 
I would probably try stretching the two pills you do have out as long as possible. I know it's easier said than done, but at such a low dose for such a short time, most of your symptoms will be psychosomatic if anything. (except cravings obviously, I'm not trying to sound condescending, just trying to reassure you.)



edit: Also, my experience with going to the ER is usually it works the first time, but then you start trying to supplement your drug supply, and get labeled with 'drug seeking' behavior.
 
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I think benzo w/d has to do with the half life of the benzo, how many times a day you were taking it, how many mgs for each dose, whether you took any breaks, and of course, individual body chemistry.

I will take anywhere from .25mg to 1mg of xanax once a day, usually at night, for several weeks up to a couple months, with a several day break here and there, and not experience w/d from stopping.

Also, I have done the same for kpins (.5 to 1mg tablets) and valiums (10mg tablets) too, although, I will only use for one month and then stop with no problems.

I think that clonidine may help. And if you are afraid of going to the ER and being labeled as drug seeking, then perhaps find a private doctor, if possible, and tell him about the recent increase of stress and that you are afraid of siezures from w/d. And now that you know about the dangerous consequences, you would like to taper your dose down, which is true- right?

Maybe if you tell the ER that you have had heavy stress recently and then found out about the possibility of negative consequences from abruptly stopping your benzo intake and would like to taper down your dose safely, perhaps the ER staff will work with you and not label you as a drug seeker because you say you want to taper off of benzos.
 
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