Benzos Prescribed Klonopin (want to quit)

[rollinstoner]

I've been prescribed Klonopin in 0.5mg doses for little over a year now. I started off with 3 daily and now I'm down to 1-2 daily but can't seem to get any lower without having very uncomfortable anxiety. I was told this drug isn't supposed to be taken long term. Do you think my body needs the gaba blockers still or is this physical dependence? I really want to stop. I don't want to live a life dependant on anti-anxiety meds to function. I don't regret starting this drug as it was the only thing that helped with my panic attacks in the past but now I really want to stop and my doctors don't have much advise besides "start breaking them in half".

 

[BrokedownPalace]

Quitting benzodiazepines can be very difficult. If you have an anxiety disorder, upon cessation it is more than likely you will experience even worse rebound anxiety. Withdrawal from benzos is very hard, I have been through it. The best way to do it is to taper down, slowly. You should speak with your doctor and discuss the fact that you'd like to stop taking it. He can advise you of a taper plan, or switch you to diazepam (valium) and taper with that. Also you can look up the Ashton Manual. Albeit a bit outdated, it still offers a very comprehensive guide to tapering/quitting benzos.

 

[rollinstoner]

Quitting benzodiazepines can be very difficult. If you have an anxiety disorder, upon cessation it is more than likely you will experience even worse rebound anxiety. Withdrawal from benzos is very hard, I have been through it. The best way to do it is to taper down, slowly. You should speak with your doctor and discuss the fact that you'd like to stop taking it. He can advise you of a taper plan, or switch you to diazepam (valium) and taper with that. Also you can look up the Ashton Manual. Albeit a bit outdated, it still offers a very comprehensive guide to tapering/quitting benzos.

Thanks.

When you quit did you slowly taper off or was it rather abrupt? I'm wondering if the withdrawls are avoidable with a proper plan to quit. I'd hate for it to mess up my job trying to quit because of rebound anxiety and/or withdrawl.

 

[BrokedownPalace]

Well at the moment I am prescribed klonopin as well.. But a few years ago I had a decent xanax habit that unfortunately resulted in me having to stop cold turkey. I didn't have a seizure, but I damn sure didn't feel right for about 6 months. Like vicious anxiety, til i finally went to a doctor and got properly diagnosed.

I believe that with tapering, and the fact that your dose is not very high, you can minimize withdrawals/rebound anxiety as long as the proper steps are taken to very slowly come down from your dose, to nothing.

 

[rollinstoner]

Thanks a lot for the input. I've been really scared about quitting since I heard benzo withdrawls are worse than heroin but I feel a little better now.

 

[BrokedownPalace]

They could be conceived as worse than heroin, although it encompasses an entirely different set of symptoms. Benzo withdrawal is more mental, which can be harder to deal with than being physically sick. Cold turkey benzo withdrawal (from much higher doses than yours, I was taking atleast 6mg of xanax per day for over a year solid, sporadically for a couple years) can give you brain zaps, seizures, horrible rebound anxiety, depression, insomnia, ..

But your doses are low, and honestly I would not worry too much about it. If you taper down to say .5mg per day for a while then jump off, it should be bearable.

But like I said, if you are legitimately prescribed them, talk to your doctor. Once you stop taking benzos there are other drugs such as lyrica and neurontin, both which act on GABA receptors as well. They both help incredibly with benzo withdrawals, and anxiety in general.

You'll be okay.

 

[rollinstoner]

I was originally prescribed Xanax but I hated it because even though it was a little stronger, it's half-life is a lot shorter than Klonopin and my entire day was a rollercoaster of being relaxed then on the verge of a panic attack a few minutes later. The Klonopin made the day a lot more balanced. These benzo's sure help but they are a bastard of a drug I'll tell you that.

 

[rollinstoner]

Update, I'm down to 0.25mg - 0.50mg a day, depending on stress. Progress is being made

I'm not ready to stop completely yet, just gonna keep decreasing my dose as my anxiety levels permit.

 

[mr. red]

Your dose is small, you shouldn't have a problem. I am down to .5 mg every second day (Ativan) from 1-2 mg xanax/ativan daily for 8 months.

 

[NeighborhoodThreat]

Update, I'm down to 0.25mg - 0.50mg a day, depending on stress. Progress is being made

I'm not ready to stop completely yet, just gonna keep decreasing my dose as my anxiety levels permit.

This is exactly what you should be doing.

Don't be afraid to maintain on a dose if you're going through a stressful period of time.

 

[hydrochron]

I would recommend switching to valium to finish your klonopin taper. 10mg's of valium=.5mg's of klonopin. However you can probably get by switcing to 5mg's of valium twice a day. The half life is really long and it has active metabolites.

It's alot easier to come off of then klonopin. The most difficult part is going to be making the switch. But once you do if you taper correctly with valium you wont really have any pain once your adjusted to it.

If you need help with a taper plan pm me.

 

[rollinstoner]

I would recommend switching to valium to finish your klonopin taper. 10mg's of valium=.5mg's of klonopin. However you can probably get by switcing to 5mg's of valium twice a day. The half life is really long and it has active metabolites.

It's alot easier to come off of then klonopin. The most difficult part is going to be making the switch. But once you do if you taper correctly with valium you wont really have any pain once your adjusted to it.

If you need help with a taper plan pm me.

Is this something my doctor would support? Because I don't / can't score anything like that. We trust each other and he knows I'm trying to ween off since I'm getting better with my depression and anxiety (very ,very slowly might I add).

 

[sonic]

They could be conceived as worse than heroin, although it encompasses an entirely different set of symptoms. Benzo withdrawal is more mental, which can be harder to deal with than being physically sick. Cold turkey benzo withdrawal (from much higher doses than yours, I was taking atleast 6mg of xanax per day for over a year solid, sporadically for a couple years) can give you brain zaps, seizures, horrible rebound anxiety, depression, insomnia, ..

But your doses are low, and honestly I would not worry too much about it. If you taper down to say .5mg per day for a while then jump off, it should be bearable.

But like I said, if you are legitimately prescribed them, talk to your doctor. Once you stop taking benzos there are other drugs such as lyrica and neurontin, both which act on GABA receptors as well. They both help incredibly with benzo withdrawals, and anxiety in general.

You'll be okay.

Hmm, that's good to hear that lyrica and neurontin help a lot with benzo w/d. What about GABA B agonists such as phenibut or gabapentin? Also, what about kava kava? I doubt it'd help too much.

I've gone from 5mg/alprazolam per day, using valium and clonazepam to get down to .5mg-1mg of clonazepam or 10-20mg of valium then I ended up letting my tolerance get back up to 3mg of clonazepam per day where it has stayed. I've been using for about 6 years. I've been using every day for at least the past 4 years, before that it was about 50% of the time in up to 1 month phases. I want to get down to 2mg soon. I find diphenhydramine or any sedating anti-histamine helps for sleep and I can do less clonazepam.

I'd like to get down to a low dose again, 1mg/day or .5mg/day would be ideal. Eventually when I'm ready I'd try to have a doctor prescribe me lyrica, neurontin and whatever else I needed to get off benzos.

You are at such a low dose, consider yourself lucky man! .5mg/day isn't that bad. You should keep it at .25mg and see how you do quitting after a couple weeks. Good luck!

 

[yb62338]

Is this something my doctor would support? Because I don't / can't score anything like that. We trust each other and he knows I'm trying to ween off since I'm getting better with my depression and anxiety (very ,very slowly might I add).

Valium is indicated for the treatment of addiction to more potent benzos, but you are already at a low enough dosage of Klonopin that it probably isn't necessary.

Glad to hear of your progress. Keep it up.

 

[rollinstoner]

Even trying to skip a 0.25 dose feels like there's way too much energy flowing through me. Like my body wants to burst through the skin and racing random thoughts. Just feels like my brain is on over-load.

 

[anterrabae]

That's the evil in benzos, it doesn't matter what you think or what you want to do, you WILL need that dose that you've been taking.

I have faith that you will make it. Your dose is low and has been. You will be free of this drug. What you are feeling right now is the benzo wd. I know what it's like, incapacitating, with time moving ever so slowly.

Take your time with the tapering, don't make this harder than it has to be. You are so very close to being free of benzos grasp indefinitely. I envy you.

 

[waketheeffup]

im on a taper plan personally and i can tell you, its not that hard and its really the way to go.

Originally i thought "well with this taper im going to be taking the Rx for another 2-3 months (or more) and thats just going to increase the withdrawl"

boy was i wrong

My taper is officially over on Tuesday and i can tell you that i am confident that when i no longer take this Rx daily i wont suffer any withdrawl like i did when i tried to stop cold turkey

(i was low dose like you, 1.5mg a day, sometimes 2mg if i had a rough one, and started taper at .5 mg morning and .5mg at night and started lowering my daily dose by .25mg every few weeks)

 

[waketheeffup]

Is this something my doctor would support? Because I don't / can't score anything like that. We trust each other and he knows I'm trying to ween off since I'm getting better with my depression and anxiety (very ,very slowly might I add).

yes, i called my family doctor instead of my "Rx vendor" as i like to call him (appropriately, psychiatrists are nothing more than your weed guy with a bigger arsenal of supplies)

he even filled an Rx of 30 .5mg pills for me to complete the taper.

Your family doctor is actually (once you are Rxd to something) the person you are supposed to take the Rx to and explain you've been diagnosed. They know about your condition (if they are a good doc) and know about Rx in the true sense of the drug.

When i told my family doc he built me a taper plan, and said if the withdrawls were too bad he could get me a SMALL amount of suboxone to subdue the bad days.

i havent had any bad days.

good luck to you, i promise you can do it and you'll be glad you did You'll experience at worst a mild case of anxiety every once in awhile, nothing that isnt manageable by any means, and sometimes it'll be hard to sleep. I don't really recommend nyquil because its very dangerous to take a tranquilizer and a sleep aid together.

Supplements are very good, try keeping 5-htp and melatonin around for the nights you know you wont get sleep, and also, L-Theanine with GABA for helping take the edge off your anxiety, that shit works WONDERS!

 

[ONandOFF777]

Fist if you are trying to taper off completely you really need to come up with a taper schedule and follow it to the T. You said you are taking .25-.5mg a day and this type of dose fluctuation will really mess up your taper and maybe even make you feel worse.

Find a dose that you feel stable on and stick with that for a week at least and then drop your dose a very small amount for the next week.

For example if you are taking .25mg 2 times a day continue that for a week and then drop one of your 2 daily doses to .125mg for a week. Then drop both doses to .125mg for a week and so on….

Continue doing this until you are taking the smallest dose you can and eventually jump off. You also might want to go to every other day dosing once you get down the smallest dose.

If you are using clonazepam to taper they offer a special wafer that is available in smaller doses and is much easier to break down into the micro doses.

Valium would also be a great benzo to switch to as they make 2mg pills which would be equivalent to .1mg of your clonazepam. These can then be split in half to be 1mg which would be about .05mg of the clonazepam.

Once you get to the point where you are taking a dose so small it becomes almost physically imposable to dose due to crumbs of the pills you are breaking up being so small you should be able to step off with minimal discomfort.

You may have some rebound anxiety and other minor symptoms but they should be very minimal. As stated above things like Lyrica and Neurotin can be a big help but I would stay away unless you 100% need them as they can cause some of the same dependence issues as the benzos. Also I have found Phenibut to be very helpful but again it can also have issues.

The biggest thing is learning how to relax yourself.

Hope my post has been helpful.

 

[hydrochron]

Is this something my doctor would support? Because I don't / can't score anything like that. We trust each other and he knows I'm trying to ween off since I'm getting better with my depression and anxiety (very ,very slowly might I add).

This is somthing your going to have to talk about with him. But I can say that valium is used to taper people off of benzodiazapines and alcohol.