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  • TDS Moderators: AlphaMethylPhenyl | paranoid android

Stopping Benzo, Xanax & Klonopin

My advice would be gut it out. I first got addicted to xanax, and after 6-8 months I had barely 5 days of withdrawl. It was intense and nasty, but it ended within one week. Then I relapsed, afraid to run out and withdrawl ever again it was a few years and a full blown klonipin addiction before I quit, and I just finished with the withdrawls after almost 4 months. I know you probably have a lot more options having only used for 45 days, just be careful, in my opinion klonipin is the hardest to come off, although ativan and xanax are more intense withdrawls. tapering at this point will just builde a stronger tolerance, it is better suited for long term addictions.
 
The doc has me on 4 ......1 mg klonopin a day now .should i taper this?
 
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Taper down.

Take 2mg one day, 1.5 for the next week, 1mg for the next week, .5 for the next week, .25 for the next week etc. As for the kpins, if you have 25 1mg left, take 1mg for about a week, then drop the dose to. 5-.25 until you're done.

If you are experience wd's that are too painful to do the old cold bird on, see a doctor, explain your situation and get a light diaz taper with maybe a small amount of temaze to sleep.


Once you're off the jack and jills, and have trouble sleeping (usual occurance), try a strong cup of lavender/chamomile tea. Get some lavender/chamomile/sandalwood/majoram essential oil and rub it on your wrists, temples and third eye area. I wouldn't recommend kava, Valerian does fuck all for me personally but your mileage may very. Avoid alcohol as the above poster said it can make WD's worse.

Once you've got this natural regime in place, practice good sleep hygiene. Go to bed and wake at the same time each day. Maybe allow yourself a slight sleep-in on weekends of course, but never more than a few hours past your usual getting up time. Exercise for at least half an hour a day, don't eat too heavy meals before bed, research some relaxation techniques and progressive muscle relaxation http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFwCKKa--18

Best of luck.
 
Valium taper is the way to for for these hardcore benzos. American doctors seem reluctant to prescribe it from what I hear?

Xanax isn't even prescribed by docs in the UK with good reason imo.

www.benzo.org.uk
 
Sinzz,
Ive been back and forth with benzos for years. Trust me...get off while you can.

How much are you on now?
 
I just looked at the date this thread was started. So it's been a couple years now right Sinzz? You'll definatly need a good taper....
 
Sweet P said:
You shouldn't have much of a dependency after 45 days. But still, I'd suggest tapering down the doses you are taking... that's always the safest way to quit benzos. I was prescribed clonazepam (Klonopin) daily for 6-7 years. Now I've switched to diazepam (Valium) and I'm tapering down that. I'm now down to 16mg's a day, and the withdrawals can be a nightmare at times, but it still beats quitting cold turkey which will probably kill me. :\
Click to expand...

This. Metabolisms vary - apparently, some people can CT from benzos after years of daily use and experience no withdrawal, while others have thrown grand mal seizures after only a few weeks of daily dosing followed by complete cessation. The Klonopin's your friend here, as it has a longer half-life than Xanax, but if you could get hold of some diazepam, that would be better yet. (I transferred from high dose Xanax to high dose Valium, then started tapering down, I've been using daily for years, and thus have some very bad nights and the hour before my next dose is not fun, but it's not unbearable either). Booze is more ambiguous - some say moderate drinking can help, but alcohol lowers your seizure threshold when it wears off, and drinking on my taper has lead to a few slips - get a little tipsy, figure 'fuck it, I'll just have one more extra pill tonight', and then find I've taken 15 of the fucking things. A beer or two probably won't make much difference, but heavy drinking's almost certainly going to make it rougher and more dangerous/protracted.

Take it slow and careful, and good luck: I wish I'd had the sense to start a taper as quickly as you did, you really shouldn'tt find it too traumatic after a month and a half. But don't take the risk of trying to CT - there's no way of knowing how quickly a particular metabolism's habituated to benzos, and better to play safe than be flopping on the floor in agony and shock, or find yourself experiencing even moderate surges of anxiety, sweats and shakes in public.
 
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