Benzos Withdrawing from Benzos + Kratom... help?

I was on 0.5 mg Clonazepam for two months to combat anxiety-related insomnia. During those two months I felt like I had a new lease on life, was very productive, and in general quite happy for the first time in a year or two.

However, I decided it wouldn't be good to continue using it, so I tried to get off the Clonazepam by switching to Diazepam for a few days. I didn't plan very well and simply started taking Diazepam after I ran out of Clonazepam. The insomnia returned in spite of this, and I experienced rebound anxiety from coming off the Clonazepam. I returned to Clonazepam for three more weeks.

After 3 weeks, I decided to change back to Diazepam but do things the right way this time. Over the course of around a week, I slowly diminished my Clonazepam dose to 0.125 mg and slowly upped my Diazepam dose to 5 mg. I haven't taken any Clonazepam in 3 nights now, so I feel a little encouraged but not yet victorious, because I'm now on 5 mg Diazepam and feel like shit. Diazepam is definitely not helping my insomnia.

I haven't gotten much sleep for the past two nights and I look like a wreck. I feel depressed and almost unable to function. I barely want to see my girlfriend, I don't want to talk to any friends, all I want to do is stay in bed. Thankfully I have today off work, otherwise I think I would have called in sick.

I am drinking a little Kratom to cope with the anxiety, but I have been having some minor head-twitching all morning, which, although it's minor, is worrying me. I have seen some scholarly articles mentioning head twitching and benzo use.

Is it unsafe for me to be drinking Kratom given the long half-life of Diazepam?

I know all of these doses are low, but I'm pretty sensitive to most substances. Just need a little bit of support as I'm having a rough time. Does it get better after a couple weeks?

Thanks a lot.

Couple things come to mind.

kratom does NOT work well for benzo withdrawal/taper. It's more for opiate withdrawal.

why are you tapering off klonopin with Valium ? Everyone responds differently to different benzos. Perhaps klonopin gels best for you.
Perhaps also, with anxiety and insomnia, a long term therapeutic dose of klonopin might be a good idea (unless you are abusing it)?

i don't know, I've only had Ativan and Valium and loved Valium but am scripted Ativan. For the best I think, as I have ZERO inclination to use my Ativan except when having a hardcore panic attack.

remember, CT off benzos can be deadly, stay safe.

Good to know. I'll stop the Kratom for now. The reason I switched to Diazepam was informed mainly by The Tranquiliser Recovery and Awareness Place. According to my research, Diazepam is a preferred benzo from which to taper down to nothing because of its long half-life, which lets you diminish doses slowly.

I was never abusing K-pin, but I read some horror stories (including some here on BL) about long-term usage leading to negative effects like memory loss and depression. I'm very very tempted to go back on K-pin, because it seemed to literally breath life into me, but I don't like the idea of being dependent on a drug. Some studies also link benzos with Alzheimers.

Being on a Benzo for panic attacks only (non-daily usage) I find a little less worrisome.

If you are WDing you haven't tapered properly, check out the Ashton manual, she is a great doctor on the subject.

If you have no benzos left a little alcohol may help as it also works the GABA receptors