Clonazepam Short Timer

[[My...]]

Greetings to all.

 

I am a 57yo male. My Doctor started me on Clonazepam .5mg. I started taking it in the evening for sleep 36 days ago. It has worked well to help me sleep but now I want to come off it before I get too dependant.

 

Hope to find some advice here.

 

 

[[Ju...]]

 

Hello Mycroft,

 

Welcome to BenzoBuddies.

 

I believe you're in a good spot to discontinue taking Klonopin.  And well done on deciding to stop sooner rather than later.

 

I generally recommend a somewhat rapid taper for individuals who have utilized a benzo short-term.  If I were in your shoes, I would try making reductions of .125, every week, until I completed my taper.  Good luck!

 

Here are some helpful links:

 

The Ashton Manual.  

 

Withdrawal Support, (during your taper) 

 

General Taper Plans 

 

Please Create a Signature.  This will allow others to see where you are in the process so they can better support you.

 

Again, welcome!

            

[[be...]]

welcome  i am so glad you found us when you did.  It doesn't take long to develop a dependency. i, too, would do a rapid taper. In my opinion if you stay on them much longer you will end up having to do a long slow taper. Benzodiazepines really are not meant to be on more than several weeks.

[[My...]]

Thank you Juliea and benzos-R-cruel. I had seen my Doc yesterday and he wanted me to cut back to .25MG but that seemed too much to me.

 

So I did start the taper last night by dry cutting a  .5MG pill by .125MG as suggested to get to .375MG.

 

I did sleep some but did not get the usual sleep benefit when taking .5MG and now since this morning I am feeling brain foggy. Which I had not had before the cut. So not feeling that great.

 

You think I should I stick it out? Change the taper amount? Or maybe go back to my happy place at .5MG?

 

 

[[Ju...]]

Personally, I would not utilize Klonopin, another benzo or any z-drug like Ambien, Lunesta, etc. at all for sleep.  I'd find other ways to deal with insomnia.

 

These medications are incidiously addictive.  I would gladly trade the withdrawal symptoms I experienced while taking the drug during tolerance, when I tapered off of the med and also which continued post withdrawal, for the insomnia I experienced as the reason I got started with benzos. 

 

I don't believe you'll find many folks here who would advise you to stay on Klonopin when you have a chance to escape the difficulties many of us are experiencing here on BenzoBuddies.  I'd stick with the dose I was on today and continue tapering off, if I were in your shoes.

 

 

[[My...]]

Well I am really struggling with the cut. I'm going into my fourth day cutting from .5mg down to .375mg taken before bed.

 

But each morning brings a foggy hangover feeling in my head that lasts all day.  This bad effect does seem to lessen some later in the evening. And after I take the .375 I am able to sleep some on and off over the night.

 

This is really tough to deal with. I feel unwell and doing anything is a chore.

 

The plan was to cut to .25mg after 7 days but I am afraid to do that.  Do I have any options?

[[Ju...]]

When discontinuing a benzo, and sometimes even after short term use, we do often experience symptoms.  And fogginess is no exception.  This was one of my symptoms too, but one of my least bothersome ones, I guess because I was accustomed to feeling like this because I was a long term user of Xanax.  Imagine feeling foggy for years, this is how I often felt on Xanax and part of the reason I decided to taper off.

 

But I'm sorry you're experiencing the cog fog.  You have lots of options, but changing the way you're tapering might not give you relief.  In other words, a change is not a sure thing, but it certainly would not hurt to try.

 

Options include tapering more slowly or speeding the taper up.  I would probably choose the more slowly route first and see if this allowed me to feel more functional.

 

Rather than cutting .125, you could try cutting .0625 instead.  This is 1/8 of a .50mg tablet.

 

And if this option did not work, you could try titrating to get free.

 

What I would do right now in your shoes, is continue to hold my dose where it is and believe stabilization from the cut was around the corner.  After stabilization I would make the decision about whether or not I wanted to try the .0625 cut or another method such as titration.

 

In my welcome post I gave you a link to our General Taper Plans board.  It might be a good idea to open a post there just for your taper.  You might hear from some other short term Ativan folks.  Not many people read this section of the board.

 

Good luck!

[[ca...]]

Do your best to get off Klonopin now i have been on it for 20 years and your amount seems small enough to just stop or taper slowly but ask your Doc who wrote the script if your having troubles but some just think you can come off it and hand it out like candy knda that way with Antibiotics also it`s a Crime ! Good Luck and Peace !

[[My...]]

Thanks Julia for your advice. I'm thinking I'll stay at .375mg and hope for stabilization. Also I just posted in General Taper.

 

cando, my doc first prescribed me .5mg 3x per day for anxierty and never told me what I was getting into. I'm glad I didn't take it 3x. When I told him I wanted to taper he told me to taper by 50% / .25mg. I agree it's a crime. There ought to be a law!

 

At first Clonazepam really helped me to sleep which I desperately needed. I never expected I would have such trouble coming off this.