Clonazepam 8 years - .5am & .5pm getting off now!

[[Su...]]

Please help, advise,  & console! I was prescribed clonazepam 8 years ago during a horrible divorce.  My doctor has been nonchalant about this drug and has shrugged, saying that I have anxiety ( which is true but had not been the deciding factor to initially prescribe,) and that it was the "drug of choice" for anxiety.  Me, being naive, well- I just kept swallowing this stuff until I decided one day a few months ago to look into it.  I am extremely alarmed.  I called my doctor telling her that I wanted to quit. My doctor gave me a taper schedule of 3 weeks. Went from 1mg/day to 1/2 mg day over three weeks and now I have ringing in my ears with a headache, significant anxiety ( big surprise) as I finish week 2 completely free of this drug.  Can I just grin and bear it?  She said I could reintroduce the .25 for a few days, then go to every other day.  Should I? I don't want to take any more!  I also don't want to become paranoid reading everyone's stories, but if anyone is in a similar situation I would very much appreciate some advice.  Thank you so much!

[[Ch...]]

Hi Sunlight and welcome to the forum.

 

Divorce is enough to cause anxiety in the most laid back people.  The doctor prescribes a benzo, works great for the anxiety, a few years later the anxiety comes back, maybe due to the benzo itself at that point.  That's when many of us start questioning the drug itself, find out what we've been taking and realize it's time to get off it.

 

Your doctor's taper was much more rapid than we would suggest.  We follow the tapering protocol outlined in the  Ashton Manual, which is to cut by no more than 5 to 10% every ten days to two weeks.

 

Can you grin and bear it?  Only you know whether you can or not.  It would be best, in my opinion, if you can grin and bear it rather than reinstating the Clonazepam (Klonopin) and tapering slowly.  At two weeks off, the worst symptoms should have surfaced. 

 

This is a peer support forum and it's best to get the experiences of a number of members.  I would recommend you start posting in Post Withdrawal Support.

 

Please include your benzodiazepine information in your posts.  To make that easier by adding it to each post automatically, you can go up to Profile, choose Forum Profile, write the information in the text box and click Change Profile.

 

Take care, Sunlight. 

 

Challis 

[[Ch...]]

Oh wait, here's the consolation part. 

That part is very important!

 

[[Su...]]

Thank you so much. I'll move to the post WD forum for more information sharing. Funny thing, I woke up so early this morning, mind kind of racing, and realized that I was  only prescribed the additional .5 about 4 months ago.... and have noticed that part of my troubles do include this type of memory loss!  I'm going to check with my pharmacist to see when the dosage changed so I can post my information.  How can I change my header in the introduction if I misstated my dosage?  Take care and thanks again.

[[De...]]

Thank you so much. I'll move to the post WD forum for more information sharing. Funny thing, I woke up so early this morning, mind kind of racing, and realized that I was  only prescribed the additional .5 about 4 months ago.... and have noticed that part of my troubles do include this type of memory loss!  I'm going to check with my pharmacist to see when the dosage changed so I can post my information.  How can I change my header in the introduction if I misstated my dosage?  Take care and thanks again.

 

Hello Sunlight14,

 

Firstly welcome to the forum from me too 

 

To modify your original post look for the blue Profile tab at the top of the screen and hover the mouse over it, choose Forum Profile, then look to the top left of the screen for the blue Profile Info tab, hover the mouse over this and choose Show Posts. From here you can alter your original post by clicking the Modify button, remember to save the changes when you've done it.

 

I will give you a link to The Cold Turkey, Detox & Rapid Withdrawal board where you can meet other members who are in your situation. The members here will be able to empathise with you and it always helps, I feel, to compare stories with others who are in the same boat as oneself. Here is the link :

 

http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?board=133.0

 

I'm glad you found us and I wish you a speedy recovery.

 

Debbie

[[be...]]

Thank you so much. I'll move to the post WD forum for more information sharing. Funny thing, I woke up so early this morning, mind kind of racing, and realized that I was  only prescribed the additional .5 about 4 months ago.... and have noticed that part of my troubles do include this type of memory loss!  I'm going to check with my pharmacist to see when the dosage changed so I can post my information.  How can I change my header in the introduction if I misstated my dosage?  Take care and thanks again.

 

Hi there and welcome  what did you want the subject line to say? I may be able to edit it for you.