New to ALL of this ...

[[mi...]]

Someone I met online, raven, introduced me to this place. I'm just checking it all out. I've been really struggling for quite a while and through tons of research found my way to the road back program, and now I'm here. I've only begun to pre-taper according to this program. I don't know any other way. Hoping to learn more here cause I'm just wingin' it completely !! day by day ... feel like I'm walking blind. But it's really great to have a place to look for help and get advice. Thanks Raven! and looking forward to meeting more people here. 

 

Currently I'm on Clonazapam 2-3 mg/day and Effexor XR 150mg /day. Haven't started tapering yet and looking to see if there is anything else I should know before I start doing this. Don't want to flop again cause this will be my 4th attempt in the 12 years I've been on this stuff.

 

I'm on the supplements that the road back program suggests using Body Calm and Protien Formula  and 2 Omega 3's right now to pre-taper for clonazapam.

 

I'd like to know more about what this titration thing is ...

 

Anyways ... just thought I'd introduce me and say hi everyone!

[[...]]

Welcome Millagirl,

 

Your not alone and there is plenty of knowledge here to help you.  Persistence and going slow is probably

the best advice I can give.  I just joined and I have been on klonopin for 15 year without much trouble.  So it was

a surprise to me this January when they stopped working and threw me into withdrawels in the presence

of the medication.

 

Your not a failure.  Your a person with much worth. 

 

Welcome and stick with it.

 

Al

 

 

[Guest [Vi...]]

Hi millargirl, welcome to Benzobuddies!!

It is good that you are looking to get some information before you start you taper. Having as much info as you can get your hands on is a good way to start.

If you have been varying your dosing between 1 - 2 mg, then you need to get some stablity in that first. Find a dose you are comfortable with, (the less the better) then stay with that until stable. Clonazepam is not very long acting, and we encourage people to consider a gradual cross over to a longer acting benzo (Valium) if possible.  It makes it a whole lot easier, although most benzo tapers are usually difficult and painful no matter what you use. In the meantime do you take your clonazepam in 2 daily doses?  How long have you been on the Effexor?  Did you want to get off that too? Unless you have been on it for a very short time, it is better to stay on that whilst tapering the benzo and taper the SSRI when you have withdrawn and are stable again.

 

Some people cannot take supplements, ( I am one of them) they can rev up symptoms in a taper and make people worse.  Although a few people have not had to many problems with them it is still preferable to ensure you get all your nutrition from a healthy diet. If you run into problems in your taper it can be difficult to work out what is causing what symptoms. So better not to start them in the first place.  That is your choice to make however after you have gathered all the information that you can.

 

Titration is a method of dissolving the daily dose and making very tiny daily or second daily cuts.  Some people find this method really helps then to cope with the withdrawal symptoms and is also helpful to those unable to crossover to a long acting benzo.  Clonazepam 1mg is equivalent to Valium 20mg for tapering purposes, so cutting the recommended 10% can be quite difficult at the lower doses.

 

Vicky

 

 

[[Co...]]

Hi Millargirl,

 

I have different perspective to Vicky about switching to Valium. I made a direct taper from Clonazepam. My advice is for you read around and do what seems best for you. I do agree with Vicky you needing to stabilise your dose first. It would be set to take it regular intervals and the same dose throughout the day (or as close to the same dose as you can manage). Titration will offer you the chance to make much smaller dose reductions, and also allow you to more evenly divide your dose across the day. It would be best to the Clonazepam three times a day, 8 hours apart; but twice a day, 12 hours apart might be regular enough for you.

 

Welcome to the community.

[[ra...]]

:yippee:Hi ya...I'm gad your here...You see,your not alone.I and everyone else will be here for you. :)

[[Gl...]]

Hi Millargirl

 

sounds like you're really trying hard and trying your best to be successful. Wondering what happened the other times you ried to stop taking benzos. Did you go too fast? Don't look at those times as failures. They may have taught you something that will help you to succeed this time. Have you been on Effexor long and is it helping? I had a friend who was on that and it made her a little jumpy, but can affect everyone different. You're not alone and everyone is here to help each other through this maze.

 

Glori

[[Th...]]

Hi, Millargirl,

 

Welcome to BenzoBuddies!

 

I guess I am the middle ground between Colin and Vicky...I started my taper as a direct taper from clonazepam but then switched to Valium when I got lower. As Vicky pointed out, Valium has a much longer half-life than clonazepam, so the tapering process is more even.

 

The titration process that we have been working on here basically involves crushing a tablet of your dose, dissolving it in milk, then cutting a tiny bit every day. We use milk because the benzo particles like to cling to the fat in milk.

 

Can I ask what your previous attempts were like? How much did you cut and how often?

[[mi...]]

Ok, wow! Been offline for a day ... and found some really kind responses! Thank you all ...! Raven ... 

 

I'm officially on 2 mg clonazapam a day. And I only take it at night, just before bed/sleep. So I have basically stablized the dose, the extra 1 mg was only if needed and I would occaisionly take it if I'd had a bad day or wasn't sleeping at night ... that sort of thing. But I haven't really used that extra 1 mg often. And for the last few weeks I seem fine on just the 2mg at night with the supplements of course.

 

Those of you who asked about my previous attempts ... I tried to go it on my own, cutting down the dose by myself. I had NO knowledge of what this drug was all about, so that would explain why I was really confused about what was going on! Funny, but at the same time ... really bad idea.

 

The last time I tried, February of 2006, I did it through a withdrawl management centre in the hospital after realizing this wasn't an easy task. A place for many people to come off their drug addictions, including street mostly. Mine was pretty much the only one that was a prescription addiction. They (the addicted ones) all thought me strange. So I got to meet lots of meth, heroin, and crack addicts. Interesting bunch. Basically what they did with me was, like mentioned, was used Valium to taper me down. 1 mg of Valium per day. So, if like Vicky says 1 mg of clonazapam is equivalent to 20 mg Valium, they must have started me off at 40mg ... yikes.

 

Anyways, I lasted two and a half weeks there, and got panic attacks so bad that I basically just walked out and went home. I tried staying at the dose they had lowered me to, but I was a complete vegetable! I couldn't cook for myself. I staggered around my place like a drunk, the new roomate wondering what the heck was wrong with me. I hardly ate. Depressed like crazy ... I fell into an old addiction I once had with meth to cope. (not recommended and very stupid I must say) I really don't know what was going on in my head to have made that choice. Needless to say, I ended up back on the full dose of clonazapam 2mg, and now addicted to meth. So for the rest of the summer I spent getting off of that. My clean date is Oct 29, 2006.

 

Effexor is definately got to go as well, since it seems that it is no longer working either and the doctors/psychs just want to add more anti-depressants to my list of daily drugging and up the dose of effexor to boot. I basically told them to shove it and said I was getting off all of this crap, and that's how I eventually made my way to the road back, and now benzobuddies.

 

My attempts at withdrawls off of effexor have always been unsuccesful as well, since once I had gotten down to 0mg, I was basically COMPLETELY unable to cope at all again. Always ending up back on the drug discouraged.

 

Titration sounds complicated and I know I didn't do well with Valium, so now I'm a tad confused as to what to do. Still on the pre-taper. Been upping my dosage of nutritionals and starting to really feel better ... amazing. Can I feel this good on my taper? I'm no longer chronically fatigued during the day, sleeping nearly 18 hrs/day, and the depression is nearly all gone. My energy level is up, and I just feel better all around. Even just the fact that I can spent time on here reading is an accompishment in itself, since I've struggled with comprehension and memory loss pretty badly in the last year.

 

Thank you again for all of your advice and help. Looking forward to continuing on ...  :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[[Co...]]

Hi Millargirl,

 

The titration technique we've been developing is pretty straightforward, I think. We will certainly help you with any questions you might have about it. I'll try to post up the full instructions sometime today - I've been putting it off as my head has been really bad of late, so didn't fancy reading through all the drafts to make the final edits. It is something I need to sort out, along with a thousand other things I've had to put off.

 

Take care.

[[ca...]]

Hi Millargirl,

 

I used the Titration method with milk..it is working for me.  Jana was the one

who explaned about using milk and disolving my capsule in it.  I was able

to spread my doses throughout the day, which really helped.  I went from

30 mgs Temazepam to 5mgs.  I am feeling so much better. You can do it

too.  Just listen to the mods, they are great!

Carole

[[Th...]]

Hi, Millargirl,

 

We normally recommend that people get off of benzos first, so you can wean off Effexor after you get off the benzos.

 

The titration method is pretty straightforward. We can give you all the measurements and numbers and stuff, so you'll just need to keep track of your day-to-day progress.

 

It's anyone's guess as to what dose of Valium they started you on at the hospital. We use Heather Ashton's benzo equivalents, but a lot of doctors think she recommends too much Valium. So they might not have started you at 40 mg. And they tapered you WAY too quickly. If you had started at 40 mg Valium, we would have recommended cutting 10% of your dose every 1-2 weeks--in other words, we would have recommended going half to one-fourth the speed they took you off in the hospital.

 

I would try splitting your clonazepam into two half-doses and taking it twice a day. That will keep your blood levels more stable--clonazepam has a relatively short half-life compared to Valium, so the medication leaves your system sooner. Keeping the amount of medication in your bloodstream consistent is really essential during a taper. So if you start that now, you can get a routine built up.

 

Let us know when you're ready to begin! There's no rush.

[[mi...]]

Hi Millargirl,

 

I used the Titration method with milk..it is working for me.  Jana was the one

who explained about using milk and dissolving my capsule in it.  I was able

to spread my doses throughout the day, which really helped.  I went from

30 Mg's Temazepam to 5Mg's.  I am feeling so much better. You can do it

too.  Just listen to the mods, they are great!

Carole

 

Thanks Carole. I'm thinking I may just do this method. Still need to figure it all out, and read up on it and write it out. My issues are being able to REALLY understand how to do something cause my ability to comprehend anything is almost exasperating ... I have to litterally write it down on paper for my eyes to see and slowly bring my mind/understanding of the concept forward by rereading over and over till I "just get it". IT'S SO INCREDIBLY FRUSTRATING !

[[ra...]]

I'm the same way. 

[[ra...]]

I have the attention span of a cat right now

[[ca...]]

My attention span was horrible!  I used a different method because I couldn't figure

anything out.  I used an empty 1 oz vanilla bottle, put in my capsule, added milk and shook up

real good.  I then measured out by teaspoon full to start tapering.  I am still using

this method and am doing very well.  But listen to Colin, because he knows a lot

and can really help you.  You can get better.  I was so bad that I could hardly

get up in the morning and each day was hell.  Now I have hope.  My brain is

healing.  Yours will too!  Millargirl, you can do this!  Take small steps.

Carole 

 

[[mi...]]

Hi, Millargirl,

 

We normally recommend that people get off of benzos first, so you can wean off Effexor after you get off the benzos.

 

The titration method is pretty straightforward. We can give you all the measurements and numbers and stuff, so you'll just need to keep track of your day-to-day progress.

 

It's anyone's guess as to what dose of Valium they started you on at the hospital. We use Heather Ashton's benzo equivalents, but a lot of doctors think she recommends too much Valium. So they might not have started you at 40 mg. And they tapered you WAY too quickly. If you had started at 40 mg Valium, we would have recommended cutting 10% of your dose every 1-2 weeks--in other words, we would have recommended going half to one-fourth the speed they took you off in the hospital.

 

I would try splitting your clonazepam into two half-doses and taking it twice a day. That will keep your blood levels more stable--clonazepam has a relatively short half-life compared to Valium, so the medication leaves your system sooner. Keeping the amount of medication in your bloodstream consistent is really essential during a taper. So if you start that now, you can get a routine built up.

 

Let us know when you're ready to begin! There's no rush.

 

Two half doses? My body falls asleep on the stuff. If I did that I'd sleep the day! When i take it just before bed, I'm out like a light. I just barely started being actaully awake during the day now ... that's going to cause more frustration. Is there not a better way? Colin? What do you think about this?

[[ma...]]

Just wanted to welcome you to the site too

 

I have found the support so helpful.  It keeps me optimistic when I'm down or have had a bad night (I suffer from insomnia & that's why I was prescribed benzos). Sleep is my biggest challange.

 

When you get a chance, you may want to consider creating your own blog under the "member blogs" title in the forum section.  I just created mine.  It was easy and it's a way I can share how I'm doing while reading how others are doing.

 

It's good that Raven hooked you up with this website.  I think it will help you with your withdrawal and eventaully recovery from benzos.

 

WE ALL CAN DO IT!!!

[[Co...]]

Two half doses? My body falls asleep on the stuff. If I did that I'd sleep the day! When i take it just before bed, I'm out like a light. I just barely started being actaully awake during the day now ... that's going to cause more frustration. Is there not a better way? Colin? What do you think about this?

 

Hi Millargirl,

 

If you are suffering inter-dose withdrawals or generally struggling with your taper, you would probably benefit from taking Clonazepam twice a day. If, on the otherhand, you are tapering without any real difficulties, then I don't think there is any need to spread your dose over the day.

 

I think it unlikely that you will feel more drowsy from doing with Clonazepam, because your blood levels will remain quite hight between your present once-a-day dosing anyway. However, you may well find that keeping your blood levels more constant over the day will be easier of you. Taking Clonazepam twice a day will just remove the peak and the real dip, that's all.