upping the dosage

[[be...]]

I stayed most of the day yesterday in bed. Feeling too tired and weak to do much. I have a therapy group today which I will try to attend, but if I still feel like crap I will increase my clonazepam. I think the weakness is a symptom of the withdrawal, but it could be something else that may contribute to this chronic fatigue. Every doctor says something else, but I am going to try and treat one medical problem at a time. I am planning to go for a blood test next week. I have low hemoglobin levels possibly due to low iron. I am taking iron supplements but I do not see an improvement. This could be because of the clonazepam withdrawal. In any event, my anxiety has also increased, and in order to go to groups and appointments, I sometimes need to take lorazepam to prevent panic attacks.

 

I received a call yesterday from this place I applied for a job not long ago. They want to schedule a phone interview. I specified in the application that I will be able to only start in September, but now I'm not so sure. I will call them but I am not too hopeful as this is a full time position, and I am doubtful they will wait until i am fully recovered. I am delaying any major changes until I fully recover.

 

I am also going to try to take it easy on myself. I am too focused on the negative without seeing the positive changes that occurred, since my last relapse 15 months ago. Although my progress has not been as quick as I would have liked, I need to keep in mind that I am doing the best that I can right now. Increasing the clonazepam is not a failure. It is an adjustment. This is what recovery is all about. You try and discover what works and what doesn't. There is no such thing as failure except not trying.

[[be...]]

It looks like you may be tapering a bit too quickly. I wonder if that is causing you to feel so badly. The recommend reduction rate is not more than 10 percent every two weeks. I don't know how receptive the possible employer will be to hear your are going through a drug "withdrawal".  I personally would try to go through with the phone interview and see how that goes before I would discuss postponing the start date.

[[be...]]

I wish that I knew about this forum before seeing my doctor (bet you heard that one before). She puts me on gabapentin and she thought my tapering schedule "sounded alright". She never mentioned the 10 percent rule. When I told her that my withdrawal symptoms are worse and I don't think the gabapentin works, she said "it works in the background". So now on top of the clonazepam withdrawal I gotta deal with this gabapentin nonesese. I am going to see her in a couple of weeks and tell her I'm going to try the 10 percent rule. I bet she never heard of it.

[[4G...]]

In fact, a lot of people find that 10% is way too much. Just do what your body tells you. Hopefully that will help you to avoid updosing, which I understand, but is really not good because of kindling.

 

Personally, Ashton is much too harsh for me. Good Luck. Gilly xxx

[[be...]]

What should I do about the gabapentin? Leave it as is? I would like to stop taking it but I suppose I will need to taper from it... I am going to up the clonazepam to the minimum that I feel comfortable with and then stop there and do a gabapentin withdrawal. I'm sick of all these meds (pun intended) you have no idea.

[[be...]]

What should I do about the gabapentin? Leave it as is? I would like to stop taking it but I suppose I will need to taper from it... I am going to up the clonazepam to the minimum that I feel comfortable with and then stop there and do a gabapentin withdrawal. I'm sick of all these meds (pun intended) you have no idea.

 

It is best advised to taper only one medication at a time. The Gabapentin may help relief some of the symptoms of your benzo withdrawal. However, it too must be tapered and withdrawal from it can cause symptoms similar to benzo withdrawal.

[[be...]]

Yeah I know. I thought at one point to increase the gabapentin to see if it will help, but decided against it. I don't like medications and the idea of more drugs in my system was not too appealing. My next appointment with my "doctor" should be interesting.

[[er...]]

I would say, "never updose". We gotta get this shit out of our bodies.. You're almost there - keep going!

[[be...]]

Maybe I'm tapering too fast?

[[be...]]

Ok so I'm now up to .5 and I still have symptoms. Yesterday it was so bad I went to the hospital and of course everything was fine. A couple of months ago I was on .5 and barely had any symptoms. Now I'm back to .5 the symptoms are getting worse not better. Am I doing something wrong? Do I need to wait it out and how long? I don't really want to increase the dosage again but there is so much I can take.

 

[[Sh...]]

I found that once I reached the 2mg mark of valium, no matter what I do the symptoms dont go away. I used to stabilize to 100% health. In the past when I updosed it always helped a lot. But the last time I updosed it did nothing for me. So I decided to keep tapering. The quicker I get off the better so I can heal properly.

[Guest [Le...]]

Hi benzodamaged,

 

If you are adding 1 mg lorezapam (Ativan) to the clonazepam, that's a huge updose of benzos. Believe me, I am stuck at a much lower level of Ativan, and I sure wouldn't add 1 mg more to it.

 

Also, as bad as the WD sxs are, this may not be the time to ditch Gabapentin, which may be helping you more than you know right now. You can always taper it later.

 

From hard experience, I have learned that the first drug to kick is anything that is a benzo.

 

Good luck!

Leslie