Short Term Klonopin Dependancy, Trouble Tapering

[[Tr...]]

Thanks for the responses Travis and meowie! I'm glad I have both of you to count on whenever I'm getting down on myself. I didn't take a pill this morning, and I feel exactly the same as I did yesterday, so I'm hoping this may be where I jump. The anxiety/nervousness about jumping is absolutely making my side effects worse, and I try to convince myself it will all be okay soon.

 

If things become unbearable today, I'll just take a few crumbs in the PM for the next few nights. But if I stay the same, I probably won't take anything and just hop off now. If I make it to tomorrow morning and feel the same as I do now without taking anything, then I am done and will not be taking anymore pills. 95% of me knows I can do it, I just need to overcome that last 5%.

 

I also definitely have a huge amount of anxiety thinking that I'll jump off, be fine for a few days, and then get slammed next week with withdrawals. I guess I just have to keep telling myself that can't happen to me. When you're in the midst of feeling terrible though, that's much easier said than done.

[[Tr...]]

Just wanted to update real quick. Yesterday I decided I'd had enough of this devil of a pill and I stopped taking it. No AM or PM dose, and no AM dose today. It's been over 36 hours since I've taken a pill.

 

I don't feel great, but I don't feel horrible either. A little bit of heart palps, and some dizziness/headache. It's definitely uncomfortable, but I think it's safe to say I've officially jumped and won't be going back!

 

I just hope the symptoms don't get any worse over the next few days.

 

Thanks for everyone's help!!

[[Ju...]]

You have made it!!!!!

You deserve a benzo free celebration post 

There may be some rough patches ahead, but as long as you remember that they are temporary you will be fine.

Nice work!

JKS

[[me...]]

Just wanted to update real quick. Yesterday I decided I'd had enough of this devil of a pill and I stopped taking it. No AM or PM dose, and no AM dose today. It's been over 36 hours since I've taken a pill.

 

I don't feel great, but I don't feel horrible either. A little bit of heart palps, and some dizziness/headache. It's definitely uncomfortable, but I think it's safe to say I've officially jumped and won't be going back!

 

I just hope the symptoms don't get any worse over the next few days.

 

Thanks for everyone's help!!

 

Congratulations! You kicked it! I really think things are going to just get better and better from here on out. I seriously doubt you'll have days that you feel any worse, and the more comfortable you feel about jumping the better you will do, which you will as each day passes.  Let us know how it goes.

[[Tr...]]

Thanks guys! I just posted in Benzo-free Celebrations, and I couldn't be happier.

 

Currently I'm just having some weird feelings in my brain and stomach, and a pretty aggressive temper. Hopefully as the next few days roll by these will subside though. The good news is I haven't felt any new symptoms since I jumped, and that makes me feel positive about what's to come.  :Do

 

I'll keep you updated on when I finally feel back to "normal" again.

[[Tr...]]

Just wanted to ask a quick question. It's now been 60 hours since I jumped, and I'm basically feeling okay. Minor stomach pains, dry mouth, itchy skin, but it's all easy to deal with.

 

Unfortunately throughout these past two days I've developed a pretty intense migraine and dizziness that seems to be getting worse.  I also have a heavy head, and almost feel like I'm shaking all over.  The past two nights I've hardly slept, and had some intense dreams.  This has gotten me a little nervous, and I'm wondering if it's normal for this to happen?  Should I just keep trying to push through? I'm losing a bit of faith now.

 

I really don't want to power through a week or two of this weirdness only to have to reinstate and taper slower.

[[Tr...]]

Woke up this morning and everything is a bit worse than it was yesterday. Heart palps are back, and now my head is very heavy. My muscles (especially my back) are feeling tense and almost shaky. I'm not sure what to do or if this is normal.

[[me...]]

Troubled, If you can power through this, I think you are going to be much better off. Is there anything that you can't live with? or is it just very uncomfortable? It's totally expected that your body will go through some adjustments. Look for other remedies like OTC painkiller, hot baths, etc...

 

If you are not sleeping well, it makes everything much worse and harder to deal with. Insomnia is a terrible thing (still dealing with it myself). You might look at trying a OTC sleep aid such as doxycyclamine (sp?) if your sleep is really poor. A night of good sleep can make all the difference in the world. Once you get that first "window" you'll feel very positive about moving forward.

 

If you reinstate there is no guarantee you will feel better, and a very good chance you won't, it is very demoralizing. In some situations it could be the right thing, but I think in your case it definitely isn't. I'm curious about what made you reinstate before? what were the symptoms you were dealing with?

[[Tr...]]

Hey meowie,

 

I'd say it's all just very uncomfortable. I can power through, but I'm just worried it's not going to go away. The itchiness, hives, GI problems, muscle pain, headache, anger, anxiety, heart palps, crazy dreams, etc. I don't really have a problem with.

 

The ones that really get to me are the dp/dr, some intense dizziness (enough that I don't feel comfortable driving), confusion, and of course the insomnia. The past two nights I've gotten about 3 hours of sleep, and that's not helping at all.

 

I reinstated the first time because after 36 hours I was so dizzy I couldn't even stand, my head felt super strange and heavy (hard to describe), and my dp/dr was so intense it was absolutely unbearable. I'm not at that point yet, but I'm getting nervous that that is where I'm headed.

 

I've been taking Aleve and that seems to help with the headaches and muscle pains, probiotics help with my stomach, but I haven't found much to help with the insomnia or weird brain feeling.

 

I think a huge amount of the symptoms are worse because I'm psyching myself out and thinking it's never going to go away. I know that doesn't help, but it's all I can seem to think about since I jumped. I really don't want to be someone who's stuck in withdrawals months from now, although I don't really have a choice to speed up my body and mind healing.

[[me...]]

Troubled, perhaps it would be helpful to think of this in chunks of time. If you can say to yourself--I can get through 24 more hours, then reassess my situation. 24 hours is not going to kill me, and there is a very good chance I will feel better. Then after a day, just repeat this process. One day at a time!

 

Really, the chances of you having protracted withdrawal with your usage are pretty much non-existant. The psychological effects are much stronger, and that is what you will need to work on. Finding ways to distract yourself, and not reading the horror stories on this forum would be very helpful, DO NOT get into the protracted withdrawal forum, not helpful for hardly any of us!

 

Sleep will be key, and unfortunately the more you stress about it, the more elusive it becomes. You might look into the insomnia forum if this continues to be an issue. But I think it will rapidly improve if you can bring your anxiety down a notch.

[[Tr...]]

Thanks meowie! That makes a lot of sense.

 

I definitely am guilty of of reading a lot of the horror stories on this site, especially ones with short term users having long and drawn out withdrawals. That hasn't helped my situation at all.

 

I've been trying to think of it as just one hour at a time. If I can make it through this hour, I'm that much closer to feeling better. I'll try thinking about it in 24 hour chunks as well. It hasn't helped thinking I'll be better by some day of the week, because then when I get to that day and don't feel better I get discouraged and my anxiety spikes again.

 

I'm definitely suffering a lot more because of my anxiety, and am doing what I can to calm that down. Breathing exercises, meditation, hot baths, exercise, etc. Sleep would definitely be helpful as well, since I can feel how tired my body and mind are right now.

 

I'm definitely going to push through though and am not going to take another dose, it's my only option at this point. I'd be so disappointed in myself if I took a pill and just had to go through this all again.

[[Tr...]]

Great news about the jump! Since it wasn't a high jump hopefully these symptoms won't last long. Hang in!

[[Tr...]]

Thanks Travis! I had a bit of a window last night where my symptoms weren't overwhelming, and its given me a lot more hope to keep hanging tough.

 

As much as these withdrawals suck, I couldn't be happier that I don't have to take a little green pill every day!

[[ER...]]

I've found this thread very helpful so thank you to all. My story isn't too dissimilar in that I was put on a low dose for a short time and now am struggling tapering off. To all who might have feedback, I'm down to .125mg a day of Clonazapam and stabilizing after 21 days where I seemed to follow the standard withdrawal curve pretty closely (peaked at day 10, then tumbled down the hill with windows and waves for two weeks). I'm discussing with my Pdoc, the next cut and I'm curious what process people think makes the most sense given my situation.

 

Spread .125mg out and take it every other day and keep moving the dose out until I'm comfortable stopping? My shrink doesn't think my body would respond different to stopping after .125 or after 0.06. With minimal benzo experience but apparent sensitivity, I don't know what I think about that.

 

Cut to 0.06mg and see what happens from there?

 

Cutting .5 to .25 was pretty intense (worst anxiety of my life; worse than the anxiety that originally put me on this garbage). .25mg to .125mg was not as intense with anxiety but had sleep disturbances that I hadn't previously.

 

Any thoughts or advice would be helpful. Just trying to minimize things. I'm a pretty resilient and disciplined person and have only been for a short time. I want out before things get worse.

 

God bless!!!

[[Tr...]]

Hey ERS,

 

I'm the original poster, and I would definitely try cutting down to a lower dose before spacing your dosages out. To me, spacing the doses out doesn't make much sense, as then your body is no longer getting an even amount of Clonazepam, but instead is getting somewhat of a roller coaster of amounts.

 

If you don't feel comfortable cutting in half to .0625mg a day (which is a 50% cut), you could always cut less than that. I found 50% cuts to be way too intense. You could try shaving off .025mg and take just .1mg for a week and see how you do with that. You could also try microtaper ingredients with a scale, if you want to be more accurate. I never got the scale, but basically did the same thing (shaved a little more off of my dose each day until I was low enough to jump).

 

If I could go back in time and do it all again, I would definitely invest in the scale and do a daily microtaper.. a lot of people seem to have success with that.

 

I also think .125mg is too high to jump from. I jumped from about .09mg or .08mg (don't really know since I was shaving my pills and it wasn't too accurate) and it's been pretty rough since I jumped. If I could go back I'd definitely taper as low as I could go, down to .03mg or even less before I jumped.

 

Hope this helped, and good luck to you! If you have any questions I'll be here.

[[ER...]]

Thank you. What a curse this stuff has been. I hope you feel well again soon. A big positive for me has been that after about 3 weeks post cut from .5 to .25 and from .25 to .125, things stabilized and I felt like myself for a while. I hoping I can experience lesser withdrawal symptoms moving forward to low doses. I'll tell you one thing, sitting around and obsessing is probably the worst thing I could have done. When I stabilize, its like I completely ignore researching and just live. I almost feel reckless at those times. Like a kid who has been sick with the flu and finally gets healthy and has to run outside and play immediately.

 

Thanks again. God Bless.

[[Tr...]]

I totally agree.. my life the past few months has been bouncing back and forth between obsessing over withdrawals and then overexerting myself when I feel any sense of normalcy.  These little pills are absolutely the devil, there's no other way to put it.

 

Unfortunately when you're in the midst of withdrawals there's little you can do besides obsess over how you're feeling, at least that's how it's been with me. Starting a new TV series helped me take my mind off of things, but that's about the only distraction I could muster.

 

I do think as you get lower in dosage the symptoms will be less intense, it definitely was that way for me... and a lot of other people on BB feel the same way.

 

I wish you the best of luck! And if anything else pops up don't be afraid to post here, or send me a PM, and I'll do whatever I can to help. Even if you just need a little reminder that you can make it through!

 

I know I did