Can anyone help with taper plan?

[Guest [ha...]]

I've been at .5 for five months now. I need to begin to taper down though I don't know I'm completely ready. I'm still in withdrawal from Ct of ssri after it yielded horrible reactions. I bought a scale...that's as far as I've gotten. I have been non-functional this whole time; first with the Clonaz Rx then adding Escitalopram to the mix. I had a summer filled with brain fog, endless crying, agitation, suicidal ideations, ...just horrific and not me at all. I'm ready to get this horrible devil med out of me but still, have no idea how to go down. I know it's 5-10% every two weeks but my math is poor....Please and thank you for any help.

[[Ju...]]

Since this is your first taper it might not be that bad! You have already done well coming down to the dose you are at. I know it feels horrible, but it will get better. How long ago did you come off the SSRI? If it has been less than a month or two you might want to wait a bit longer, but I understand how much you want to be done. You have the dissolving pills at 0.125, do you also have 0.5 mg pills or 1 mg? Did you go down in 0.5 mg increments in your previous taper steps? If that was ok (not good, but ok) then you could try taking 3 of the 0.125 mg tabs to take yourself to 0.375 mg. It's a bigger cut than usual on BB, but if you did ok with 0.5 mg reductions it could work for you.

 

The other option would be to measure the weight of a pill, and use a file or a pill cutter to remove 10% of the pill weight, which will leave you with about 0.45 mg of klonopin. I never used this method so hopefully the scale experts will chime in but I believe that's the basic idea.

 

One thing to remember is that even after you are off there may be symptoms for a little while. When this happened to me I listened to the doctors who told me I needed more meds and it became a long and torturous road. I think you are on a good path!

JKS

[Guest [ha...]]

Thank you JKS....I'm having such a hard time; haven't even stabilized from the CT off the ssri; cried all today and felt out of it....not sure what's going to happen to me.

[[Ju...]]

I'm sorry you are having such a hard time. I can tell you that it does get better, sometimes even while tapering. If you really feel like you are still feeling the SSRI withdrawal it might be best to give yourself a few weeks to recover from that before starting the klonopin taper. It's a difficult situation to be in (I've been there!) but the real you is still in there!

 

Have you tried non-medical techniques to help with anxiety? For example breathing exercises, meditation, physical exercise?

 

Take care,

JKS

[Guest [ha...]]

I have...but I guess I'm just slow to do much. I think this brain fog/dp/dr and severely depressed mood with hysterical crying is what floors me most. I can't seem to find a doctor to get on board.

[[am...]]

You got this! Time to get started. Cheering you on!!!