Klonopin hell

[[Da...]]

I joined benzo buddies because I'm going through klonopin withdrawal. 2015 was a terrible year... I was prescribed an SSRI that did not agree with my body and led to a terrible down spiral. I was prescribed so many meds, klonopin being one of them. I was prescribed 4mg to start and over the course of a year ended up on 4.5mg.

 

July of this year, I started seeing a new psychiatrist who explained how the medication was making me sicker. We started a taper. Since July 2016 I've taper 3 mg and am currently taking 1.75mg with a cut tomorrow that'll bring me to 1.5mg.

 

My dr is requiring a .25mg cut per week. We requested holds but he refuses to allow them and tells me I don't want to get off the meds.

 

I'm currently going through major hell. My body hurts everywhere. I'm crying out in pain. My throat is closing off. I'm having stabbing pains through my body. My chest and back are sore to the touch and hurt terribly. My lymph nodes are swollen. I have thrush. Im anxious and having trouble sleeping. Im always on the edge and wish I could just be dead. This is awful. At the rate were decreasing I'll be off it in December but I don't think I can make it that long going through this awful hell.

 

Please help! I need advice, suggestions, reassurance.

[[Ju...]]

Hello Dad24boys and welcome to Benzobuddies

 

I'm so glad you are here and at the same time so sorry that you need to be here. People experience all kinds of unexpected and sometimes difficult things in benzodiazepine withdrawal, which can happen after even short term use and taking only as prescribed. I can completely relate to your experience and I am so sorry this is happening to you. I also did not do well with SSRIs. I can tell you that it does get better, but a patient and supportive doctor can be a big help.

 

For people that have taken benzodiazepines for more than a few months, a place to start tapering is to reduce your daily dose by 5-10% every 7-14 days. You can then adjust the taper depending on how you respond. Benzobuddies has a wealth of information and support for people experiencing tapering, withdrawal and recovery. The amount of information might feel overwhelming at first, so please keep in mind that you only need to walk your path, and dont worry too much about what you read in another person's experience.

 

A good source of information on benzodiazepines is The Ashton Manual

 

These places on the forum may be helpful to you:

 

General Taper Plans   

 

Withdrawal Support (during your taper)

 

This is a friendly and open minded community of people who have experienced the many facets of benzodiazepine withdrawal, including many who have fully recovered and are staying to help others.  Feel free to post any questions that you have and members will share their experiences with you.

 

Members can respond best if they know your medication history. Please take a moment to create a signature line, listing your medication (all of them), dose and any relevant history.

Go to the top of the page and select Profile, then choose Forum Profile, insert drug history/timelines into the text box and click Change Profile.

 

With many good wishes for your recovery,

JKS

 

 

[[so...]]

Your doctor is forcing you to taper down very fast, and is not giving your CNS a chance to stabilize and get used to each of the dose reductions. No wonder you are feeling so dreadful. I'm sorry.

 

Can you find another doctor who will let you taper more slowly?

[[Da...]]

the choices are limited in our area. Unfortunately this doctor claims to be an addiction specialist and he's convinced that once I'm off the meds I'll be completely back to normal. Prior to withdrawals I was agitated, angry, anxious, nauseous and in pseudo dementia.

[[dr...]]

another doc who is going to lead another victim down the path of intolerable suffering that doesn't need to be.  Print out the ashton manual and take it to him.  My doc literally threw it in the trash.  Good luck! 

[[Da...]]

My wife sent him the manual and he basically said do you want to go through withdrawals for 2 years?

[[Du...]]

Yes, yes, yes, I am a brand new member, so "fwiw" -  that reduction sounds drastically and harmfully fast.

 

Get another MD. Even an excellent Family Practice or Primary Care Physician will "get it" if you show him/her the literature, Ashton printouts (use one of the schedules! They take 18 months or longer!). This MD calls himself an addiction specialist? If you see him again, go in well armed and insist on a slower titration.

 

You, yr MD and everyone should watch: https://vimeo.com/188181193. It says it all. It features Heather Ashton.

 

Stupidly I tried a rapid titration myself and got sick. Now my titration schedule will last over a year.

 

So very sorry for your pain. I'm not an MD of course, but I would stop following the "addiction specialist's" orders and stop reducing because they are plunging you into pain. Demand a slower titration or go somewhere else. Today or tomorrow.      xxxooo

[[Da...]]

My main concern with slowing down is two fold I won't feel any better, and the feeling awful will just continue longer and longer.  I'm scared to feel like this and not see any changes even if he agrees to slow it down.

[[Du...]]

Sorry, the voice of a novice here, but you were taking 3 mg Klonopin as recently ago as July. No wonder you are so sick. I wish someone more experienced would weigh in here and comment on my instinct that you should stop your pain by going back UP a little, then begin again, using Ashton's schedule for tapering down with Valium. See link:

 

http://www.benzo.org.uk/manual/bzsched.htm#s5

 

That schedule is designed specifically for Klonopin. Also, after you wrote your Intro post, you would have gotten a post with links to several sources, and one of them is the entire Ashton Manual. Bring the schedule and much of the text to your MD.

 

I hear you that you fear tapering more slowly, but I think the reason you are in pain is that you tapered too quickly starting in July. Keep us posted

[[Da...]]

I'm supposed to cut today but I'm taking it upon myself to hold this week. I see my doctor tomorrow and am going to talk to him about slowing down a bit.

 

Would you all suggest switching to Valium from here or just slowing down to a 10% taper every week or two?  What is the benefit of switching to Valium?

[[Du...]]

You wrote that your MD asked, "Do you want to go through withdrawal for two years?" Someone PLEASE correct me if I'm wrong, but such a slow taper is done to PREVENT all or most withdrawal symptoms. A very slow withdrawal lets the parts of the brain that the benzos have compromised restarted. The kindest withdrawals are 15 - 24 months. Please educate your MD by showing him these facts in black and white and elsewhere. IMO your MD is WRONG.

[[Da...]]

My wife put together a taper schedule but I'm very very worried about extending it several more months. The schedule she put together is closer to 10% per week which would bring me to march.

 

I just don't want to feel like crap anymore. I'm sedentary because I can't move without feeling ill. I know being sedentary isn't helping me at all but I physically can't do anything. I've been out of work since march because I can't do my job in this condition (law enforcement).

 

 

I'm at a loss. I know everyone is telling me to slow down but that scares me just as much as how I'm feeling now and just pushing through the next 6 weeks that the dr has laid out for my taper.

[[Ju...]]

Dutchess has given you some good advice. You are in a tough spot and I am so sorry this is happening to you and all of us. There is a bit of a grieving process that takes place upon discovering the magnitude of benzo withdrawal and what it will take to recover. Once you decide that recovering is what you want, the taper doesnt seem like the enemy, but a necessary partner as you walk your way out of this mess. A slower taper can feel manageable and then the time doesnt seem so horrid. At your high dose of klonopin, you probably need to continue to taper down some more before a valium cross, but nothing is set in stone. The Ashton manual discusses the reasons for a valium taper- it worked for me.

[[Ju...]]

I find this information helpful:

http://www.psychmedaware.org/recovery_tips.html

http://www.psychmedaware.org/blog/what-if-i-never-get-better.html

[[Du...]]

Hi again. I just posted somewhat the same question on the Tapering Plans thread. You might put that question right out there yourself how. I think that it will get more attention in the Tapering thread than in the Intro thread.

 

The Ashton method of introducing Valium seems to be quite important in the debate of tapering--critical in Ashton's eyes, dubious in some MDs eyes. On my Ashton schedule, Valium i introduced in the very first week. So her advocacy for it is strong.

 

I will be seeing my MD on Mon and hope to get experienced viewpoints on introducing Valium into a titration. On that Titration thread, look up to the very top--there are some "Important to Read" threads that may hold answers. I confess I have not read enough there yet, and the answer may be there. Here is one: http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?topic=9522.0    Keep us posted

 

[[Da...]]

Quick question.... can withdrawal make only certain muscles sore to the touch? My chest muscle under my left breast area hurts when I touch it or press it.

[[Du...]]

Yes.  According to Dr. Ashton, other MDs, and those in benzo withdrawal or out of it. Evidently everything can hurt.  I watched quite a number of youtube videos where speakers say so. I don't recommend watching them.

 

But this features Dr. Ashton:  https://vimeo.com/188181193.

[[Ce...]]

Quick question.... can withdrawal make only certain muscles sore to the touch? My chest muscle under my left breast area hurts when I touch it or press it.

 

Hi Dad,

 

I just want to chime in here...I agree Dutchess has given you some very sound advise here. First in answer to your question...yes only certain muscles can be sore to the touch...anything goes when it comes to w/d sxs and this drug.

 

That is an alarmingly fast taper...I can see why you are feeling so poorly. The idea, as previously mentioned is to taper you slowly enough (and that's according to how your body handles it, because we all are different when coming off these things, it's very personal) so you don't go through as much misery or hopefully no misery. You're doctor is being cruel by not listening to you and hearing you out. You're suffering needlessly, which is Prof. Ashton's message...this is not necessary to get off these. 5-10% every TWO weeks is recommended...you are going way too fast.

 

Please find a new doctor. But first stabilize yourself by updosing. I'm not sure what that would be as far as mgs at this point, but you could start with .25 at a time and see how it goes.

 

Keep us posted as to how you are doing and good luck to you!!  ~CeCe       

[[Da...]]

Thank you. What about swollen lymph nodes?

[[Ce...]]

Thank you. What about swollen lymph nodes?

 

 

Very, very common in w/d...there are numerous posts on here that talk about this...if you put lymph nodes in the  search window, you'll be able to read up on it and see other ppls experiences.

[[Ry...]]

I'm supposed to cut today but I'm taking it upon myself to hold this week. I see my doctor tomorrow and am going to talk to him about slowing down a bit.

 

Would you all suggest switching to Valium from here or just slowing down to a 10% taper every week or two?  What is the benefit of switching to Valium?

 

I'm so sorry that your doctor is insane. "Addiction specialists" are very aggressive, I've found. It's almost like they've got something to prove. Clean another person up, put a notch on their bedpost. They're horrible people.

 

Good on you for holding. I don't really have anything to offer in the way of Valium because I, personally, decided against it. I slowed down a little on how fast I was reducing to see how it was treating me and it seems to be doing the trick. I know a few people who have been happy with their crossover to V and some who say that they wish they'd never switched off of Klonopin. Is there any way you could see another doctor? Preferably one who isn't an addiction specialist? It isn't a doctor's job to yank something out of your system; it's their job to help you get off of it to where you're not suffering and don't throw the whole thing in an attempt to feel better.

[[so...]]

Dutchess,

 

A slow taper does not guarantee to prevent or minimize withdrawal symptoms.  It is the safest way to get off the drugs to avoid seizures, especially after long term high dose usage.

 

Sofa

[[Co...]]

99% of the doctors are useless and bloody full of themselves.

Mine wanted me to taper within a month from 0.5 to 0 mg clonazepam.

I told him never mind and only went to him to pick up my monthly prescription of 0.5mg. I tapered all the way down by myself without him knowing.

 

Psychiatry is a pseudo-science to me now, i can't take it serious at all.

[[Du...]]

Thanks for the note, Sofa. Would you please read and respond to my post on Tapering Plans? I just posted it. If you like. Thanks.

 

And why doesn't a slow...very slow...taper prevent withdrawal symptoms? It seems like common sense that getting those benzos out of one's system little by little would prevent discomfort. Discomfort, big? Discomfort, little?  Thanks.

[[Du...]]

Ryuuka,

 

"How does it feel?"

 

I know a few people who have been happy with their crossover to V and some who say that they wish they'd never switched off of Klonopin.

 

If one switches from Valium to Klonopin....or any benzo to another and does it at an appropriate dosage, how does the switchover feel different, or painful?

 

I'm asking because my Xanax taper may or may not contain a switchover to Valium.