Klonopin hell

[[Ry...]]

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.

 

Ah, I can't answer that because I'm doing a direct taper. I think it has something to do with the devil you know. Like yeah, tapering directly off of Klonopin sucks, but I can at least identify the symptoms and have a ballpark on how long they would last. I know that people who switch to valium complain a lot of burning sensations and I haven't had any of that on klono. However, it also seems like Klonopin is the beast to get off of. It's really tough to say when I don't have any direct information based on experience. As far as switching from Valium to Klono, I don't see that being a thing because Valium is the be-all end-all with long half-life.

[[Do...]]

I'm curious why they say to switch to Valium from Klonopin?  I understand the need to do this with Xanax and others that are very short lasting, but Klonopin has a half life of more than 24 hours. 

[[Ry...]]

I'm curious why they say to switch to Valium from Klonopin?  I understand the need to do this with Xanax and others that are very short lasting, but Klonopin has a half life of more than 24 hours.

 

Because the half-life of Valium is even longer than Klonopin and Valium comes in smaller doses, making it easier to reduce smaller without chopping pills.

[[Ge...]]

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?

 

What did your Dr. say?

[[Du...]]

Ryukka,

 

Tapering off one benzo as you are doing--straightforward and simple--sounds good. I don't know what is going to happen to me because my benzo is Xanax which has a short life, so as the doses taper down, I won't be able to taper off by cutting pills into teeny tiny pieces. It will become a liquid Xanax taper or a switch to Valium. it is far too early to tell.

 

My sister is a nurse and she didn't know I took Xanax.We live on opposite sides of the country.  I told her over the phone yesterday that for years I've been in a fog about these benzos ("must be easy to stop") and that reading about them in August showed me how powerfully bad they were and how bad a situation I'm in. She knew I was taking Ativan 25 years ago after my son died. But she didn't know my MDs just kept it going s "par for the course." I shocked the hell out of her when I told her the MD I had in 2014 when I was incredibly stressed out taking care of our dying mother idly wrote me an RX for 3 mg. Xanax. She audibly gasped.