Hello Everybody

[[Wa...]]

Hey everybody, I have been browsing this site for a while. I am currently on clonazepam 1mg in the morning and 1mg in the evening so 2mg a day. At one point I was at 3-4mg, sometimes more. For whoever intially responds I please ask not to give detailed taper yet as I am very overwhelmed about all the different methods out there and I want to ease into the possibility of different options, but dry cutting is probably the way I will stick too. I am simply sharing my basic information to introduce myself to this community. I also eventually want to express fully the suffering I am experiencing from the trauma of pyschiatric withdrawal syndrome. At one point I managed to get down to 1mg a day, from 3mg by making .125mg cuts. I have the .5mg pills and I 1/4 them to achieve this. I went through a difficult time but was still managing to maintain some functionality and sanity. I was reducing every week which proved to be too fast and caused unnessasary suffering. In hindsight I wished I had reduced by every 2-4 weeks. My case is a bit complicated cause I am on multiples pyshciatric drugs that I am trying to taper off. I went back up to 2mg to make my lamictal taper easier which I think was a mistake but it's too late as I am dependant on 2mg a day.  I am currently pausing the klonopin taper to work on the lamictal, cause the lamictal was causing me too much burden and it's a priority that I deal with most of that first. I was on 200mg of that and over a period of about I think 6-8 months, making 12.5mg reductions every 2-4 weeks, I am at 62.5mg. The lamictal wothdrawal has acually been a lot worse. But when I reach 50mg, I plan to stabilize and pause that and then begin tapering the klonopin again. This times tapering of .125mg every 2-4 weeks. Anyway I feel I could use some support from this community when and if things get especially rough. But here is a basic introduction of what is going. Oh also I am on gabapentin 1200mg nightly.... Which is another one I will have to deal with... I just want to have this community as an option for support and I know there are so many of you who understand benzo withdrawal. Again I am not yet asking for specific taper method advice, just introducing myself and I may not be very involved in this community yet until I am actively tapering the klonopin again.  Much to love to you guys.

[[me...]]

Welcome to the forum!  We're glad to have you as a new member.

 

You'll find plenty of information and support here.  Our members have gone through all aspects of withdrawal, and you're likely to see  people who understand what you're going through and can tell you what has worked for them.  For those who are currently tapering, we suggest reducing no faster than 5-10% every 10-14 days, and some taper even slower than that.  One exception: very short-term users of a few weeks or less may be able to taper faster than that.  Having some withdrawal symptoms is normal, especially near the end of a taper and for a month or so after discontinuing the medication.  The most common symptoms are anxiety and insomnia, but these are temporary and will go away in time.

 

Here are a few links you may find useful:

 

Withdrawal Support Board

 

The Ashton Manual is an authoritative source on what to expect in withdrawal and recovery.  Dr. Ashton is an expert in the field.  She describes and explains withdrawal symptoms in Chapter III, and there is also a section with withdrawal/taper schedules.

 

Please take the time to Create a Signature.  This will allow others to see where you are in the process so they can better support you.

 

Again, welcome!