Forced rapid taper/ Looking for support/ symptom diary

[[ch...]]

I will preface this with the fact that I understand the dangers of benzo withdrawal , unfortunately due to my circumstances , i am forced into a position where i have to taper and basically jump ship in just a matter of weeks instead of the recommended months suggested by the Ashton manual and other sources. I do not recommend this path to anyone who has other options, unfortunately at this time i dont so i am going this route. I will use this forum  post to update and monitor my progress and withdrawal symptoms as they come up. If you have any advice on how to curb any of the symptoms, i am glad to here it, but please know that i do not have access to a doctor willing to give me more pills, and i am currently without insurance, so getting more and going a safer route is not an option for me.

 

History

 

January 2016 - Doctor placed me on 1 mg of Klonopin and zoloft for panic attacks and general anxiety disorder. At this time i was not warned of the nature of Benzo's,  but that is a long winded rant for another post elsewhere

 

July of 2016 - Doctor ups me to 2 mgs Klonopin daily as i was having "breakthrough anxiety"

 

October of 2016 - Layed off from Job, decided to move to Florida to be with Family. Got 2 months of refills from my doctor on my meds

 

December of 2016 - Tried to just stop taking Klonopin CT, before i knew of the dangers of withdrawals, by day 6 i was in pure hell, went back on at a reduced dose of 1 mg a day as i was running low. I am able to tolerate the 1 mg drop relatively well with minimum symptoms.

 

1st week of January 2017 - Ran out of pills, tried to find a doctor in the area to give me a script so i could start tapering. I found out that in Florida, General practitioners are not at all comfortable with writing prescriptions for benzos. Long story short, i was able to get 12 mg total in the form of 2mg tablets from one doctor, with a referral to a Pdoc, I have an appointment with a Pdoc in a month, obviously i dont have enough pills to last me to then so i decided to rapid taper

 

January 9th - First attempted at a rapid taper, tried to go from 1mg a day to one every other day

 

January 13th - Could not hold the rapid taper. switched to everyday at .5 milligrams, thats a 50% reduction....I would go to .75 mgs, but i cannot accurately slice up the 2mg tabs any smaller.

 

January 15th (today)  - day 3 on .50 milligrams , I am extremely dizzy, brain fog, brain jolts , muscle spasms, extreme anxiety

 

At this point i have exactly 3mgs left, while i can live with most of the other symptoms, the one i am most worried about is seizure risk. I have never had a seizure in my life, have been on Klonopin for exactly 1 year, and am otherwise healthy. Has anyone had experience with a taper like this before under similar circumstances? My current plan is to continue for the next 4 days on .5, then the last 2 miligrams in point .5 doses every other day and off the band wagon. This is 1mg taper to 0 in just over 2 weeks. At this point any advice , support , or words of wisdom is greatly appreciated...

[[Ro...]]

If you've been on over 1mg clonazepam daily for a year I think it's too fast. Can't you somehow get a hold of at least another 20 2s and may be 50 0.5s? Sounds unsafe in my opinion. Your safety is worth more than anything else event though we can't always see that in benzo withdraewal (and that includes me!!!) I always have the desire for a rapid taper. It doesn't matter if I have benzos on hand or not....but it's unwise. Some people can do ok on a fairly swift taper but really swift mostly is a disaster. Especially with clonazepam or alprazolam. It ain't diazepam or oxazepam!!!! Clonazepam and alprazolam bind to the receptors really strongly.

[[ch...]]

At this point in time i have no way to get a hold of more pills, i am going to try to get an appointment this week to get more pills, but for now i am operating on the presumption that i will not be able to get more pills for another 4 weeks. Please note, this is not due to abuse, but running out of meds after moving to a different state with more stringent guidelines on perscribing these types of meds. 

[[ch...]]

Update January 16th post daily .50mg dose - about 30 mins after my daily dose, the dizzyness and head zaps have stopped. I am still having some muscle cramping and brain fog, but the symptoms have eased slightly to the point that i would consider it a minor discomfort. I am taking over the counter Zquil to help with sleep, as i have seen antihistamines recommended on this forum to help with the withdrawals sleep wise. Tommorrow morning i am going to try to find a doctor again in the area that will help me with an actual taper plan.....Ideally i would want to be at a .75 mg dose from the 1mg for at least 2 weeks. while a 25% cut is still on the extreme side according to most literature i have read, i personally feel i could be successful at that level. When i have been taking a full dose for a few weeks, i can go up to 3 days with no side effects. I assume this is because of the longer half life associated with Klonopin. Again this is me personally, as i have learned what my body can and cant handle.

 

Also, if anyone knows of any herbal remedies that may help ease the withdrawal symptoms, i am open to suggestion. I have read many different things concerning Vitamin C, Ginko biloba and GABA supplements. If anyone has any feedback to share on these or any other herbal remedies i am open to suggestions. Also, what is the best way to approach a new doctor about a taper? I feel like coming out and just saying "i need help tapering off of Klonopin" will get me labeled as a pill junky and not get me anywhere. I do have medical records indicating my past diagnosis and prescription, but thus far that has gotten me no where with getting new meds. I know a Pdoc could get me a script no problem, but in my area it is impossible to get an appointment with one for at least 1 month. Thanks for any advice that anyone can give.

[[ch...]]

Day whatever on .5 - I can't take this anymore , I can't sleep, I am sweating constantly , my head feels like it's going to explore from pressure. I am not sure how to get enough meds to tide me over till my physcistrist appointment . Has anyone had success going to an urgent care to get a temporary script for more klonopin till they can see a new doctor? I am in a completely new area and my appointment with a pdoc isn't until the 14th of February. Anyone who has any advice please help! I feel like I am losing my mind

[[ch...]]

Please note, a GP in another state put me on these meds , so I have been diagnosed and prescribed klonopin as part of a long term treatment...The rapid taper I was attempting is completely unsupervised and Is not going well at all

[[me...]]

I'm so sorry you are put in this position. Is it possible that you could contact your original doctor, and get a few more pills that way? Even if it involved driving back?

 

I think your best course of action is to always be honest and upfront about what is going on. A good doctor should understand and help you out.

[[Ch...]]

I think it's worth going into an urgent care facility and explaining exactly what's going on.  If they won't help, I'd go to another one.  If all else fails, I'd head for the ER.  No doubt your BP and heart rate are elevated, so they will see it's affecting you.

[[ch...]]

Thank you all that have replied

 

The other state was Utah , so driving there is not a possiblity (in FL now) 

I have already contacted my old doc and he will not give me any more without seeing me, again not in the cards.

 

With my remaining pills I have 2 days at .5 left,  I was going to try to move to one .5 every other day , but with my current symptoms I just don't see that happening ....So if I can't get more pills by Friday it will be straight from .5 to 0, I am pretty sure that is more of a cold turkey then even a rapid taper. My pdoc appointment isn't until Feb 14th....So I am freaking out that I will end up Cold turkey for a month before being able to get more and try to taper , but then I am sure the cycle will start all over again...I hate this, it sucks....If I had known what I know now about benzos I would never have touched the stuff when my doc first prescribed it. I am frustrated, anxious and worried. I just started a new job and I can already tell even the reduced dose is greatly impacting my performance. It shouldn't be this hard to get meds I need from a doctor when I was legally prescribed a physically addicting medication to begin with ....Sorry for the rant but I just feel so scared and alone right now.

[[Je...]]

Hi,

 

I'm in Florida also. My doctor is a GP but also an addiction specialist(who doesn't know much about benzos, admittedly)but they will hep you, I think, if you can find one in your area.

 

Jenny

[[mo...]]

That shouldnt be legal what your old GP is doing

You already say your halfway to hell, i cant imagine what dropping the last 50% will do..

If i were you i would already be on my way to a psych emergency ER and explain myself telling them ive been following a doctors treatment.

Pour on with the muscle cramps if you have to and they will hopefully make a working solution and send you home.

unless a CT is what you really want..

[[be...]]

I see no other option but to go to an urgent care facility or the ER if you can't handle this. It's horrible you're in this position but unless you can handle this without help you really need to find help until the doctor's appointment in February. Seizures are very rare and if you have no history of them I wouldn't fret about it but suffering is unnecessary if you seek help. I imagine you can find the necessary pills until your appointment in February. You need to try. Your old doctor is a jerk yes but unfortunately dwelling on that does no good now. B