Hi New Member

[[ta...]]

Hi everyone.  I have been lurking here for awhile and decided why not join.  I am tapering from 4 mgs of klonopin and am down to 2.5 mgs.  it has not been easy. Looking forward to chatting about this experience.

[[Ch...]]

Hi taylor.  Welcome to BenzoBuddies.

 

Congrats on progress with your Klonopin taper!  Support and information is important in this process, glad you've decided to join the forum.

 

Here are some places to begin posting to the wider membership:

General Taper Plans 

Withdrawal Support 

 

Please take some time to Create a Signature. This will help other members understand your history so they will be better able to support you.

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.

 

When you have a chance, I highly recommend that you take a look at The Ashton Manual, which is an authoritative source on what to expect during withdrawal and recovery, authored by Dr. C. Heather Ashton, who is an expert in the field. It provides a great deal of information that can be very reassuring during any stage of this process, including a list of common symptoms with helpful explanations on the reasons for their existence.

 

Challis 

[[be...]]

Hi everyone.  I have been lurking here for awhile and decided why not join.  I am tapering from 4 mgs of klonopin and am down to 2.5 mgs.  it has not been easy. Looking forward to chatting about this experience.

 

Welcome from me too!! I am glad you decided to join.  Congrats on your taper so far. It looks like you have come a long way. Let us know how we can support you best. We have some pretty great members here and their collective wisdom is enormous. Again, welcome. It is always nice to have a new member.

[[ta...]]

Thanks so much for the welcome and help.  Created a profile.

 

[[Bu...]]

Hi everyone.  I have been lurking here for awhile and decided why not join.  I am tapering from 4 mgs of klonopin and am down to 2.5 mgs.  it has not been easy. Looking forward to chatting about this experience.

 

Hello Taylor,

 

Welcome to the forum, you have found the right place for help and guidance... The good news for you is that you have not been taking for a super long time, although two years is enough to cause GABA receptor down-regulation. It is troubling that you went from 1.5mg up to 4mg a day after a failed cold turkey but what's done is done, time to move on and get healed.

 

It sounds like you are tapering 10% every two weeks, that might be a little fast and could explain why "it has not been easy". Tapering and jumping from benzo addiction is rarely easy, but it is not always horrible. Designing and then adjusting from to time a good taper plan is the way to go, listen to your body, extreme symptoms means you're probably going to fast. 5% every two weeks might be a better way to go for you. Many have had success by staying at the reduced dose until stable before tapering the dose again, even if that is more than 2 weeks.

 

Look into the option of crossing over to a longer acting benzo like Valium and then maybe doing a daily liquid taper once the dose gets a bit lower. The Ashton manual equivalency table states that 2.5mg of Klonoin is equal to 50mg of Valium. It is easier to accurately adjust a dose with larger pill sizes, something to consider. Many people here can help you with this crossover and taper if you want the help, just ask.

 

There are things that you can do to try to ameliorate the side effects from a taper, most notably anxiety. There are many suggestions in the "Anxiety" section of this forum and elsewhere. I personally had great success with Suntheanine 200mg twice a day and as needed when anxiety hit hard. Also a few chewable GABA tablets can be helpful as well, but not too many as it can slow down the healing receptors a bit.

 

All the best to you Taylor, stay strong and stay the course, you will beat this thing!

 

 

Wilson 

[[ta...]]

Thanks so much for your reply and congratulations that you are off benzos! 

 

It is good to receive recommendations from knowledgeable people.

 

Sometimes I wonder if I will ever get off of this drug.  You have made me feel better that I can do it! 

 

 

Taylor