Withdrawal or anxiety?

[[Ta...]]

For me, one of the scariest things about withdrawal has been the anxiety. I take Klonopin to help with panic attacks, but after being on the medication for a very long time, I'm not sure how much good it's doing anymore. Plus it's contributed to fatigue and weight gain, so I'd really like to try living without Klonopin.

 

For the last few weeks, I've held my taper at .5 mg per day (.25 mg in the morning and .25 mg at night). The withdrawal symptoms are sometimes so similar to panic attacks that I can't tell if this is "just" withdrawal or if I'm actually starting to panic. For example, I always feel a little off kilter when it starts to get dark out, but now I feel...trapped when it gets dark out. It's not rational and feels more like my anxiety coming back, which I'm worried will lead to a full blown panic attack.

 

Does anyone know of a way to distinguish between anxiety caused by withdrawal and "regular" anxiety?

[[Ch...]]

Panic and anxiety are pretty much universal for anyone going through benzodiazepine withdrawal.  I don't think anyone knows until much later if pre-existing anxiety will return.  I think a general rule would be to consider anxiety to be 'normal' during the withdrawal process.  Benzos are anxiolytics and muscle relaxers, so the muscles do become tense, causing a 'body anxiety' that feels just like regular anxiety.  For me, the anxiety went away once my taper was over and some time had passed.  Xanax caused anxiety for me, and that fairly common when one has been on benzodiazepines for awhile.

 

 

[[Ta...]]

Thanks Challis. It helps to hear that my anxiety is probably more related to the benzo withdrawal, and you make a good point that I won't really know if it's "my" anxiety until after I'm done wit the taper. Great insight.

[[Ch...]]

Thanks Challis. It helps to hear that my anxiety is probably more related to the benzo withdrawal, and you make a good point that I won't really know if it's "my" anxiety until after I'm done wit the taper. Great insight.

 

More personal experience than insight.    It took me awhile to figure out that my 'anxiety disorder' was caused by the Xanax even while I was taking it, and again awhile to realize that the tenseness of the muscles throughout my body contributed to the anxious feelings too.

 

You might think about getting a mouth guard for nighttime.  I lost two teeth to jaw clenching, which I didn't realize was happening.