Detox/rehab center in northeast?

[[Be...]]

Can anyone recommend a facility in the northeast for benzo addiction? My mom is currently at ***** in NJ and I'm trying to stay positive and optimistic but most of patients seem to be abusers of other substances. She's been there for 10 days, tapering with Valium, and feels AWFUL. Thank you!

 

edit: personal info

[[Ch...]]

Hi, I just wrote an intro here: http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?topic=174878.0

[[Ch...]]

What dose of Klonopin had she been on?  Can you describe how she's been tapered from it in the last 10 days?

[[Be...]]

Thanks.  Right before she was admitted she was taking approx 2mg throughout the day.  Her doctor had tried to taper her slowly but she wasn't able to on her own.  I'm not sure the facility she is at is appropriate for her but she needs hand holding through this process.  Would anyone suggest a visiting nurse?  I feel lost 

[[Be...]]

Sorry, I'm speaking with the doctor tomorrow but they pulled her off Klonopin and put her on 5mg of Valium 3x a day, but I believe is down to 3mg 3x a day.

[[Ch...]]

I don't want to alarm you, but I want you to be informed.

 

Two milligrams of Klonopin is a signifiant dose.  Even one milligram is a high dose to come off of rapidly.  I don't know of any facilities that keep patients long enough to taper them in a way that doesn't result in a lot of suffering after the patient goes home.

 

Typically what happens is that patients go home and the withdrawal symptoms worsen as the drug continues to come out their systems.  Adjunct meds are often given temporarily but as those wear off the symptoms feel worse.

 

In my intro to you, I said I would want my own mother to taper at home.  There are ways to do this that will make it much more tolerable than rapid withdrawal in a facility.  Not to dismiss doctors, but most are sadly lacking in knowledge about proper tapering of benzodiazepines.

 

Here's the equivalence chart we use: http://www.benzo.org.uk/bzequiv.htm

2mg of Klonopin is roughly equivalent to 40 mg of Valium. 

 

It should take months, actually close to a year probably, to taper from 2mg of Klonopin after long term use.

[[Be...]]

Thanks again.  Do you suggest that we put her back on Klonopin and then follow the recommended tapering schedule?

[[Ch...]]

Personally, (and I am not a doctor nor is anyone else on this forum) I would either put her back on Klonopin or increase her to 40mg of Valium, let her stabilize, which could take up to two weeks, and then begin a slow taper.

 

If you had a choice, I'd choose Valium.  It comes in smaller size pills and is easier to taper.

[[Ch...]]

And again, I'm not trying to unnecessarily alarm you, but it can take two weeks for withdrawal symptoms from long-acting benzodiazepines to fully evidence.  She may continue to feel worse.