Titration taper with Klonipin

[[...]]

I am going to be starting a titration taper off of .5 mg of Klonipin. My schedule was made up by my psychiatrist.  Both she & my general doctor have recommended that I take Gabapentin also during the taper, 100 mg 3 x daily.  My only problem with that is I don't want to get stuck with something else I have to worry about getting off of.  Thoughts?

 

If anyone replies to me, I may not be able to reply back. I don't know why I can't do that. I've been to the Help people & no one has figured it out, so I would have to reply with a new post.  But would still like to hear input on the above.

 

P

[[Ri...]]

Probably better with knowledge from people that have experience with gabapentin but i agree. Why end up stuck on something else you will need to taper. Unless it eases the process and is easier to come off i guess?

[[...]]

My gosh, suddenly CAN reply! 

 

Both my psychiatrist & local doctor are both for it.  It's a very low dose ---------- only 100 mg up to 3x daily.

 

I was on .5 tab of Klonipin for about 10 years.  My starting dose for the taper is 4.5 ml & am going down by .5 ml each month, so a slow taper. Last night was my second night & I am sure that what I experienced was prolonged anxiety attacks that made my night miserable because once out of bed in the am & during the day I have been fine. 

 

 

[[Ri...]]

Its all such a personal decision. Whats best for one isnt whats best for another. I hope whatever you decide works out. If it was me i would do some of my own research through the threads and weigh up the pros and cons of other peoples experiences maybe- baring in mind that whats written on here can be interpreted wrongly and thats its all completely unique to the individual.

 

Just remember to go at whatever rate works for you. 

[[...]]

I see that you varied the taper rate from month to month, sometimes holding, over a period of about 5 months.  I've been taking the Klonipin for a long time & I am also "elderely" so I am thinking that perhaps .5 ml may be too much at one time for me.  I may cut that back some & see how it goes. I still haven't decided about the gabapentin.

[[...]]

Do you think that I am scheduled to go down by too much?  It's scheduled at .5 once a month.

[[Ri...]]

I think the general rule is no more than 10% of your dose reduced in a month.  For me im pretty sensitive to cuts and ive also developed gut issues and an other dependancy which have contributed. Have done a few holds at times i think roughly 1 month max. If it were me i would definately just start out with  a very small reduction say between 1-5 % and see how that goes. Its a really good idea to keep a journal so you can keep track of what works and doesnt. How cuts effect you and how fast/ slow you need to go.

 

Its such a personal thing as some people can come off quite easily over a period of a few months, others can cold turkey and some like me are very sensitive and just need to go at whatever rate there body can handle, sometimes years. I think personally not rushing it and listening to your body is the wisest choice and finding out how your body responds and writing it down is the best thing

 

Also its quite common to find you need to slow down towards the end

[[Sk...]]

I created my own schedule and have been doing 1mg, .75 mg every other day, currently on week two. Then .75 two days, 1mg one day etc for two weeks. Then .75 for three days 1mg one day, for two weeks etc. I thought this might work easily because of the long half life. But I've been waking up at three am more and more frequently. I don't know much about this except it's a withdrawal process that can be pretty tough. I wish I knew this when my neurologist started this to prevent migraines 15 years ago! Anyways after waking up again last night, after signing up for this forum, I popped a .5 and slept fine the rest of the night. I think my plan is too fast. I'm going to try the titration tapering method. My prescriber said if I want Valium instead she doesn't care, she will write for. But then I read that some people have problems when switching specifically from clonazepam. Any recommendations? I'm just learning about this, I'm reading up on what a GABA receptor is currently.

[[Ri...]]

Skippy girl- there is no benefit from what you are doing if anything it will be doing the opposit. you cant go from a lower dose to a higher dose. It needs to be the same consistant dose with gradual reductions. As you reduce you gradually stabalize and then can reduce again. Start small with between 1-5 % reductions and note how you feel. It can take a few days to feel a reduction. 10 % is the maximum reccomended monthly reduction of your current dose.

[[Sk...]]

Oh gosh ok. I just posted somewhere else on here. I'll remove it. I switched to the taper and got pretty bad after 6 days on a ten percent reduction. I thought it was 10-20%. But some are saying it's because of making it liquid. Which doesn't make sense. What do you recommend? Im not experienced with this. Thank you.

[[Ri...]]

Hi sorry gor the late reply. 10% is a big reduction to many and i certainly would feel bad after doing that. That is just the process though. If you couldnt handle 10 then make it smaller. I do 1-2% refictions. That seems tiny but thats all i can handle. Its really all about listening to your own body. It could have been the liquid, i really dont know sorry. I do fine with my liquid titration but there are too many variables for me to know if it would work for someone else. Id personally think that if you are doing a liquid titration accurately then its more than likely that 10% was too much for you

 

 

[[ni...]]

I took 600mg of gabapentin for one week, to "soften" the WD symptoms of tapering off of Clonazepam. The side effects were not tolerable for me. Fluid retention, breast swelling, dry mouth, dizziness. Decided after a week of 600 mg, to taper off and it just added to my WD symtoms of Clonazepam. I was happy to be rid of those once I stopped. I would never take Gabapentin again.