8 week taper plan off 2mg- 3mg of Klonopin

[[bi...]]

My fiancee wanted to have a baby. So I decided to get ahead of this by tapering off my Clonazepam.

 

I had been on it for 11 years. I was prescribed 2 x .5 = during the day and 2 mg at nighttime. Most days I would only take the 2mg at nighttime, but there were many times where I took all three at nighttime. So by mid June I started my taper plan. I came down .5 at first ( I didn't realize how much this would affect me) and had really bad stomach problems and agitation. Then I dropped down to 1.25 and started having all sorts of emotional issues. Somewhere after that drop, I made a mistake and dropped down to .75. I am not really sure how I made this mistake. I am usually pretty good about tapering. I manged to taper off 1200 mg of Lithium by myself 2 years ago against all doctors approval (though they changed their minds after). I mapped out all of the weeks myself and followed my own plan.

 

But somehow I made that mistake. I then dropped down to .5 two weeks later and had super bad withdrawal effects that have ranged from having joint pain so bad that I thought I had arthritis to thinking I was going to have brain cancer to thinking I had MS. I have had extremely bad depersonalization - like I am surprised I have aged, I have a difficult time understand I am not 25 anymore. Which is something that never bothered me at all.

 

Now I am at .25 mg as of Monday. That night I woke up to a really bad panic attack at 2am. I thought I was going to pass out and the last two days my jaw has been so sore I can hardly chew anything. I am starting to have audio hallucinations and DP has set in again. I need to cold turkey after this dosage drop because somehow, in the midst of a crazy month of detox, I think I got pregnant. We had been trying for a couple months, but I didn't think my body, being so stressed out would allow that to happen.

 

Yes I realize, what a messed up thought! I am going to take the test tomorrow, but I am concerned that if I got pregnant this past month (so about two, three weeks ago) that I am coming off the drug too late. That having all of these side effects is going to make the whole thing worse, I might miscarry, it will still cause defects in the baby. I don't know. I have no one to talk to. My doctor and my gp suggested I come off this medicine and I didn't really understand tolerance or any of that and now I am knee deep in it. I don't want to go back up but with all the raging hormones I am absolutely crazy. I yelled at my financee tonight and I smacked my hand down so hard on the table that I think I really hurt it.

 

I guess I just want to know if it's really even worth it to put myself through all of this when I am first pregnant or if I should slow the taper down. I am really scared that the stress is going to affect this situation in a negative way, but I also don't want to have unforeseen consequences for an unborn baby. I want to taper slowly and I know that stress is worse, however, I know that at the end of pregnancy I will have to taper anyway so the baby isn't born with an form of addiction. I am sort of hoping I am just really really late, but it will be a week tomorrow, so I really don't think that's what's happening.

 

Also, my friend and finacee don't understand any of this. I am a classic hypochondriac and they think I am exaggerating everything, but I am not. It is really just that horrible. If anything, my hypochondriac tendencies make the whole thing a million times worse!!

 

Any advice or thoughts are much appreciated.

 

Thanks.

[[Do...]]

There is a possibility you are not pregnant if you are just late for your period - benzo withdrawal has a tendency to completely screw with our monthly cycles.

 

If you are pregnant, I would get at least two separate OB/GYNs opinions about how quickly you should taper, after explaining the severity of your symptoms.  Some OBs want you to almost cold turkey.  Others feel that if damage has been done from benzos, it would have occurred already, and would rather have you taper slower to avoid the extra stress on the baby.  Not to mention, pregnancy hormones can make withdrawal even worse.  I have actually seen some cases where and OB has sent a letter to a psychiatrist telling them to taper the patient slower, because the stress and severe symptoms of a faster taper was not healthy for the baby. (The patient was able to complete her taper by month 7 or 8, and went on to have a healthy baby!)

 

You said you are already having auditory hallucinations after a cut to .25 on Monday.  Many times, withdrawal symptoms after a cut from clonazepam don't peak until 1 to 2 weeks after a cut (my symptoms were the worst 12-16 days after a cut).  This could be the case for you, since you said after cutting to .5mg, things got worse 2 weeks later. 

[[bi...]]

I agree that my period might be late. Ironically, I have never used birth control because I thought it would too much harm to my body. Today I am officially a week late and will be taking a pregnancy test. I had read it can affect your cycle, so I have tried to be pretty realistic about it.

 

It seems for my withdrawal symptoms that things start happening about 3-5 days after I drop a dosage and then carry on for about two weeks. When I just dropped again, I found most of the symptoms I had had the week previously had petered out mostly. I mean they are fairly intense for about 1 week but they are somewhat manageable. I work as a freelance photographer so I have plenty of time to just rest while I am going through this process.

 

If I take the test and if I am in fact pregnant then I will make a couple of appointments like you suggested. Problem here is I live in a pretty small town and there aren't a lot of options. Perhaps I can see if I can get someone in a larger town close by.

 

My psychiatrist is pretty checked out. When I tapered off Lithium a couple years ago, he didn't even want to help me at all with the taper and I designed my own plan that took me almost 2 years to get through. Now he's perfectly fine with it. I see him August 16th so I will see what he has to say.

 

I'll try to update with some news. I am sort of torn between hoping I am just late and hoping for a child. 

[[Th...]]

I was lucky to find a psychiatrist who was knowledgeable in coming off meds while pregnant. I was not on Klonopin but Xanax. Certain drugs pass through the placenta differently. Xanax crossed but not a lot. We made the hard choice for me to stay on 1mg And micro taper while pregnant.

 

I got slack from many! But my panic and nausea was so bad I was afraid I'd miscarry. I was able to come off by the time she was born. She was perfect! Still is!

 

If you are not pregnant I would tell your fiancé he needs to just wait, but you sound determined. Be gentle on yourself. Unfortunately Klonopin is a hard one and needs to be tapered slow.