Hello!

[[Dr...]]

Hello fellow Benzobuddies,

I am a 30 year old male, 245, 6 foot one, very muscular, in realitively good health besides anxiety and mild hypertension, who has been cut off from his clonazepam 0.5mg script. I started on kpin 7 years ago, due to extreme panic attacks that would send my blood pressure through the roof and myself to the ER, on many occasions. The first medications my PCP tried me on were Zoloft and atenolol, which made me feel like a zombie and unable to have an erection, which caused me even more anxiety. Those meds didn't help much and he prescribed me 0.5mg of clonazepam PRN. What a miracle drug, somethig that made me stop feeling like I was dying. I was able to control my anxiety with the use of my kpin and not any other meds for a few years. I started working more, extreme environments, long hours, put on more weight. Blood pressure was worse, I could feel it. Went back to my pcp and he gave me a calcium channel blocker. That worked wonders for me for a year or so and then my pulse went into the low 40's bpm. Dr pulled me from it and increased my kpin to 1.5 mg a day, not prn. Was on this until I had to move for my job a few hours away and find a new pcp. My new pcp was not very benzo freidnly and only said he would refill my kpin until I got into see a psychatrist. Got into one, he reluctanly filled my script and wanted me to take another anti depressent. I tried Effexor, then I tried a drug called buspar, which made my brain feel like a fly going into a bug zapper. Then I was at my pcp for a phsyical, I had a terrible panic attack at his office and he did a EKG on me right then and there. Said I was fine but my BP was sky high for no reason. He put me on 60 mg of inderal ER, and wow, that changed my life. Took things from 100% anxiety to 20% anxiety. So I have continued to take clonazepam, just once a day, 0.5mg since then. It had been about a 1.5 since starting the inderal. No more 1.5 mg kpin everyday, even some days I would go two or three days without taking it and feel fine. Well, my psych dr then retired. I am seeing a new one and he filled me twice and now he will not fill again, because he thinks I should be on effexor or something and  I explained that these drugs do worse things to me and honestly I am doing better than ever with what I am on, but it is what it is. I am now almost one week without any k pin. I am experincing,

Headache

Muscle tension/ache

Muscle twitching

And jusy feeling down right awful, like I am on some crazy low carb diet or something. I know 0.5 is not a huge dose, but I have been on it almost everyday for 7 years. Makes me worried about severe withdrawl. Would it have staryed by now? Any tips? Suvgestions? I have a few valium from the ER and one last Kpin I am saving for emergency. I felt a few times like I was going to go into a very bad panic attack but I rode it out with my skills at coping I have created, and probably more so the beta blocker. Another weird thing I have felt was, I had two beers after dinner tonight (I never drink more than that except maybe my birthday or a holiday) and I felt like I had drank 10, why is this happening? Sorry I wrote so much. Thank you everyone.

 

Mike

[[ma...]]

Hello Mike Welcome to Benzobuddies

 

I am so sorry for the predicament that you are in, forced into a cold turkey.  It is not a good idea to stop taking these medications suddenly, It can bring on some awful withdrawal symptoms.  If  the symptoms start to get worse then I would try to find another doctor and explain your situation.

 

If you have been on benzodiazepines more than a few weeks, they should be tapered off slowly. Reducing the daily dose by somewhere between 5% and 10% every 10 - 14 days is the rule of thumb. If you choose to tough this out, any symptoms that you are experiencing are temporary, but it can take quite some time for the CNS to recover.

 

I will put a link to the Ashton Manual, it is a definitive resource about these medications and how to withdraw. It also discusses the effects these types of medications have on the body.  Professor Ashtons Manual

 

We do have a dedicated board for those people who have done a cold turkey or rapid withdrawal:

 

Cold Turkey Detox & Rapid Withdrawal Board

 

Here is link to the Post withdrawal support

 

Post withdrawal recovery support board

 

Please feel free to ask questions, members can respond with the best information if they know your medication history so I will ask you to create a signature line listing your medication and dose.  Here are the directions to do that: ”Create a signature”

 

Welcome aboard

 

Magrita