Question about reinstating

[[LJ...]]

I've read in a couple of threads that reinstating Klonopin after tapering off doesn't work anymore. What I don't get is why there are many people who use it for years, go off and use it again. I emailed a friend of mine who also has used Klonopin to ask how he quit. He said that he never quit but has rather been on and off of it over the last 5 years. He takes it for 3-6 months, tapers off and after a while continues taking it. Basically he reinstates it. So it seems to work.

I'm not planning on reinstating but I'm confused why it's not supposed to work anymore.

[[Pa...]]

There are people who can quit the drug without withdrawal symptoms, none of us who suffer from benzodiazepine withdrawal syndrome can understand how this can be so.  Then there are those who start and stop through the years who finally start to experience the problems we face, it's like it catches up to them. 

 

I'm not sure what you mean by reinstating, but when someone has quit cold turkey, we'll usually suggest they go back on the drug and taper if it's within a couple of weeks.  But if it's been too long, it's a risk as we don't know if reinstating will get rid of the horrible symptoms so they can do a slow taper, we never know how it will turn out.  They seem to reach tolerance very quickly and they're thrown back into the worst of the symptoms.

 

As for going back on the drug after you've healed, I'm sure that would be fine as long as you kept going up in dose after you reach tolerance and never quit again, because if you suffered withdrawal symptoms once, you're guaranteed to live through them again.

 

 

[[LJ...]]

There are people who can quit the drug without withdrawal symptoms, none of us who suffer from benzodiazepine withdrawal syndrome can understand how this can be so.  Then there are those who start and stop through the years who finally start to experience the problems we face, it's like it catches up to them.  

 

I can't say for sure but with alcohol you have those people who get tolerant very quickly and keep drinking more and more and when they stop they get awful withdrawal symptoms. I had times when I went out drinking every night but never started to increase the amounts I drank nor did I have the urge to drink during daytime. Also when I stopped drinking for long periods of time, it didn't effect me at all. Again others drink 1-2 glasses of wine to dinner all their life without becoming alcoholics. Maybe it's the same with Klonopin: some people stay on the same dosage for years while others keep increasing the dosage. When I was taking Klonopin for 5 years, I never increased my dose. I stayed on .75mg all the time and never felt any symptoms. I know alcohol and Klonopin are not the same but they do seem to work in a similar way.

 

I'm not sure what you mean by reinstating, but when someone has quit cold turkey, we'll usually suggest they go back on the drug and taper if it's within a couple of weeks.  But if it's been too long, it's a risk as we don't know if reinstating will get rid of the horrible symptoms so they can do a slow taper, we never know how it will turn out.

 

I mean if someone tapers off of Klonopin but over the months still feels anxiety which is more based on the original anxiety disorder, why wouldn't going back on the drug not give the same relief it had done previously? It sounds like it doesn't seem to work anymore. I don't understand why it worked while you were on it but it might stop working once you taper off and are off it a couple of months.

 

 

[[Pa...]]

There are people who can quit the drug without withdrawal symptoms, none of us who suffer from benzodiazepine withdrawal syndrome can understand how this can be so.  Then there are those who start and stop through the years who finally start to experience the problems we face, it's like it catches up to them.  

 

I can't say for sure but with alcohol you have those people who get tolerant very quickly and keep drinking more and more and when they stop they get awful withdrawal symptoms. I had times when I went out drinking every night but never started to increase the amounts I drank or did I have the urge to drink during daytime. Also when I stopped drinking for long periods of time, it didn't effect me at all. Again others drink 1-2 glasses of wine to dinner all their life without becoming alcoholics. Maybe it's the same with Klonopin: some people stay on the same dosage for years while others keep increasing the dosage. When I was taking Klonopin for 5 years, I never increased my dose. I stayed on .75mg all the time and never felt any symptoms. I know alcohol and Klonopin are not the same but they do seem to work in a similar way.

 

I'm not sure what you mean by reinstating, but when someone has quit cold turkey, we'll usually suggest they go back on the drug and taper if it's within a couple of weeks.  But if it's been too long, it's a risk as we don't know if reinstating will get rid of the horrible symptoms so they can do a slow taper, we never know how it will turn out.

 

I mean if someone tapers off of Klonopin but over the months still feels anxiety which is more based on the original anxiety disorder, why wouldn't going back on the drug not give the same relief it had done previously? It sounds like it doesn't seem to work anymore. I don't understand why it worked while you were on it but it might stop working once you taper off and are off it a couple of months.

 

 

 

But there are people who never increase their dose and begin to experience withdrawal symptoms because their bodies have grown tolerant to the drug. They have no idea and neither do their Dr's why they're feeling as they do.  They have many, many tests only to eventually put two and two together that they're suffering from benzo withdrawal without changing their dose.

 

If a person tapered from the drug, and allowed enough time for their body to heal from the symptoms (many months and even a year or more) then reinstated, they would derive benefits from the drug.  They might reach tolerance to the drug rather quickly though and need to increase their dose.  If however, they didn't allow enough time to pass before reinstating, meaning they were still in benzo withdrawal, the benzo they take might not be as effective since they'd be combating withdrawal symptoms, not just normal anxiety.

[[LJ...]]

If however, they didn't allow enough time to pass before reinstating, meaning they were still in benzo withdrawal, the benzo they take might not be as effective since they'd be combating withdrawal symptoms, not just normal anxiety.

 

This is the part I don't get. I mean if someone has been tapering for about 4 months, he would be in withdrawal during those 4 months too. If he updoses during this period, the symptoms would fade but why isn't possible after being completely off for about 2-3 months? I don't get why that makes a difference. Also, if someone would taper off 1mg and he would get w/d symptoms, why wouldn't going back on a higher dose like 1.5mg help anymore? I'm just curious because I don't understand the logic?

[[Pa...]]

I believe a person can reinstate the drug at any time during the tapering process, although it would probably have to be at a higher amount to reverse the withdrawal effects.  I agree that someone could go back to the drug after withdrawal and it would be effective, but from what I've seen, they reach tolerance quickly and must increase their dose.

 

This is all just things I've seen in my time here, how it effects each person is different.  The one thing I don't see in all of this is logic, this process defies it.