Klonopin taper?

[[Ja...]]

I'm probably more than 400 miles away from you and can feel your sense of lost and relief at the same time. It's tough to know that what you're going through is just bad benzo withdrawal when you do not have access to the proper information and the Doctors are as ignorant about it.

 

There is no guilt here, just tears and we move forward.  Glad you were at least able to save face by retiring and moving away from the stress that was probably once you're dream job.

 

I've lost somethings as well and only been on this stuff slightly over 5 months and it's not easy to accept.

 

You can read about my story on my blog...it's never easy to come clean, but here is totally normal and actually encourage as that will provide a bigger chunk of information the mods can use to help you reach benzo freedom.

 

I think you'll love it here!

 

Jarocho

 

[[Be...]]

Every time I read of another person who was told to "just quit" their benzo., I get so furious.    No wonder you went running into the street: c/t off 4 mg of klonopin would make ANYONE act nuts!  You have nothing to be ashamed of; it wasn't your fault.  You've moved away from where that all occured but it sounds like you dragged the shame with you.  I know you think you should be able to handle a lot more, be the man you used to be and someday you will have yourself back.  

 

I have been tapering off of ativan since the beginning of February and can honestly say that I have more good days than I had when I was taking the higher dose and suffering from tolerance withdrawal. (I'm not sure I'm using that term correctly but I mean my body wanted more of the drug to feel ok).  I'm going really slowly - I've been on benzos for nearly 20 years - but  hope to be benzo free by mid-July if not earlier.  There are bumps in the road or maybe the roller coaster analogy is more apt but the destination is clear.

 

BTW, this is only my opinion, but I wouldn't taper off of other psych meds until you've finished the klonopin taper.  I want to get off of seroquel and ambien but my doc agreed that it was best to tackle one at a time.  I'm actually relieved to be dealing only with benzo. w/d symptoms.  

 

 

[[...]]

All I can say to all that responded to my last writing...

 

You are the best...

 

I really feel like I am amongst a real select bunch of people here...battered and torn, but great as a result of it. Maybe there is something more to all this than our struggle to overcome...is there someone from a higher plane at work. Hmm...bet ya there is.

 

INB

[[si...]]

this is a great forum - it really is - it has allowed me to reclaim my mind - or at least what is left of it.

[[tr...]]

All I can say to all that responded to my last writing...

 

You are the best...

 

I really feel like I am amongst a real select bunch of people here...battered and torn, but great as a result of it. Maybe there is something more to all this than our struggle to overcome...is there someone from a higher plane at work. Hmm...bet ya there is. INB

 

I think you are on to something there!  We all just have to work it out at our own speed.

[[...]]

I have order 5 bottles of passion flower extract from Puritans Pride. They are running a sale now...buy 2, and get 3 free!!!! Anyone with experience using this stuff.

 

I have scoured the internet trying to find something to report help alleviate the taper wd's. So far the passion flower is the only thing I have found...for anxiety and sleep. Maybe Baclofen? Anyone know about that drug? It is supposed to help alcholics get off booze. Seems to bind to gaba receptors. Anybody have knowledge about this? Gaba receptors for booze are the same ones klonopin affects...I think. Just wondering.

 

As I mentioned several days ago, I ordered the Road Back supplements, and will use those during the taper. They advise, remember, to do a pretaper period where you take the supplements until you feel well. Then start the actual taper. They advice to cut ALL psychiatric drugs at the same time. I wonder about this one. But, whatever happens I am going to report how well this program really is. It claims to forgo all taper problems. Yes, and costs over 200 dollars a month. We'll see.

 

 

Just can't imagine how Colin did it without the knowledge found on this board. Not having the anxiety symptoms was a blessing. That is what I personally can't take... being a father and  at same time trying to hide everything. Phew, wish I could go off onto an island for a year where nobody would see me go through this period. Just running on the beach whenever panic starts would be the way to go. Are their any billionaaires out there who will supply us benzo buddies with an island. Can you imagine that...phew that would be the answer. Just all go there and suffer it out together. Sorry...just dreaming.

 

INB

[[si...]]

i have read some stuff on the road back - i have not tried it.

 

i accepted a few days of being off after each taper - being familiar with the symptoms make it easier for me to accept some discomfort.

 

i relied on teas most of the time and melatonin when it was really uncomfortable.  the trick is not to get resistant to supplements. i relied mostly on teas and relaxation - and this forum.

 

as you can see by my footer i took some really big cuts - but no one had to put up with me - and no on depended on me.

 

relaxation - exercices - fresh air are free - won't hurt your body and really helps.

[[Co...]]

Hi,

 

I have no comment about to make about The Road Back in general (I just don't know enough about them), but I don't even advise people to quit benzos! OK, there is no doubt that there vast over-prescribing of benzos, but I would never make the assumption that someone should quit benzos. For one, there are rate conditions where benzodiazepines are the only treatment. For something like Stiff Baby Syndrome (a potential killer if untreated), Clonazepam is the only effective treatment. There are other less black and white situations too, where taking benzos may be, on balance, the better choice to take. As for any advice that people should give up all their psychiatric drugs - this is irresponsible! We exist purely to help those that wish to quit benzos.

 

'Not having the anxiety symptoms was a blessing' - not strictly true - I just didn't have an underlying anxiety disorder. I did experience severe anxiety during withdrawal (I would have described it as 'climbing the wall' at the time). It was just that I didn't suffer from this outside of withdrawal, and importantly, didn't have a fear of suffering from anxiety because I didn't have this history, and didn't understand the true nature of the medicine I was taking.

[[TP...]]

As for any advice that people should give up all their psychiatric drugs - this is irresponsible! We exist purely to help those that wish to quit benzos.

 

Hooray! Thank you Colin. That's one of the problems I had with another board which purported to be a benzo withdrawal support place, but insisted that ALL psychoactive drugs had to be stopped. I was banned because I concluded that my anti depressant is helping me. It was un-pC to make such a statement and so I was outta there. I didn;t get it because my understanding was it was about the benzos. It's such a relief to be in an environment that accepts me as I am , warts and all. Thanks mate! 

 

T

[[...]]

Phew, didn't think a person would get banned from a help board. Sorry to hear that happened to you, Tpirog. That was a blow that a person in your position surely should not have received. Things are bad enough.

 

Thanks, Colin, for clarifying that you actually did suffer anxiety during the taper. It's what pops up immediately for me, and I guess for everyone. I had been wondering how you escaped it. Looks like there is no way.

 

So now it's just wait for the .5mgs and the supplements.

 

Will start a blog when I start all this stuff.

 

See everyone then.

 

INB

 

 

[[TP...]]

Yeah it really hurts to be rejected when you're needy but that place was toxic so I'm glad I'm out of it now.

[[el...]]

Hey Tony, I "met" your friend Sarg. 

[[TP...]]

Hey Tony, I "met" your friend Sarg. 

 

At the other place? (Rather flattering picture, dear!) I lost track of him. Can't find the thread. People seemed to lose interest in me and so I stopped bothering over there.

 

T

[[el...]]

I posted there a couple weeks ago. He was the only one that responded for a couple of days. He was very sweet, and I told him "Tony said you were a nice guy. He was right". 

[[...]]

Found this on internet. Hope this isn't overstepping my bounds. Not trying to recommend anything here...just trying to share any info that might alleviate wd's from benzo's. Moderators remove this post if not appropriate and accept my apology.

 

Compounds in passionflower occupy the same receptor sites in the brain as the benzodiazepine drugs Librium (chlordiazepoxide) and Valium (diazepam), but cause less drowsiness. Passionflower may also help withdrawal from alcohol

 

INB

[[si...]]

hi ing - you are posting information others might find useful - that is a good thing - we just don't support advertising - information yes - advertising nope.

 

so what you posted is good - it is information. - thank you.

[[...]]

Silver, let's hope the passion flower actually helps. Would be a great find. I was told by person at TrueHope that a person can take up to 8 grams a day!!! I just hope this brand I bought is real stuff. With supplements it's a crap shoot. In Germany, a prescription is needed to buy supplements. A pain, but at least you know you are getting the real thing.

 

Calming the nervous wd's is what I need. I just can't stand laying down and feeling the shallow breathing, the heart pounding, the feeling of fear, the jerks of the body, and the jumping two feet in the air if someone merely walks outside the bedroom. Isn't it ironic that benzos are supposed to stop these very things? I never had them though before taking klonopin. Has to be one of the most powerful drugs in existance. Who of us would know the damage to the nervous system they could cause?

 

See you all tomorrow...be well. Two more days till see doctor. Hope the supplements come at same time.

 

INB 

[[el...]]

Hey INB! Sorry I haven't been by lately. Hope you are well. Good luck at the doc. 

[[...]]

Thanks, Eljay. I was wondering where you were..

 

INB

[[si...]]

calms forte helps to - but stopped working for me when i relied on it for more then a few days in a row.

[[...]]

Took about .85 mg last night by shaving a corner of a 2 mg half tablet. Am extra nervous inside today just from that. 

 

I sure hope the passion flower is an answer to this nervousness becase I frankly don't know how I am going to make it otherwise. The slightest cut off the 1 mg tablet and boom nervous as all get out. Can't function. Climbing up wall as Colin put it...and haven't even started formal taper. Fanny tired of hearing me talk about same thing. She only speaks Spanish and me English. My Spanish is good, but not really good enough to explain exactly how I feel to her. She is just plan tuckered out from hearing me. She very healthy, calm, happy, etc. I don't want to be a drag on her.

 

Talked to a friend today that was herion addict for ten years. He weaned himself off that by cutting dose little by little every two weeks. I asked him about benzos and he knew nothing about them in terms of getting off. Seems he has been taking klonopin to sleep for long time, and told me he was up to 4 mg, and then just stopped without any withdrawal at all.  When I told him how hard it is for me to cut even a fraction of a mg, he was surprised. So I guess there are people that benzo withdrawal doesn't take place. Maybe that is why doctors don't think it is dangerous?

 

I wonder what percentage of people have benzo withdrawal?

 

Tommorow see doctor and will give him personal copy of Ashton Manual "a gift for his medical library" and try to explain to him that it has been benzo withdrawal that has caused me all these bizarre ailments he has be tried to cure me of this last year. I had stomach cramps so he ordered a tube to be put down my throat (called endoscope or something close) to look for stomach problems...normal results. Then checked by looking up other end...normal except small polyp that was removed....that was at least good. For high blood presure and palpitations he tried me on every kind of high blood pressure medicine...nothing would work...saw him every thwo weeks. He ordered some kind of special high tech stress test...heart fine. Now he is looking at me like I am a hypochondriac, and he seems to have lost respect for me. He doesn't seem to believe anything I tell him anymore and is always in rush to get me out...previously he and I would chat about families, etc., and had nice relationship.

 

So I hope I am not pushing envelop too far when I tell him tomorrow of my "lastest theory" about what is wrong. Last time, I could see he was frustrated with me, becasue he said he would not change me over to valium and that he would like to send me to wholistic doctor in Canada. That is not like him. He is fed up with me like Fanny. Feel bad about this.

 

Just rambling today here. Know I'm not adding anything new. Just venting...helps me to write. I don't expect anyone to respond. It's okay.

 

INB

[[el...]]

Thanks, Eljay. I was wondering where you were..

 

INB

 

I haven't been sleeping, and feeling pretty bad, so have been trying to take a break. It's hard to stay away though!

 

[[...]]

Sorry to hear you not sleeping Eljay. Have you tried the passion flower?

 

INB

[[...]]

About to leave for doector to get .5 mg klonopin.

 

Need advice from people. Where do you buy a 100ml graduaded cylinder, and 10 ml syringe body. Was just wondering if these were available in stores that have stuff for kitchen...like for measuring for food preparation

 

Where have some of you who have tritrated gotten these things?

 

Well, wish me luck. I am off to doctor.

 

Will report later.

 

 

[[ru...]]

I got my syringe at a pharmacy. Just told them what I wanted and they had it. They might even have a graduated cylinder or at least know where you can get one. My titration was done a little differently; I didn't use a graduated cylinder.

 

rufus