PRN dose of Klonopin...trying to stop taking it...help!

[[Je...]]

I wish you all the luck in the world!!  Bed time was the worst for me also.  I think as we settle down all the outside distractions go away and we have nothing else to focus on but ourselves.  It's the hardest time to try and settle our minds down.  I used to try and remember happier times..specific occasions...when I was carefree and joyful.  and just keep telling yourself....it WILL get better!!

 

Love,

 

Jen

[[Th...]]

Thank you all for your words of support and encouragement!

 

I talked to my prescribing psychiatrist this morning.  She suggested I just keep taking the klonopin as I was before since it was so effective.  I also got a second opinion from another psychiatrist and he basically laughed at how much I was taking and encouraged me to take much more (.75mg a day to stabilize) and then deal with it later.  These physicians are all products of exclusive universities and medical schools.  I tell them I want off of this stuff and they tell me to TAKE MORE! 

 

To quote the great Will Ferrel, "I feel like I'm taking crazy pills!"  However, I know I can beat this and my outlook remains very positive. 

[[Th...]]

Hi,

 

Because Clonazepam has an averagely long half-life (it leaves your system quite slowly), this also means that it is slow to build up in your system. So, your blood levels will continue to rise significantly for a few more days yet - you will probably notice some improvement by the end of the seven days.

 

I gotta ask - how on Earth did you get off of 4.5mg in only six monts?  That had to be hell!  I have never taken 4.5mg in a week!

[[si...]]

yes colin share with us. 

[[Co...]]

I stayed indoors, except for shopping for food and paying bills, etc. I would eat takeaways when I felt too ill to prepare food (I guess about twice a week - I normally have a takeaway no more than one every month or two). I didn't see people. I did it by gritting my teeth, but to ask how I 'managed it' is kind of meaningless. I didn't really 'manage it', I just had no choice. I had no information about benzos (I didn't even know I was taking a benzodiazepine, a drug related to Valium, Mogadon, etc. - which I had heard of), and only looked into it a few months after quitting because of protracted withdrawal symptoms. I was in a complete daze, too dazed to even fully realise what was happening to me. I did have the advantage of not suffering from some kind of anxiety disorder, so had no fear of suffering panic attacks, etc.

[[Gl...]]

When you were taking the klonopin Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday nights, did you start to feel symptoms again  on the following Monday and so that's why you continued to stay on that schedule? Could be your body got used to that pattern.

 

Another option to try might be to stay on the Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday night schedule and just drop off a little (according to advice given here, and of course depending on how you feel) every Mon, Tues, Wed and slowly wean off that way.

 

I used to take my ativan dose all at once in morning and just didn't know better and was such an idiot I thought I "needed" the drugs and I didn't want to be bothered with remembering them or carrying them into work either. (Weirdly, I never had sleeping problems.) Then I was told my new doctor to spread the dose out about 6 hours apart. When I did that, all hell kinda broke loose as it must have thrown my body into a tizz.

 

The reason for taking a little every day is to keep the levels constant so you experience less interdose withdrawal, but for some people it may be the neural pathways habituate and it could be easier staing with your same schedule, just lowing the dose very slowly. Hopefully the smaller dose every day is already working and you're on your way to being benzo free!

[[de...]]

It seems things have settled down a little bit for you! You posts seem a lot more positive than they were to start with so thats a good sign.

  Hope the advice that everyone is giving you is helping you to make up your mind a little about things. As long as you are moving forward then that is great! I have a great doctor. Youi know why he is great. Because originally he told me to cut my doses in half. I thought about it but decided to cut by 1/8( .250 out of 2.00mg)This was really bad!!!!Satarted reading up on this site and Ashton Theory after about 3 weeks and was just as shocked as you! How can this stuff be so easy to get addicted to and why don't any docs tell you about this. Told my doctor about my research and he said he was happy for me to cut very slowly ( as I had done a fair bit of research and seemed to have a decent plan, that was backed by so many). My doctor is good because he didn'ty just dismiss things as crap. He said he would stand by me as long as I was moving forward. And I am and he has!!!

Take care Debbie(deedee)

[[Th...]]

A little update - I've gone back to maintaining at the dose I was taking before trying to go cold turkey (four and a half .5mg tablets in the course of a week, this time spread out over 4 days instead of 3).  I'm going back to the Psychiatry Division of the major research university that helped me kick Paxil two years ago (which before I did a very controlled taper, was nearly impossible to do on my own).  I'm going to talk to them about stopping this stuff.  They're pretty amazing.  I saw two local psychiatrists and their advice was...wait for it...keep taking Klonopin and up your dose! 

 

In the meantime, do we have any other PRN users here?  It would seem like everyone here had a daily dose that exceeded my weekly dose.  I appreciate all the feedback and commentary, but I'd also like to hear from people with similar experiences.  Thanks everyone!

 

Funny thing (and not sure I mentioned it before) - I took Xanax in almost the exact same fashion during my Paxil taper two years ago and experienced no withdrawal effects whatsoever...I wonder why that was...?

 

God Bless generalized anxiety disorder! 

[[de...]]

Sorry, I know nothing about PRN. But goodluck. Hope you get the help you need.

  Take Care Deedee