Seeking help to successfully withdrawal from Clonazepam -

[[Re...]]

I have been on Clonazepam for about 24 years, following a lumbar injury which has resulted in lower chronic pain which continues to this day. My dose is 2 x 0.5mg, taken at night. During the past four years, I have been asking my family physician to assist me with my efforts to withdraw from this toxic drug, but without success. Consequently, I have had attempted to do this on my own. As you know, cutting these tablets up into halves, quarters etc is extremely difficult and is not at all accurate. I did some research online and found in Europe that a group of physicians have come up with tapering strips which seem to me to be the most safe and accurate way of undertaking withdrawal. However, as I live in North America, the medical community here have refused access to this program because it is not their policy. Seems odd and cruel, but no mind.

 

About six months ago, I began my own tapering plan and managed to reduce my doseage to 1 x 0.5mg tablet, without any undue side effects. As part of this withdrawal plan, I have used CBD (on prescription) to help reduce back pain but also to mitigate side effects from withdrawal.

 

During the past two weeks, I attempted to reduce this to three quarters of a tablet and this is when I hit my brick wall, suffering from several bouts of insomnia in the last couple of days. Very unpleasant, but the CBD has helped alleviate anxiety levels.

 

I am thinking that I should return to a full tablet until I can get a handle on what my next course of action should be to come off Clonazepam permanently, and exclusively use CBD to help with sleep and pain levels.

 

I'm thinking that I need to be far more accurate in reducing my doseage to a consistent level and to this end, I'm contemplating asking my pharmacist if he can arrange for my tablets to be crushed, weighed and portioned out so that I reduce dose by say 0.125mg every four weeks or so. Barring that, I will most likely have to do this myself and find a way to set each dosage aside for later use. Not sure how best to do this, but I'm game!

 

As you can see, I'm pretty much winging it here and so I'm looking for advice from experienced practioners and/or former Benzo victims experienced in successfully completing their own withdrawal protocols so that I can benefit from best practices for ensuring success and to help keep potential side effects to the very minimum.

 

I am also on a detox regime to help reduce build up of other toxins in my body but due to my disability, I can't supplement this with too much exercise, even though exercise seems to me to be an important facet of a successful withdrawal from my benzo addiction. I do a lot of lower back stretches and I've bought myself some hikers' walking canes so that I can at least work on building some walking exercises into my withdrawal plan, which I plan to start of slowly from today. I'm aiming to go for daily walks and make it a regular routine, barring any unforseen issues with my lower back.

 

I have a titanium plate fixed to my right ankle (fibula) which is leeching nickel (lab tests show this) and I have a number of health issues with having this metal in my body, so I'm working on finding an ankle surgeon in my area have it removed. I don't think the presence of nickel in my body is helping me to reduce my toxic load and undoubtedly, will hamper my ability to successfully withdraw from Clonazepam.

 

Thank you so much for taking the time to read my story and I look forward to discussing this in more detail in the forum.

[[Pa...]]

Hello Rebel65, welcome to BenzoBuddies,

 

Congratulations on reducing your dose by half, most have to slow down as the dose gets lower so it’s god you’re thinking along the same lines.  We typically suggest reducing your dose by about 5-10% every couple of weeks but using your symptoms to guide you seems to work better at keeping us functional.

 

I understand you’re dealing with insomnia at present, are you experiencing any other symptoms?  If not, then I would say you’re stable enough to continue your taper but at a slower rate.  Our definition of stable is able to carry out simple daily duties such as showering or fixing yourself something to eat.  Insomnia is likely to be your constant companion until you’re free and recovered from the drug so I hope you won’t let that stop you from continuing to freedom.

 

I’ll leave you with some links but we look forward to hearing more of your story.

 

Pamster

 

Colorado Consortium Benzodiazepine Deprescribing Guidance

 

Planning Your Withdrawal (Taper)

 

Withdrawal Support (during your taper)

 

Ashton Manual symptom list

 

[[Re...]]

Thank you, Pamster. It makes sense to lower my tapering for the reasons you state, so I will be doing that. Staying functional is very important, as well as having an optimistic and chipper outlook.

 

I have no other symptoms that I know of and I know that insomnia will be my constant companion, reminding me that my body's going through detox and healing and that sleepless nights will have to be conquered by simply accepting it and moving forward.

 

And thanks also for those links you provided. I will be checking these out.

 

I am extremely grateful to you and your colleagues for helping me to connect with you and other folks that have and are going through this process. At some point, I hope to offer advice and support as I share my own experiences, successful or otherwise to ease my own and the burdens of fellow sufferers.

[[Pa...]]

I love hearing about acceptance because fighting this leads to frustration and anger, two emotions likely to make our symptoms more severe, you’ve got half the battle won already.