Prescribed Clonazepam 4 Years Ago... Want to Taper Off 1mg/day

[[mi...]]

Hi everyone  ,

 

33 year old female looking to taper and remove clonazepam (Klonopin) from my life for good. I am at a stable time in my career and I have a very loving and supportive partner so now is the time to act.

 

I was diagnosed at age 24 with bipolar type 1 with psychotic features after suffering a year long episode of psychosis (delusions/hallucinations, both auditory and visual).

 

At age 29, my psychiatrist diagnosed me with panic disorder/GAD and prescribed me clonazepam .5mg, 3 times a day. I have since gone down a script of .5mg, 2 times a day. The panic disorder/GAD came out of nowhere, and was not induced by any events in my life that I am aware of. Always had loving and supportive family and friends.

 

My current list of psychiatric meds include:

 

- Clonazepam, .5mg twice daily; (sometimes taking more than 1mg a day, off and on)

- Lithium, 750mg once daily;

- Seroquel, 400mg at night;  although this med is very helpful to me, I also want to get off it because of the weight gain it has caused

- Celexa, 40mg once daily;

- Propranolol, 40mg once daily (also helpful for my migraines).

 

I have seen in reddit discussions that long-time users have tapered off of clonazepam so slowly that they described "shaving" off slivers of the pill, removing tiny pieces over months/years. I don't know how much truth there is to this, so any confirmation would be helpful.

 

Long story short - For those of you who have had a similiar script / journey as mine, can you tell me how much I should taper and for how long? I am waiting to see my psychiatrist soon for his opinion.

 

Michelle xoxo

 

[[mi...]]

I also forgot to ask - what kind of side effects should I expect to have? I am terrified.

 

Thanks again.

 

~ Michelle

[[je...]]

Hi Michelle!

 

Welcome to BenzoBuddies!

 

We will gladly help you with tapering the Clonazepam. What you've read about shaving off slivers of the pill is correct. Most of us here have become physically dependent on these pills meaning our bodies need it to function normally on daily basis. If we don't take it we go into withdrawal. These pills are so powerful we need to eliminate them very slowly in order to minimise withdrawal symptoms. Unfortunately the pills are not manufactured in small enough doses meaning we have to shave tiny milligrams off it.

 

Generally we recommend cuts of no more than 5-10% of each new daily dose every two weeks or so. But it's best to let your symptoms guide your percentages in order to remain functional.

 

When tapering your body craves consistency. Therefore you need to take the same dose every day at the same time. You cannot vary your dose by taking additional pills. Can you tell me approximately how many extra pills have you been taking per week?

 

I know you also want to taper other meds but it's better to only taper one medication at a time. This way, when you're experiencing withdrawal symptoms and side effects you'll know which taper is causing it and you can make the necessary adjustments.

 

There's quite a lot more to unpack but I don't want to overwhelm you in this first post. We can continue this conversation. I know you are scared and the start of this can be very overwhelming but I want to assure you everything will be okay and you will get through this.