Klonopin Taper Suggestion (Stuck at .50 MG)

[[Fa...]]

@[kl...]I completely understand/relate to what you are going through and everything you said.  You are living my story.  You probably haven't read any of my past posts/threads, however, I have/had all the same feelings and also coached my 6 (going on 7) year old son in baseball this past spring while in the trenches.  I conducted several practices where I was operating on 0, or near 0, sleep from the night prior.  He made his all star team this summer and thankfully I did not coach that, however, I have been present for him at every practice and game this Summer.  I also have travelled out of state on a few occasions thus far with wife, son and newborn. 

I'm not trying to pat myself on the back at all, just to encourage you to trudge forward and yes it is HARD!  What other option do you/I have?  I decided sitting at home, not going on the trips with my family, and/or missing his games was not going to make me feel any better... most likely would have made me feel much worse knowing myself.  I do not like my situation one bit, however, I am blessed and very grateful for my family and my life, and I am going to fight like hell for them/it.  I choose to believe that I will heal and recover, and I encourage you to believe the same.  You will heal!

[[kl...]]

3 minutes ago, [[F...] said:

@[kl...]I completely understand/relate to what you are going through and everything you said.  You are living my story.  You probably haven't read any of my past posts/threads, however, I have/had all the same feelings and also coached my 6 (going on 7) year old son in baseball this past spring while in the trenches.  I conducted several practices where I was operating on 0, or near 0, sleep from the night prior.  He made his all star team this summer and thankfully I did not coach that, however, I have been present for him at every practice and game this Summer.  I also have travelled out of state on a few occasions thus far with wife, son and newborn. 

I'm not trying to pat myself on the back at all, just to encourage you to trudge forward and yes it is HARD!  What other option do you/I have?  I decided sitting at home, not going on the trips with my family, and/or missing his games was not going to make me feel any better... most likely would have made me feel much worse knowing myself.  I do not like my situation one bit, however, I am blessed and very grateful for my family and my life, and I am going to fight like hell for them/it.  I choose to believe that I will heal and recover, and I encourage you to believe the same.  You will heal!

@[Fa...]thabk you for this. I read so much about people ending up agoraphobic and my heart just breaks for them. I do see myself not near where I was socially but hope that I can keep pushing to get out and stay active. I read these threads so often an am heartbroken. Your story gives me hope it can be done. Thank you!

[[Fa...]]

@[kl...] Yes, you can do it!  I too am not very social anymore and everything is hard, but I do as much as I can.  Don't worry about getting every symptom in the book.  Just don't go there.  Whatever symptoms you are currently experiencing, are most likely going to be what you see the rest of your taper if you heed @[he...]'s taper advice.  They may even improve!  You've got this, friend!

[[he...]]

If you're looking for symptoms, they may find you, so leave that alone. It's likely you won't get many of the ones you fear, so let it be.

[[kl...]]

16 minutes ago, [[h...] said:

If you're looking for symptoms, they may find you, so leave that alone. It's likely you won't get many of the ones you fear, so let it be.

Thank you @[he...]seeint that you help people taper and thank you for that. Have you seen success with amino acids? I’ve been watching videos about their benefits in assisting people taper off of benzodiazepines. I was thinking of possibily adding them and seeing how they helped. Also I have heard magnesium glycinate may be beneficial along with glutathione. Just wanted to know what you had heard about any of these.

[[he...]]

3 minutes ago, [[k...] said:

Thank you @[he...]seeint that you help people taper and thank you for that. Have you seen success with amino acids? I’ve been watching videos about their benefits in assisting people taper off of benzodiazepines. I was thinking of possibily adding them and seeing how they helped. Also I have heard magnesium glycinate may be beneficial along with glutathione. Just wanted to know what you had heard about any of these.

You're welcome, @[kl...]. I help where I'm able. It's the least I can do.

There are many topics about these substances in the archived threads from the old site. Some people seem to get some benefit from these things, others have experienced revved symptoms or setbacks from things like magnesium. Magnesium glycinate does seem to be the preferred form for people struggling to sleep. However, it's worth noting that the black-pepper extract (Bioperine) put in some of these supplements can slow the metabolism of your benzo (except Ativan/lorazepam), similar to the grapefruit effect, thereby causing your serum concentration to rise.

I never found a supplement that helped me, but some swear by them.

[[kl...]]

@[he...]how far off are you of your benzos? How are you doing now?

[[je...]]

16 hours ago, [[k...] said:

@[je...]functiining yes. Severe back and neck pain and lots of trouble sleeping. Difficulty paying attention to conversations and memory issues. I am also having a lot of fatigue some depression, weakness. I’m not able to work out much other than walking and I used to work out every day pretty intense. I’m also getting weird sensations in my hands and feet. A lot of times I will wake up with my hands and feet numb.

I guess I am functioning fine. I’m working 40 hours a week, but not  near where I was before the big taper. Thanks for your attention to this. 

From what you describe, it sounds like you are functional and over the worst of your cuts. I am not minimising the side effects of your withdrawal, because I know it is still tough to deal with. If you click on my profile and you go to the "about me" section, you'll see my taper history of Clonazepam. At the start I made two big cuts of 75% and 50% respectively. With those I ended up non-functional where I was not able to get myself out of bed after 3 weeks. I had to updose to get my functionality back. The time I was bedridden, I describe as benzo hell - luckily it was only a few days. When I was tapering after I stabilized, I was functional - going to work, taking care of my family, doing house chores - but it was not easy. I struggled. There were times at work I thought I wasn't going to get through the day.  I felt miserable all the time. But I never missed a day of work due to withdrawal. Many weekends I would spent on the couch (I still do) just because I don't feel well enough to do anything else. BUT I'm not in benzo hell chained to my bed or house.

I'm explaining this to you to give you some type of reference of what to expect. Benzo withdrawal is a very individual experience, but we do share some commonalities. One of them is being functional, not feeling good and not being able to continue your life as you would normally do. I did not experience all the symptoms in the manual. My main symptoms are: insomnia, brain fog, head pressure, headaches/migraines, memory loss. Symptoms that come and go: depersonalisation, emotional bluntness. 

I think you are good to start tapering again. Most people start by shaving and weighing their pills, but the method is up to you. We usually recommend cuts of no more than 5-10% of each new daily dose every two weeks. What I suggest you do is:

• Choose a percentage
• Select how often you want to reduce (for Clonazepam I would not recommend anything less than 2 weeks, but it can be longer)
• Select the method you want to use 

Let us know if you need guidance.

[[Ko...]]

 

I have taken Mag glycinate at bedtime for months along with l-theanine so I plan on keeping those as a constant during the taper.

[[kl...]]

32 minutes ago, [[j...] said:

From what you describe, it sounds like you are functional and over the worst of your cuts. I am not minimising the side effects of your withdrawal, because I know it is still tough to deal with. If you click on my profile and you go to the "about me" section, you'll see my taper history of Clonazepam. At the start I made two big cuts of 75% and 50% respectively. With those I ended up non-functional where I was not able to get myself out of bed after 3 weeks. I had to updose to get my functionality back. The time I was bedridden, I describe as benzo hell - luckily it was only a few days. When I was tapering after I stabilized, I was functional - going to work, taking care of my family, doing house chores - but it was not easy. I struggled. There were times at work I thought I wasn't going to get through the day.  I felt miserable all the time. But I never missed a day of work due to withdrawal. Many weekends I would spent on the couch (I still do) just because I don't feel well enough to do anything else. BUT I'm not in benzo hell chained to my bed or house.

I'm explaining this to you to give you some type of reference of what to expect. Benzo withdrawal is a very individual experience, but we do share some commonalities. One of them is being functional, not feeling good and not being able to continue your life as you would normally do. I did not experience all the symptoms in the manual. My main symptoms are: insomnia, brain fog, head pressure, headaches/migraines, memory loss. Symptoms that come and go: depersonalisation, emotional bluntness. 

I think you are good to start tapering again. Most people start by shaving and weighing their pills, but the method is up to you. We usually recommend cuts of no more than 5-10% of each new daily dose every two weeks. What I suggest you do is:

• Choose a percentage
• Select how often you want to reduce (for Clonazepam I would not recommend anything less than 2 weeks, but it can be longer)
• Select the method you want to use 

Let us know if you need guidance.

Thank you @[je...]how long are you post taper? I am sorry about your symptoms. Hopefully they continue to improve with time. My short term memory seems impaired quite a bit as well.

[[je...]]

I'm 8 months now. I've seen some improvement. I'm very confident though that I'll make a full recovery.

[[Gl...]]

5 hours ago, [[k...] said:

@glitter I don’t think I was brave I just didn’t know better. How are you feeling at .60?

Tapering as quickly as you have is courageous.  I'm struggling right now, maybe because I cheated a few weeks ago (don't ever cheat Klonopin).  I hope you get feeling better soon and get lots of good windows of relief. 

[[Pa...]]

I used Klonopin for about 5 years and I've been recovered since 2008, life is wonderful, I returned to who I was, no PTSD, no lingering symptoms, it can happen.  

I used to read the success stories for hope but I didn't believe they were written by real people, I figured someone has made them all up until I wrote my own.  Talk about benzo lies, they're insidious! 

[[kl...]]

Wow @[Pa...]thanks for the encouragement. It does feel so far away. How long did it take for you to see improvements? I know it’s not linear but helps to hear others stories.

[[he...]]

2 hours ago, [[k...] said:

@[he...]how far off are you of your benzos? How are you doing now?

@[kl...] Check my profile. I'm making progress at 12 weeks off, but it's slow, and I still have some tough symptoms hanging on.

[[Pa...]]

1 hour ago, [[k...] said:

Wow @[Pa...]thanks for the encouragement. It does feel so far away. How long did it take for you to see improvements? I know it’s not linear but helps to hear others stories.

Thats the problem, the benzo lies wouldn't let me believe I was making progress, I kept thinking I wasn't improving but I must have been because I was able to go to work and function, miserable but functioning.  I fully recovered from my cold turkey of Klonopin at about 14 months but I think I would have done so sooner if I hadn't taken a little side trip down Ambien lane.  

You're right about the non-linear recovery, one step forward, two back, so discouraging and the trouble is, you learn not to trust feeling good because you know it'll probably be followed by nasty symptoms. 

[[kl...]]

@[Pa...]I hear you on ambien. I’ve added Trazadone because I couldn’t sleep at all when I went from 1 MG to .5 MG. I was fine going from 2 MG to 1MG. I hope the Trazadone and the SNRI aren’t effecting my healing. I feel like o need them to get me through to tackle the benzo monster for now. Hopefully I can taper them at some point. I also have never been medicated for ADHD which my therapist thinks was the root cause of my anxiety. So I don’t know if I’m battling extreme cog fog from benzos or if it’s just manifesting my ADHD.

[[Pa...]]

I wouldn't worry about the Trazadone and the SNRI, you don't need to be medication free to recover, as long as that medication isn't a benzo or benzo light.  Be sure to give yourself plenty of time in recovery before attempting to taper them, don't rock that boat anymore than you need to.  

I'm not familiar with ADHD symptoms but I usually put my money on the benzo. 

[[kl...]]

@pamster what is a benzo light?

[[Pa...]]

On 7/29/2023 at 8:43 AM, [[k...] said:

@pamster what is a benzo light?

Sorry for my slang, I'm speaking of z-drugs. 

[[kl...]]

So I didn’t know of benzo buddies when I started my taper. I went way to fast and am stuck at .50 MG Clonazepan. I was at 2 MG for 18 years and went to .50 from 1 MG and that’s when my symptoms became extreme. Does an updose ever work to stabilize or is the damage already done? I just don’t know what to do with all the pain. I wasn’t this bad a month or even two months ago when I went to the .50. I hope someone can tell me people have restabilized on a higher dose and then gotten to the finish line.

[[je...]]

Can you update your signature please? (If you didn't have a signature on the old forum, just complete the latter part of the instructions). I updosed twice and it got me from non-functional back to life when I made huge cuts. I do think whether it works also depends on how long ago you made your cuts.

[[Fa...]]

Hi, @[kl...],

I have no doubt you are struggling and am sorry we have to go through this; however, based on our last discussion (attached thread), I believe we determined you were “stable” and “functioning”.  Not to minimize your suffering, but being able to work 40 hours per week actually would be considered to be “high functioning” around here.  

I believe you have been holding for 3 months now, so I personally would not recommend updosing as you would have to come back down and no guarantee it would help you.  Although suffering, I would consider you to be “functional”.

I would recommend following @[je...] and @[he...]’s “next step” discussion on attached thread.  Reading around here in a panic doesn’t help (I know from experience).  This is not an easy process, however, if you establish a slow and steady taper plan from here, I doubt you experience anything worse than you already have (possibly improve), will be able to remain “functional”, and succeed in your quest to discontinue your benzodiazepine! 

 

[[kl...]]

Thanks @[Fa...] I do appreciate it. For whatever reason my pain has gone through the roof. I don’t know how much longer I will be able to work 40 hours a week. I have to though to maintain the livelihood of my family. Sucks to because I’ve worked so hard to get to where I’m at in my profession. People are seeing me suffer and don’t really know whats going on. I hope I can fight through this wave. I just fought off a nasty cold so not sure if the extra stress that put on my system really messed me up or what. I appreciate your reply. Did you find anything effective for pain management? My son is also going through some health issues that are causing a lot of stress. He’s got a condition that we are having to get special treatments for once every three weeks for 18 weeks watching him struggle and not being able to be as present for him is really taxing on my mental health as well. I couldn’t have chose a worse time to come off these benzos. 

[[kl...]]

29 minutes ago, [[F...] said:

Hi, @[kl...],

I have no doubt you are struggling and am sorry we have to go through this; however, based on our last discussion (attached thread), I believe we determined you were “stable” and “functioning”.  Not to minimize your suffering, but being able to work 40 hours per week actually would be considered to be “high functioning” around here.  

I believe you have been holding for 3 months now, so I personally would not recommend updosing as you would have to come back down and no guarantee it would help you.  Although suffering, I would consider you to be “functional”.

I would recommend following @[je...] and @[he...]’s “next step” discussion on attached thread.  Reading around here in a panic doesn’t help (I know from experience).  This is not an easy process, however, if you establish a slow and steady taper plan from here, I doubt you experience anything worse than you already have (possibly improve), will be able to remain “functional”, and succeed in your quest to discontinue your benzodiazepine! 

 

@[je...]I updated that section so it should be readable. Let me know what you think. Thanks!