Quick taper, wasn’t aware what I was doing.. help…

[[Go...]]

Hello, I’m new here… which is a shame, as I wish I’d found you before I came off my benzos.

I think I was having tolerance withdrawals, while on my clonazepam, which I’d been taking for two years. No-one would listen and I became desperate to the point of wanting to kill myself.

That was nearly 4 weeks ago and I decided to stop taking my meds. I’ve done it over the last 4 weeks, which I now know was way too quick. I’m 4 or 5 days clean and amongst other things, I’m getting memory loss, I’ve had psychosis and possibly a seizure. It currently feels like someone has set fire to the soles of my feet. 

How long does this last?

[[al...]]

You may want to reinstate the Klonopin to an amount that stabilizes you , then taper down very slowly.  It seems you came off the benzos too quickly causing your nervous system to go into hyperdrive.   Google  "Ashton manual"  on how to correctly taper a benzo

 

[[Go...]]

Thank you, I’ll have a look.

 

[[Go...]]

Ok, so having read the manual, and more information here, I’ve made a decision. I’m not going back on the clonazepam. I was on 4mg a day and I’ve been through hell to get off it in 4 weeks. I’m just going to have to go through more and hope I can manage the next phases of withdrawal.

I’ve literally got nothing to lose. If I stay on it, it will kill me quickly. If I stay off it, it may kill me slowly, or it may not. 

I guess I’m going to be using this forum a LOT, for reassurance, support and help. Bloody hate the Psychiatrist that facilitated this. 

[[Pa...]]

I'm here to reassure you, I quit 6-10 mgs of Klonopin a day cold turkey and I've been recovered a long time.  Quitting this way is rough, I believe we suffer more at first but our symptoms begin to lessen and its my belief that they become more like those who are tapering, miserable but survivable. 

I'm afraid that you're going to feel much worse before you feel better, I don't say this to scare you but prepare you.  Klonopins half life is fairly long so you most likely haven't begun to feel the worst symptoms yet, but it sounds like you're committed and that's what it takes.  It took me about 2 1/2 weeks to get past the acute stage then I settled into months of miserable recovery but recover I did. 

You can get through this but recovery takes a long time so read all you can about this process, this will help dispel the fear.  And understand these are just symptoms of your brain trying to repair what the drug has disrupted, this isn't some terrible disease, we know what it is but the fear and pain will drive you to think something else is wrong.  

 

[[Go...]]

2 minutes ago, [[P...] said:

I'm here to reassure you, I quit 6-10 mgs of Klonopin a day cold turkey and I've been recovered a long time.  Quitting this way is rough, I believe we suffer more at first but our symptoms begin to lessen and its my belief that they become more like those who are tapering, miserable but survivable. 

I'm afraid that you're going to feel much worse before you feel better, I don't say this to scare you but prepare you.  Klonopins half life is fairly long so you most likely haven't begun to feel the worst symptoms yet, but it sounds like you're committed and that's what it takes.  It took me about 2 1/2 weeks to get past the acute stage then I settled into months of miserable recovery but recover I did. 

You can get through this but recovery takes a long time so read all you can about this process, this will help dispel the fear.  And understand these are just symptoms of your brain trying to repair what the drug has disrupted, this isn't some terrible disease, we know what it is but the fear and pain will drive you to think something else is wrong.  

 

❤️😢 Thank you for your words and letting me know this can be done. I’m a bit in shock at everything happening to my body at the moment, but I’m still going to try… If successful / once stable I will be making daily contact with any medical council that will listen about the dangers of putting patients on these. It’s not ok. 

[[Pa...]]

We're slowly making progress on that front but its not happening soon enough to spare people like you I'm sorry to say.  For now, your focus needs to be on getting through this, you can join the battle when you're feeling better.