Navigating Lower Doses

[[mi...]]

I am currently holding at .160 mg of Klonopin, in order to stabilize from a recent crash due to several factors. I’ve been told that as you get to the lower doses, such as where I am at things start to get a little more tricky. Is it inevitable that symptoms will get worse, even if you slow down and build in more holds or can some of those issues get mitigated by taking it easier. I’ve heard some people say that lower doses are where they get tons of side effects and other people say that is when they finally started getting relief. I know everyone is different but I guess my question is if I have had a relatively stable taper  and have just recently started to become very symptomatic, would holding longer and doing smaller cuts, potentially reduce symptoms or is it inevitable that some just get sicker as it dose gets lower. 

[[je...]]

I was fine at the very lower doses. I got tripped up at around 0.4mg (but my starting dose was 2mg). I suspect what constitutes "low" differs for each person. I don't think it's inevitable that you'll get sicker as you get lower. You had other factors play into your situation that destabilized you. The most important thing in my opinion is to get stable again and listen to your body and symptoms. I think those of us who have had a functional taper have the opportunity to navigate the end by doing exactly this. People who have had a problematic taper all along have a much more difficult time with this.

[[mi...]]

@[je...] so reassuring. Thank you! So based on my recent posting, you feel my current state has more to do with cuts catching up to me and multiple changes/stresses than it does with the fact that I’m at a lower dose.

[[je...]]

I'm not discounting the lower dose, but I also think you have multiple other factors applying to your situation. And I don't think this situation is one that you cannot recover from. Basically what I'm trying to say is, just because you're low does not necessarily mean you 'are going to get worse'. It didn't happen to me. If you have had a fairly functional taper, you are in a good position to navigate lower numbers. You have to be careful, you cannot be flippant about lower numbers, but it is something that can be done in a functional manner.

[[mi...]]

@[je...] Ok awesome to hear that. I was showing no worsening of symptoms at all, as I approached all of these changes and crashed. I had just accepted a full-time job offer for the fall which I have had to since decline and that was the first time I was able to work full-time and quite a while so obviously I was doing a lot better. I had a three week vacation planned this summer, which I was super excited about, and was not having any digestive issues that would have prevented me from going, and no anxiety at all. When this hit me, it was like a ton of bricks, and that’s why I was hoping it wasn’t just because of the lower dose. Once I stabilize and I’m ready to taper again, I will be definitely tapping into your experience to help get down lower. I don’t want to rush, as quality of life is way more important to me than getting off and I want to take this all the way to zero without any shortcuts.