As Needed Clonazepam and Magnesium Glycinate W/D?

[[Wa...]]

Hi again @[Br...] and @[Wi...]. My taper is going okay so far. I held .375 for 13 days then went to .3125 for 12 days before going to .25. During those two holds I would level out around days 4-8, then actually feel worse on days 9-12. The first time at .375 I just pushed through it and cut to .3125. Then I pushed through it again going to .25 and really felt it after. I was at .25 for 2 days and had to updose to .28 and will hold here for at least the next week. I probably could have held .25 but I need to remain at least moderately functional. My main question is, is it normal to level out like that and then have symptoms worsen? Or is it just something in my head that causes anxiety around the next cut which leads to an uptick in symptoms on those days 9-12? It was almost identical patterns during both cuts

[[Br...]]

7 hours ago, [[W...] said:

My main question is, is it normal to level out like that and then have symptoms worsen

Hi @[Wa...], Yes this is normal.  When tapering Klonopin we've seen members report symptoms show up around 3 days after a cut and begin to settle about day 10 at which time they’ll make another cut.  It may vary a bit from one individual to another but the overall pattern is often a delay of a few days before withdrawal symptoms show up and then settle down after a week or so. It seems you've discerned a very similar pattern during two holds.    

I know it's frustrating to go more slowly- we want to be done with this and get the benzos out of our system.  But it's not worth the cost - you may need to hold longer between cuts to give your system more time to adjust. It's not unusual to need to hold longer than 14 days. When symptoms feel unmanageable this is the bests approach.  It's important to be flexible and open to adjusting the time between cuts and the size of cuts.  

[[Wa...]]

Thanks for the reply @[Br...]

Yeah I guess I am still feeling out my body in these first few cuts.  Going to level out at my current dosage and go from there

[Guest [...]]

Hi @[Wa...]

Forgive me if I’ve got this wrong (benzo brain), but it seems the two most recent cuts have been the same size. The brain doesn’t experience those cuts as though they are the same. It’s more concerned with the percentage you are removing from each remaining dose. It’s best if you recalculate your reduction percentage from the remaining dose before each new cut. 

Your first reduction from 0.375 down to 0.3125 was a total cut of 0.0625

Your second reduction from 0.3125 down to 0.25 was a total cut of 0.0625

See how the reduction is the same, but in terms of the actual percentage being removed from your total remaining dose, it’s climbing with each reduction. 

You may eventually need to consider purchasing a cheap jewellers scale to make accurate percentage based cuts calculated from each new total remaining dose, or at least, now that you are at 0.280, hold until ready to reduce, and then just try reducing to 0.25, a reduction of 0.030, which is just under half the size of your recent reductions. 

[[Wa...]]

Yes @[Wi...] both cuts were the same size. I was a short term user of roughly 5 weeks and I had hoped I would be able to make reasonably fast deductions

I did end up purchasing a jewelers scale and will make future reduction cuts at the percent of my current dose

Thanks for the reply and I hope your taper is going well

[[Kr...]]

On 02/11/2023 at 13:43, [[W...] said:

Quick update @[Wi...]

The trip to the PCP didn't go great.  He gave me a few more pills and said take .25mg for a few more days and stop.  I didn't really try to convince him otherwise.  He did give me some hydroxyzine which helps with the late afternoon anxiety and sleep.

I did get an appointment with the specialist for Nov 9th.  I have enough pills to last me until then.

Last few days have been okay and I don't really have symptoms as of now aside from a few random weird things throughout the day.  I'm currently at .375mg, at what point do you think I should take a shot at .25mg again? 

My last 10 daily doses have been: .5mg, .25mg, .25mg, 0, .25mg, .5mg, .5mg, .5mg, .375mg, .375mg.  I plan on taking .375mg today as well

Hi @[Wa...]!

 

I have been following your taper, hope you are still doing well. I'm also a short time user, but Xanax for me, having difficulties with sleep. Get only about 3-4 hours, but tonight only like 1,5. And it's very broken. I only started my tapering with a quarter pill, maybe it was too much.

How much sleep you get a day? Is it continous or broken? Did hydroxyzine help? How much you take of it?

Any symptoms with your taper?

Edited January 22 by [Kr...]

[[Wa...]]

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

Hi @[Wa...]!

I have been following your taper, hope you are still doing well. I'm also a short time user, but Xanax for me, having difficulties with sleep. Get only about 3-4 hours, but tonight only like 1,5. And it's very broken. I only started my tapering with a quarter pill, maybe it was too much.

How much sleep you get a day? Is it continous or broken? Did hydroxyzine help? How much you take of it?

Any symptoms with your taper?

Hey @[Kr...] thanks for checking in. My taper has had its ups and downs for sure, my main symptoms at the moment are screen/light sensitivity and muscle tension.

I had some insomnia in the middle stages of my taper. About 10 days where I was getting 1-2 hours. It has improved since going down and I get around 5-7 a night although I get up a few times. Hydroxyzine helped me a bit, I used around 10-25mgs in the beginning. I haven’t really used it lately though.

Why did you start Xanax, was it for insomnia? What are your other symptoms?

[[Kr...]]

Hey @[Wa...]!

 

Thanks for your answer! I will try hydroxyzine tomorrow, already got prescribed. Happy that your sleep issues got resolved. You had that when you decreased the dose too much at first? You mentioned a rocky start somewhere, I remember.

I broke up with a girl and had a little meltdown and I panicked. I was stupid enough to start taking Xanax instead of waiting a few weeks to get over it. I did not know you can so easily become dependent on it.

You had insomnia before, that's why you started taking K? Right now I have insomnia (slept only 1,5 hours last night, 3-4 hours last week average), very bad appetite, stomach pain, little bit of restless leg. Today I kinda realized, probably my mind are causing some of these symptoms or at least it strengthens them by overthinking this whole taper thing. I stuck in a situation which can't be resolved easily, still taking these stupid pills while I know, they are not good for me. So I think I have to rewire my brain a little bit as well, not to focus too much on this. Possibly I read too many horror stories on this site. Of course, they were all really long-term users. Hope they will get better.

I talked with my GP today. I decreased one of my pill by only a quarter this week, and she said she have never seen anybody having this strong symptoms. People usually just half their pills for a few weeks, then stop, no side effects. For short-term users of course.

[[Kr...]]

Hi @[Wa...]!

Just one more small addition. Yesterday evening after I wrote this post I realized, that probably my rumination on all these things are the problem, not the cut I made last Monday. I was thinking of this like 90% of my time. Today I realized, that indeed that is what causing the problem. For today, almost all symptoms are gone. Heureka!

[[Wa...]]

22 hours ago, [[K...] said:

Hey @[Wa...]!

Thanks for your answer! I will try hydroxyzine tomorrow, already got prescribed. Happy that your sleep issues got resolved. You had that when you decreased the dose too much at first? You mentioned a rocky start somewhere, I remember.

I broke up with a girl and had a little meltdown and I panicked. I was stupid enough to start taking Xanax instead of waiting a few weeks to get over it. I did not know you can so easily become dependent on it.

You had insomnia before, that's why you started taking K? Right now I have insomnia (slept only 1,5 hours last night, 3-4 hours last week average), very bad appetite, stomach pain, little bit of restless leg. Today I kinda realized, probably my mind are causing some of these symptoms or at least it strengthens them by overthinking this whole taper thing. I stuck in a situation which can't be resolved easily, still taking these stupid pills while I know, they are not good for me. So I think I have to rewire my brain a little bit as well, not to focus too much on this. Possibly I read too many horror stories on this site. Of course, they were all really long-term users. Hope they will get better.

I talked with my GP today. I decreased one of my pill by only a quarter this week, and she said she have never seen anybody having this strong symptoms. People usually just half their pills for a few weeks, then stop, no side effects. For short-term users of course.

Yes this story sounds a lot like mine in the beginning. I just saw your next post as well. Anxiety and rumination are both able to cause an uptick in symptoms. This is something I went through during the first part of my taper. Once I was able to settle down most of my symptoms settled for the most part, sleep included. I would just try to take it one day and one cut at a time. If you have any other questions feel free to ask

Edited January 23 by [Wa...]