Tried to taper 1mg Klonopin daily after 4 months use, and failed. Any suggestions?

[[ri...]]

Hello! I am new here. I will get straight to the point. So for the past 4 months I have been taking Klonopin. I been dealing with noisy upstairs neighbors for the last three years (mainly kids stomping) that causes me a lot of anxiety. I asked my psychiatrist to prescribe me Klonopin. And she obliged. She prescribed me 0.5mg  twice a day as needed. I only took it once a day at first. But then I started taking it twice a day. Sometimes I would take another one about 4 hours after I had just taken my morning dose. I stopped doing that and I I started tapering the nightly dose. My psychiatrist didn't give me any advice on how to taper. She was leaving it all in my control, which I don't mind because I don't like her anyways lol. So I started tapering about one week ago by a quarter pill reduction at night. I did that for 3 days and I went down to half. Then after 3 days I went to a quarter at night. Mind you I was still taking my full morning dose. And then yesterday I started to feel sweaty, nauseous, fatigue and depressed. I wasn't anxious. I just felt sick. So I decided to stop the taper and went back up to my full dose. I am waiting until I move into a different apartment, since for the last 3 years I have been dealing with noisy upstairs neighbors and that is why I started the Klonopin in the first place because I became so agitated and anxious when I was in my apartment I had to take it to calm down. So my question is should I wait until I get into a more quiet apartment? And how long would my taper be? And how much should I cut down per week? Thanks.

Edited November 8, 2023 by [ri...]
Needed to change title

[[Co...]]

Hello @[ri...]. Welcome to BenzoBuddies.

Most people who take multiple doses across the day benefit from reducing their doses in stepwise fashion. So, in your example, remove a quarter-pill from the night dose, and then for the next reduction, remove a quarter-pill of the morning dose.

I am not suggesting that you change anything now, but you might benefit from making future quarter-pill redactions from your morning dose until it has evened up with your evening dose.

I should also advise you that the vast majority of our members would, in your shoes, taper off by a quarter-pill every 1-2 weeks. And, like mentioned, in stepwise fashion, across the two daily doses. It is unsurprising that you appear to be suffering from significant withdrawal symptoms - and they could become a lot worse if you continue at this rate of withdrawal.

If you are feeling stressed and agitated, and are planning to move soon (which is always stressful), you might well do better to pause your taper until after the move and you are more settled. In your shoes, I think that's what I would do. And it seems that this what you are already thinking too.