New Member, Looking for Help/Insight

[[Tr...]]

He everyone, I’ve been reading entires but wanted to be able to get involved. Brief history, had a bad anxiety episode back in spring, started with Zoloft and klonopin. 8 months later I’m doing much better, taking some lexapro but I’ve found myself dependent on the klonopin, something I never realized could happen so easily. I have started a slow taper Freon the 0.5 mg that I’ve been taking daily. Currently at 0.4 mg.

Any words of wisdom?  It’s still hard to believe I’m in this situation. 🤷‍♂️

[[Co...]]

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

I think getting off before your dependency deepens is a wise decision. Because it likely will become worse and more difficult the longer you take it.

How did you go about reducing your dose from 0.5mg to 0.4mg? Did you reduce your dose in a single step? When did you start your taper?

[[Tr...]]

Hi Colin, thanks for the response. Yes, all the reading convinced me I needed to try and start weening myself off. So, I’ve kind of been in a use as I needed mode with the klonopin but always trying to put the max amount at 0.5 mg. I found there were already days I was taking less sometimes. I thought I could probably officially start at 0.4 and make a good go of it.

I did try a week ago a much more accelerated taper, cutting in half to 0.25 and more. It was awful, painful,  so I learned my lesson. Taking it slow from here.  
 

@[Co...]

Edited November 21, 2023 by [Tr...]

[[Tr...]]

I guess Im still not sure exactly how the tapering works. It sounds as though as the medication slowly rolls off the body will slowly turn back on important structures to help better regulate anxiety?

[[pi...]]

Hello @[Tr...] and welcome to the forum from me as well.

Benzos are tricky drugs, it doesn’t take long for a dependency to develop. I’m not surprised that the reduction of 1/2 was pretty awful. Klonopin is a very strong benzo, I tried something similar myself and failed miserably.

We generally recommend reducing. 10-14 days. It’s important to listen to your body and adjust the taper rate if necessary. 

Th nervous system is very sensitive and it can take time for it to reset. A slow taper allows the system to adjust to each reduction.

[[Tr...]]

Hi @[pi...], thanks very much for the feedback, all is appreciated.

Yes, I wasn’t sure what my body would handle and I wasn’t getting much help from counselors or doctors on a good plan. This forum has been very helpful so I’m going to take the long approach and hope that works better.

As a side question, I seem to have the worst anxiety in the morning and then as I get to afternoon and evening things tend to dissipate, even without klonopin dosage. Does that sound familiar at all?  Cortisol levels maybe? 
thanks again! 

Edited November 21, 2023 by [Tr...]

[[pi...]]

59 minutes ago, [[T...] said:

Hi @[pi...], thanks very much for the feedback, all is appreciated.

Yes, I wasn’t sure what my body would handle and I wasn’t getting much help from counselors or doctors on a good plan. This forum has been very helpful so I’m going to take the long approach and hope that works better.

As a side question, I seem to have the worst anxiety in the morning and then as I get to afternoon and evening things tend to dissipate, even without klonopin dosage. Does that sound familiar at all?  Cortisol levels maybe? 
thanks again! 

Yes, @[Tr...], morning anxiety is quite common. Cortisol levels are higher at this time. It usually eases up as the day goes on and evening is better for many people. The only thing I did for this was to get right up out of bed and do some gentle exercises. Laying around or just sitting around didn’t work for me.

[[Tr...]]

Yes, @[pi...], that’s exactly how my day goes, super elevated morning stress and then by mid afternoon things start to naturally improve. As I taper I’m trying to focus more of my dosage in the morning when things feel worst. Hoping this is a good approach.

thanks again for sharing your insights and experiences!