Klonopin taper schedule-ok or too quick?

[[Ho...]]

Hello all, thanks in advance for your time. This probably won't be eloquent due to the fun withdrawal symptoms I'm having, but I'll do my best lol. 

I have been prescribed Benzos for about a decade, with a nurse practitioner first prescribinge 3mg/day of Xanax without any explanation of what it does other than will stop my panic attacks. I had no idea what benzos even were at the time and unfortunately trusted the Dr that this would be fine. Long story short, ended up with a severe problem with that, and finally having a psych prescribe me 2mg klonopin per day in its place. About 4 years ago that psych slowly weened me down to 1mg per day over approximately 30 months.

About two weeks ago, my new psych has decided it's time for me to taper off completely, and I am happy to do so and have these not run my life anymore. Her idea of a slow taper though is to cut out a quarter mg at a specific rate so that I will be completely off of them within 6 weeks from the start of the taper. This seems fast to me, but  willing to try if it's safe. My question is could there be consequences to tapering this quickly after how long I've been on them and should I discuss this with her, or is this a decent time frame and I should just go with it? 

 

[[Co...]]

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

Tapering off 1mg Xanax over six weeks is faster than we generally suggest to members after protracted use, but not massively so. But it depends upon the individual. Some can manage to withdraw at that rate without too many problems, but many cannot.

In any case, the best taper rate is one based upon withdrawal symptoms. That is, if and when the symptoms become too much to handle, the taper is halted or slowed down to suit.

Again, you might be fine. But some flexibility is advantageous. I suggest that if it becomes too much, that you immediately inform your psychiatrist and request that you halt the taper for a short time until you feel able to make a new cut to your dose.

[[Ho...]]

Thank you! Does the fact that it's 1mg of Klonopin and not Xanax make any difference as to what your answer would be or is it about the same? 

[[ou...]]

1 hour ago, [[H...] said:

Thank you! Does the fact that it's 1mg of Klonopin and not Xanax make any difference as to what your answer would be or is it about the same? 

They're equipotent.

[[Ho...]]

1 hour ago, [[o...] said:

They're equipotent.

But usually it's .5mg Xanax approximately equal to 1mg Klonopin, the half lives are different, and they are also structurally different. I feel like that would make a difference. 

[[Fa...]]

Hi, @[Ho...].  Welcome to BenzoBuddies.  I am confident that Klonopin vs. Xanax would not have changed @[Co...]’s answer.

What did your schedule of reduction look like over the 30 months you reduced from 2mg to 1mg?  Did you have any difficulties at any particular stage of this reduction period?

[[Ho...]]

1 hour ago, [[F...] said:

Hi, @[Ho...].  Welcome to BenzoBuddies.  I am confident that Klonopin vs. Xanax would not have changed @[Co...]’s answer.

What did your schedule of reduction look like over the 30 months you reduced from 2mg to 1mg?  Did you have any difficulties at any particular stage of this reduction period?

Thank you! Appreciate it.

The reduction was just going down by 1mg/month so id basically just take a day where I'd only take 1 instead of 2 1mg pills each month - I don't recall exactly the strategy. I really didn't notice any withdrawal symptoms with that method other than just being anxious in general about weaning, but I feel like that was more just normal worry of the change and not necessarily due to withdrawals, if that makes sense. This time around I'm definitely feeling the symptoms, but so far they aren't unbearable. They probably would be if I was working/required to drive and socialize, etc. 

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

 

[[Co...]]

5 hours ago, [[H...] said:

But usually it's .5mg Xanax approximately equal to 1mg Klonopin, the half lives are different, and they are also structurally different. I feel like that would make a difference. 

Different medical authorities provide differing equivalent charts. But Prof. Ashton listed them as equivalent potency for the same dose.

[[Fa...]]

Sounds good, @[Ho...].  Just listen to your body - it will let you know if you need to pause your taper and slow down.  Please do keep us posted and reach back out if you have additional questions or need support.