Looking for knowledgeable support group

[[Ch...]]

Hello my name is chris, i have been taking clonazepam for about 5 years sporadically, but overall consistently. I only use when need, but it was almost every week, not everyday. The last year specifically i used it alot more often just to get through my panic attacks on stage as a musician. Currently I haven’t been able to perform at my job. After learning about all of these different long term negative effects from the drug, i wanted to taper off. My doctor never really gave me a taper plan to help at all, so i tried myself off. That was a mistake. I take 0.5 mg, sometimes more than one in a day if its really bad. Lately i started taking a half of one just to keep it in my system daily. I feel like my panic attacks have been getting worse now, and i feel like im needing to take it daily. Today i took half of a 0.5 in the morning felt fine? Then symptoms came back about 12 hours later, i took another half, this time nothing helped. I just woke up with intense anxiety. It sounds like maybe i developed tolerance withdraw. I hope not, but maybe its something else. Im looking for a support group with knowledge i can use to talk about my experience, how to taper off properly, and what i expect. This is scary for me, and a bit lonely. Hope to hear from someone. Thanks.

Edited January 2 by [Ch...]

[[Pa...]]

Hello @[Ch...], welcome to BenzoBuddies,

I agree with you, it sounds like you’ve developed tolerance to the clonazepam and need more to achieve the same effect.  The terrible thing about these drugs is when this happens, they begin to cause the same issues we went on them to help, only worse! 

It’s important to be on a stable steady dose while you’re preparing to taper, then when somewhat stable, a reduction of around 5-10% every couple of weeks is recommended but what works best is using your symptoms to guide you.  This can hopefully keep you functioning and participating in life.

We’re glad you found us and will do our best to help you get through this and recover from your experience.

Pamster

[[Ch...]]

I ran out of health insurance currently, and i am looking for someone i can get some helpful answers from. It does seem like i am developing tolerance, which worries me. I am currently have panic attacks every day and the normal dose doesn’t seem to be doing it, i don't really want to up the dose to make things worse. I am trying to find some detox doctors to write me a taper plan. Im not sure if there are other medications that can help me get off of benzos, or at least make it manageable. Also lets say i take 0.5 a day, and thats not helping. Should i just stay at that dose to make it consistent, or up the dose and stay consistent with that?

[[Bu...]]

Hey  @[Ch...],

Welcome to BB.  You are in a great place to help with all this.  You might want to post in the Benzodiazepine Taper Strategies to talk with some folks who are knowledgeable about that specifically.  People on this site are really good with helping to plan a taper.  IMO, people here are often more knowledgeable about tapering than many doctors are, so if it were me, I would start with people here.

[[Pa...]]

I would avoid detox centers, they tend to withdraw clients too fast, most will reinstate and do a slow taper after spending all of that money.  They can get you off the drug safely, but recovery typically takes a long time and they don’t know how to help once you’re off the drug.

There are some comfort medications people have tried but there really isn’t anything that works for everyone, a pill got us here but there isn’t a pill to get us out. 

I would find a dose you can function on and take that consistently for a week or so to see if you can stabilize and in the meantime, taking @[Bu...] suggestion about starting a thread on the taper board is a good idea.