New to this - tapering .5 klonopin

[[Ch...]]

I’m so thankful I found this .org! I’m 47 years old and have been taking .5 klonopin at night for over 20 years. It is time to quit. My doctor suggested breaking my .5 in half each night. It’s been rough. I have increased my hydroxyzine dosage from 25 mg at night to 25-50 mg whenever nausea and anxiety hits. This helps a bit. From what I’ve read, even though I’m on a low dose, going from .5 to .25 could result in adverse withdrawal effects. The pill is so tiny, it is hard to break it into perfectly equal halves. So my question is, do you think tapering will be easier for me since I take such a low dose regardless of the fact I’ve been on it so long? What is the best way to get two equal halves, and when should I try splitting .5 into quarters? I’m determined to be successful with this.

[[Bu...]]

Hello @[Ch...],

Welcome to BenzoBuddies!  

I was also on .5mg of Klonopin for 20 years.  Mine was half in the morning and half at night, though.  I know we're told it's a low dose, but I found out the hard way it isn't.  It's not a terribly high dose, but it isn't low either.  

So are you currently taking .25 at night only?  If so, that is a very large reduction in your dose.  We generally recommend reducing by only  5%-10%  of your daily dose at a time and then holding for at least a couple weeks to see how you're feeling.

As for how easy the taper will be, that is a difficult question to answer, as so many factors are involved and everyone is unique.  But I will say it is doable and that you will find great support here.  I did not do the best taper, (I hadn't found this site then) so I am not the best resource for that, but I am sure others will chime in shortly regarding the various taper techniques.

[[Ch...]]

Thank you! Yes, I’m only taking .25 at night. That’s a rough estimate though because of the irregular way the pill breaks into halves. I wish there was a way to get micro doses from the pharmacy. 

[[...]]

Give it a good month to see how you feel. It can take that long to get sick reducing Klonopin. 

 

[[ns...]]

[[Bu...]]

@[Ch...],

A couple of questions:

How long have you been at the .25mg dose?  Is your doctor supportive of you doing a slower taper, as it may be helpful to ease your symptoms? 

When I started with my whole .5mg pill, I cut it with a pill cutter that had a razor blade in it.  This was sufficient for the larger pieces.  But since it isn't recommended to do such large cuts going forward, many folks will use a jeweler's scale to weight their pills and then do the cuts with a razor blade or nail file, as @[ns...]mentioned.  There are also liquid preparations that may work for you, too.  You can do a search at the top of the page for key words regarding specific types of tapers.

For now though, if your symptoms are very severe, it may be wise to hold you current dose until you feel more stable, especially if you haven't been at this dose very long.

[[Ma...]]

Yes, I would recommend what others have and get a jewelers scale.  They’re about 20 dollars on Amazon.  Still not exact, but easier to get close to your dose.  I’m also tapering Clonazepam (0.475 mg right now down from 1mg) and the pills weigh .172g (pill weight) on my scale.  I will be able to use that scale until I get down to about 0.1 mg of Clonazepam and then will be close to my jump dose.  At that point I may end up doing a short water taper.  Best of luck.