[Clonazepam] Paradoxical reaction from reinstating a upper dose ? (failed to taper)

[[ma...]]

Guys

 

I've been taking clonazepam for approximately 4 years (daily since COVID) and I've been trying at least 2 times to stop but still without success. In this last attempt I was taking a dose of just 0.05mg stably for at least 1 month (I live in Brazil and we have liquid clonazepam) but after almost 2 weeks I tried to reduce it to 0.025mg and the damn withdrawal effects came. The main side effect that disturbs me is extreme anxiety, a tightness in the chest that feels like you've been scared or received bad news, but for no apparent reason. Something like a constant adrenaline rush.... Well, I've been trying to stabilize again with larger doses for at least 5 days, but every day that I increase the dose, it seems that the anxiety increases... when I started taking benzos I I was prescribed alprazolam, which gave me a paradoxical effect and I only discovered after 1 week without sleep that the psychiatrist had made a big mistake... well, what do you think? Should I take another benzo temporarily (I have diazepam here) or is the probability of screwing up  everything is too high??

[[Bu...]]

Hey @[ma...],

I'm really sorry.  That sounds miserable.  Can I ask how much clonazepam you are currently taking?  It sounds like it just isn't working anymore, that you've hit tolerance withdrawal.  I think, if it were me, I would stop making any changes for a while and see if things stabilize. 

Did you mean you were taking .5mgs?  And then reduced to .25mgs?  If so, that is a very large cut and I'm not surprised that you had terrible withdrawal.

I don't know about taking anything else. Again if it were me, I think I would hold everything that way it is for a bit and try dealing with the anxiety through other methods.

[[ma...]]

7 minutes ago, [[B...] said:

Hey @[ma...],

I'm really sorry.  That sounds miserable.  Can I ask how much clonazepam you are currently taking?  It sounds like it just isn't working anymore, that you've hit tolerance withdrawal.  I think, if it were me, I would stop making any changes for a while and see if things stabilize. 

Did you mean you were taking .5mgs?  And then reduced to .25mgs?  If so, that is a very large cut and I'm not surprised that you had terrible withdrawal.

I don't know about taking anything else. Again if it were me, I think I would hold everything that way it is for a bit and try dealing with the anxiety through other methods.

 

that's right, it was 0.05mg and 0.025mg. Today I took 0.2mg and tomorrow I will take 0.1mg to see if I stabilize at this dose

I'm going to hold back and not increase this dose or use another benzo, I'm going to try other things I have around here to help (CBD/CBN oil, quetiapine for sleep, atenolol...)

Thanks for the support!