Tapering from 0.50mg (now at 0.25mg)

[[ti...]]

Starting .05mg tonight after being at .06mg for 6 days. last 3 days have felt decent/stabilized since last drop. hopefully a similar pattern continues…

[[je...]]

21 hours ago, [[t...] said:

Starting .05mg tonight after being at .06mg for 6 days. last 3 days have felt decent/stabilized since last drop. hopefully a similar pattern continues…

It's good to hear you're doing fairly well. The end is in sight!

[[ti...]]

Starting at .03mg tonight. Been going pretty well. @[Wa...] hope jump went / is going well. 

[[je...]]

That’s good to hear! This was an unconventional taper and you managed it really well by listening to your symptoms.

[[ti...]]

Dropping to .02mg tonight. Feeling decent, and have felt decent all through being at .03, still annoying constipation though. Sleep has been good at 6+ hours per night. Plan is 6 days at .02, then drop to .01, then 6+ days there (but hopefully not much longer than that) to ensure stability, then jump. 

[[ti...]]

@[je...] - doing okay relatively speaking (still things like GI annoyances, constipation, moodiness, some head tension etc but overall functional - can work, drive, people around me notice I continue to improve over these last few months including returned sense of humor), at day 3 of .01mg klonopin. Generally, especially last 3-4 cuts I have noticed a bit of an uptick (but not a major major uptick) on days 1-3 then symptoms lessen days 4-6. I am debating whether to jump towards the end of this week (so would be at about 7 days at .01, had previously done 7 days at .02, then last 7 or 8 cuts of .01mg each spent 6 days at each dose, prior to that cuts were over shorter intervals except the longer hold at .12 back in mar/apr) or wait a bit longer, possibly spending 10-14 days total at .01mg. The reason I would do this would be to ensure nothing catches up to me from prior cuts, and ensure I am in the best position possible prior to jumping.  

Thoughts? Assuming nothing severe comes up and I did hold for 14 days at .01 prior to jumping, is there any additional benefit to holding any longer at .01? If I jump and am hit by acute WD, I am assuming under pretty much no circumstances it is a good idea to reinstate (unless my condition becomes so bad it’s life threatening)? 

[[je...]]

You’re doing fairly well in your taper it seems. Considering the fact that you’ve been tapering for 3 months now, I think if any cuts were to catch up, it would have happened by now. I jumped at 0.025mg so I think you’re good to jump after your regular 7 days. But if it makes you feel better to hold longer that’s up to you. 

If you jump it’s better not to reinstate given your short term use and taper history. Unless of course your symptoms are unmanageable. But it’s unlikely that it would turn out that way. Just remember there will likely be windows and waves. Even at one year off I still had days where my symptoms felt pretty bad and almost the same as when I jumped. The difference was it was a wave, not every single day, consistently. The majority of the time there was improvement but there were still difficult days in between.

Well done! You should be so proud of what you have achieved!

[[ti...]]

sounds good, thanks @[je...]

[[ti...]]

Jumping tonight (i.e., last night was my last dose). Held for 10 days at .01mg and have not noticed an uptick in symptoms (have never been fully symptom free i think due to ssri discontinuation and starting on new ssri, as well as the fact i am certain klonopin itself is causing side effects). I think now is as good a time as any with two days off work this week and project at work being easy. Will also be with parents for whole day tomorrow and possibly the next day. @[je...] and @[Wa...] and everyone else on BB, wish me luck!!! Praying to God for the best.

[[Cr...]]

@[ti...] Congrats on making it to this point! You got this  They say the last dose is the most difficult to stop psychologically because it feels like such a major move and represents a huge change in your daily routine.

You may find it way easier than you thought. Just keep in mind that it could be awhile yet for you to reach a point where the recovery symptoms are basically non-existent. Whenever they rear their ugly heads be sure to remind yourself they are symptoms of positive changes going on in your brain and body.

Mark this day on your calendar!

[[je...]]

Well I guess you jumped last night! Congratulations! I’m sure you’ll be fine. It’s a bit nerve wracking but try to distract and not to focus on your symptoms. I’m happy for you you’ve reached this point! Now it will only get better with time. 

[[ti...]]

Almost 48 hours out and definitely feeling it. Last night (first night without taking it) got very little sleep (basically 0 hours) (compared to decent sleep of 6-6.5 hours before) was still tired but had hypnic jerks and just didn’t fall asleep. This morning basically started feeling more intense depression/anxiety than any previous cuts, and was getting stronger head sensations, pressure, first time felt much muscle burning for a while. Barely went #2… I wonder if it is wise to take .02mg tonight then go back to .01 for some time and consider titrating down to .001 or something. When I took lexapro today it felt different too - a bit more anxiety / wired feeling - when I first got in was clear it was causing some constipation and affecting sleep so another possibility is tapering that a bit down while staying on a low dose of K. 

Really don’t want to reinstate but given how functional I was during the later end of taper I wonder if it is worth trying to maintain that rather than suffer more acute, and before system gets too destabilized to reinstate at a similar dose. 

I think the Zoloft discontinuation has made me more sensitive and vulnerable to psychotropic drug changes than a normal ~5.5 month user of K. 

Edited June 17 by [ti...]

[[ti...]]

Additionally I have felt progressively (but not linearly) better over the last few months and don’t want to throw that progress away by jumping too early, which based on what is happening may be the case. Like if this went on for more than a few more days, in particular on the sleep point, I think I’d lose functionality.

[[je...]]

I’m sorry you’re experiencing an increase in symptoms. It could be related to anxiety about jumping. I would be hesitant to reinstate based on what could possibly happen in the future. There is very little if any therapeutic benefit in a dose of 0.02mg. 

If at all possible it would be better to just see how it goes especially if you’re still functional IMO. I would also not start tapering or make any changes to any other meds until you’ve fully stabilised from this taper. I would give it at least a couple of months.

Please keep us updated. I really hope things get better. 

 

[[ti...]]

Hey @[je...] - good news. Just slept 4.5 hours straight! Didn’t think it would be possible without the klonopin but it happened. Going to stay the course and not reinstate! Thanks for continued support  

Then slept a bit more! That all makes sense. Will keep you and other BB posted.

Edited June 18 by [ti...]

[[je...]]

That’s great news! This is definitely a good sign.

[[ti...]]

Tuesday another decent sleep, Wednesday was bad (like 2-3 hours), then last night decent again (6-7 hours). General trend of continuing to feel a bit better each day, and in some ways better than I ever felt during taper, likely because the Klonopin had gone paradoxical / had bad side effects and I think was having some strange sort of effect/interaction with the Lexapro I am taking. Profound how it affected me so even at such low doses. Truly a poison. It has now been ~6 days (144 hours) since my final dose.

Fingers crossed this general trend continues.

[[je...]]

I’m very happy to hear you’re doing well! I’m so envious of your sleep! The Klonopin caused insomnia for me and after 3 years I’m still only managing 4-5 (usually broken) hrs. Sounds like you’re on your way recovering from the Klonopin ordeal!

[[ti...]]

Thanks @[je...]. Your support has really helped me through the tough times so far, could not thank you and other BB enough. And I’ve been there with the horrid sleep, though not suffered nearly as long as you have - it is absolutely awful. 

Edited June 21 by [ti...]

[[ti...]]

@[je...] Continuing to experience improvement from what I can now only assume were side effects from klonopin… World seems clearer (and more familiar to me), mind sharper, higher motivation, less depression both internally and with how the world/external seems to me, fewer (if any) instances of slowed breathing. Sleep been remaining consistent average around 6 hours. Definitely still experiencing withdrawal but not as intense as last week (e.g., leg burning, world seeming a bit unreal at times, racing/anxious thoughts, etc.). Now 8 days since final dose. 

Edited June 24 by [ti...]

[[je...]]

That’s great!

[[ti...]]

3.5 weeks out and continuing to improve. Last few days I have felt better than I have since this whole ordeal with delayed Zoloft withdrawal started in early December. Not fully better, but close. While I am not out of the woods yet, and still might be hit with acute withdrawal in the coming weeks, there were times during my taper I thought I would never feel and act in a fully normal way again. I take these days as a win. Healing is possible. Getting back to your life the way it was before the drugs is possible.

This has made me realize more and more how much being on this drug took from me from the mental/psychological side of things (I spent a long time more focused on the physiological issues) - very intense depression, suicidal ideation, racing thoughts/chemical anxiety, and powerful depersonalization/derealization (which I did not understand at first but switching on and off from it now I do— and I know people can experienced these things differently).

On a different note, I recently watched “Medicating Normal,” which was incredibly relatable to me and introduced me to the concept of informed consent. In my opinion every prescriber should have to read something like this https://www.benzoinfo.com/informed-consent/ word for word to every patient before prescribing them a benzodiazepine (and personally of the opinion they should be outlawed). When the psychiatrist initially prescribed me klonopin back in December and told me to take .5mg every night on a two week prescription, he did not mention any of the potential adverse effects, the fact dependence can develop within days of starting the drug, anything about the risk of going through withdrawal, or offer any alternative treatments for what I was going through. Criminal behavioral in my opinion and he should lose his license to practice medicine. 

More updates to come in the coming weeks/months. 

[[je...]]

What a wonderful update! I’m so glad you’re continuing to do better as you go along. 

[[Er...]]

When I got to 0.125 mg of Klonopin, I read a post on this site which described a strategy I hadn't seriously considered.  I tried it and, for me, it has helped enormously. Instead of dropping my dose every 10 days-2 weeks by chipping away at the pills, I am microtapering daily by dissolving 0.125 mg in 100 ml of milk and then drinking 1 less ml every night. I'm down to 39 ml which is 0.048 mg. Tomorrrow I will take 38 ml and so on. In a little more than a month, if all goes well, I should be off.  I'm not out of the woods yet and this might not be what works best for everyone, but, for me, the last 2 months have been much smoother than the preceding 6 months. I have been on Klonopin for 18 years. My anxiety regarding tapering in general is much lower than before I started doing it this way. Just sharing that this method may be something to consider.