Tapering but in horrific withdrawal

[[Sa...]]

I was put on clonazepam (Klonopin) 4mg in June 2023 while in hospital. Developed tolerance within 6 weeks. Despite feeling worse than when I arrived I was discharged and told to take 3mg. After holding for a while began tapering over 24 weeks snd now at 0.5mg. The withdrawal symptoms have become unbearable. I took 1mg two days ago due to extreme anxiety (didn't relieve other symptoms), relieved it for a few hours, now back on 0.5mg. I'm having an excruciatingly painful time, what should I do?

Edited February 22 by [Sa...]

[[je...]]

Hi @[Sa...]

Welcome to BenzoBuddies!

I have to go, so unfortunately I don't have time to properly reply to your post. I just wanted to stop by to approve your account so you can have full access to the site. I'm sure others will reply soon.

[[Pa...]]

Hi @[Sa...], welcome.

You sound absolutely miserable, I'm so sorry!  Can you describe your taper for us, it would help if we knew how large your reductions are and how often.

Did you ever feel stable on the 3 mgs, is your doctor supportive of your taper, in other words, are you allowed to decide how it proceeds?

I hope we can help you find a way to get through this, would you mind listing your other symptoms? 

[[An...]]

I can find very little about this benzo after doing a Google search. Perhaps, @[Li...] will know. What is the half-life of this drug? What is this benzo comparable to? Google does say it is not the same drug as klonopin aka clonazepam.

 

[[Li...]]

Welcome, @[Sa...].  Would you please clarify what benzodiazepine you are taking?  Is it clonazepam or clobazam?  The names are quite similar but they are different molecules with different properties.

I’ve included links below to more information about both drugs in case you with to learn more about whichever one you are taking.  

(Tip of the hat to @[An...] for raising this question.)

Clonazepam - StatPearls - NCBI Bookshelf
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK556010/

Clobazam - StatPearls - NCBI Bookshelf
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK541043/

 

[[An...]]

Thanks @[Li...]. I knew you would know👍 . Looks like the half-life is similar to klonopin.

The link @[Li...] posted says>>>

Quote

The FDA recommended initial dosing for adults (greater than 30 kg bodyweight) is 10 mg/day divided into twice daily, which is titrated after one week to 20 mg/day and maintained at 40 mg/day by the second week.

To me, this means klonopin is a lot more potent benzo than this. This seems similar perhaps to valium in potency with a shorter half-life.

@[Sa...] said>>>>

Quote

 I was put on clobazepam 4mg

This is not a huge amount + the OP said they are down to .5 mgs. I would probably try to stay the course and taper the clobazepam to zero. I would hold as long as I needed to, though.

[[Sa...]]

@[An...] @[Li...] Hello, sorry I misspelt my medication. I am taking clonazepam (Klonopin) 

[[Sa...]]

@[Pa...] I was taking reducing by 0.25 mg every 2 weeks from 3 mg until I reached 0.75 mg, then I began reducing by 0.125 mg every 2 weeks until I am now at 0.5 mg. I am allowed to decide how I proceed with the taper.

Including the tapering period which began around approximately October I have been on clonazepam for 8 months. I am not sure if this is a long time. I developed a tolerance to it whilst in hospital taking 4 mg at the 6 week mark. I have never felt stable throughout my taper and with every cut the withdrawal is getting worse.

Now that I am down to 0.5 mg it is unbearable. However, on two days this week to ease my suffering I have taken 1 mg and this has provided relief of the anxiety, however this only lasts a few hours. 

 

I am not sure how to proceed. Seeing as I am already unstable should I continue to reduce by 0.125 mg every 2 weeks and just jump and suffer through the withdrawals?  

[[Pa...]]

Thank you for clearing up the confusion about which medication you've been taking.  My suggestion is to hold for as long as it takes to reach stabilization and if you're suffering too much, you might want to consider going up in dose.  

Most members have to slow way down when they get to the lower doses and your taper has been so rapid, you may be dealing with your reductions catching up to you.  I've watched members taper quickly thinking things were going along nicely then they get hit with horrific symptoms.  

Its important to know that getting off of the medication is just the first step, then comes recovery and it can last awhile so use the medication while you can to help temper your symptom severity. 

[[An...]]

10 minutes ago, [[S...] said:

@[Pa...] I was taking reducing by 0.25 mg every 2 weeks from 3 mg until I reached 0.75 mg, then I began reducing by 0.125 mg every 2 weeks until I am now at 0.5 mg. I am allowed to decide how I proceed with the taper.

Including the tapering period which began around approximately October I have been on clonazepam for 8 months. I am not sure if this is a long time. I developed a tolerance to it whilst in hospital taking 4 mg at the 6 week mark. I have never felt stable throughout my taper and with every cut the withdrawal is getting worse.

Now that I am down to 0.5 mg it is unbearable. However, on two days this week to ease my suffering I have taken 1 mg and this has provided relief of the anxiety, however this only lasts a few hours. 

I am not sure how to proceed. Seeing as I am already unstable should I continue to reduce by 0.125 mg every 2 weeks and just jump and suffer through the withdrawals?  

Klonopin is very potent. It is no wonder you feel so bad. Your reductions were too big IMO.

[[An...]]

21 minutes ago, [[S...] said:

@[An...] @[Li...] Hello, sorry I misspelt my medication. I am taking clonazepam (Klonopin) 

Ok, thanks.  👍

[[Nu...]]

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

Thank you for clearing up the confusion about which medication you've been taking.  My suggestion is to hold for as long as it takes to reach stabilization and if you're suffering too much, you might want to consider going up in dose.  

Most members have to slow way down when they get to the lower doses and your taper has been so rapid, you may be dealing with your reductions catching up to you.  I've watched members taper quickly thinking things were going along nicely then they get hit with horrific symptoms.  

Its important to know that getting off of the medication is just the first step, then comes recovery and it can last awhile so use the medication while you can to help temper your symptom severity. 

+1 to @[Pa...]. 4mg of clonazepam is a big dose. You need some stability.

[[Sa...]]

@[Pa...] Won't the longer I hold prolong the withdrawal when I eventually resume tapering? I am also currently suffering from CT of antidepressants and one antipsychotic since July 2023 (not my choice, I was taken off in hospital by an incompetent psychiatrist). 

[[Sa...]]

Should I consider going back up to 1 mg and holding?

[[Pa...]]

8 hours ago, [[S...] said:

@[Pa...] Won't the longer I hold prolong the withdrawal when I eventually resume tapering? I am also currently suffering from CT of antidepressants and one antipsychotic since July 2023 (not my choice, I was taken off in hospital by an incompetent psychiatrist). 

Yes, this will prolong your withdrawal so it comes down to functionality and quality of life.  As I mentioned, recovery once off the medication takes quite awhile, for those who have been on it for years, it can take between 1 and 2 years to recover, for those taking it less time, we hope for weeks and months but we can't predict how it will go.  I'm telling you this to put this process in perspective.  We can't rush our recovery no matter how fast we taper off the drug, we're at the mercy of our bodies ability to recover.  This understanding needs to inform our decision.  Do we cripple ourselves getting off the drug only to continue suffering because we've done it too quickly?  Or do we opt for quality of life while tapering in the hopes our body has healed enough as we've tapered to provide quality of life during recovery?

The information you're dealing with antidepressants and antipsychotics is significant, its doubtful you've recovered from your cessation of these medications.  We don't advise tapering more than one medication at a time and support waiting until you've recovered from other tapers before starting this one.  Its simply too difficult to know what is causing what making it impossible to make adjustments.

As for going up to 1 mg, that might be a good idea since you've already done that a couple of times recently.  

[[Sa...]]

I should add that I am currently also taking 500 mg gabapentin. Should I pause my clonazepam taper and taper off gabapentin instead? Or should I consider increasing gabapentin and tapering off clonazepam first? Anecdotally which is easier to come off?

[[kn...]]

I took gabapentin (300mg) while tapering diazepam.  Originally I took 4mgs of clonazepam before crossing over to the diazepam.  I went off the gabapentin CT as the side effects were too much cope with in addition to the diazepam at the same time.  I can tell you that getting off the gabapentin was worse than anything I had encountered with my BZ taper, but it didn't last as long.  About two weeks.  If you do decide to cut into the gabapentin, make sure you bet some 100mg pills and work at it gradually.  The med (gabapentin) did a great deal to help my muscle tingling, numbness in extremities, etc., but it also produced a lot of sleep problems and nausea.  I'm impressed that you've been able to tolerate the stuff, but be careful trying to get off the it.  

[[or...]]

I'd try to hold the taper you're on, but I can't speak for you, you have to decide, hopefully with your doctor if he's agreeable with a much slower taper.  The worst wd sxs come from tapering too fast, and the worst with cold turkeys even with short-term use I've heard.

Check out more info here like the Ashton Manual, and Taper Strategy forum.  As long as you can hang onto your clonazepam prescription, you can taper like I've been doing off clonazepam.  You have more in a shorter time of use, and I have less in a much longer time of use, so you have to decide what to taper in order to maintain your daily functions.

Main thing I hear is every single one of us is different, so we have different amounts of cuts we can handle.  Mostly it's recommended to do between 5-10%.  I'm only doing 1% and no higher than 3% and holding.  I can function and no horrific wd sxs after 35 years of Clonazepam at 1 mg. Yes, I was oblivious, sounds you are not at all so you'll do well oregonlady

Edited February 23 by [or...]

[[Pa...]]

@[Sa...], I can't speak to increasing your Gabapentin but I feel it would be better to stay on that while continuing your Clonazepam taper, some find it useful for withdrawal symptoms.  From what I've seen here, some can taper off of Gabapentin fairly easy, others not so.