Taper help with 1 mg klonopin

[[an...]]

 

Hello all,

So glad I found this site! I'm trying to taper off of klonopin. To give you the very basics first: I am prescribed 1 mg of klonopin on an as needed basis. Prior to deciding to taper, I would take one 1 mg pill once every 2 or 3 days.

I’ll try to be as brief as possible on my history. I don’t want to be long winded, but I do want to give as much helpful information as I can so that you will know what my background is.

I have taken klonopin on and off since I was in my early teens. I was having panic attacks that became a panic disorder with GAD and severe depression. For the most part, I have the mental health concerns under control. I have not had any episodes of depression since I was in my 20’s. I’m currently 49. I do have some panicky feelings when I engage in the activity which I have a phobia of. Funnily enough, it’s showering for some reason. I can get strong feelings of unreality and depersonalization. Those are the feelings that caused my initial panic attacks when I was around 10 years old and what caused my provider to prescribe klonopin and Zoloft when it became available. I have don’t take any other psychiatric medications right now. My doctor prescribed the klonopin for insomnia, restless leg syndrome, and anxiety. The klonopin has also been helpful in treating my trigeminal neuralgia. I have taken carbamazepine to treat it, but sometimes I can't take carbamazepine because it interacts with a medication I frequently find myself on, flucanazole 200 mg. The carbamazepine causes the flucanazole to be ineffective, so I have had to use klonopin when I have a trigeminal neuralgia flare up if I am also on flucanazole. 

I have taken this medication on and off since it was initially prescribed. Sometimes it’s been 5 or 6 years between prescriptions. I had never had a problem stopping taking the medication until about two years ago. That was when the laws started to change pertaining to what could be prescribed and under what circumstances. My doctor initially stopped the medication and I went off of it cold turkey. After seeing how dangerous this medication can be, I count myself incredibly and unbelievably lucky that the withdrawal was not as horrible as it can be. Two main symptoms I had were that my heart rate and blood pressure were both increased when I wasn’t doing anything or feeling anything stressful. The other withdrawal symptom was that about 2 or 3 weeks after stopping klonopin, I would have difficulty falling asleep. I was experiencing myclonus. Every time I would start to drift off, I would jerk awake as if I had felt I was falling. It made me understand why depriving someone of sleep is considered a form of torture. I finally made it past that point and by that time, my doctor had seen me and decided that I was still responsibly using the klonopin, so she reinstated my prescription. I don’t know how long it took to get from there to here, but like I said, I now understand how dangerous this drug is and want to stop now before it can potentially do me any harm.

For the last three weeks, I have been trying to taper off by taking 1 mg once every 3 days. Just this week I reduced more, so now I take 0.5 mg once every four days (ex. day 1=0.5 mg, day 2=0 mg, day 3=0 mg, day 4=0.5 mg). So far, I have had some withdrawal symptoms like going between being too hot and then too cold, sweating, racing/pounding heart and feeling like the sciatic pain in my legs that I have had for about 20 years has been magnified. I haven’t developed anything serious yet, but I also want to be safe. And again, I want to stress, that I know these are very minor symptoms compared to what can happen.

Should I continue increasing the days between doses? Should I keep the days the same and drop the dose down by half or less? I just don’t want to hurt myself and I really really don’t want to have anything more to do with klonopin. I have some anxiety in my life, but nothing unmanageable. I don’t think that is what could cause me to fail in my taper attempt. My fear is that since I’ve never had difficulty stopping klonopin when I didn’t want to take it but now I could potentially develop protracted withdrawal as well as difficulty coping with the myoclonus. Those are things that never happened in the past when I stopped the medication.

Thank you so much in advance for any help or advice. I know this is very minor in comparison to how bad the suffering can be. I just don’t want to be alone in this process.

 

Edited April 10 by [an...]
forgot to list another reason for taking klonopin

[[Co...]]

Hello @[an...]. Welcome to BenzoBuddies.

It is very late here, I cannot reply properly now, but I have approved your introduction so that other members can reply and help you. You can also post freely now.

I'll check by sometime tomorrow.

[[No...]]

Hello @[an...]

I am going to answer but not because I am very good with taper process, exactly opposite. I've made so much mistakes with psycho drugs and mostly with Klonopin so you can consider I am a pro in this area! So I think if you are not at rush to get off quickly from K, just hold your dose when you are in bad shape and don't look the calendar. Drop when you are stable and listen to your body. 

[[an...]]

6 hours ago, [[N...] said:

Hello @[an...]

I am going to answer but not because I am very good with taper process, exactly opposite. I've made so much mistakes with psycho drugs and mostly with Klonopin so you can consider I am a pro in this area! So I think if you are not at rush to get off quickly from K, just hold your dose when you are in bad shape and don't look the calendar. Drop when you are stable and listen to your body. 

Thank you so much for your advice. It's very valuable to me since you have a lot of experience. I'm sticking with the 0.5mg with two days in between doses where I don't take any klonopin at all. So far so good. I'm worried about dropping the doses by too many mg's or too many days between and causing this whole process to be even longer than it will probably be.

Not sure of the etiquette here since I'm new, but I hope you reach(ed) all your goals. Thank you so much for your help!

[[No...]]

@[an...] Your taper is very specific and I am not competent about this, but I am sure you will get help and good advices here from other members. I am new here like you. Be safe and don't rush.

[[No...]]

@[an...] I have a few thoughts for your situation. Considering drugs half life I think you are maybe like always up and down with doses if you take it every 3rd or 4rth day. It ceases the body in the zero days and then you take it again.. I am not sure if this relates to your case but is possible. And how long you are on Klonopin, how did you take it before taper? Every day or as needed? Sorry but couldn't understand these things in your first post.

[[an...]]

I am so sorry it took forever to respond. I work in a school and it’s that time of year. Anyway, before the taper, I was taking 1mg as needed. The “as needed” was about one 1mg pill every 2 to 3 days. If I waited more days beyond that (4-7 days between doses), I would start to get, what I now know were  withdrawal symptoms. I would start to feel agitation and an internal “vibrating” or “shivering” feeling. I had been prescribed the klonopin I’m taking now about two years ago.

Currently, I am using a scale to weigh the pills. I am taking less than a quarter of a 1mg pill. The weight is 0.039 grams. I’d have to weigh one pill to remember how much a full pill weighs. 
 

I did have some withdrawal symptoms early in the taper when I had too many days between doses. Right now, I take 0.039 mg approximately every 60-72 hours. Unfortunately, I finally have a symptom that isn’t one I’ve had to deal with before. I have developed a muscle twitch on the right side of my face. I also have just a general feeling of shakiness on the muscles of my face. It’s scary and very much tempting me to take more klonopin more often because I’m afraid I’m damaging my neurons. I keep telling myself that if that’s the worst symptom I feel, I need to be grateful. 
 

Again, I’m so sorry for not responding sooner. Any advice you have would be wonderful! Thank you again and I hope I answered the questions you asked.

[[Tw...]]

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

I am so sorry it took forever to respond. I work in a school and it’s that time of year. Anyway, before the taper, I was taking 1mg as needed. The “as needed” was about one 1mg pill every 2 to 3 days. If I waited more days beyond that (4-7 days between doses), I would start to get, what I now know were  withdrawal symptoms. I would start to feel agitation and an internal “vibrating” or “shivering” feeling. I had been prescribed the klonopin I’m taking now about two years ago.

Currently, I am using a scale to weigh the pills. I am taking less than a quarter of a 1mg pill. The weight is 0.039 grams. I’d have to weigh one pill to remember how much a full pill weighs. 
 

I did have some withdrawal symptoms early in the taper when I had too many days between doses. Right now, I take 0.039 mg approximately every 60-72 hours. Unfortunately, I finally have a symptom that isn’t one I’ve had to deal with before. I have developed a muscle twitch on the right side of my face. I also have just a general feeling of shakiness on the muscles of my face. It’s scary and very much tempting me to take more klonopin more often because I’m afraid I’m damaging my neurons. I keep telling myself that if that’s the worst symptom I feel, I need to be grateful. 
 

Again, I’m so sorry for not responding sooner. Any advice you have would be wonderful! Thank you again and I hope I answered the questions you asked.

I think you are on the right track with tapering. Trust yourself and stay the course. Don't be afraid and don't be distracted or give up. Keep going forward and not backwards. Remember that the Klonopin is Poison to your brain and body. If you can, find a doctor who is knowledgeable about your dosage of Klonopin and effective, safe tapering. 

[[Co...]]

Hello @[an...]

Are you suffering interdose withdrawal effects? That is, do the withdrawal symptoms increase as you head towards your next dose? If so, you might increase dosing frequency and adjust the dose taken to account for this (I can help you with the calculation if you wish).

It probably would be wise to consider taking your dose on a more set schedule (rather than every 2.5 to 3 days).

How is your insomnia?

The symptoms you describe are quite common during benzodiazepine withdrawal. But - as I would always advise - do have any new symptoms assessed by a doctor in case of another cause.

And, how do you feel shortly after taking a new dose? Are the tingling sensations improved? What about other symptoms (such as insomnia)?