Intro

[[bu...]]

Yeah, the future and knowing what is coming is the worse of it.  Right now the withdrawal I have is nowhere even remotely close to the withdrawals I've had before.  I'm actually almost thinking i should come down another bit but maybe I should try to go with 4 weeks a pill.

 

Also, I keep wondering how you managed cold-turkey.  I would have lost my mind and got admitted to the hospital if I did that.  I was hallucinating (while cold turkeying, back when i got locked in the interrogation room at the non-functioning jail) that the police were scheming ways to get me arrested with the neighbors and called and complained to dispatch.  I called like 2 times to see if I was wanted and they asked me who keeps telling me that I have a warrant.  Then there's the laying out in the yard with my face down waiting on the police to pick me up....  I forgot about hallucinating the feds raiding both apartment houses, here and next door and taking everyone in.  Also the little base the FBI in the next apartment.  Also, Obama telling me to sit something like they do in Guantanamo when I was up at the jail.  Your legs get tired and hurt, hurt, hurt, hurt.

[[Pa...]]

Doing a slow taper will ensure you won't feel like that again, you'll be uncomfortable, but you won't have to go through that.  I didn't hallucinate, thank goodness, but it was pretty rough.  I knew it was my one shot at getting off of it, my one chance to earn back the trust my family had lost in me. 

[[bu...]]

Man, i am happy for you that you didn't but at the dose you were at, you had to feel horrible for MONTHS!  I live in an apartment so the hallucinations were quieter voices from outside or the next apartments or when I was outside from around the house.  It was probably a sensory overload from the Opiate withdrawal at the same time.

 

I think i'm going to treat this like it was 1 10 milligram of valium and do 1 week per 1 mg.  2 pills would be like 2 5mgs of valium and so half would mean 2.5 mg or 2.5 weeks.  Right now I'm feeling pretty well.  I'm harassing my ex (who i pray we get back together...  she has my son) on the phone.  Harass = joking with in a somewhat annoying fashion (probably). 

 

A quarter of one of these pills I'll look at like 1.25 mg and see if 1 and quarter weeks will suffice.

[[Pa...]]

I'm glad you're on good terms with your ex wife, I hope things work out for you.  I'm a little unclear about your taper plan, could you spell it out for me so I can understand it?  I'm sure you've got it right, but I just wanted to make sure.  Could you tell me your current dose, how long you've held it and what you want to taper by? 

[[bu...]]

Klonopin 0.5mg tablets

1 dose 11:AM, 1 dose 5:PM

 

1.0 mg (0.5 x 0.5) - held 2 1/2 weeks

0.75mg (0.25 & 0.5) - hold 2 1/2 weeks (3 more days left)

0.625mg (0.25 & 0.375) - hold 9 day

0.5mg (0.25 & 0.25) - hold 9 day

0.375mg (0.125 & 0.25) - hold 9 day

0.25mg (0.125 & 0.125) - hold 9 day

0.125mg (0 & 0.125) - hold 9 day

? ? ? ? ?

 

(1 pill is 0.5.  3/4 is .375.  1/2 is .25.  1/4 is .125)

[[Pa...]]

I can see you don't need me, you've got it nailed, I think it was the Valium reference that confused me!  If you want to draw your taper out a bit more at the end, you can put your .125 pill into a cup of water and drink half, letting you jump at .0625 if you'd like.

 

 

[[bu...]]

That's what i was thinking too: finding a way to half that.  Water?  That's a good idea.

 

The reason I thought of this 9 day plan is that i almost feel it took 2 of these klonopin to make me feel normal again and 1 was bad, bad.  It seems like I'm handling well after 13 days of going down a half a pill (I really did wish it would have been 1/4 pill as the first few days were killing me.... After all the previous withdrawal, I'm in kitten mode and not in the out-of-my-freakin-mind mode praying I can find myself and get the luxury of make a smart alec remark to someone I know which they all know and love me for, with 0 concentration).  I'm ready for another trip to Chicago, 120 miles away, to see the big city, people, food, and the museum of Science and Industry.  If I feel like doing that then i know my next dose down is coming soon.

 

Still, I have to wonder.  They say 0.5 klonop = 10 mg valium.  i wonder how many people actually have been taken the opposite direction.  i can see where someone can have the klonopin (2 to 3 of them pills are in your system all the time when you take it daily from what i understand and deduct) be made up for by the valium (8 to 12 of them pills are in your system all the time when you take it daily from what I understand and deduct).  The other way around?  That sounds harder to figure with less in your system at all times.  Maybe 10 mg valium is not equal to 0.5mg klonopin crossing over all the time.

[[Pa...]]

I'm not sure what you mean about having 2 to 3 pills of Klonopin and 8 to 10 pills of Valium in your system at a time, I look at it in terms of milligrams not pills, you're confusing me again.    I will say though, that there are differences of opinion about equivalencies, many Dr's believe .5 mg Klonopin is equal to 5 mgs of Valium, not .5 to 10, I feel its somewhere in the middle.

[[bu...]]

I was referring to the amount of the stuff that is in your system since valium has a half-life of up to 200 hours and klonopin of 50 hours.  That gives it time to build up in your system, especially valium, since your body don't get rid of it for a while.

[[bu...]]

Wow.  Its been just a hair over 2 weeks since I came down from the 2 pills and its hitting me hard again right now, the withdrawal.  I wonder if its normal after so long.  Some days aren't this bad.

[[Pa...]]

How are you doing now?

[[bu...]]

I was taking valerian root throughout the time I was withdrawing....

 

Lord only knows what it has done.  Nights have been hard because I like to just lay next to my laptop and relax for hours nightly and valerian did well but I got off it because I'm afraid I'm hindering the healing process.  I stopped it about 4 days ago and started getting into the clonodine that I was prescribed before.  Its all pretty harsh and its been almost 4 weeks now from 1.0 to 0.75 of klonopin.

[[Pa...]]

I've heard some things about Valarian root, but I don't pay much attention since I'm not a big supplement fan.  I did take Clonodine after my cold turkey, the Dr said it was to help with the high blood pressure I had as a result, I didn't notice any benefits from it.  It looks like you're making progress on your taper, and I don't doubt it's been harsh.

[[bu...]]

I've always wondered about the Valerian.  I've heard a lot of stuff.  I am starting to think that taking that might have made my brain not try to heal itself.  I don't know if that's the case or not but I figured I should feel a lot better by now being almost 4 weeks.

[[Pa...]]

You can use the search function if you'd like to see what others have said about it, there are lots of thread started on it, I know that much.  Hey, the less crap we put into our bodies the better, I think.  See, that's the problem with us, we're so used to popping a pill, we don't realize we just need to get out of the way and let our body do what it knows how to do. 

[[bu...]]

Yeah, sometimes things can be more harmful than good.  When you get caught in a bad place like some of us, you start looking closely at what you do to your body.  Sad thing is there is a big question mark over a lot of things and then there is a general consensus about certain other things (like benzo withdrawal).  Most doctors have no clue even though all the info is out there.

[[Pa...]]

Apparently not everyone who tries to discontinue the drug will go through what we do, this leads people to believe we're making it all up, very frustrating.  At least we have groups such as this to validate what is happening to us and documentation as to what seems to help and what doesn't. 

[[bu...]]

My doc is on vacation and I called up for a prescription and the doc who called in to the pharmacy was the doc that tried to get me to wean off 1/2 a pill at a time a week (he's lost his frickin' mind).

 

I've went down some more.  I took a quarter pill off my dose.  I never thought I would feel normal after I went down half a pill but I finally got there a little over a week ago.  I'm going to use the time that it takes to be off this 1/4 pill and use that as an idea of the schedule for down the road.

 

I was interested in the water thing you mentioned about putting the pill or portion of it in and drink half.  You refrigerate it and drink the other half the next day?  How many days can you have it in the fridge, seeing how usually they don't want you to store it in cold or hot temperatures.  how does stirring it affect it as in the stuff sticking to the side of the cup/container and the spoon/stirring utensil?  I think I want to try an 1/8 of a pill with water.

[[Pa...]]

Could you refresh my memory, your signature says you're at .625 at the moment, is this correct?  And are your pills the .5 mg Klonopin?  Some people like to put the crushed pill into a jar with 1 cup of water, stir and swirl and drink half.  The particles don't dissolve so you have to keep them agitated, members will add more water and drink it to make sure they get them all.  We usually say you can keep it up to 3 days in the refrigerator.

[[bu...]]

Ahhhh, ok.  Yeah, I'm on the 0.5's.  0.25 first dose and 0.375 the second dose.  I am hoping I can get back to normal soon off this 0.125 drop off.  I have 5 more of those drop-offs left (0.125) and for every day that it takes to normalize, that's almost one week longer ( 5x1 extra day is 5 days, 5x2 extra days is 10 days) till I'm finally done.  9 days per 1/4 pill which I was hoping it would take would put it at 6.5 more weeks left, but 14 days would make it 10 weeks.

[[Po...]]

Don't jump too soon.  I have been  reading a lot on the forum.  It seems that when you don't go slowly enough, it might make the jump worse.

[[bu...]]

you are very right.  I just have been through a lot over the last few months.  It could have been time i could have been using to get off of this stuff.  I just want it to be done but I know that I can't just snap my finger.  I mostly am hoping that my body takes it pretty well.  If it don't, i guess it'll all be alright.

[[Pa...]]

you are very right.  I just have been through a lot over the last few months.  It could have been time i could have been using to get off of this stuff.  I just want it to be done but I know that I can't just snap my finger.  I mostly am hoping that my body takes it pretty well.  If it don't, i guess it'll all be alright.

 

Yep, however it goes, you'll be alright, eventually. 

[[bu...]]

Now I'm down to 3/4 pill and feel some horrible withdrawal.  Its been 14 days since I dropped about a quarter of a pill (usually only took 11 days).  I think maybe I have tolerance withdrawal.  Since I'm planning on dropping down another 1/8 pill (with water, 1/2 of a 1/4 pill) I decided to see if I would feel better by taking a full pill today instead of my usual 3/4.  Its the last day till I go down some more and I didn't have much relief like the last time I stayed at the dose I was at for 3 extra days past the 11 days it takes to feel alright again.

[[Pa...]]

Most say the lower they get, the tougher it is, so it's probably better to just accept that you're going to feel pretty rough now, and for a little while after you get off of it.  We have to hurt to heal, unfortunately.