Tolerance Withdrawal?

[[fu...]]

Hi, I'm still figuring out how to use this site. Been tapering clonazepam for years and recently started having windows and waves of panic and anxiety all day, even after updosing. Some nights I get sleep, but most nights I'm up all night shaking and worrying. It wasn't like this before. I'm holding at 0.125mg and have been for about four weeks. Can anyone tell me if this is tolerance withdrawal? And if so, what do I do going forward? Will tapering help?

[[Re...]]

Hello @[fu...], Welcome to BenzoBuddies,

I know the symptoms very well and I am really sorry. These seem to be "normal" signs of benzodiazepine withdrawal, these often come in windows and waves.

Could you tell us more about what type of benzo you have taken, what dose and for how long? Have you had any bigger cuts in your dose recently?

I can assure you that these withdrawal symptoms get significantly better given enough time. However, if your symptoms are truly unbearable, it is always OK to go back to a previous dose where you felt better and wait to stabilize. 

Please let us know how we can support you, 

RR

[[...]]

It sounds like tolerance withdrawal. 

If up dosing didn't help, you may be stuck. At this point it's all about coping skills and time.

[[fu...]]

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

Hello @[fu...], Welcome to BenzoBuddies,

I know the symptoms very well and I am really sorry. These seem to be "normal" signs of benzodiazepine withdrawal, these often come in windows and waves.

Could you tell us more about what type of benzo you have taken, what dose and for how long? Have you had any bigger cuts in your dose recently?

I can assure you that these withdrawal symptoms get significantly better given enough time. However, if your symptoms are truly unbearable, it is always OK to go back to a previous dose where you felt better and wait to stabilize. 

Please let us know how we can support you, 

RR

Thanks for your reply RR. Just the clonazepam as mentioned. I've been on it about four years now. I was taking reductions from 0.125mg -> 0.05mg reducing by a daily quantity, very tiny, but the percent per cut was increasing slowly from 7%/mo to 17%/mo over six months so I think that's partly where I went wrong. I tried going back to a previously stable dose more than once and ended up on 0.125mg, which was a stable dose a year ago, but I'm not stable. I go through waves of severe anxiety and then sobbing throughout the day. I'm not going to updose any more since I only saw improvements for about 7 days after each updose, then the instability returned. Just wanted to know if this sounds like tolerance withdrawal and if so, how to approach my taper. I am ready to start reducing again if I need to. Thanks!

[[fu...]]

[[...]]

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

Thanks Evn. I didn't expect it would follow me up all the way back to 0.125mg. But that's just how tolerance works? Does it make sense I saw improvements on each updose but only for a week before the withdrawal returned?

@[fu...], hi and welcome from me too!)

As for me, i agree with @[...]. It looks as if you hit benzo tolerance. The better feeling for a while immediately after up-dosing is also suggestive in this regard. It's just my opinion.

I do know what tolerance means. Had enough of it and felt really better only when i was about to jump off benzo after my hard tapering. Btw, my symptoms hadn't been worsening much since reaching the tolerance. The good news is it's all manageable.

 

 

[[fu...]]

Thank you @[...]. Could appearing to reach tolerance withdrawal at a relatively low dosage indicate an underlying condition? Or is it usually the benzo withdrawal only?

[[...]]

@[fu...], as far as i know, it's "just" benzo withdrawal. When my tolerance grew through the roof, didn't know my bad condition was smth to do with benzo then, i went to hospital and had everything possible checked. Nothing. Was told i seemed to be ok.

[[fu...]]

[[...]]

19 minutes ago, [[f...] said:

I know that experience; ugh. Thank you! This gives me hope that I'll make it off this drug someday.

For some reason taking tiny amounts of CBD oil (10mg total over four days) really helped me stabilize for about ten days, even for six of those days after I stopped taking it; I'm trying that again now since I didn't get any sleep last night. Jeez. Wish I'd never gone back up. I will be tapering again asap.

Not sure about CBD. Just never tried) 

[[Ct...]]

@[fu...] Sorry to hear of your bad symptoms at 0.125 mg clonazepam. @[...] had to stay at that dose for 8 weeks and use buspar to help him stabilize. From there he used micro tapering using capsules. You can read about his method of micro tapering by clicking on his name above and going to his History tab.

[[fu...]]

Thanks @[Ct...]!