Alprazolam switch to Clonazepam

[[Ci...]]

Hi, I am new to this and never knew of the possibility of benzo withdrawls until the last couple of days. I had been taking 1-2 mg of Alprazolam at night for sleep for the last 8 months. I ran out of Alprazolam about 4 days ago but have a good amount of 2 mg Clonazepam. So I switch to it and I am now taking 2 or 1.5 mg of Clonazepam at night. It was actually last night that I started noticing sensations on my skin almost exactly as if a mosquito was landing on my legs every few minutes. I could have sworn it was a mosquito but I turned on the light and nothing. This morning I woke up with an intermittent sensation on my left foot in the corner where it meets the leg. Not anything close to become an issue. However, now that I’m reading more about it, I admit I am concerned mainly that these sensations continue to increase (even while taking Clonazepam). I see my psychiatrist next week. Can this get bad from formerly being at 1-2 mg daily of Alprazolam (and switching to Clonazepam)? Just reading about these horrible experiences others have had, I believe is starting to push me to an anxious state.

Does anyone have any words of wisdom or experience about my situation?

Many thanks and God bless you all.

[[...]]

Hi, @[Ci...]! Welcome to BenzoBuddies! I'm glad you found our community before you have been on benzo for too long. These pills are very tricky as well as revengeful, meaning they can turn on us in the end, and should be avoided as much as possible. Your strange sensations must be a reaction of your nervous system to switching from alprazolam to clonazepam and it's quite common for people to feel any changes in benzo use.

I don't think there is a reason for you to be concerned too much about your issue worsening yet since your benzo use was rather short but would advice to come off benzo and it's most probable the withdrawing won't be too rough on you, especially if you do it properly with the help of BenzoBuddies.  

I'm sure other members will soon share their opinion too. Good luck to you!)

[[vo...]]

@[Ci...]Please consider trying to come off of both meds sooner than later...trust me and hopefully others will weigh in with the same - the suffering after tapering off these meds can be far worse than anything the meds helps to avoid suffering from. If sleep is a major issue for you, maybe you can find alternative ways to help with sleep. Many of us get little to no sleep when in withdrawal and because we don't want to go back on the meds, we just have to deal with lack of sleep until we get better. I hope you will consider the possible consequences of staying on benzos. Best of luck to you!

[[Ci...]]

Thank you voluntas and Kate. I am at 1.5 mg of clonazepam. I also started taking 5mg melatonin for the last week. I am sleeping better but the last 3-4 days there is a very definite tiredness that has set in during the day. I can barely work. Anyway, back to getting off the 1.5 mg of clonazepam at night, is there guidance somewhere as to how I should taper off? Thanks!

[[...]]

Hi, @[Ci...]) Do you have any other unpleasant issues while being on 1.5 Clonazepam?

It's usually recommended to reduce a dose by 10% out of the previous one every 2+ weeks. Your taper should be flexible according to your symptoms. If they are unbearable, you can hold longer or cut your dose less than 10%. However, the whole process might be quite unpleasant, to say the least, and we're often bound to go through some rough time while tapering anyway. It needs patience but worth it. 

Here is a link to The Ashton Manual, a very helpful guidance on how to taper off of different benzos but it mostly refers to long term benzo users.  https://www.benzoinfo.com/ashtonmanual/

Since your benzo use hasn't been long, i'd first try a much shorter taper so as to avoid tolerance growing, which is smth i'm personally horrified of. 

I hope others will share their opinion as well.