Looking for Guidance

[[SB...]]

I am looking for some guidance.  I started taking Clonazepam on May 7th and began tapering on May 26th originally started out at 0.5 mg twice daily and have managed to taper down my day dose to .05 mg and my night dose to .167 mg with some symptoms but functional.  I am also on Zoloft 100 mg, I know the jump off dose is 0.025 mg but the taper has turned into a bit of a mind game and really just want to be done with it.

Any suggestions?

[[Pa...]]

Hello @[SB...], welcome to BenzoBuddies,

I've heard members mention that .05 can be a good dose to jump from but honestly, I believe you should be guided by your symptoms.  Your use was so brief, I think you should take that into consideration when deciding to jump, for short time users, my motto is the sooner the better.  Of course, symptom severity should be taken into account but if you're not suffering terribly, you may be able to jump sooner than you anticipated.

Is the nighttime dose helping you sleep?

@[Pa...]

[[SB...]]

@[Pa...] It’s not helping me sleep, still waking early but managing to get 6 hours of sleep a night.  I had a bad week when I reduced by .12 mg but since now tapering at .018 mg every week symptoms have improved but that means I’m still 8 weeks away from jumping.  My doctor seems to think it is psychosomatic at this point and that I’ve worked myself up about coming off because of horror stories I’ve read.

[[Pa...]]

@[SB...], while I don't agree with your doctor that its psychosomatic, I do know there is a lot of trepidation when contemplating the jump, most of our members are nervous about it.  I didn't taper but here is what I've observed.  If your taper has been fairly uneventful, your recovery will be as well, if you've struggled with terrible symptoms and they continue to be intense the lower you taper, your recovery will mirror your taper.

Most members do face what we call the acute stage when they jump but this typically means more of the same.  You won't be faced with strange new scary symptoms, but there is a possibility they may be a bit more intense.  But honestly, I feel the sooner you can get off of the Clonazepam the better. 

[[SB...]]

@[Pa...] Do you think that the Zoloft will make the jump more tolerable?

[[Pa...]]

I honestly don't know @[SB...], I don't have much confidence that A/D's can help with our typical withdrawal symptoms.  I believe if someone going through this is severely depressed then an A/D may help but as for our other symptoms, I haven't heard many positives.  Although, I have heard some members say that Buspar can help with anxiety and if that's one of your symptoms then perhaps the Zoloft could be useful too, if it helps with anxiety. 

[[SB...]]

Today is my jump day down to 0.025 mg of Clonazepam.  Past two weeks my anxiety has been higher and nervous to jump.  Looking for reassurance and guidance.

[[Ro...]]

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

Today is my jump day down to 0.025 mg of Clonazepam.  Past two weeks my anxiety has been higher and nervous to jump.  Looking for reassurance and guidance.

Good luck with your jump!  I imagine the .025 mg is really not doing anything.  If it helps at all, I also tapered to .025 of clonazepam and when I jumped, nothing changed.

[[SB...]]

Thank you @[Ro...]!  Been anticipating this day for a while but now that it’s here it’s a little scary.

Edited Thursday at 18:55 by [SB...]

[[Tr...]]

Hello @[SB...], Congratulations on your relatively fast and smooth taper! The recommended jump off dose of Clonazepam is .025. I hope and pray that everything will be OK after your jump!

Just 2 small questions: 1/Did you keep your two doses? 2/What kind of taper did you do - dry cut and hold maybe?

Please let us know how it is going as there are several buddies, including me, who are tapering Clonazepam but are not so close to the finish. Many thanks in advance!

Edited 14 hours ago by [Tr...]

[[st...]]

Congratulations! It is an amazing moment because it’s such a great ultimate reward to be drug free. When I was about to be done with my taper, I said no to all drugs, including legalized drugs like pot and alcohol. It was not instant but things did get better and are still getting better. Further away from drugs, I’m beginning to feel even better than before drugs.