Klonopin taper from 2mg per day....

[[st...]]

Hello all. Klonopin was great for my social phobia when I 1st started, till I became depressed and suicidal. So, I've decided to quit. I've been on 2mg per day for about 3 months. I'm planning on seeing my doc, and getting 120 pills at .5mg per month prescribed, since I take 2 mg per day, and the smaller the pills, the easier to taper. Anyways, I'm going to taper at .125 mg per week (1/4 a .5 mg pill). Is this a good plan being as I've only been on it 3-4 months?

[[el...]]

Hello all. Klonopin was great for my social phobia when I 1st started, till I became depressed and suicidal. So, I've decided to quit. I've been on 2mg per day for about 3 months. I'm planning on seeing my doc, and getting 120 pills at .5mg per month prescribed, since I take 2 mg per day, and the smaller the pills, the easier to taper. Anyways, I'm going to taper at .125 mg per week (1/4 a .5 mg pill). Is this a good plan being as I've only been on it 3-4 months?

 

Hi!

Yes, this is a good plan. This is exactly how I tapered off, all the way down, with no major problems. Your klon history sounds like mine. I was on up to 1.5mg, and only took it for 3 to 4 months.

Now some people do have a problem with this method as they get to lower doses,(as the percentage size of the cuts get larger) so if that happens for you, there are other method you can consider. Here is a link with brief descriptions of each. http://www.benzobuddies.org/buddiesguide/methods

But as of now, your plan is very reasonable! 

[[Co...]]

Hi Streetsk8ter.

 

Yes, your plan seems very reasonable. You might find that you need to allow more time between cuts as your dose is reduced, but play this by ear. You might find that you can continue with weekly cuts all the way down to zero.

[[el...]]

Colin has a good point. I forgot to mention that at about my half-way point I slowed my taper down to every 2 weeks. Once I even held for 3 weeks.

Just listen to your body. If you are feeling a little too rough at one week, just go ahead a hold a bit longer. As we like to say, it's not a race!

 

Linda

[[st...]]

I am also on 70 mg Vyvanse per day. Without the vyvanse, I pretty much want to kill myself. Is the vyvanse (a stimulant) going to make withdrawaling harder?

[[Co...]]

Hi Streetsta8er,

 

I don't know is the short answer from me. Hopefully others might have some information for you.

 

Unless you have been assured to the contrary, you might wish to raise your use of Vyvanse with your history of social phobia. I have no personal experience of phobias and social anxiety (beyond a withdrawal effect of Clonazepam), but I understand that Vyvanse is contraindicated for those with severe anxiety. You might be taking it for good reason, and this has been fully taken into account, but I thought I should flag this all the same.

[[st...]]

yeh, the vyvanse helps with my social phobia. right now though, i just dont give a flying **** about anything. I cannot wait to get off klonopiin

[[Co...]]

yeh, the vyvanse helps with my social phobia. right now though, i just dont give a flying **** about anything. I cannot wait to get off klonopiin

 

But my limited understanding of this drug is that it is contraindicated for those suffering from severe anxiety! Does this mean that it is contraindicated for you? I don't know, but I am asking the question.

[[st...]]

The vyvanse makes me feel less depressed, thus lowering my anxiety about life. However, it makes my OCD worse, like I feel i need to get everything done and all that. But, I ripped up my 2 prescriptions for vyvanse because I can feel another addiction starting with the stimulants. I want to live med free. Period. I know that I will need counseling like CBT and/or NLP for my social phobia, but thats OK with me. Im sick of meds making me into a person that Im not. How do you guys feel?

 

P.S. I am a recovering drug addict, and have a little over a year sober.... so I am very cautious when it comes to my meds: hence ripping the prescriptions up when I felt an addiction coming.

 

Any input is appreciated 

[[el...]]

The vyvanse makes me feel less depressed, thus lowering my anxiety about life. However, it makes my OCD worse, like I feel i need to get everything done and all that. But, I ripped up my 2 prescriptions for vyvanse because I can feel another addiction starting with the stimulants. I want to live med free. Period. I know that I will need counseling like CBT and/or NLP for my social phobia, but thats OK with me. Im sick of meds making me into a person that Im not. How do you guys feel?

 

P.S. I am a recovering drug addict, and have a little over a year sober.... so I am very cautious when it comes to my meds: hence ripping the prescriptions up when I felt an addiction coming.

 

Any input is appreciated 

 

Hi street,

Well, I can relate. Stimulants were my drug of choice back in the day. They weren't prescribed, but I self-medicated(along with alcohol), as I was very shy, and they helped me feel normal and wonderful. 

CTing off of stimulants really isn't dangerous, except for some possible temporary depression. You will also probably feel some serious fatique and find yourself wanting to sleep and eat a lot.

Not sure how old you are, but I lost all sense of shyness or "social phobia" years ago. And now that I am off all drugs, presribed or not, I feel great. I am very outgoing, and not shy at all anymore. Sometimes this just comes with age and wisdom, lol!

 

Drug free is a really good state to be, even when you feel a little uncertain about yourself or about life. The key is to go about figuring out life for yourself, without meds.  When you do, it makes it that much sweeter!

 

Linda

[[st...]]

Thanks for the input. I'm 21 BTW. I'm taking quite a high dose of vyvanse a day. I was originally prescribed 50 mg once per day, but I "crashed" 6 hours later. So I started taking 50 mg twice a day. It worked good. I went back to the doc, and he said that 70 mg will make it last longer. Well, he was very wrong. It was more potent, but it still only lasted 6 hours, and the "crash" was even worse. So now I'm taking 70mg vyvanse at 8 am, and 70 mg at 2 pm, exactly when one would be wearing off. I know this dose is way too high, but I am afraid of stopping because of the withdrawals. My boss is not on very good terms with me, and I dont want to go through the withdrawals till I have to. Yet, I know the longer I wait, the worse it'll be. What should I do?

[[ru...]]

My first suggestion would be to let your doctor know just how much of the vyvanse you're taking-- double the amount s/he prescribed.

 

If it's okay with your doctor, perhaps you could begin to taper the vyvanse to get it down to a better level. I'm not familiar with it at all, but you might start by cutting your night dose by 5-10 per cent, and once you're stable on that, taper your morning dose the same way. Even if you could get back to your 50mg in the morning and 50mg in the afternoon, you would have cut your dosage by a considerable amount.

 

Then once your back to that level, you could keep going until you've reached the best level for you to be able to function. That may be stopping your taper before you're completely off, or you may end up going off the medication altogether. 

 

rufus

[[st...]]

Ljay,

 

Did you suffer from social phobia when you were younger? If so, how did you defeat it. It's really destroying my confidence at this point in my life, which is making me depressed. Social phobia is the cause of everything bad in my life. If I could only defeat this demon, I'd be OK.

[[el...]]

Ljay,

 

Did you suffer from social phobia when you were younger? If so, how did you defeat it. It's really destroying my confidence at this point in my life, which is making me depressed. Social phobia is the cause of everything bad in my life. If I could only defeat this demon, I'd be OK.

 

Hi Street,

Well, it wasn't called social phobia back then, but I was really shy. At least around boys, lol! I probably would not have been diagnosed with full blown social phobia though. It wasn't debilitating, but at the time I felt like it was ruining my life. I still tend to get shy at times, but I think we all do.

I'm really sorry that you have to deal with this in your young life. I wish there was something I could say to fix it for you. I think time will do that though. And I really think medication isn't the answer. It's false relief. Just like alcohol and street drugs were for me back then.

funny thing is, once I stopped the chemicals back then, I wasn't shy anymore.

Have you had any therapy? CBT might be very helpful. Or exposure therapy? There is a really good book that might help you. It's called embracing uncertainty, by Susan Jeffers. Good stuff for any of us to read.

I'm sure there are other good self help books on social phobia. Do an amazon search, if you haven't tried that yet.

Another thing that is helpful is sports. Or working out of any kind, in a group setting. It will build your confidence,  boost your communication skills, and increase endorphines,(natural brain chemicals) which are drug-like and will make you relax. And you'll get healthy and strong in the bargain. 

You will be ok, really! 

[[Be...]]

 

P.S. I am a recovering drug addict, and have a little over a year sober.... so I am very cautious when it comes to my meds: hence ripping the prescriptions up when I felt an addiction coming.

 

Congratulations on your sobriety!  :yippee:   I have 2 nieces and a nephew who are all addicted to drugs and it started with prescription drugs so I have a bit of an idea how hard it is to stay away from stuff that once made you feel so good. 

 

Do you have a good relationship with your doctor?  Maybe he/she could suggest something less addictive than the vyvanse.  Every med that affects the brain comes with it's own potential problems but there could well be a drug that would achieve the same result for you without adding to your anxiety or risking addiction.  Just a thought.

 

 

[[st...]]

For the past two days I have not been taking my Vyvanse, and wow, I am a completely unfunctional human being. This is after being on stimulants almost every day for the last 3 months. At work I was punching walls (angry for no reason), tired as hell (almost passed out at work), and incredibly unmotivated. Is this normal? Is this part of stimulant withdrawal? Because my mom wants me to start taking my Vyvanse again, and quite frankly, so do I. I want to get off the klonopin, but stay on a stimulant.

 

BTW. Stimulants work great for my social anxiety. Better than klonopin does. Maybe my ADHD has caused the SP and thats why stims help?

 

Any input appreciated!

[[el...]]

For the past two days I have not been taking my Vyvanse, and wow, I am a completely unfunctional human being. This is after being on stimulants almost every day for the last 3 months. At work I was punching walls (angry for no reason), tired as hell (almost passed out at work), and incredibly unmotivated. Is this normal? Is this part of stimulant withdrawal? Because my mom wants me to start taking my Vyvanse again, and quite frankly, so do I. I want to get off the klonopin, but stay on a stimulant.

 

BTW. Stimulants work great for my social anxiety. Better than klonopin does. Maybe my ADHD has caused the SP and thats why stims help?

 

Any input appreciated!

 

Hi Street.

Yeah, it sounds like stim wd. You know what? Just work on your benzo wd for now.

But do know that being on the stim may aggravate your benzo wd. Just so you are aware. 

 

Linda

[[TP...]]

We're going to have to stop agreeing like this Linda.  :2funny:

[[el...]]

We're going to have to stop agreeing like this Linda.  :2funny:

 

[[TP...]]

Well, people will talk.  :laugh:

[[st...]]

Sometimes I just feel like giving up. I have been recreationally drug free for over a year and am in the NA Program, but now I have an addiction to Stims and Benzos, both prescribed. I've lost interest in women, and playing guitar/writing music/singing, and well, everything really. But, I feel that without these scrips I would not be able to work. I want off ALL drugs, but I am adraid. WTF should I do?

[[Be...]]

You said the stimulants help you more than klonopin for your social anxiety so why keep taking the klonopin?  Benzos can cause depression among other things and some of what you describe could be depression.  If you do a slow taper, you should have minimal w/d effects.  How about making a plan and a commitment to getting the klono out of your system for good and then consider the stim. question? 

[[st...]]

That's what I plan on doing.... I'm just waiting for my scrip to klon to almost run out, so that my doc can call the pharmacy to get .5 tabs instead of my 2 mg tabs. I'm going to taper at .125 mg per week. I'm going to do it, but I'm scared. It works very little any more for my social phobia, but what it does do is takes away these wierd thoughts I have in social situations (be confident, be the leader, be humorous, be whatever). These thoughts ruminate in my brain over and over and over again. But, the klon takes that away almost entirely. I still have social phobia, but not the phrases. I dont know what to do. I think maybe CBT or NLP will help with that.