Need help with the math of my titration, is what I am doing ok?

[[Ho...]]

Help please as I look at this so much and my mind boggles! Reassurance needed please!

On 16th October I started to water titrate my dose of Clonazepam which I now take once every day in the morning. The dose that I have been taking for the past few weeks is .25mg every morning. I break up as close to half a .5mg tablet as I can get, so .25mg and I put it into 50 ml water in a plastic lidded cup and shake like mad for a few minutes. I have so far syringed off half ml water almost every day. Last night I was at syringing off 4ml and tonight I will take off 4.5ml (that's the total of the amount syringed, not 4ml and then another 4.5 ml on top).

I am really having trouble working out what % I am reducing by each week.  I have calculated (correctly I think) that if I carry on at withdrawing .5 ml water each day, it will have taken me 100 days before I am finally benzo free. To me that is a long time to come off of .25 daily. However, everyday I am plagued with some anxiety at some time or another. Also I need to work. I am terrified of having the unrelentless anxiety return that I recently experienced following an unintentional and uneducated cold turkey w. drawl during a hospital admission  for a hysterectomy. I've only been on C since 23/3/11, mostly intermittently but some weeks leading up to my hops admission taken at .25mg x 2 daily. Any advice re this taped and % rates would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks.  

[[...]]

Help please as I look at this so much and my mind boggles! Reassurance needed please!

On 16th October I started to water titrate my dose of Clonazepam which I now take once every day in the morning. The dose that I have been taking for the past few weeks is .25mg every morning. I break up as close to half a .5mg tablet as I can get, so .25mg and I put it into 50 ml water in a plastic lidded cup and shake like mad for a few minutes. I have so far syringed off half ml water almost every day. Last night I was at syringing off 4ml and tonight I will take off 4.5ml (that's the total of the amount syringed, not 4ml and then another 4.5 ml on top).

I am really having trouble working out what % I am reducing by each week.  I have calculated (correctly I think) that if I carry on at withdrawing .5 ml water each day, it will have taken me 100 days before I am finally benzo free. To me that is a long time to come off of .25 daily. However, everyday I am plagued with some anxiety at some time or another. Also I need to work. I am terrified of having the unrelentless anxiety return that I recently experienced following an unintentional and uneducated cold turkey w. drawl during a hospital admission  for a hysterectomy. I've only been on C since 23/3/11, mostly intermittently but some weeks leading up to my hops admission taken at .25mg x 2 daily. Any advice re this taped and % rates would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks.  

 

Don't give  how long this thing will take one more thought.  It takes as long as it takes short term or long term.  Follow your symptoms and hold as needed.  I think people need to worry about going too fast.  Not too slow.  When we go slower, it gives the brain a better chance to heal some while tapering, and it also makes it easier on us in the short and long term. I'm a firm believer that time schedules are not made by us during benzo withdrawals.  Our brains and bodies get to decide how long it takes, and it usually means longer than we want it to, but if you can stay benzo free as a result, then it will be well worth it.  Also, don't be afraid to experiment and try splitting your daily dose into two or three parts.  This may help you be able to work, too.  Take care.

 

Kian

[[Pr...]]

Hi again, Howdie

 

Yup, your calculations are correct. I agree with Kian - a slow taper is better than a rapid one for most intents and purposes. I myself came off my last 0.2mg K using a 50 day titration. So your taper rate is about the same. Maybe a tad slower.

 

Your reduction is (0.25 / 100) * 14 = 0.035mg every two weeks.  This is (0.035 / 0.25) = 14% every 14 days. I have a feeling you'll be able to speed up since this is slow for the end of a titration and also titration is a gentler way to make cuts.  If you do decide to speed up, you can do this by reducing the amount of water you dissolve your K in.

 

Anytime you need more help with the math, you can post to this board again.

 

Also, like Kian said, some people have an easier time with more K doses per day. I went from 2 doses to 3 doses a day when I was titrating and it really helped. But if you're doing okay now and don't suffer from interdose w/d (getting sick a few hours before your next dose) then it's okay to stay on 1 dose daily.

 

Don't worry, you'll lose the fear of that anxiety coming back soon enough

 

-P-

 

>> edited to include percentage

[[Ho...]]

Thanks Kian and Princezz

 

Is my rate not .25/50? So would that be 7.5 %? I am breaking up .25mg into 50ml water and then drawing off .5ml daily.  It's so confusing.

So if I used 35 ml water and broke up the .25 in it, then would I still withdraw .5ml daily and then what % would that be each week.

I just cannot get my head around it at all.

 

 

[[Pr...]]

Well, you're reducing over a period of 100 days, right? (50ml * 2, since you're going down in half ml)

 

That makes your daily reduction amount 0.25 / 100 = 0.0025. Then multiply that by 14 to get your two week (14 day) reduction --> 0.035 = 3.5% every 14 days

 

You would divide by 50 (instead of 100) if you were taking out a whole 1ml per night. Which you might want to consider.

 

(edited to strike out percentage)

[[Pr...]]

Also, you can try stirring the mixture instead of shaking. You might be losing K particles on the lid of the cup

[[Ho...]]

Thanks Princezz, that makes sense to me now.  Thank you.

[[Ho...]]

Me again Princezz, the only symptom I am getting on a regular basis is anxiety. I think I will start to take off 1ml a night and see how I go. If I take into account what I have already tapered, then that means I only have another 45 days to go (I think), as I would be withdrawing 5 ml tonight. I prefer the sound of that as long as this anxiety does not increase. It's horrible.

[Guest [Si...]]

Glad to see you got some help.

 

When I see Math I usually check in.

 

[[Pr...]]

Howdie,

 

I realized something I forgot to do in my original post. 0.035 is the amount in milligrams that you will get rid of every 14 days.

 

To get the percentage from that, we have to divide this amount one more time by the starting point (0.035 / 0.25) = 0.14 -> 14% reduction every two weeks. Which seems large BUT when you get down to the small K numbers, really isn't. At the end of your titration, the percentage reductions must increase and increase, otherwise the titration would be indefinite. Literally.

 

My own titration took 50 days to get rid of 0.2mg. And I was going sooooooo sloooooowly. I was an absolute tortoise because I just couldn't rock the boat in my final semester of school.

 

If you use 50ml and take out 1ml per night as we've been discussing, your taper rate will fall more in line with mine.

 

My sxs all got better towards the end of my taper. Hoping that happens as you get lower too. Anytime you feel you're going too fast, you can extend the taper by reverting to 0.5ml a night or simply holding at your current dosage.

 

-P-

 

Hehe, Sig - I like to write all the calcs out in the thread

[[Ho...]]

Sigma, maths kills me, I haven't got a clue!

 

Princezz, you have been a great help, thank you.

[[Ho...]]

Sorry Princezz, I am struggling now I have looked over your posts re my titration percentage. Your first one says that at my current rate I am reducing by 3.5% per 14 days. If I increase to withdrawing 1ml each day then I will be reducing by 7 % every 14 days but then your last post has confused me because that says that if I reduce by .035 every 14 days, this is a 14% reduction.  Help!!

[[Pr...]]

I realized something I forgot to do in my original post. 0.035 is the amount in milligrams that you will get rid of every 14 days.

 

To get the percentage from that, we have to divide this amount one more time by the starting point (0.035 / 0.25) = 0.14 -> 14% reduction every two weeks. Which seems large BUT when you get down to the small K numbers, really isn't. At the end of your titration, the percentage reductions must increase and increase, otherwise the titration would be indefinite. Literally.

 

No problem. I had left out the final calculation to get the percentage this morning. So I posted it in my nighttime post. I just went back and put a line through the original percentage. It's 14% every 14 days, as in my last post. The 0.035 mentioned in the first post is the absolute amount being removed, i.e. 0.035mg (being removed from 0.25mg)

 

-> 0.035 / 0.25 = 14% (using a 100 day titration)

 

Simply double that for a 50 day titration -> 28%. This might seem like a high % but it really isn't when you're at the tail end of a titration.

[[Ho...]]

Thanks Princezz, I am understanding it more now. Thanks for your trouble. I've never been good with figures at all.

[[Pr...]]

No it's okay. Just stick with what you're doing now - 50ml - take out one ml per day. That will put you at about the same rate as I did, and I took it very easy. That's all you need to remember.