Going to try titration

[[wa...]]

I'm on 5 clonazepam once at night for 6 months and need help figuring out how to do the titration.  I watched the youtube videos but I don't know how to start the process.

Any help would be great.  I want to do it in 3 months.

[[Be...]]

Hi, want2boff.

 

Are you saying you are on 5 milligrams (mg) of clonozepam at night?  Or maybe 0.5 mg?  Just want to be clear about your dose.

 

I didn't titrate but I know the first part involves getting the supplies:  a 100 ml cylinder with 1 ml markings and a 10ml syringe with 1 ml markings.  Some people also buy a mortar and pestle to pulverize the pills but other use an inexpensive pill crusher or even the back of a spoon with a cup.

To taper off your total dose in 100 days, you would follow the instructions from Titration board to make up your 100 ml solution every day, remove 1ml the first day, 2 ml the 2nd day, 3ml the 3rd day and so on down to -0-. 

 

Good luck with your taper. 

[[wa...]]

Beeper,

 

It seemed really complicated until you explained it.  I've seen other places with spreadsheets and that was freaking me out.  It's so easy the way you explained the 100ml of solution.  I just looked at my bottle and it is a .5 pill.  Little rotten yellow things.  Sorry about that. 

 

I don't know why I didn't think to do it this way and stressed myself out for days wondering how I was going to do it.

 

Do you know if a regular measuring cup would work?  I have several mortar/pestles.  I'm a chef so no problem with that but I don't have the cylinder.  Is there a reason for the cylinder instead of just a good old glass measuring cup?

 

Thanks for your help!

want2boff

[[Ho...]]

Mortar and pestle is not needed.

 

If you get a 100ml cylinder also get a 4 oz glass jar with a screw top lid.

 

Measure the water and be exact using an eye dropper to add or remove small amounts of water to be exact.

 

Pour water into jar drop pill into jar wait and shake it good to suspend the drug.

 

Use oral syringe to remove 1ml on day one or every other day that's up to you.

 

Go at  your own pace 10-20% reduction a month is a safe slow taper.

 

Ask any questions I did this for a year twice a day and freed myself of chemical dependency.

 

Sorry for bad grammar I'm on a iPhone it's my best excuse.

 

[[Be...]]

I think the cylinder is supposed to allow for more accurate measurements but I know people have used glass measuring cups before so I'm sure that would be okay.  You can start a new thread on this Board with that specific question and probably get other answers.

[[La...]]

Hi, this is the method I am using, its workig great, 1ml out per day, nice and slow , I got everything I needed at the phamacy, the pharmacist actually gave me a brown plastice bottle marked up to the 100ml mark, I use a small jar that had those cake decorating candy in it, I measure out 100ml in the brown bottle , pour it into the round jar, open my capsule up , dump the powder in, mix it up well, use a baby syringe marked in ml increments to take out the amt I want which has been 1ml/day, you can hold a few days or keep going down depending on how you are feeling, its very easy but remember to write down each time or you might forget where you are at.all the best Ladygrace

[[Be...]]

I have been titrating from 1.0 mg Clonazepam with good success. Initially all I had was a plastic jar with a mark of what I measured from 10 x 10 ml syringe measurements. However, I added a plastic 100 ml graduated cylinder for about 4 dollars (shipping was more than the cylinder). My other tools are a 10 ml syringe, a plastic straw and of course the clonazepam (more on that later). I was on 0.5 mg x 2 a day, so I titrate twice daily, 12 hours apart. Here's what I've learned.

 

1. If you change anything, give yourself a chance to stabilize before moving on. This is true from moving from dry cutting to titration at the same dose and from switching from one brand of clonazepam to another. I suspect it will be also true when I move from 0.5 mg pills to 0.25 mg pills.

 

2. See if you can get orally disintegrating tablets (PAR brand). They make titration a snap and are very convenient for dosing during the day. The whole process would take me less than a minute, but I tend to let the clonazepam dissolve in the water for about 15 minutes before I titrate. I don't think that is necessary really, and have just put the pill in the water and stirred it up (not swirling, just stirring), titrated, and drank it without noticing any increase in symptoms.

 

3. Rinse off your stirring device and syringe and drink the rinsate (truthfully most of the time I just lick it off). More critical than this, however, is that you rinse the container your clonazepam is in, because there will be some stuck to the sides and bottom. Put a little water in the container, shake it up, and drink it. Do it again. Then rinse everything off for the next titration.

 

4. Get that 100 ml graduated cylinder! I didn't realize how "off" I was in trying to fill up to that mark on the container until I started using the cylinder.

 

5. Find a taper schedule that works for you. I am doing the 10% reduction method and it is working pretty well, allowing me to work and function at home. I tried the 1 ml reduction method and waiting for symptoms to tell me to stop, but I felt that the cuts just caught up to me (snuck up on me really) and really made things pretty bad. Unbearable? No, but again, I need to hold my job and function at work.

 

6. Expect the unexpected. Sometimes, whether it is life events or just the quirky ways of withdrawal, symptoms just get worse when you don't expect them to. Just try to take comfort in the knowledge that they will pass.

 

7. Keep your mind and, if possible, body busy.

 

My plan is to titrate down from 0.5 mg to 0.25 mg pills and then to 0.125 mg (all available from PAR in orally disintegrating tablets). Once at low doses of the 0.125 mg pills I will "go linear" and just make small incremental cuts that may exceed 10%.

 

Good luck with your taper!

[[wa...]]

Thanks everyone for all the great information!  I have a tall, thin measuring cup that I think will work.  I like the idea of small jars too. 

 

I really appreciate everything!  I'm feeling 100x better about this than I did yesterday.

[[pr...]]

Graduated cylinders are designed for this kind of job.  They're designed for precise measurement of liquids.  I think they're the safest bet.

[[wa...]]

Hi prhiannon,

 

What would be the difference if I used a measuring cup?  I can see your point with the cylinder but does it make that much of a difference? If it does then I will look into getting a cylinder.

 

want2boff

[[Ho...]]

The cylinder has increments so you can get exact measurents.

What I did was when I pulled out my daily cut with my oral syringe I would shoot the drug water back into the empty cylinder to double check my cut , it got to where I wouldn't measure on the syringe anymore I would just know about how much to draw out and I would measure what I was cutting when I emptied it into the cylinder.

 

Get a plastic one if you do in case you drop it.

 

 

 

 

[[wa...]]

What I don't understand is that I know that cylinders may measure better but is it that important?

Also, do you rinse out the cylinder or measuring cup and use that left over liquid just in case some of the drug sticks to the side of the container?

 

From what I'm reading titration doesn't seem all that exact or precise but it's a good way to get small amounts down little by little.  I'm gearing up and getting as ready a I can before I begin.

[[Ho...]]

You can do it anyway you wish, some used a measuring cup and pulled their cuts out with a spoon. I wanted to be as precise as I could, Just do not use a blender you would be surprised how much water just doesn't come back out after blending, when you are making 1ml reductions daily it's important to be as exact as you can.

[[wa...]]

Thanks to all.  I ordered some cylinders from Amazon and should have them next week.  I'll keep you updated on my wild titration ride!

 

want2boff

[[Be...]]

I would think that you could easily be off by several ml with a measuring cup, that could lead to a bumpy ride - so good thing you got the cylinder.

[[wa...]]

I started my titration taper yesterday.  Today I am at 98ml.  I'm not sure of the mg but I only took out 2 ml so far and so far so good.

 

Thank you for all the help in figuring this out.