The Klonopin Klub

[[JM...]]

Seems like I'm really in for a withdrawl with my current dosage of 3 mg a day of Clonazepam.  Started at .0.5 in 2000 but anxiety and panic disorder, plus having a chronic illness has driven my dosage higher and higher per my primary doc.  He says when he and my psychologist feels it's time for me to go off, he does it with valium.  It has helped my anxiety but at this dose I don't know if I want to go off with probably a year of withdrawl.  Can't afford the time with my illness.  Best to all of you in your efforts.  I gain strength from that.

 

Thanks

 

JM

[[In...]]

Mark,

 

Well, good job. If you feel stable on .875, and stable is a relative term, you could go for your next cut very soon. I guess I'm making sure here your sx fall within the definition of tolerable and unchanging.

 

This usually takes about 10-14 days, but you most likely did some of that while you were on the .75 dose for 9 days.

 

If you can get to .815 mg next, I'd go for that rather than the .75 mgs.

 

And when you speak of switching to milk, you're now in the area of liquid titration which I'm  thinking you realize. You can learn this if this is what you want to do.

 

Intend

[[Go...]]

Thanks everyone for the information.  Due to my 4 year battle with benzos, I was also put on Seroquel 50mg and Trazodone.  Both I will have to come off of as well...yuck.  Anyway, I read somewhere that Seroquel and Klonopin clear through the same pathway in the body and that they try and cancel each other out.  Would make sense that I have bad interdose at night as I take Seroquel before bed and Im sure its causing the K issues.  Like someone said, its wd and we have to push through.

 

Thank you,

 

GG

[[Ju...]]

Hi Mark, Glad you are feeling better- just goes to show it wasn't you, it was the drugs

My preference is to exhaust the easy possibilities first- if cutting 0.125 or 0.06 every 1-2 weeks works for you, stick with it. You can always learn titration later if you have to. Of course, many here have had success with that too. Don't be afraid to give yourself a rest. You just went through a difficult time and there is nothing wrong with holding at this dose for a week before cutting again. You will get there!

 

I am sitting at 8 mg Valium making sure everything is settled from the crossover before I start to taper. I just made plans to attend an out of state meeting for work later this year- yikes- I have to plan that everything will still be fine then right??

 

GG- that's a lot of meds! Do you have a benzowise doc or can you find one in your area? Seems like it might be good to have a real hand to hold as you find your way out of this maze.

 

Good night to all, and may your sleep be nice and dry! I've had some wacky dreams lately, but that could be just because I am actually sleeping again.

[[Ju...]]

I meant to add for JM122- it's a good sign that your doc knows about a Valium crossover, means they won't cold turkey you like so many have suffered. You don't have to plan on a year of suffering- most people have no trouble especially the first time tapering and with a knowledgeable guide.

[[...]]

I see most of the questions being asked since yesterday have been addressed w/ what I think seems some very good information.  What I also see is a lot of courage and perseverance!  Aweigh, thanks for the thoughts re. MgO.  It works so well at this dose that I think I may wait till I'm further down the road..but good to know that it would not be unreasonable to take more. I thought I wouldn't sleep last night, but I did.  It really has addressed sleep issues.  I'm having another slightly anxious and a little off kilter day... but, otherwise , its Friday, and that's always a good thing.  

[[ad...]]

Hi JM,

 

I'm pretty much in the same boat as you.  3mg of K per day for anxiety and sleep. 

[[Ma...]]

Spoke too fast- sick to stomachs and headache today. At least no really anxiety.

 

Do you hold until you feel close to normal- or keep pushing down. Advice would be appreciated!

Also trying to figure out when and how to split my dose without going into tail spin. Has anyone successfully moved roughly 1mg k at night to half day half night during a taper?

Thank you community!

 

[[ad...]]

I'm feeling sick to my stomach too.  Is there a barfing emoticon?  I have been using Kava Kava to help with sleep and anxiety.  It has worked well for me in the past, it's non addictive, and has little side effect.  I guess it turns you skin yellow at some point if you take it for too long.  Another issue I have is that before I stopped my taper, I was a heavy coffee drinker.  I used to to counteract the effects of all the drugs I was taking at night to fall asleep.  Now it seems like if I drink a cup, I get way to wired, but withdrawal from coffee for me is pretty bad.  Any advice on this?

[[...]]

MM:  I hold till 1'm sure sx will not get any worse and are manageable... usually 10 to 14 days...some cuts are hard... headaches, anxiety, etc. Others, like this last one, have been great... no really bad sx and some new clarity.  Adam... I got a lot of headaches when I first had to stop drinking coffee but they've subsided now... I can't drink it or I don't sleep for days. Maybe try tapering your coffee intake.  Cut back a little every day  or at least  to where it is not affecting your sleep. 

[[In...]]

Mark,

 

Give yourself a little more time on that .875 mgs. It's usually around 10-14 days to be somewhat "tolerably" stable.

 

I think K gives people upset stomachs, taper or no taper. That and I get depression on it. Of course, it's not my first benzo. I crossed over from Xanax, but for me K, even at full dose is a real unfriendly benzo.

 

Intend

 

PS: sent you PM about moving your one dose to two doses.

 

[[aw...]]

NJoy and Mark:

 

I switched to black tea, then green tea [weaker each day], then herbal tea. Tapering off the caffeine, how else would a benzoguy do it? Very light headaches, but I was only a cup a day beanhead.

 

The taper goes well, I'm back to full redxn and no sx. I'm gonna wait 9 days and if still no sx, > the taper rate by 15%. Imagine me saying I may be tapering too slowly

 

I trust all goes well in lake land.

 

Aweigh

 

Hi, Intend 

[[...]]

Things in lake land are great... storms seemed to have passed... still cloudy but def. warming up... still haven't been able to get out on the water... anxiety just gets to unwieldy.  Very tired today but am fairly sx free.  Start new cut tomorrow.  Still dry cutting... those little plastic containers are the best for these tiny pieces.  I like to cut all my doses before I start new dose so if things get bad, all I have to do is take it and not have to worry about seeing and measuring and cutting when I'm not steady and coherentThese last 2 wks have been the best in I can't remember when.  Sure would be nice if it would last a while longer... nice to be enjoying the weather. 

[[Di...]]

If I cut a .50 pill in half, that means that each half is .25mg. (I have the pills with the line down the middle of the pill.)

 

If I cut a half into another half, then that makes each of those two pieces .125 mg each. Is it guaranteed that when I take each of the .125mg, that I'm getting equal amounts of the med, and not just filler in one of those .125mg pieces?

 

The other thing is that the clonazepam pills crumble easily when I cut them.  I bought a pill crusher.  If I cut a .50 mg in half, and then I crush the one half pill (which will be a .25mg piece) into powder, should I mix that .25mg powder up, so that all the actual med and filler are mixed well together....

 

and when I crush a .25 piece (or any size piece) into powder, how long does that powder stay good.  I mean, does it lose its potency in a certain period of time?

 

[[In...]]

Disney Girl,

 

I think the potency of a .5 mg pill is in the whole pill. If you cut it in half, I dont think it is certain that each .25 mg half is equally the same due to the fillers you mentioned.

 

However, if you end up taking the halfs within the same 24 hour period, I think you will be getting the full dosage of the original pill.

 

And I think the same is true of cutting the .25 mg in half. Now having said this, I have done what you are describing and noticed no effects that led me to believe I was getting less in one piece than another.

 

And I feel I can say this with some accuracy because I have cut those .5 mg pills into eighths and used them to cross over from Xanax to klonopin, and did not keep track of what eighth pill I was taking from the original pill. And it took me about 11 days to fully exchange 1/8 K for 1/8 X. So there was more than one pill involved.

 

I have to agree that these pills are difficult to cut accurately and that they do crumble. I found it a bit of a big JOKE on the part of the manufacturers that they evened scored the tablets. I called them "wanna be scores." Seriously, has anyone ever been able to snap a K pill in half down it's score without resorting to a pill cutter?

 

If you do crush them up, I would think it would be a good idea to mix up the crushed pieces well, although I don't know how you'd do that. Perhaps on a piece of waxed paper where pill residue would not be likely to stick.

 

I don't know how long this potency would be effective. If you were to put the mixed powder into some type of capsule for actual ingestion, I would think they would be effective for several days. Perhaps others here who have done this can answer more conclusively.

 

Intend

[[ja...]]

Morning, Klub. Welcome all newbies - so glad you're finding support here. I've been a member of the KK since July of 2012 and I've seen a lot - a LOT of success. Many of my buddies have gotten to the end of their taper and jumped (Rek, Mogeii, Lizie. Genoa), and many more have made incredible progress this year (Intend, Njoy, SkyZ, JKS, Brian). Honestly, I have not seen a lot of failure - maybe it's because people who don't think they're doing well don't come back, I don't know. But we stick together here, so stick with us (good Lord, have I really been in the KK a year??) 

 

So my "topic" for the day is what I'm calling "Progressive Chaos" - how long-term usage of Klonopin can affect your life. I'm just foregoing the scientific details and talking from experience. I was on benzos, particularly Klonopin, for 20 years straight - 1992-2012 - no breaks - so I can scarcely remember a time when I actually had my life under control. I'll tell my experience and then I'd love to hear from others about this.

 

So I do remember the beginning of the Chaos, interestingly. It was 1994 and I was in my first 1-bedroom apartment out in Los Angeles where I went to graduate school, and was having trouble with my filing system for bills and papers. I had a small pile that grew quietly, and every time I looked at it, I was very overwhelmed. It was a struggle to think about where they should go.

 

Flash forward 18 years. Bags and bags of unopened, unpaid bills and collection notices. No file system to speak of. More and more piles and bags. It took until April 2013 before my husband and I tackled the piles/bags, and I was mortified. As a side note, I'm still in the process of re-learning how to file.

 

Almost exactly the same thing with clothes. A couple of shirts on a chair became monstrous piles 3 feet high, where at my worst, I could pull the current season's clothes from the bottom of the pile - because the season had rolled around again from a year ago. I went from a smart, careful dresser to a sloppy wearer of dusty, cat-fur coated pants and shirts. Honestly, it took until yesterday to clean all that up - we're moving into a new place - but I will say that I did wear nice clothes over the last year - just kept buying more 

 

I think maybe the most important is the progressive neglect of myself. In 1992 it was so easy to take care of myself. I was 117 pounds, relaxed but polished, interested in languages, books, outdoors and hiking. Sixteen years later, I was 197 pounds - absolutely lost. Hardly showered or washed my hair, slept on a sofa for no particular reason, had trashed 4 cars and at my worst, was involved in illegal activities with not a care for the consequences. I didn't want to commit suicide but didn't care if I died, either. At that point, I think I was up to 2.5 mg of Klonopin, probably swallowed more pills here and there because my mind was so dead I couldn't keep track.

 

So now, I'm over a year out. There's no question that I'm still cleaning up so much carnage - I haven't even mentioned the Progressive Chaos of my relationships with family and friends - and still having trouble holding down a job. Having a lot of trouble cleaning and putting things away, still. But all my bills are open, I have no collection notices, I'm 160 pounds and I take care of myself.

 

So...what about you guys?

[[Di...]]

Thank you Intend, appreciate your input.

[[Im...]]

Wow jaxnj  This sounds so much like me! I'm still going thru wd so I'm still having alot of these feelings and I can see most of these tendence's in me still But when the fog lifts and I'm able to think half way straight and read post like yours I sure can see a picture of me! I'm still having a rough time Sometimes it almost seems I'm losing it I'm still on quite a bit of K but I'm really trying A part of me says sometimes what is the use of getting off these terrible drugs but reading post like yours helps me keep on going Thanks for sharing

 

                                                                                                Imsaved

Cold turkey off Klonipin 2mg three times a day

A month later found a Dr to listen and started me all over on Klonipin (2mg three times a day)

Since I had been without it anyway started out on 3mg a day (1mg three times a day)

First taper to 2.5 mg a day Couldn't handle it (1mg twice a day 1/2mg once a day)

Went up to 2 and 3/4 pill a day ( 1mg twice a day 3/4 mg once a day)

[[Sk...]]

Hey guys!  Just checking in. 

 

Hope you are all well.

 

I am dealing with some pretty bad anxiety when I first wake up.  It is horrible.  I am still sticking to my taper plan though.  I think part of the problem is that I have recently been using pills from a prescription from November, 2012.  The pills might not be as potent as the newer ones. 

 

I am just happy to be making progress.  It makes me happy to hear when some of you make progress as well.  I do my best to keep a positive outlook on all of this.  It really helps.  I have vacation in Florida in a couple of weeks.  I hope I can still have fun in the middle of my taper.

 

Best of luck and blessing to all of you!

 

-SZ-

[[ig...]]

Hey SkyZone,

a vacation in Florida sounds great! Hope you have a great time. Would it help to take something

completely familiar and comforting from home? Like a teddy bear or something?

 

For morning anxiety I pull the covers over my head..and it feels better. Just not ready to

face the world in the morning..and yet in the evening I feel more hopeful...

somebody posted something about our adrenals and I wonder about that..could be.

 

Congratulations on your tapering--and blessings back to you.

 

Ignatius

[[Mo...]]

Hi everyone. I just wanted to come by and offer some hope for those still tapering. I totally relate to what Jax has said! Anyway, I was on K for 7 years. I reached tolerance after 6 years and began my descent into hell. My taper was rough, I was sick most of the time. I did a fast taper because I was so sick. I'm very glad I did. I jumped 32 days ago and I am symptom free. The first couple weeks off were brutal!! I had the worst vertigo and dizziness among other symptoms, but they got better day by day. Not everyone suffers for months and I wanted to share that. Good luck to everyone. Stay strong, keep moving forward and it will be well worth it.

[[Di...]]

Morechocolate, so happy that you are feeling much better!

[[Im...]]

Sky hope you have a wonderful time in Flordia!!!    Morechocolate So glad to hear you are doing good  Ignation I agree the mornings are rough but toward the evening it gets better but at night when I can't sleep it is rough I keep saying I'm going to get mag and try just haven't left the house a lot lately    And Disneygirl it is good to see you on here  Are you doing ok?

 

    Imsaved

 

Cold turkey off Klonipin 2mg three times a day

A month later found a Dr to listen and started me all over on Klonipin (2mg three times a day)

Since I had been without it anyway started out on 3mg a day (1mg three times a day)

First taper to 2.5 mg a day Couldn't handle it (1mg twice a day 1/2mg once a day)

Went up to 2 and 3/4 pill a day ( 1mg twice a day 3/4 mg once a day)

[[ho...]]

Hi Everyone,

 

I am (I think) a month from completing my taper. The last 10 days or so have been tougher, sx stronger. I was hoping I would be one of the lucky ones who have less sx toward the end of their taper but...  I really can't complain, I didn't expect to get out of this unscathed. Just glad I don't have to try to work or raise children and can spend a day in bed if I need to. So therefore I power through.

 

Morechocolate: you're post was very encouraging. I have had some fear of jumping. It will be what it will be and the idea of being free...  that excitement overrides any fear.

 

jaxnj: thanks for sharing and congrats on your progress!

 

Imsaved: welcome to BB and KK. It takes courage to get off K. You can do it. Oh, I'm saved too!

 

Sky: hope you have a great time on vacation. When I first began tapering it was anx. that woke me every day. Think it lasted about 2 months. It would go away in a couple hours. Now I don't have it upon waking anymore.

 

I have 2 rounds ( what I call my reducing days ) left before jumping. I started by reducing 10 days and holding 4 (milk titrating). For the last 2 rounds I have been reducing 12 days and holding 3. I know this is beyond the 10% recommendation but I am anxious to reach the finish line. If it becomes too much I will slow it down.

 

Wishing you all the best... blessings, peace and hope. I pray for all of us here every day.

hopeful2013

 

 

[[No...]]

I started to taper off clonazepam on 5/12/2013 after falling asleep in the bathroom while brushing my teeth with an electric toothbrush! (I woke up when I hit the bathtub.)  I had been on .5mg T.I.D. which I thought was a fairly low dose.  I couldn't understand why I was so tired all the time!  Now I see that was like 10mg of Valium T.I.D. (sort of)!  The first weeks I just had sweats and chills after lowering to .5, .5. and .25 at bedtime.  after that I went to .25 T.I.D. and started having diarrhea, which has continued for 5 days.  It could be a virus, but I suspect it could be withdrawal.  What do you think? (anyone?)