Klonopin withdrawal or Me?

[[sh...]]

I passed 2 weeks of withdrawal from klonopin. it has been hell of 2 weeks i had DR,DP Depression crying all the time,

aches heart and throat burning and now brain fog.

now I'm only taking antidepressant 100mg Zoloft.

 

How can i know if my lack of clarity,hard anxiety, brain fog and depression is because of the withdrawal???

maybe it's the Zoloft making me feel this way???

and i had depression and anxiety and panic attacks before i start with the meds so maybe its not even doing anything??

allthough i don't have panic attacks like before and its easier to stop the running anxiety thoughts, but I'm still very depressed afraid to loose

my personality afraid that i wont be normal and happy again my eyes are burning from tears.

 

i changed my nutrition I'm doing sport I'm dancing 3 times a week, i force my self getting out, I'm making a journal , i practice mindfullness

what else can i do??? i feel so hopeless...  :'(

 

i hope you can help me a little

[[OM...]]

Your signature looks like you did a rapid taper. If I'm reading it right it looks like you cut .5mg on nov. 10th from 1mg and then cut another .5 mg on nov 16th which at that point you were totally off it. Is that correct? If so, that is a very rapid taper and clonazepam is extremely potent. Most people need to taper a bit slower than average with it.

 

It is highly likely that what you are experiencing is a direct result of this rapid taper. WD (withdrawal) from benzos cause a myriad of symptoms, among them are depression, crying, DR, DP, brain fog, ect. Rapid tapers such as your tend to cause these to become even more pronounced in the weeks and months after you stop. Each person is different and you may not have a rough time ahead of you, which I hope is true for you. But you will, by the looks of it experience WD. Please don't make any other med changes at this point as it could be far too taxing on your system and cause symptoms to worsen which right now you would want to avoid.

 

I'd recommend reinstating at .5 mg K and tapering down more slowly from there in accordance with ashton guidelines or even slower according to how your body dictates you taper but two weeks is basically the cut off for reinstatement and after that reinstatement doesn't always help. You are right on the cusp so it is hard to know if it will help or hurt at this point. But you do appear to be experiencing WD from the K rather than something else. The time frame would indicate that this is WD as would the symptoms.

 

I am sorry you are feeling this way.

 

[[Ne...]]

You are in acute withdrawal. This is not the Zoloft. If anything, the Zoloft at this juncture will be helping any depression and anxiety. The symptoms are classic withdrawal. Even the fact that you are questioning your own 'sanity' at this point is also classic withdrawal. As OMG pointed out your taper was rapid, and often this can intensify these symptoms even more (although even those who slow taper can experience the same intensity of symptoms during the acute withdrawal phase).

 

Since you have just jumped, as OMG suggested, you still have the option of immediate reinstatement and then holding until more stable, then following a much slower taper schedule. Klonopin is potent. 1mg is equal to 20mg of Valium. Your cut prior to jumping was equivalent to 5 mg Valium, and then you jumped off from an equivalent of 5mg of Valium. Even if you had tapered slowly to that point, jumping from that high a dose is fraught with problems. Sometimes, and this isn't always recommended, we just have to go back to where we made the error and correct it, then stabilize and start a very slow cautious taper.

 

I don't know your specific situation, so only you can decide what the best course for you is. Others here may suggest to just keep on as you are, but realize that these symptoms are likely to be with you for months, which may also be the case with slow taper. However with a slower taper you are allowing your brain time to adjust to lower doses and possibly putting yourself at a lower risk for protracted withdrawal syndrome. Just my opinion based on existing research and observation of cases on this site.

 

I get the sense that you tapered this way because you may have been unfamiliar with the process of crushing and liquifying your daily dose in a process known as titration. This procedure allows for delivery of smaller doses of the drug, and also allows for the daily dose to be given in an evenly spaced out fashion such as 3-4 times a day as per how you respond. This forum has a titration and a tapering section where knowledgeable people will help you set up a taper schedule and teach you the titration process, if that is what you opt to do. If you do reinstate, then you are still within the borderline window for that to occur, but you will need to make a decision fairly quickly.

 

Whatever you decide to do, I hope you feel better soon. If you opt to do a quick reinstatement, then you generally ought to stabilize in a relatively short amount of time. I am so sorry this happened to you, and I hope you are able to get to a more tolerable place.

 

Take special care.

[[sh...]]

thank you so much both for your answers, i hope you are right and I'm still in WD, because my psychiatr keeps telling me that

WD should last only a week and he want to raise my sertraline dosage to 150mg daily,

anyway ill wait with that, now that i know how hard is WD i don't want to put any more drugs into my body,

i prefer crying all day long and be as natural as i can, and i think also about the AD withdrawal that will be very hard, and i dont want to raise the dosage allthough I'm far from being able to take it off. (i think).

I really didn't know titration section I'm sure it will help me but ATM i don't want to put another 0.01mg of klonopin in my body I'll be strong

and ill survive those months and with your encouragement i know ill get better,

it just that i had night sweats for a week and a half and for and for 3 days i don't sweat in the night anymore so i thought the WD is over and i was afraid that this is me right now, i really hope that you are right and my psychiatr is wrong allthough its really weird that its so different whats he says and the stuff in the forum but i prefer to listen to the guys that went through it and not to a doctor that learned about it and know nothing how i feel.

[[Ne...]]

Your doctor's response is precisely the response given to the majority of people in your situation. If you read posts on this forum, you will quickly discover that unfortunately the bulk of the medical profession has not received the information regarding benzodiazepine withdrawal. Your doctor's knowledge base on this subject does not include Dr. Ashton's 12 year research. I strongly suggest you read her work to familiarize yourself with your situation. Then you will understand better what and why this is happening to you.

 

A word of caution: Do not confront your doctor with this information...he will not likely appreciate or acknowledge it. Instead, attempt to continue your Klonopin supply in order to taper, if that is what you decide to do. Unfortunately, you are quite likely to find little support for this process in the medical community at large simply because they have not been formerly exposed to the research. Their knowledge regarding drug withdrawal is based mostly on the opiate scenario. Once the opiate is out of the system, after a short period of time, withdrawal is complete. Not so the case with benzos. But, do not take my word for it. Please read everything you can on this forum. The Ashton work can be found at benzo.org.uk.  Decide for yourself. There are hundreds of active cases here, and hundreds of older ones. More than 10,000 people are registered to use this site. If benzo withdrawal were that cut and dry, then why are so many people on this site dealing with similar problems?

 

If you read the posts here past and present, the evidence speaks for itself. Best of luck in your journey whatever you decide.

 

 

[[OM...]]

I second everything NewMoon has written though I most always do.

 

Psychiatrists and doctors in general deny that there is any kind of WD with benzos. For many, there isn't - the first or second time they use them. But benzos are highly addictive and for portion of people, WD can last a very long time (over a year) and can be very painful. Doctors consistently deny this because the simple fact is that most users go on them and stay on them for ages or go off that once and never have a problem. But as you can see by the number of members this site has and that it has been around for about a decade, there are enough people who have problems withdrawing from benzo use to warrant doctors educating themselves about this issue. Countries like canada and the UK have very specific guidelines regarding the prescribing of benzos for this reason. The USA and other countries have yet to fall in line with this which is a shame as it does more harm to patients who need help.

 

Wishing you the best of luck and healing.