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planning to come off clonazapam

Posted , 3 users are following.

marbel
marbel

Hi I am on  .5 mg in the morning and a 3/4 of a .5 mg in the afternoon for the last few months.  My psych nurse and i are planning to taper off over the next year but i am worried about the problems reducing at the very low doses when i am down to 3/4 of a .5.  My plan is to shave 1/9 off every few weeks.  But I am not sure this will work or if i should talk the doctor into switching slowly over to a longer acting drug like diazepam as recommended by the ashton method.  The  trouble is i am very sensitive to all medication changes and it took me a year and a half to successfully come off citalopram.  maybe I should just stick on clonazapam to decrease and hope my slow cutting skills are good enough to decrease with minimal problems.  Any advice please.?.  I am already worrying about this whole process and am still upset that the doctor put me on these for a week for sleep and then I developed anxiety and then the psychiatrist told me to get back on citalopram which gave me more anxiety and now I have this road ahead to get off them.  boo hoo marbel

 

0 likes, 9 replies

9 Replies

  • denee07
    denee07 marbel

    Posted

    Many people have gone off Klonopin successful by tapering. It just depends on how bad you withdrawl. One post i read. A lady took for 6 years .05 mgs. Similar to my story but I have taken for 8 years. She tappered went to gym and claimed to have no side effects at all. 

    I'm in the process of tapering now and plan to keep sharing my experience because truth of the matter is the people that are successfull in getting off these meds don't come back to tell us their story. Slow taper seems to be the key, so I started that regime. 

  • denee07
    denee07 marbel

    Posted

    I would go ahead and start the taper...yes many people get of Klonopin like that.  Not everyone needs Valium to cross taper. It just depends on how your body reacts. The mind is powerful thing and I know we can focus on the withdrawl symptoms too much. If we get the flu we accept it and struggle through it. Obviously, if it becomes unbearable then you up the dose in addition orchestrating another plan of attack. Also, give your body time to adjust to the smaller does each taper. Consquently, everyone is different so you have to pay attention to your body.  I hear life becomes a lot brighter and praying i'm successful this time!!!

    I know I was so fearful about the possible seizures,however, I decided to tell those around me and go on with life.  

    • marbel
      marbel denee07

      Posted

      thanks Denee for replying.  I am planning this Thursday to start my first reduction by tapering off1/8 of my morning .5 mg dose.  I am hopeful it will go well.  But I have some calming remedy if i should need it.  apparently you know within 20 hours if there is an adverse effect. I also have no work commitments for a few days after that.
    • marbel
      marbel

      Posted

      It would be great to share our tapering experiences!

      Cheers Marbel

    • denee07
      denee07 marbel

      Posted

      You can do it! I hear slow is better so that sounds like a great plan.

      Ill keep posting my experience. I went down to.025 mg way faster than recommended,and im fine.

      Yes, I hv insomnia and spacey but im not working at the moment,hence a perfect time to withdrawal.

      Also, im sensitive to most meds. Im going to take O.25 mg for a week or so then reduce by half for a week or so then stop..or spread out every other day. Depends on how I feel. I know the Ashton manual recommendeds 5-10 percent taper every 2 weeks..

    • denee07
      denee07

      Posted

      So far so good...holding at .25 mg
    • marbel
      marbel denee07

      Posted

      Well done denee.  I have decided to wait a couple more months before decreaseing. I hope you are sleeping well.  Someone recommended the herb zizyphus for sleep to me.  I found it good for irritability.

      Marbel

    • denee07
      denee07 marbel

      Posted

      Dropped to .12 mg this evening. I took benadryl last night. Im not working right now so if I get less sleep so be it.

      Herbs never do much for me but I try to take.vitamins, workout out, stay active but I realIze during this process...u may have to just zone out veg out...etc.

      I read someone that.there is no need to hold if you are doing well 10 days then move on...some say a week.

      Depends on what is going on in life...I hv.thr luxury of being in between jobs ...at the moment.

      Keep u updated.

    • denee07
      denee07

      Posted

      Benzobuddies...good message board. Im DawnO7

      Try not think too much...there is a lot of negative the boards..stay positive..:-)

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