Posted by Neal on May 18, 2009, at 1:10:51
In reply to Withdrawing from Klonopin - Ideas?, posted by RobertDavid on May 17, 2009, at 23:02:58
> I've been taking klonopin for about 14 years for Social Anxiety Disorter. It worked great, the only thing I took that worked and I took just about every thing except Nardil/Parnate for SAD. I continue to do well with my once debilitating anxiety issues.
that's great . . .
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> In my youth I self medicated with alcohol. Quit drinking for 16 years, but a year after starting klonopin began to fool around with drinking, now often in excess. I've heard there is research that suggests increased cravings, but not sure.
>> I have heard that over time the brain can change its hard wiring and perhaps I can get off klonopin or go to a lower dose successfully. I've lowered the dose before and had a hard time with withdrawls even at a slow titration down.
The fact that you lowered before, means you can probably do it again. Sometimes, when we get older, we can make do with somewhat less of certain medications. If you've got SAD, this would be the time of year to try, rather than say September or October. Benzo's are hard to titrate down on for many. I think there have been some specific strategies mentioned on the board - try using the search feature.
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> I'm taking 2mgs at bedtime and my plan is to go down by .25mgs each 7 days then level off at 1.5mgs for a few weeks. Then try to drop to 1mg and assess how I'm doing. If possible get off it. I'll use a pill cutter to chop up my 2mg brand pill until I get down to a lower dose then go to the 1mg pill if I'm successfull.Or get your doc to write a script for .5mg tabs and then you'll have more control. I'd go for chopping the .5 tabs. Try lowering by 1/4 or even less at a time of those.
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> I've always been a proponent of klonopin. Before I took it I could hardly leave my home. But I'm conserned and unsure about the issues mentioned and really don't know if klonopin is to blame. And the big question is will all my anxiety issues return. Also, I'm not sure how long I will I have to wait to see if the anxiety I will be feeling will be withdrawls or a return of the symptoms of SAD.
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> I guess time will tell. Any comments, ideas, or info would be great. ThanksRobert, how about cutting down on the alcohol? That might take you most of the way to solving your problem. Alcohol potentiates Klonopin, so that may be what's causing your problems. Try slowly titrating down the alcohol, because your body may be used to the potentiated Klonopin dose, so go slowly down on the drinks to zero and see how that works, and then revisit whether you want to/need to go down on the Klonopin.
poster:Neal
thread:896374
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20090515/msgs/896389.html