Posted by Komet on May 27, 2009, at 22:19:03
In reply to Long time user of Klonopin, considering stopping., posted by Komet on May 24, 2009, at 0:57:37
Thank you for all your responses.
I'm not looking for a substitute for Klonopin, because truthfully, it has worked very well for me allowing me to cope through some very tough years. My question is whether I should try to end my long-term use of Klonopin (without substituting it for another).
My primary motivation for going off a daily dose is, frankly reading the horror stories on some of the websites that are anti-benzo. Though my experience has not been bad (actually, on the whole I have to say my experience with Klonopin has been nothing but positive), I do get nervous reading some of the postings and I certainly want to avoid getting caught up in something I can't control.
Upon reading some of your responses, I realize I need to amend my OP.
About a year ago this month, a person very very close to me committed suicide. Around this time, I was having dizzy spells in the afternoon. After ruling out other possibilies, my MD urged me to go up to 1.0mg. I resisted for the reasons in my OP. However, after the suicide, I decided to follow the MD's advice and up the dose - which I had been on up until about a month ago. I decreased the doseage to .75 and held at that level for 3 weeks. I then decreased to .5.
I don't know why I ommited this information, perhaps it was to keep the question simpler. However, reading some of your responses, it now seems like pertinent information.
Anyway, I'm going to see how I do at .5 for the next few weeks and evaluate what to do from there.
One option is to continue at that doseage as it seems to control my anxiety effectively and doesn't have any bad side effects that I can pinpoint.
Another option is to try to get off a daily dose - I'd be interest in hearing what's the best way to go from .5 to zero, that seems tougher than from going from 1.0 to .5.
A third option might be to see if the dizziness comes back and if so, go back to 1.0 - I am most reluctant to follow this option.
Any advice is greatly appreciated.
Thanks - Komet
poster:Komet
thread:897371
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20090524/msgs/898019.html