Posted by brynb on August 6, 2012, at 17:57:58
In reply to Hooked on klonipin, posted by Cee on August 5, 2012, at 19:49:20
Hi Cee,
I've been to hell and back from benzo use & abuse. I used 'em all and medically detoxed about 6 or 7 times. These are typically short detoxes (7-12 days or so) and IMO, useless for long-term benzo users. I finally kicked benzos by using Valium (I might have put this in another thread) and tapering the Valium over a period of 6 months. I did this w/ a doc, but the link that Moishe referred to is great for info. (It might have the Ashton method/manual listed there--she is a benzo expert who suggests using a Valium taper for all different benzo dependencies.)
You're actually not on a high dose of Klonopin, so you won't have to do as long of a withdrawal as I did. BUT that certainly won't make it any easier. The withdrawal will suck, but take it slow, and definitely consider switching to an equivalent dose of Valium--it's pretty much the same half-life as Klonopin (a long one!), but the dosing can be really precise, which makes it easier to gradually decrease.
Like Phillipa mentioned, it's not uncommon for people to become angry, enraged, violent, etc. There are many meds and things you can take during withdrawal to help mitigate the symptoms, but I don't know if you want to go that route. For now, work w/ your doc, switch over to Valium, and hang in there :). Good luck.
B
poster:brynb
thread:1022770
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20120803/msgs/1022805.html