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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
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Posted by HyperFocus on October 29, 2008, at 12:55:38
I'm thinking about starting back with a small dose of clonazepam for anxiety but I don't want to have to go through the withdrawal nightmare I did last time when I wanted to stop. Would a small dose of 1mg give me any major withdrawal problems? What if I wanted to stop abruptly?
Posted by Phillipa on October 29, 2008, at 13:16:46
In reply to Can 1mg clonazepam cause withdrawal probs later?, posted by HyperFocus on October 29, 2008, at 12:55:38
I guess it depends how long you're on it. How come you got off it before was it working? Phillipa
Posted by yxibow on October 29, 2008, at 19:13:16
In reply to Can 1mg clonazepam cause withdrawal probs later?, posted by HyperFocus on October 29, 2008, at 12:55:38
> I'm thinking about starting back with a small dose of clonazepam for anxiety but I don't want to have to go through the withdrawal nightmare I did last time when I wanted to stop. Would a small dose of 1mg give me any major withdrawal problems? What if I wanted to stop abruptly?
No benzodiazepine should be stopped abruptly, a lot of people would probably get away with it at that dose but seizures and high anxiety and rare side effects can occur.That's about equal to 20mg of Valium.
Its really what your body will do with it over the years in terms of usefulness vs. habituation time.
I am running into problems with Valium after 4 years, but I took a high dose for a reason that was justified by some evidence base.
At that dose, though you could get off of it fairly easily -- usually the recommendation is 10% per week so you might have to go over to Valium, which would have more tablet range -- but you might get away by just halving the lowest dose of Klonopin for a short period of time.
But you might be able to stand a shorter reduction period. If you had problems before then I would just be prepared that you might have issues again, or you might not this time around. And if that is the case, that's a definite cause for not stopping abruptly.
The problems I see is with people who are taking like 6-10mg of Klonopin, which is pretty hefty.-- Jay
Posted by copper on October 30, 2008, at 10:59:28
In reply to Re: Can 1mg clonazepam cause withdrawal probs later? » HyperFocus, posted by yxibow on October 29, 2008, at 19:13:16
I have been taking 3mg of clonazepam for about 3 years. It does scare me that I am so dependent on it, and I think I could use more, as I have in the last year had lots of anxiety. It did work great for a long time with me.
Copper
Posted by HyperFocus on November 1, 2008, at 6:41:23
In reply to Re: Can 1mg clonazepam cause withdrawal probs later? » HyperFocus, posted by Phillipa on October 29, 2008, at 13:16:46
I had some weird interaction where the meds didn't do a thing for me while on the clono. Also it made me feel very unmotivated, although it knocked a lot of the anixety right out. I just wanted to stop it because I felt it wasn't treating the root cause of my social anxiety, and I was afraid of dependence.
> I guess it depends how long you're on it. How come you got off it before was it working? Phillipa
Posted by Phillipa on November 1, 2008, at 19:25:27
In reply to Re: Can 1mg clonazepam cause withdrawal probs late » Phillipa, posted by HyperFocus on November 1, 2008, at 6:41:23
Oh makes sense to me. Phillipa
Posted by JadeKelly on November 3, 2008, at 20:08:42
In reply to Can 1mg clonazepam cause withdrawal probs later?, posted by HyperFocus on October 29, 2008, at 12:55:38
> I'm thinking about starting back with a small dose of clonazepam for anxiety but I don't want to have to go through the withdrawal nightmare I did last time when I wanted to stop. Would a small dose of 1mg give me any major withdrawal problems? What if I wanted to stop abruptly?
I wouldn't stop any dose of Klonopin abruptly.I've been taking Klonopin for many years, I started at .5mg at night, and now 3mg day split up. Never did take it for anxiety, took it for insomnia to start, then nerve damage to my neck. I've never felt ANY emotional dependence on it.However, when I went into the hospital for a fairly minor surgery, I thought well, I'm on pain meds any way and thats probly too much. So I stopped the 3mg klonopin cold turkey. No one ever told me I couldn't, and I didn't ask. The withdrawal was hell, and I didn't get the connection for 30 days. I kept going back to my GP, the surgeon, the hospital for tests. I was sure something was wrong due to the surgery. When it finally occured to me, I started it again and all the crazy symptoms went right away, Duh!!! I have wanted to stop taking it for a while, but don't want withdrawal symtoms getting in the way of AD treatment.
So, if your only talking about 1mg of klonopin, your probably ok, you'll just have to reduce it slowly, like 1/4 tab per week or two or you will have some pretty uncomfortable w/d's, in my experience.
Good Luck!
Jade
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