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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 7 of 7. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by JohnSky on March 6, 2008, at 10:20:45
I have been on 3.5mg if clonazepam for a couple years. My doc recently took me from 3.5 to 2.5mg in a week and two weeks later I am having tough withdrawal sysmptoms. Things are getting a little better each day. How long will it take before the withdrawal sysmptoms back down and what supplements can I take to help? Going forward my doc and I agreed to stay at my current level for several weeks... wait for the Nardil to help my depression... and then slowly reduce by .25mg every couple weeks. Any thoughts on what has worked well for others on how to withdrawal in a manner to minimize all the tough withdrawal symptoms? This week has been hell but I want to get through this change and sit tight for awhile and then go very slowly.
Thanks
John
Posted by Phoenix1 on March 8, 2008, at 17:31:45
In reply to conazepam withdrawal question, posted by JohnSky on March 6, 2008, at 10:20:45
Hi JohnSky,
I reduced my dose in a similar way to you. It took about 2 weeks for the withdrawal to even out. It's better to reduce gradually if possible. For me, once the Nardil kicked in, I just stopped clonazepam cold turkey and felt fine. I just didn't have a need for it. Hope everything goes well for you, keep us updated.
Phoenix1
> I have been on 3.5mg if clonazepam for a couple years. My doc recently took me from 3.5 to 2.5mg in a week and two weeks later I am having tough withdrawal sysmptoms. Things are getting a little better each day. How long will it take before the withdrawal sysmptoms back down and what supplements can I take to help? Going forward my doc and I agreed to stay at my current level for several weeks... wait for the Nardil to help my depression... and then slowly reduce by .25mg every couple weeks. Any thoughts on what has worked well for others on how to withdrawal in a manner to minimize all the tough withdrawal symptoms? This week has been hell but I want to get through this change and sit tight for awhile and then go very slowly.
>
> Thanks
>
> John
Posted by Treehugger on May 28, 2008, at 12:03:05
In reply to Re: conazepam withdrawal question » JohnSky, posted by Phoenix1 on March 8, 2008, at 17:31:45
JohnSky - I have tried several times to stop clonazepam and still haven't been able to. It really is a hard one. It's done, but I think a 1mg decrease was way too much. For me .25 like you said every couple weeks, but when you get down there to maybe .5 make the decreases smaller - it get's tougher at the end. It is hard to cut into smaller than 1/4 of a pill, but you can grind up, spread into a line, and then you can divide into very small doses. I really wish you the best with this!
Posted by cybercafe on July 25, 2008, at 16:18:04
In reply to conazepam withdrawal question, posted by JohnSky on March 6, 2008, at 10:20:45
I think having a stable and supportive lifestyle is really important to getting off.
I found withdrawing from 4+mg a day without having anyone to talk to was rather difficult.
(I'm about 90% of the way through withdrawal).Btw are there any benefits to going off benzodiazepines? Are there any positive things to look forward to?
Posted by Abby Cunningham on November 24, 2008, at 14:06:58
In reply to Re: conazepam withdrawal question, posted by cybercafe on July 25, 2008, at 16:18:04
Absolutely benefits from being benzo-free. You are no longer dependent on a drug that is insidious in its ability to cause tolerance and thus withdrawal symptoms, causing many victims to increase dosage.......
Also, your mind becomes clearer and sleep suddenly becomes real honest to goodness sleep instead of "passing out" which occurs with benzo usage over time.
Benzos are a dangerous drug when used for more than a couple weeks. I know: I am iatrogenically (doctor induced) hooked on xanax and I have reduced my intake from 3mg. to 1.5 but wish to come completely off them. they can be worse than heroin in withdrawal; due to the fact that the GABA receptors take a long time to heal and start producing your own natural GABA once again. Please for your own health, be very cautious with benzodiazepines......I am an example. It took me a year to go from 3mg. of xanax to 1.5 mg. and I am afraid to taper more, but I know I must. I came off them once on my own and slept like a baby with no medication but a miscarriage and subsequent anxiety led to a poor decision on my part to go back on the xanaxpoison, and here I am, hooked and embarrassed about it; how do I travel to another country being so afraid I will not have my xanax? It is very dangerous to cold-turkey and very difficult for many people to taper down even gradually. I did a valium taper and got down to 10mg. valium (about 1/2 mg. of xanax) but stupidly got back on them. Please don't dismiss this advice......better that benzodiazepines were never invented than to go on them.........most people say, even heroin addicts,,,,,that they will never touch another benzo due to the horrendous, long (sometimes 2 years) withdrawal symptomatic period.
this is the truth for many, many people; don't be fooled.
Posted by Abby Cunningham on November 24, 2008, at 14:10:36
In reply to Re: conazepam withdrawal question » cybercafe, posted by Abby Cunningham on November 24, 2008, at 14:06:58
AND you will feel so much better to withdraw very very slowly; some people do a liquid taper reducing no more than 10% at a time, or much less. You will be successful and not suffer the withdrawal symptoms the SLOWER you go!
Best wishes,
Abby
Posted by crittercuddler on December 15, 2008, at 23:13:54
In reply to conazepam withdrawal question, posted by JohnSky on March 6, 2008, at 10:20:45
Hi John,
I am so happy to hear that you have made the decision to discontinue your benzo Klonopin, and that you are doing it slowly. I must say though, that you might want to go even slower.
Have you read "The Ashton Manual"? You can easily find it online and also read it online. Copies are also available for you to buy should you want one. Professor Heather Ashton has basically dedicated her life to studying benzodiazepines and this is a great resource to understand what they have done and are doing to you (bad of course), why you should not use them long term, how to withdrawal safely, detailed information on withdrawal symptoms you might encounter... etc... Here is a link to it
http://www.benzo.org.uk/manual/
The Ashton Manual advocates a 10% dose reduction every 7-10 days. There are also several methods for tapering such as doing a Valium cross-over, doing liquid titration, and doing dry cuts. As you can see you are going faster than 10% every two weeks.
I have been free from Klonopin for six months. I took 3mg daily. All together I took Klonopin for 1.5 years at that dosage. I cut my dosage down by .25mg every two weeks. When I got down to 1mg daily things go really hard. I continued on at that pace though. I spent February till June of this year tapering and it was so awful. It has been the struggle of my life to get off of that medicine. Since finishing my taper I have been dealing with benzo withdrawal syndrome symptoms too. One very distressing symptom is tinnitus. I developed it during the last week of my taper and it has not gone away. :-(
You should join a support site like benzobuddies.org or benzoisland.org. They will be a wonderful support resource for you while you do this and they can guide you in your taper too and help you create a taper plan according to the Ashton method.
I am a benzobuddies.org member. Please check out my two main threads to learn more of my story...
http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?topic=10812.0
http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?topic=10815.0
If you go to the first link please note that in my post I put a link to my fist thread on benzobuddies. You can follow that to see how I was doing right after I finished my taper.
You can email me if you like. crittercuddler@sbcglobal.net
Best wishes for a smooth taper.
-michelle
This is the end of the thread.
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