Any clonzepam/klonopin users for tapering advice
Hi all,
I originally posted about clonzepam/klonopin back in January. Unfortunately I stayed on this med due to my anxiety at 1mg a day (0.5mg x2). Well I have been tapering off it at a quarter of a tablet 0.125mg at time. It was all going pretty smoothly till I got down to 0.25mg which is half a tablet when I was hit by bad withdrawals. I'm just looking for advice on how to get off the last half, should I carry on at the same speed or slow right down? I need to get over the withdrawals as quickly as poss as need to get back to work as I have no job at the mo. My psych refuses to believe that 1mg can cause a great deal of dependency. I've been on benzobuddies site but its full of horror stories and just made me panic even more lol.
Re: Any clonzepam/klonopin users for tapering advice
I just posted a similar question
getting off that last bit is always tough. you need to be fully engaged in other activities to not think about it
Re: Any clonzepam/klonopin users for tapering advice
Getting off Clonazepam is really difficult and I remember it was hell for me. However, carry on lowering the dose, maybe once every 3 weeks? I went from 0.5 once a day to zero by cutting the dose down once a month. My therapist said people usually took 10 days in between going down a dose, but that it would be better for me to go at a slower pace given that I'd been on the medication for 9 years.
Re: Any clonzepam/klonopin users for tapering advice
Ok thanks for the replys. I have been reducing the dose every two weeks at the moment. Do you think reducing the last half into four quarter cuts would be slow enough?
Re: Any clonzepam/klonopin users for tapering advice
You could drop doses slower, like 4 weeks? Give your body a chance to settle.
I ended up on diazepam for about 18 months. Got down from 4 to 2 and then was really unwell (not necessarily from the diazepam taper) and eventually found venlafaxine, which got my anxiety sorted.
I dropped another mg (half and then half) over a month or so and was then too scared to drop that last tiny 1mg. Eventually I just did it, actually at the same time as starting a new job after over a year off, and I didn't really notice anything except for the inabillity to sleep. So, I ended up on a small dose of quetiapine for sleep. Seems silly to add another med, but I was on zopiclone as well so have kind of replaces 2 meds with one. And quetiapine doesn't lose it's effectiveness like benzos do.
I really didn't have any anxiety withdrawals at all, maybe because I was busy and was determined?
Re: Any clonzepam/klonopin users for tapering advice
Shaz, it might be that you were simply less addicted to it than I was as I was on it for 9 years. Also, you were on another medication whilst withdrawing. I wasn't on anything else at the time.
Diamond, why not take just one quarter for a few weeks before quitting altogether? The more gradual reduction, the better.
Re: Any clonzepam/klonopin users for tapering advice
Yes I'm going to take the last half slowly ana by dividing it into four. Thank you very much for the advice. Much appricated.
Re: Any clonzepam/klonopin users for tapering advice
Hi DG
Yep I'll do the same as you initially. 0.125 every month till I get to 0.5 then stop a while
Re: Any clonzepam/klonopin users for tapering advice
No problem, I'm glad I could help. :) Stay strong and determined, and you'll be off the medication in no time!
Re: Any clonzepam/klonopin users for tapering advice
Good luck buang. Hopefully it you will have an easy time getting off.