Quitting Clonazepam, need advice please.

[Liquid]

I've been taking Clonazepam for anxiety/panic on and off for about a year now. I've currently been taking it for the longest I have ever taken it, which is about 3-4 months. I've only ever taken .5mg twice daily, but I've always been very sensitive to medications and often require lower doses.

My question is... I've decided that I no longer desire using Clonazepam for panic/anxiety and decided to stop taking it. I figured that stopping abruptly from .5mg twice daily would be fine, seeing as it appears to be such a low dose compared to most threads I have read.

I've only been off of it for about 3-4 days, but I'm starting to experience some pretty tough anxiety and panic. Having the usual symptoms like shortness of breath, chest breathing, and incredibly tight chest wall/diaphragm.

Should I have weaned off of the Clonazepam a little slower, or is the dose too low to really cause serious withdrawal?

[yenool]

Well you should speak to your doctor obviously.
My personal opinion is that it is better to taper off slowly than rush these things.

If I were taking 1 tablet twice per day I would start off reducing by taking 1 in the morning and half in the evening. Then go to half in the morning and half in the evening... etc. Reducing by 1/4 at a time over a few weeks.

I don't know if the dose you were on is a high enough dose that stopping suddenly could cause serious harm or not, but clearly it is causing you discomfort and withdrawal symptoms.

I can't see you have anything to lose by starting again and then discussing a taper plan with your doctor.

[Liquid]

Thanks for responding, yenool. It gave me a lot of piece of mind. I decided to take the Klonopin. Luckily I have an appointment with a new Psychiatrist tomorrow, so I can get some professional help with my meds and tapering off of the Klonopin.