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n3r0x1k
09-06-08, 19:39
Hey everyone,

I'm just concerned about how long a withdrawal over benzo's should take at minimum. I took Rivotril (Clonazepam, also known as Klonopin in other countries) for 10 years and 2-3 weeks ago, my psychiatrist said to jump cold-turkey from 2.0 mg's per day to zero... and then my psychologist prescribed me a 3 week withdrawal cuz she found that cold-turkey had no sense. But I'm still concerned if that was too fast, cuz I'm extremely nervous, panick episodes are worse and more frequent, and immense health anxiety and terrorization, sometimes shaking, I've been at "zero" since a couple of days and it's hell. Today I popped 0.5 mg's because it was too unbearable, and I got scared when reading this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benzodiazepine_withdrawal_syndrome#Withdrawal_symp toms
the second section, where it says: "An abrupt or over-rapid discontinuation of benzodiazepines may result in a more serious and very unpleasant withdrawal syndrome..." including coma and something which "may result to death"... so what would be a normal "safe" duration for benzo withdrawal ?

Cathy V
09-06-08, 19:59
Hi there, im surprised they took you off it so suddenly after so long taking it. Even a relatively small dose should be reduced in stages...half then quarter etc. At least the doc has told you to reduce them gradually by the sound of it. I came off tranxene and ativan a long time ago now, but still remember the withdrawal and what you describe is typical withdrawal. I went on to be a volunteer with the charity Mind, helping ppl withdrawing from benzos. Its not easy and its not comfortable but you'll be ok, and you won't die ok? please dont get yourself into more anx about dying this way coz you wont.

Her if you want to talk ok?
Cathy xxx :)

n3r0x1k
09-06-08, 20:36
Her if you want to talk ok?
Cathy xxx :)
I only quoted part of your text cuz I don't know if people get notifications otherwise, but I must say that your post reassures me a bit. On average, how long does the withdrawal symptoms last. Of course, I know you're not a doctor, and even if you give a rough estimate and even if it may vary amongst people, I just want to get an idea from a human being instead of some wikipedia entry. And yeh, I was surprised for the cold-turkey too, and kinda fought (verbally) with him, but his decision was made bla bla bla... and I was wondering what kind of withdrawal the people you see go through. Like me, I jumped from a steady 9-10 years daily usage, was at 2 mg's and jumped first 5 days at 1 mg, next 14 days at 0.5, then zero. What would you suggest? Of course, I would take that info in mind and just go see another doctor to prescribe me a longer withdrawal. I'm just scared that what I did was considered too fast and would be scared to have like Benzo withdrawal syndrome that can last for several years in 10-15% of patients (according to wikipedia), I just want something safe that I could say "okay, I'm not feeling great, but I only have weeks/months to stand this".

Thanks for everything.

dianes
09-06-08, 20:50
Hi :)

Please stop thinking you are going to die, you're not. It sounds like withdrawal symptoms. I was on diazepam for nearly 18yrs, at the end I was taking 55mg every night, it took me over 2 1/2yrs to withdraw off it with the full support of a lovely physiciatrist, doctor and hubby. I was cut down by 1mg a week. Sometimes when the symptoms were too much to handle, I would be kept static for longer than a week before cutting down again.

It is normal to experience hightened anxiety, panic, nervousness, restlessness, insomnia, nausea, headaches, paranoia and doubt about coming of the meds. As was explained to me, your body needs time to adjust to working on it's own again without the drug and this takes time. If you are struggling contact your gp/phyciatrist and ask for their help. I know it's bad, but I would encourage you to keep going, you will feel so much better without the medication. I personally would never take diazepam again as it nearly ruined my life.

Good luck, we are all here to support and encourage you :yesyes: Keep us informed on how you are doing and contact me if you need to chat.

Diane

'Remember, your imagination is always much worse than the reality'

Cathy V
09-06-08, 21:00
Yep it exactly like dianne has said too. and even tho it sounds as if youve reduced the meds in the right way there will be anx even after them. Theres really no way of telling anyone how long it will take, even roughly but i know you know that anyway (when we feel like sh*t we want so,eone to say ok, at half üast 3 on the 10th of july you'll be freeeeeee hahaha! i wish this also!) The best thing you can do is keep in touch with us here and keep in touch with the docs and i beleive that you'll be feeling better in a shorter time than most whov been on them longer.

Keep talking to us if it helps ok? im ususally around until about midnight and then again from about 8....see that, im even sleeping better since joining nmp! :D

cathy xxx

decca
09-06-08, 21:15
I thought the recognised method of Benzo withdrawal was to cross over to an equivalent dose of a benzo with the longest half life IE; Diazepam.
Then to make cuts of 10% each fortnight, it takes a long time but the withdrawal is easier tolerated.
Re; Professor Ashton , copy of which is available here - http://www.benzo.org.uk/manual/

But I'm not sure it would be good or not to reinstate at the stage you're at.
Maybe Cathy could advise further.
Decca

Cathy V
09-06-08, 21:24
Decca you're so right, but annoyingly not many Gps do it this way and its the best way and yes, it would take longer but ppl feel less anx etc and its much better this way. Why dont they all do it though? I can understand a little of the ignorance in the 70s and 80s with these drugs, but with all the info and evidence in the years since you would think theyd get it right!

Sometimes it makes me angry with some of the docs..not all i know there are some really good ones around, but many more others just dont seem to be bothered and its still a case of ppl with HA are much less tolerated...some things never change :lac:

cathy xx

decca
09-06-08, 21:43
In the 60's I was prescribed 30mg Phenobarbitone 3 times a day for severe Eczema,I was stuck on it for 20 years because none of my doctors told me to stop them when the Eczema got better, I had to wean myself off in much the same way.
Nothing ever changes.
Decca
PS do you think it would help n3r0x1k to reinstate to her last cut while she's waiting to see her Doc. ?

Cathy V
09-06-08, 22:16
Its a difficult one. Ive never interfered in docs preferences with other ppls meds before, only been there to catch them when they eventually fall, but crossover meds make so much sense so perhaps have a talk with the doc about this?

Cathy xxx

n3r0x1k
10-06-08, 04:39
Thanks to you all again.
Just a note, I'm a guy (Decca said "..help n3r0x1k to reinstate to her..") hehe, but doesn't really matter, was just pointing it out.
Thanks Dianes for sharing your experience.

@Decca: Thanks alot for the reference to that manual. I'm reading it now and done reading alot, and things like: "You may need to resist attempts from outsiders (clinics, doctors) to persuade you into a rapid withdrawal. The classic six weeks withdrawal period adopted by many clinics and doctors is much too fast for many long-term users."

Well I've been put on a 3-week (at first 1 day withdrawal, hehe), so I guess I should go slower. You asked if I should reinstate it back to there... it's a great question, although I know it wasn't addressed to me, I know for a fact I'm WAY too nervous and anxious and everything since I'm at zero, so I'll ask my GP (not my psychiatrist) if he can taper me off starting at 1mg's, which is quite ok to me since I was at 2 mg's and 2 weeks ago still at 1 mg. From there, I'll go slowly as the manual suggests, but I won't take the diazepam switch as in their schedule for tapering off Clonazepam. I wanna do this cuz I know it ain't right and I know I'll just feel better off short and long-term.

@Cathy V: Thanks again for the "talk" offer, I actually consider it maybe for the near future if things get too hellish, but what did you mean exactly, PM's from this site?

Thanks again to you all (I know I'm repeatingmyself, but thanks).

decca
10-06-08, 18:53
"Decca said "..help n3r0x1k to reinstate to her.."
Oops sorry mate - I should have looked at your prof. first, anyway I'm glad I was of some assistance to you.
All the best
Decca

Cathy V
10-06-08, 19:35
Hi there, as you prob aware by now that the forum has been down most of the afternoon, so only just got to your reply. Its cool that you want to try and come of the meds a bit slower and without the cross over drug, good for you. What i meant by talking to me anytime is either this way through the posts...coz then you'll get more than one opinion, or you can send a private message to me or to any of the others you want. Also when youve been a member for about 5 days (unless theyve changed it) you can go into the chat room. I dont really use it but theres always someone around to talk to if you feel like hell. But you sound like you're doing so great...be proud of yourself ok?

Cathy xxx :)

n3r0x1k
10-06-08, 19:52
Thanks. Actually I'm not doing too great, I always end up taking an "escape pill" cuz I get too much shaky and panicky, but then again, great again maybe considering my escape pills I only take 0.5 mg compared to the usual 2 mg's I used to take.

Cathy V
10-06-08, 20:40
Hiya, hey dont feel guilty about taking the escape dose. If it takes the edge off the anx do it, coz i think your psychiatrist did take you off them cold turkey and your doc didnt agree with that either, not after so long on them. If this 0.5mg is enough to make you feel better then stay with it til you can talk to your doc. He might put you onto 1mg to start a longer withdrawal but please dont think of it as failure, you have still done really well to get down to this point, and you will get there believe it. Yep you will feel like cr*p sometimes, but you will be free one day if its whats you want.

When i was a volunteer for Mind way back, there was a fantastic little booklet that we gave out to ppl coming off benzos called something like..'Freedom from Tranquilisers--Crawling out of the Bottle' or some such thing, and there was a little sketch on the cover of someone halfway in and halfway out of a bottle of pills. The boolet was a little gem and full of info about the effects of benzo withdrawal. I dont know if its still around so i might try and google it and let you know. Meantime you have us on nmp :scared15:

Keep posting coz you're not alone ok?
Cathy xxx :)

n3r0x1k
10-06-08, 22:33
Thanks alot Cathy V.

Actually I've taken the decision to go on and not "reinstate" (if that's the correct term) back to Rivotril. I talked to my pharmacist this afternoon as I was renewing my Celexa (an SSRI) and he said it was normal to feel the way I did, which I already know, but that it was a shot to give and that even he prefers the quick method because yeh I can get shakes, heavy anxiety, shivers and sweats for a big 15 days, then less worse, but that it's a "shot to give". I was skeptic but afterall, I can't always be terrorized by documentation, of course they always include the percentage of people who develop almost chronic symptoms, but afterall, like my pharmacist said, he'S seen alot (I guess that's their method here in Quebec, Canada) of patients get off that quickly even with a long history and/or high doses, but that after their 15 days, 15 days after symptoms start to wear off and eventually you feel great, and they didn't end up with anything bad. Afterall I've come down to 0 and 0.5mg shots and still am alive, so I just have to live through the "hell" when the rushes come by, cuz he said it's like quitting smoking, some people will feel like they almost wanna kill when they stop quickly, but they feel fine quicker afterwards. Anyhow, I'll see how this goes and try to keep a positive attitude, no matter how hard it is to keep one with the symptoms :P And I'll post here when things feel to bad.

Cathy V
10-06-08, 23:10
Ok n3 i understand and will be thinking of you on your 'mission'! and talk to you when you need it.

Take care for now
cathy xxx

n3r0x1k
11-06-08, 02:17
Thanks :)
alot...
I'm really grateful
take care too
xxx

Cathy V
11-06-08, 10:22
Have been looking on the net for some books that might help and there are quite a few around these days. One author stands out for me because ive read her work and shes really good. Her name is Shirley Trickett and the book ive seen is called Free yourself from Tranquilzers and Sleeping pills. Might be worth a look :read:

TC
Cathy V xxx

pete69
13-06-08, 00:39
im currently on rivotril,and find it invaluable for my social anxiety.i havent found a drug that can touch it.
this may be the problem..its one of the stronger benzos and hence you going cold turkey was an absolute no no.
as decca said get on to them weak pills like diazepam and gradually wean down.
personally i dont lose to much sleep the fact i need to take this med pretty much 5 out of 7 days 2mg average dose.
have tried all the so called non addictive ssris and they give so much hellish side effects its unreal.
and they think klono is bad?? will take it over any ssri med.

good luck with your withdrawal.
but what are you going to replace it with? anxiety conditions dont just "go away"

pete

n3r0x1k
13-06-08, 22:08
good luck with your withdrawal.
but what are you going to replace it with? anxiety conditions dont just "go away"

pete

Well my psychiatrist said we tried them all, including neurolepics called Seroquel (mainly precribed to schizophrenics) but that one I really had a hard time and had visual hallucinations so discntinued them after 14 days of hell, and the Rivotril, my body got too used to it, which is why he decided to take me off of it. But your "anxiety conditions don't just go away" kind of discourages me, although it might be true. I'm trying to convince myself that I can live without it, although it's hard for now. And there'S also the fact that I'm not stopping my SSRI (switched to Citalopram since 2 months)

Yesterday I went to the ER, I litterally felt like I was dying, and my blood pressure was at 150/90... and last year I checked once and it was at 139/102... which kinda scares me. Is it possible that during periods of high anxiety, the blood pressure goes up without having a hypertension condition? I'm asking that in general to anyone. Cuz other times, I can go and my pressure will be at 113/67 or whatever which can be as low as that.

@Cathy V: thanks for having checked around for that book. I'll have a look if I can find it. Thanks.

decca
13-06-08, 22:49
As you have variable extemes of BP , It might be worth asking your doctor about this -
http://www.endocrineweb.com/pheo.html

but please remember it's EXTREMELY rare.

Decca.

Cathy V
13-06-08, 23:15
Unstable BP can indeed be another sign of anxiety. tho its more common in us oldies than youTyoungsters. This is what brought me to nmp. My blood pressure was 138 over 83 may 2007. I moved to germany in june 07 and in august my bp was 180 over 110! i have never in my life had high bp...what was goin on? dont know. the doc said it was moving to a new country and leaving life behind as i knew it. So they put me on betablockers and they seem to keep it stable...sometimes. This morning it was 135 over 79...brilliant, but yesterday it was 150 over 92.

But its the side effects that brought me here, the hightened anxiety and increase in ectopics. Its a combination of the meds and my reaction to it all.

Please down be too downhearted about the comment that anx never leaves because for the majority of ppl it does leave. Ok it might come back in certain situations and because of whatever your particular trigger is for it, and maybe we just have to accept that we are sensitive ppl but it doesnt mean we cant find a way to cope with it. Thats what this forum is all about, showing ppl how to cope and once you have learned how to do that, the anx will no longer be the enemy.

When you look around at ppls posts you'll see that we're all at various stages of recovery, and you'll get there believe it...just believe in yourself, and tune into the positives and not the negatives.

Keep posting, keep talking, keep sharing. We're here ok?
Cathy xxx

n3r0x1k
14-06-08, 05:26
@Decca: that sounds (or rather "reads") plausible, although do you think that if I don't have the first symptom I may not have that? Cuz it says "listed from the most common to the least common", and headaches being listed first, and I very rarely get headaches, and when I have some, they're pretty mild.

@Cathy V: Oh so your move to Germany is recent. Do you have any family there or anything? I've always wantd to speak German, which is wierd out of all languages... I speak english and french (I live in Quebec which is mainly french) but always wanted to learn German. Tried once but amounted to "biter" and that's about all I absorbed, hehe.

Good luck with your BP btw. Thanks for your encouragement btw, I get easily caught up in the thought that I may be caught like this, especially without the benzo's, for life, and it helps to get reassurance.

pete69
14-06-08, 09:23
hi,
i didnt mean your anxiety was life,i was speaking in the short term,as you have stopped rivotril and wondered what you was going to replace it with,i know people who stop meds and then think they can do without them and practice cbt etc-but its nearly always back on the meds after 6months.

so yes long term there is a future without this but i was speaking more about whats next for you....good luck and keep on keeping on.

decca
14-06-08, 09:47
By what I can gather the headaches and other symptoms are severe , there is only one posting on here with reference to it -
http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=11493&highlight=Pheochromocytoma

I don't think you have it for one minute and I appologise if I worried you, but it's worth bearing in mind to talk to your doc about it should your symptoms worsen.
Doctors can't think of everything specially rare conditions. One of my grandsons had a rare cancerous tumour around the spine when he was 7 months old and it took us 3 months to get any of the Dr's we took him to to listen to what we were saying and in the end it became an emergency dash to the nearest neuro hospital when he nearly became quadriplegic.
He's 9 years old now and thankfully he's doing well due to the miracles of modern science and a very clever surgeon from Budapest.

Decca

decca
14-06-08, 09:57
I agree with Pete,
I refused to take meds for ages and had 8 sessions of CBT which did help up to a point but around Christmas my tension and health/social anxiety became so bad that it effected my heart rate and BP so much that I agreed to take Diazepam, I've limited the dosage to 2 to 3 mg per day and it certainly helps me carry on my life fairly much as normal.
I think low dose long half life Benzo's are OK but you have to treat them with respect.

Decca.

n3r0x1k
16-06-08, 06:04
@Pete: Thanks for the rectification.

@Decca: well I wasn't really panicky about it, although I must admit it did throttle my mind. Here, I can't really tell my doc "do these tests on me", but if I see it worsening I'll get to testing. Afterall, I'm not passing out all the time like this other lady who posted in '06 (thanks for the link). Too bad she didn't come back to say how it went, but I imagine everything went fine for her.

And about the meds, no, I'm not trying to avoid benzo's, only I've taken them for almost ten years now and sometimes when I had panic attacks I could take 3-4 rivotrils/klonopin (1 mg's each, prescribed 2 mg's daily since a long time) and sometimes I could go up to 8, which starts to get pretty high. The problem with Benzo's is that your body always develops a tolerance so that's why you feel in withdrawal when at the same dose for too long, and keep augmenting till you have to go through withdrawal cuz of being on too many.

My plan is once I'm done with withdrawal, I might take them ON NEED when things get too bad, but not on a regular basis as not to redevelop a tolerance where they don't act on me anymore.

Thank you all again.

decca
16-06-08, 09:44
Hi n3,
Yes it would have been nice if the lady came back to us after her treatment.

I think your aproach to the benzo's is very sensible,hope all goes well for you.
Keep us updated.
Best wishes,

Decca.

n3r0x1k
17-06-08, 01:10
Hi n3,
Yes it would have been nice if the lady came back to us after her treatment.

I think your aproach to the benzo's is very sensible,hope all goes well for you.
Keep us updated.
Best wishes,

Decca.
Well I don't know if I updated in this thread, started talking about it on a benzo-related board, but I reinstated at 0.75 mg's and will go down ~10-12.5% every 10-14 days. I had no choice, went to the ER last week and was practically in seizures from quitting too fast and had hyperventillation + extreme panic attacks 5 hours straight almost daily, + kept waking up shaking all night with sweat etc.

Athena27
18-06-08, 18:56
Hy i'm new on this forum. It has been on month since I am on Rivotril. I began at 2 mg (because I took other medication before). it was too strong my doctor told me to find a dose when I sleep well and I have energy. So I was able to go down by quarter to 1,25mg in three weeks (1,50,1,35,1,25). I try a quarter less but I didn't work, too fast, bad condition. My doctor told me to stay on a dose for a month and after we will talk about going down gradually. I would like this steady dose to be 1.12mg but I'm afraid to try again. Maybe I should wait to do 14 consecutive days. It's has been 7 consecutive days on 1.25mg. I tough that maybe after 10 days I could give it a try before going back to work (july 7). I think i will be a little bit less tired in the day. Or maybe I should simply stay put at 1.25mg and wait for my doctor order ?

Do you know people who take 1mg to 1,25 mg a day for less than 2 months at a steady dose who was able to go down well gradually ?

n3r0x1k
19-06-08, 00:23
Hy i'm new on this forum. It has been on month since I am on Rivotril. I began at 2 mg (because I took other medication before). it was too strong my doctor told me to find a dose when I sleep well and I have energy. So I was able to go down by quarter to 1,25mg in three weeks (1,50,1,35,1,25). I try a quarter less but I didn't work, too fast, bad condition. My doctor told me to stay on a dose for a month and after we will talk about going down gradually. I would like this steady dose to be 1.12mg but I'm afraid to try again. Maybe I should wait to do 14 consecutive days. It's has been 7 consecutive days on 1.25mg. I tough that maybe after 10 days I could give it a try before going back to work (july 7). I think i will be a little bit less tired in the day. Or maybe I should simply stay put at 1.25mg and wait for my doctor order ?

Do you know people who take 1mg to 1,25 mg a day for less than 2 months at a steady dose who was able to go down well gradually ?

Personally I don't know anybody, no. And I can't really compare it to myself because I've been on them for so long. What do you mean by gradually ? When is the start and where's the end? After two months, actually it takes approx. 4 weeks, your body starts to be addicted to benzos, so I don't quite know.

kau
11-06-11, 07:34
hi
i was on rivotril for a month .5mg at night
and .25mg in the morning

i was doing ok till i finished my dose for a month

but after 5 days i started getting chest pain restlessness all of it again

could not eat no hunger

i had a .5mg after 5 days and felt better that evening

the next morning it all started again

my doc told me to go back on it for a month same dose

i am worried if i should go back or just stay away from it

any sugstions would help

n3r0x1k
12-06-11, 05:49
hi
i was on rivotril for a month .5mg at night
and .25mg in the morning
i was doing ok till i finished my dose for a month
but after 5 days i started getting chest pain restlessness all of it again
could not eat no hunger
i had a .5mg after 5 days and felt better that evening
the next morning it all started again
my doc told me to go back on it for a month same dose
i am worried if i should go back or just stay away from it
any sugstions would help

I am not a doctor so anything I say here, DO take into consideration that I could be wrong. I am going by experience with the same drug, but it could behave differently from case to case depending also on how much your body IS or HAS BEEN addicted to it, and whether the symptoms you're feeling are withdrawal symptoms or if they're psychosaumatical symptoms that are only "tampered" with the Rivotril. I would suggest it's the latter one, considering you were off the Rivotril for ONE month before getting any symptoms, from what I understood. Withdrawal symptoms normally kick in the first 48 hours and become insanely unbearable if you go cold turkey (which can also be life threatening in some cases, so not advisable).

As for your case in particular, how old are you? Do you have any OBSERVED cardiac illness, clogged arteries or malfunction (referring to the chest pains)? If you are young (say below 50), I'd try to stay away from it, especially if the chest pains aren't that considerable or not too frequent. Please give me more details. When not taking the medication, how often do you feel this pain, and is it bearable?

Tsimisapollo
05-07-11, 20:12
Hi there, im surprised they took you off it so suddenly after so long taking it. Even a relatively small dose should be reduced in stages...half then quarter etc. At least the doc has told you to reduce them gradually by the sound of it. I came off tranxene and ativan a long time ago now, but still remember the withdrawal and what you describe is typical withdrawal. I went on to be a volunteer with the charity Mind, helping ppl withdrawing from benzos. Its not easy and its not comfortable but you'll be ok, and you won't die ok? please dont get yourself into more anx about dying this way coz you wont.

Her if you want to talk ok?
Cathy xxx :)

Hi Cathy.

Your post to the member that started this thread was really inspiring to me. I am being treated for benzo withdrawl (Alprazolam) with Clonazepam...well at least I was. My doctor dropped me cause I didn't want to taper down last week because I had Law School midterms. I have just been taking propanolol and that def helps with the physical symptoms. Any Suggestions?
-Jim

siddigfan
15-01-12, 18:00
I'm brand new to this site so I don't know to whom I should address this. Please help! I was put on Klonopin in 2008 although the doctors I have now are furious about this and tell me (as do several written reports) that Klonopin should NOT be given to people who have severe depression and/or sleep apnea (as it affects the respiratory system!). Because last year I had ECT treatments (make sure if you do this they get the anesthesia right because, on my first one, I FELT it and the memory of it remains in my 'gut' and caused severe thanatophobia which I cannot shake!). I have amnesia for the past four years (!) with spotty memory for before that, and cannot remember why the psychiatrist (at a county run mental health center--avoid if you can afford it as ours, at least, had only one psychiatrist for hundreds (maybe thousands) of patients and changed their psychiatrists like you'd change your underwear!) prescribed this for me. I KNOW for a fact that I did not have panic attacks or such severe depression before I was placed on the Klonopin. My son, with a psych. degree, advises me that the following symptoms began before the ECT treatment but after the Klonopin. I now have severe panic attacks any time I wake up from sleep whether in the morning, or even from a brief nap of 15 minutes. For some reason these seem less intense if I sleep sitting up. It is not caused by my sleep apnea as I use C-PAP and have been sleep tested again very recently. I have been weaned off the Klonopin gradually in half mg. steps over about a 4 month period from 1mg. twice a day to none. I am still waking up with panic attacks after sleep (though not as bad) and my last dose of half mg Klonopin was two weeks ago. The attacks consist of a deep gut reaction of fear,shaking (especially my neck and head), very dark thoughts of hopelessness that this is never going to stop and about death, sometimes suicidal thoughts, chest constriction, upper abdominal pressure as if someone is squeezing me just above my stomach, "electrical shock" feelings and "icy-hot" feelings from my hands up to my shoulders and across my whole chest and down through to my gut. Often my head feels flu-like (wooziness and a strange feeling like my head is stuffed with cotton wool, not just where the sinuses are but all through and especially through the back of my head. Crying jags are common upon waking and throughout the day. Every time I gave up another half a pill, I was screaming for the next two days and throwing myself onto the floor in an agony of anxiety. Strangely, after the removal of the last half mg. this reaction came later, about four to five days after. Please, please advise me from your experience if this is normal and will go away soon! My doctors seem to think it will but, also having OCD, I cannot get unstuck from the thoughts that this is forever and this only worsens the panic and depression. Thank you so much for having taken the time to read this long letter! Siddigfan PS: During the early stages of withdrawal, I had horrific feelings of chest pressure and projectile vomiting and, thinking I was having a heart attack ended up in the hospital, where my heart was ok'd, so it's neither the heart or the head (I would like to believe, though need to check this, that the doctors for the ECT treatments checked out my brain for tumors, etc. and I know my thyroid was checked. I have had temporal lobe epilepsy since 1978 after a car hit my moped and i sustained a very minor head injury with concussion and seizures started up about six months later but I never had panic attacks all these years till after the Klonopin started. I was, according to my son, having panic attacks while ON the Klonopin and extreme anxiety resulting in some form of catonia and extreme suicidality for which the ECT treatment was evidently prescribed. Stay away from Klonopin. My three doctors, all very professional and educated, say it is a very bad drug and should be taken off the market! WEAR A HELMET, even on a short bike ride! It does not take a severe head injury to set off epilepsy! I MUST spread the word on that so no one else suffers as I have suffered!!!

in1peace
26-06-15, 06:18
Bump
for the benefit of the link to benzo withdrawal manual


I thought the recognised method of Benzo withdrawal was to cross over to an equivalent dose of a benzo with the longest half life IE; Diazepam.
Then to make cuts of 10% each fortnight, it takes a long time but the withdrawal is easier tolerated.
Re; Professor Ashton , copy of which is available here - http://www.benzo.org.uk/manual/

But I'm not sure it would be good or not to reinstate at the stage you're at.
Maybe Cathy could advise further.
Decca

Davit
26-06-15, 07:29
This is a very old post.

Ashton is popular but there is a second way to do withdrawal if that way doesn't work. It uses Diazepam too. But has a different theory. With this one you don't taper. You extend the time between doses as far as possible and then take the full dose. When you are managing better than twice as long between doses you cut the dose in half and do it again. The theory is that if you taper the taper only increases the bodies desire which isn't being satisfied. This way it gets what it needs, just not as often. You also can't (don't) taper till your body is ready. There is no fixed time line, your body decides.

---------- Post added at 23:29 ---------- Previous post was at 23:28 ----------

Just another of those things not on the internet.

in1peace
26-06-15, 07:48
So Davit, I wonder if I could do the same with clonazepam, without having to use diazepam at all? Your suggestion actually seems less complicated than the Ashton method. Less complicated is good! I'm so grateful that you are following up with my posts. I can see that you have a caregiving nature. Blessings on you!!!!

Davit
26-06-15, 18:41
I think it works for everything except Ativan, but if you go to Astons site you can look up the half life of Clonazepam, in comparison to Diazepam.

Switching to Diazepam was originally meant to get people off Ativan without them getting seizures.

in1peace
18-07-15, 05:30
I'm bumping this because I need to come off of clonazepam and maybe someone else will find this helpful as well!!



This is a very old post.

Ashton is popular but there is a second way to do withdrawal if that way doesn't work. It uses Diazepam too. But has a different theory. With this one you don't taper. You extend the time between doses as far as possible and then take the full dose. When you are managing better than twice as long between doses you cut the dose in half and do it again. The theory is that if you taper the taper only increases the bodies desire which isn't being satisfied. This way it gets what it needs, just not as often. You also can't (don't) taper till your body is ready. There is no fixed time line, your body decides.

---------- Post added at 23:29 ---------- Previous post was at 23:28 ----------

Just another of those things not on the internet.