[PiperLeigh]

Quit your klonopin cold-turkey.

Had a lovely seizure this past weekend as a result.

In my defense, over the Thanksgiving holiday I was sleeping a ridiculous 18+ hours a day and felt drugged to the point that I could not function. I could hardly walk straight and would only wake up for and hour or two at a time. So over the Thanksgiving holiday I called the on-call line to get advice on what to do because I have to drive my kids to school on Monday. I guess everyone was busy celebrating, because no one called me back. (My NP was ticked off about this when she found out about it at my appt. Somebody is going to get in trouble.) Anyway, By that Sunday morning I was still in such a stupor that I felt like the only thing I could do was to stop taking the klonopin because I had to drive the kids to school on Monday and I didn't want to risk an accident. I wouldn't want to hurt my kids or anyone else, let alone get a DUI. I had an appointment scheduled for Thursday and I figured talking about going back on the klonopin or staying off it could wait until then; how bad could quitting it be. (Famous last words, right?) I was miserable all week- trouble sleeping, headaches and such, but I dealt with it. My NP put me back on a reduced amount of the Klonopin on Thursday, but Friday I had a partial seizure. (Never had one in my life, and I don't have epilepsy. There really isn't much doubt it was related to the withdrawl.)

Anyway kiddos. I'm okay as I guess I can be right now. (still in a bad episode, but trying to make progress.) I'm sure I'll to have the lovely follow-ups (and fall-outs) from this little mess I've created for myself. Learn from my dumb-o mistake. They aren't kidding when they say not to quit your benzo meds cold turkey. The side effects aren't just feeling miserable. They can be much more serious. I'm likely one of the rare cases because I haven't taken klonopin very long and I also take anticonvulsant meds as a mood stabilizer. But it evidently is possible.

I'm only posting this as a reminder. I know we all know not to quit benzos cold turkey, but I think maybe sometimes we may be tempted to tell ourselves we'll be okay. Or some of us go through phases where we really don't like our meds and want to go off of them for a while. Do yourself a favor and talk to your doctor about the situation so you can at least do it safely. And if they aren't available, wait until they are. <3

[SilverShadows]

I'm in that phase too. Hated my meds. So I stopped taking them. Probably not the best idea. I haven't done anything constructive in about a month. My tire has a slow leak...not getting it fixed. I have bills that I won't pay...even with the money. I had a wicked fight with my sister and I'm leaving that relationship broken...on purpose. Its like I don't want good things to happen. Now I've dropped into this virtual world where my best friend is a baby doll. Its so weird.

hope you get to feeling better soon

[faerie_moon_x]

Yikes I hope you're okay and feeling better soon. Thank you for posting the reminder about it.

[sugahorse1]

I was in a similar boat a week ago. Luckily I didn't have a seizure, but the withdrawals are nasty regardless. I hope you are back on your feet shortly

[hamster-bamster]

You did not luck out in a major way.

I quit Klonopin cold turkey after taking it daily for over a year... and did not notice a thing.

So, just bad bad luck.

[venusss]

Originally Posted by hamster-bamster

You did not luck out in a major way.

I quit Klonopin cold turkey after taking it daily for over a year... and did not notice a thing.

So, just bad bad luck.

or good good luck for you.

[hamster-bamster]

Originally Posted by VenusHalley

or good good luck for you.

I do not need it - I will never take benzos again, I prefer to have my wine.

Plus, they do not work well anyway, so no point altogether.

[eskielover]

I went off valium cold turkey even after some major huge OD's on it. I didn't even think about needing to wean off of it....just stopped & nothing happened......I don't remember if I started the pain medication at about the same time & that might have countered what valium was not providing. Eveyone told me how did you do that.....just the way my body reacted.....however, even the OD's had almost NO effect on me either & then weren't small OD's either.

After going through the trauma with the home care person, my pdoc tried to start me on a few different benzo's he had samples of....but they had no effect on the anxiety the trauma caused which was why at that time, I ended up on a huge dose of seroquel so that I could sleep without the nightmares.

Think some people benzo's have no effect on & others have an over reaction to......depends on the body's reactions....& yet I have the worse side effects to most every AD that I tried......so can't take them & have to go natural.

[~Christina]

Piper

I'm sorry you have gone through this. Very happy you are okay. Good reminder for any of use that are on benzios.