Quit Xanax cold turkey (horrible idea) Now have Klonopin and need a taper schedule

Hello, I am new to this board. This has been a week of hell. I stopped taking 2 mgs of xanax after 1 year of being on it. I was experiencing the most unbearable gut wrenching withdrawals. I decided to go back on medication and do it with a slow taper method.

The doctor gave me .5 mgs of Klonopin to take 4 times a day. Does anyone know of a proper and slow tapering schedule for this dose of Klonopin? I have tried to use the Ashton Manual but I got confused.

Any help is greatly appreciated!

benzo's aren't meant to take every day, but hey I'm not a doctor.

You're addicted

I hear a lot of horror stories about benzos. I've never experienced any. I was on klonopin 1mg 3x day for a little under 1 year along with lithium. I stopped both cold turkey and was fine. It never ceases to amaze me reading these stories. I believe them, but wonder why some have issues and some no issues. I was on xanax for about 4 months stopped cold turkey, nothing. Granted I did get back on them 2 months later, but I had no issues stopping. I certainly do NOT advocate stopping cold turkey! I'm just really stumped over the horror stories.

Did you know when benzo's were introduced in the 60's they replaced barbiturates which are extremely addicting and dangerous for ODing. Doctors welcomed benzos with open arms as they were no where near as addicting or dangerous as barbiturates. It is next to impossible to OD on benzos I(but don't try ok). Then around the 90's the horror stories started and soon doctors every where started getting benzo-phobic. I just don't get it. If taken as prescribed and not abused, you should be fine. I wonder if there more abuse to those horror stories then revealed? I dunno. It's really hard for me to believe one can get addicted to benzos accept maybe psychological. Don't mind me. I think benzoz is the best thing to come out since sliced bread or aspirins.

Yeah, horror stories always come into play(^^), when these things hit the streets,as black market label.

I also, agree, with an earlier poster, xanax isn't designed for daily use.

Here's the math. 60 pills are a 90 day supply.

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Interesting. I was on daily Xanax for several years. I became hypomanic for several months and didn't need them. Quit them cold-turkey without a problem. The final dosage I've been on is 1mg a day up to 4x a day for a couple of years now.

I had a horrible time coming of Klonopin. Worst drug by far, that I've ever had to come off of.

I'd talk to your Dr. about how to safely taper off the new benzo.

splitimage

Sorr to hear! Everyone is different, I'd ck with a pharamcist. Best of luck!!

Oh the withdrawal symptoms are real. I suppose it doesn't happen to everyone. Consider yourself luckily b/c it is the most inhumane thing to have to go through. I was basically a drug addict without voluntarily choosing to be one. Doctor's don't tell you about this when they prescribe it to you. The withdrawals are physically and mentally unbearable, nothing words can even describe. I thought I was gonna die several times. I wasn't abusing the drug, I just decided that it was time to stop b/c it wasn't working for me. So I stopped it, naive to the consequences. I only knew once I started getting violently ill. Unfortunately the only soluation was to go back on a benzo and ween myself off properly. It wasn't a decision I wanted to make but my doctor told me it could be life threatning if I didn't do this. So now I'm on Klonopin, I'm feeling better after just one use. I just want to figure out how to ween myself off of this. I don't want to go through that again and I don't want to be on a benzo after I have seen what this devil drug can cause to certain people. If anyone is familiar with tapering schedules please let me know.

ADDICION is when you need more and more, but tolerance can be reached on Benzos , if you try to come off it you will suffer withdrawal like addiction maybe even worse . Well it was for me and my 12mg Ativan a day stopped dead by an none caring SHRINK, to be fair he didn't believe I was on that many has i was using old saved Ativan I had never used but not cancelled the repeat for years. Has I said before I believe I was saved from death by seizure or suicide by my G-P who gave me back 4 mg a day. I survived a 8mg withdrawal after that you don't want to hear about. lets put it this way I would not do it again or have the strength ,I would die putting my battered body through that again its that simple.

4mg a day you are well hooked , thats like 80mg valium a day. I am hooked on 4mg of Ativan a day , half the strength of xanax

Download the "harm reduction guide"

Harm Reduction Guide to Coming Off Psychiatric Drugs ? MFIPortal

That might be the case for me too. I was on Klonopin 1mg 3x day for about a year. I did stop the lithium first come to think of it and then shortly after the klons cold turkey. I may have been hypomanic too, I just felt great and didn't want to take any more meds. But I know I wasn't hypomanic stopping xanax. But that was for a short period and low dose.

I dunno. It's weird how we all are different. Better safe then sorry! I have never experienced any withdrawal from SSRIs too. That is when I wanted to stop. When I want to be on them and run out, I turn in to a junkie until I get a refill from my doc lol. I laugh because I ran out of Zoloft and I really depend on them now and ran out. My doc wanted to see me again before a refill and almost wasn't going to give it to me! But I assured him I would let him know if I got manic on them. I have not in 4 month so far. But I love how I feel on them

GOOD NEWS for you there then I never no when I am manic or normal ,(manic man) was my name to my friends I think its normal but then again I am screwed up.

Okay.. so I work in the field of psych. And yes, some drs absolutely DO prescribe xanax (or any benzos, for that matter) as a "standing dose". Quite often you'll just see it as a PRN dose.. like .5 mg qid (4 x per day) tid (3 x per day) or bid (2 x per day)
It all depends on how the person is presenting and who the dr is.
I have been to drs where they will not prescribe a benzo to you if you were lying on the floor in a full blown panic attack and others who treat a benzo as if it were lexapro. It's all variable.

And be very careful.. I deal with patients who are admitted into hospitals for all types of things, one of those things are when they are detoxing off of benzos.

you can have seizures, it is VERY serious.
consult w/ a dr asap.

My English mental hospital ,wont give lexapro , only the cheaper celexa .Yet my GP surgery happily give me LEXAPRO. My GP SURGERY wont give new patients BENZOS but the hospital will.the mental hospital stopped dead 12mg a day benzo , then my GP gave me back 4mg a day. If you can work than 1 out your a better man than me.

Drugs work differently on everyone and lexapro and celexa are more than a little similar. I honestly don't see why you wouldn't try the cheaper drug first if you can't really say one is going to be better. And how would you know until you try? Regular dosing of Benzos (vs prn) strike me as wrong most of the time especially when they don't educate patients on the risk of withdrawal. But if there is a light need then caution is your best friend. It sounds like your doctors are not communicating with each other and that is really too bad. Typical, but not helpful. IMHO of course!!

The hospital don't have the money so they offer only cheap citalopram and I have taken it, it made me aggressive so I went on sertraline witch was good but pooped out after 1 year, so I asked for escitalopram generic Lexapro, the hospital don't stock it its more expencive and the budget don't stretch, so I said ok and goodbye. Went to my gp practice and was given generic Lexapro there. The only reason I keep my now once a year appointment an the mental zoo is so I remain on the books if emergency, I do that so if any problem I can be seen at the hospital that day, if I sign myself from the hospital and I crash I have to go through the hole system all over again , that is the only reason I have a check up once a year it was 2 times till last year. My gp does all my blood work, checks thyroid, gives meds, cholesterol, arthritis jabs, gut medication from pancreitis ,ect ect and they call me by my first name, the gp gave me back benzos that the hospital took away and saved my life , I need that hospital like a hole in the head . I am a number there to be processed and kicked out.