[Zen888]

What has been your experience from withdrawing from clonazepam?

[okiedokie]

Hi there,
Withdrawing from any benzo is a nightmare unless done with a very slow taper closely monitored by a physician. I actually had to go inpatient in order to get off them safely. I was not on a high dose either. You can have seizures and I was one of the unlucky ones who did. It is extremely uncomfortable.

Having said that, the good news is that it can be done!! The drug they used for me that made ALL the positive difference was Neurontin. May I suggest you discuss using this drug with your physician. Discuss EVERYTHING with your physician before you withdraw. If your doc doesn't know anything about benzo withdrawal, find one who does.

I wish you all the best. I did it so I know you can too. It was so worth it also. My life is so much better now that I am not taking benzos. The anxiety for which I was originally prescribed them, was no longer there once I detoxed. Neurontin is great for anxiety and nonaddictive with no side effects for me. My depression was also somewhat relieved by stopping the benzos.

Take care. My heart goes out to you. Please let me know how you do. If you ever want to talk more, please feel free to email me.
Okie

[Yack]

Hi...

I was taking 1.5 mgs and had to reduce it to zero - 1.5 is the average dose usually. I'm only 95 pounds, so that may have something to do with why I got so sick.

I tried to reduce it by .125 mg every 2 weeks - I cut the one pill into quarters.

I got: muscle twitches/jerks, sweating, chest pain, stomach cramps, felt short of breath, nauseous, very dizzy, and motion sickness.

It was horrible, but it is doable - it took me 4 months to get from 1.5 mg to .25 mgs.

[Zen888]

I was on 0.5 mg twice a day tried to withdraw from it slowly as my pharm. said to. But my anxiety worsened. I am back to 0.5 mg once a day.

[okiedokie]

Hi,
Anxiety does return and sometimes worse right off of benzos. Please talk to your doc about Neurontin as a stop gap until your body adjusts. It worked for me!
Take care,
Okie

i'm taking .05 mgs and will eventually be switched to Zoloft to help with the anxiety.......after nearly dying coming off of Effexorxr, i will be very, very cautious coming off of it. right now i need it and the Pdoc is very supportive of me.....we're going to take the change slowly.

[Yack]

Hello

If the only problem you have reducing the dose is an increase in anxiety, I would stick with it. That is normal and it went away for me after a day or two. The problem I had was with the withdrawal effects - the nausea, etc.

[psisci]

pregabalin and gabapentin, or even OTC GABA supplements can work quite well for this.

[tabby]

i was wondering if the otc gaba products work. i was taking 2mg of klonopin a day & my doc took me off at the end of october when i abused them. hard at first but it got better. i took neurontin but it didnt seem to do much for me. try & stay away from caffeine as much as possible--can make withdrawals worse.