[Peacemaker]

I have been on Klonopin for about 4 or 5 years but never took it as prescribed... I took it as needed only. Last fall, my pdoc increased my Klonopin to 2mg tabs. I had plenty of 1mg tabs to use that lasted into November. I had an appt. with him on Nov. 20 when he URGED me to take Klonopin as prescribed to keep a steady state level in my blood at all times. He also electronically sent the Rx to my pharmacy for a 3 month fill. The pharmacy messed up, unknown to me, and filled the Rx for 2mg 4x/day. On Dec. 12/13, I and my husband decided that it was best to follow the pdoc's wishes. My biggest mistake was not researching the med first. If I had, I would never had taken it nor would I have agreed to take it other than prn. I learned on Jan. 15 that I was to take 2mg 3x/day. I began to taper immediately. In less than 2 weeks, I had tapered down to 3mg/day to 3.5mg/day. I decided that I needed to stablize on an easy dose and picked 2mg 2x/day. Since Feb. 1, I have been taking 2mg twice a day. The taper wasn't fun but doable. I did tell my pdoc that I wanted to taper off completely. I have read so much regarding the subject that much of what I have read conflicts. My pdoc is going to taper me rather rapidly in my opinion. I was supposed to begin March 1 but just not ready. I need more information. His first cut will be to cut .5mg off of my morning dose (down to 1.5mg). I have no idea how long he will keep me there. If it goes well, it will only be 1 week. The next cut will be .5 off of the 2mg PM dose. After that, I have no idea. He mentioned that he would finish the taper in 1-2 months. He doesn't consider that to be rapid.

I am going to consult with a homeopathic doctor and have a Rx written for a high potency homeopathic med made with Klonopin to help eliminate or greatly reduce the side effects. I have no idea if I am dependent or not. He has not said that I am when asked. He knows that I am afraid of it now and want to be done with it but in a way that I will not suffer.

Enough of background info. Anyone out there been thru Klonopin or any benzodiazepene withdrawal? What did you experience? Did you have rebound symptoms that lasted as long as 30 days after your last dose? I read that the recovery takes 6 to 18 months. What does that mean? Please share all the information that you feel comfortable enough to share including anything that you found that helped you cope. I tend to get high anxiety and all that comes with it and need to hide in my bedroom so that I do not yell at my family as I am easily overstimulated by movement and noise.

Thanks for any input. I am looking for any way to calm myself prior to beginning to process. I have to.

Be Blessed,
Peacemaker

[kimmydawn]

(((((((((( Peacemaker ))))))))))

I think what would be important is to have a plan in place to manage what must be a very high anxiety/panic for you while doing this...it would have to be the most difficult part, hon.

I've come off of benzo's before...actually xanax...and it was just fine. HOWEVER, I laid them down completely because I had learned tools to manage my panic so I no longer had the need for them as a med.

If I were you, I'd set my goal as taking the smallest amount manageable for as long as I needed, but that's just me, hon. As I said, I don't know how I could've managed if I was still having the panic. See, I wasn't dependent on the xanax, BUT I was dependent on the help it gave me to be OK for that time. When I'd managed the panic on my own, going off was no problem at all.

That was 10 years ago and I'd been on them 3 years.

I hope I made some kind of sense and good luck, hon.

[Peacemaker]

Thanks Kimmy,

I had been taking them only on an as needed basis or using the bare minimum. I even told my pdoc that I used them prn. He told me to take them as directed to keep as steady state blood level so that they would work better. My husband and I both believe that I no longer need them as I have learned a ton of self help tools to help me manage any anxiety that I may have. Truthfully, we think that once I am off of these, that I really will not have anxiety at all nor panic attacks (except for the very rare occasion that will always knock me off of my rock). I wish my pdoc had warned me about Klonopin to begin with because I would never have taken the first pill. Or if he had warned me last Nov. when he URGED me once again to take them as directed, I would have told him then that I wanted to taper off of them. I would never have agreed to take them as he directed. Yes, dropping from 8mg/day down to 3mg-3.5mg/day was difficult to do in just under 2 weeks. But, he had prescribed 1mg 4x/day for 4 years or so. There may have been a handful of times when I took 4 in one day but never on a consistent basis. I just didn't need them like that. During those 4 years, I learned a lot from my counselors and myself and what was triggering my anxiety and how I just amplified it. I doubt that I will begin next week but the week after is a good possibility. I am going to have a low potency homeopathic medicine made with Klonopin to calm the physical side effects and high potency homeopathic medicine to calm the mental/emotional side effects. I am learning how to make homeopathic meds myself on Monday, too. So, something good is coming out of this. I know that even when the picture looks bad that there is always a gift. I think that there are several gifts to had with this experience. By using the homeopathic meds, the amount of Klonopin in the low dose mix is 1 part Klonopin to 89 parts liquid or i may make it as 1 part Klonopin to 99 parts liquid. The high potencies are 30C which is 1 part Klonopin to 29,000 parts liquid (i think) and the 200C is 1 part Klonopin to 199,000 parts liquid. Therefore, the amount of Klonopin is very, very minimal and will not have an impact. What does have an impact is the essence or the energy of Klonopin. I hope it works extremely well or I am going to have to rely on more pharmaceuticals which I am happy to have if needed but I am on 12 or so already. My pdoc said that we will use certain meds. to knock out the side effects so that can be functional and not need to hide while tapering. The downside is that my pdoc said that he isn't so sure that I can stay off of benzos forever that at some point that I will need to go back on them due to my high levels of anxiety. He is wrong. I have told him all that I do that works wonders to relieve my anxiety. Some of it follows complimentary practices which I am not sure he understands or supports. I told him that when he is ready that i would explain more to him. He just said "In good time." He did say that I am not dependent on Klonopin. He did say that I have been on Klonopin long enough that my body is used to having the chemical present at some level or another due to the long half-life. I know that I went longer than 10 days at the end of November and December and never missed them. I do carry a couple with me but I am not sure if they are 1mg tablets or 2mg tablets. I suppose that I need to figure that out. that is important. I am thankful to not be dependent because that makes it more difficult. I just have so much going on with my endocrine system, too, that is complicating everything, such as, spikes of adrenaline released for no reason which automatically puts you into "fight or flight response" and there goes your anxiety. But, the problem is the adrenaline doesn't stop, it keeps seeping out at a nice rate but not as high as the initial spike. If I wait until my endocrine issues are finally fixed, I may very well be one of the "accidental dependents". I just can not risk it. I am trying to think positively about this but have read so much about the process that it is very hard to do so and to feel good about oneself when you made the decision to listen to your doctor instead of your own heart. it felt wrong to follow his wishes. now, i get to pay the price for doing so.

Should you have anything to ask or add.... please contact me. I will be popping in and out.

Blessings, Kimmy D
Sherri

[splitimage]

Just want to wish you luck with tapering off - hope it goes well.

--splitimage

[BalishBun]

hey somehow people eventually get through the withdrawls, so I have high hopes for you. Good luck and I hope everything goes smoothly.

Hey,
I feel for you. I was recently taken off of xanax. My Pdoc was pretty mad when she found out how much I was taking. She said this has to stop. She wanted to put me through in patient, but I don't want to leave my family. She is taking me off by using librium and she is going to taper me off of that. I am terrified too. It has been 2 days without xanax, but I do have the librium, although that wont be long. She also wanted me to take a couple of weeks off of work, but I said I didn't want to because if I sat at home by myself all day I would just get depressed. Good luck. I'm curious to see how this is going to go as well.

[okiedokie]

Hi,
Been thru benzo withdrawal myself. Unfortunately, I didn't have a specialist who knew anything about it and ended up finishing it in the hospital because I experienced a seizure.

Am glad you have a pdoc who knows what he's doing. You might talk to him about Neurontin to get you thru the withdrawal without the rebound anxiety. I'm sure he/she knows about it.

PM me if you want more info from me...
Take care and best of luck to you,
Okie

[Peacemaker]

Thanks to all of you wonderful friends. I have finally been able to log in. I appreciate each of your responses so much. I have been having a difficult time with trying not to catastrophize, project, panic, and doing everything I can to not fall apart. I did see a doctor today that told me that when she looked at me, all she saw was fear. I try so hard to hide it from others. I did see my pdoc yesterday. He made a point to tell me that I did not have to go through this taper because there is no reason. He applauds me for wanting to decrease my polypharmacy and to drop a drug that can produce dependency but to realize it would not hurt me to take Klonopin at 2mg twice a day. I told him absolutely not. I want off of it and I don't anything more to do with it. I think he is getting nervous as I have already started to email him about every other day to ask questions. I warned him in February that I would be contacting him almost daily so I did give him fair warning. I do ask him value added questions though. They are questions where I can use the answers to help me while I taper, etc.

Anyway, I can not express in words just how grateful and thankful I am for your support.

Love and Light and ((( HUGS )))
Peacemaker
(Sherri)