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I have been in Clonazepam 0.5mg TID for 18 years
My psychiatrist retired and I was left to find a replacement. It seems there are a majority of nurse practitioners these days taking patients as providers, many do not take insurance. I found a nurse practitioner with a very good educational background. I saw her in person and she renewed the medications I was in for 6 months. Next month we had a zoom meeting and she told me she wanted me off the Ambien and Clonazepam because I would get dementia or Alzheimer’s with long term use. She insisted I start tapering against my will. I had school phobia in grade school, began having depression symptoms in my 20’s, and in my late 20’s had two major panic attacks. I have been depressed with anxiety most of my adult life. I have been hospitalized twice because of this. I have never asked for an increase in dosage of Ambien or Clonazepam fur 18 years after I found a wonderful psychiatrist who was so good at medication management.
Now, tapering Ambien and Clonazepam I have started self mutilating by picking my fingers raw until they bleed. I can’t sleep at night, I have become socially phobic. I have become isolative and often think of suicide with no plan. I am 73 years old and I think it is so cruel to put me through this when all I want is to have quality of life, not quantity. I live with my husband in adult senior living which I have not adjusted to. Taking these meds away has decreased my desire to exercise and my endurance is decreasing. My new provider told me if I didn’t want to taper my medication that I should find a new one provider. I did manage to taper the Ambien but I am down to half of the Clonazepam and feel like I can’t go on. Please help me. I am on Paxil and Wellbutrin for depression but it is anxiety and insomnia making my life miserable. I am not the same person I was a year ago.
I feel miserable, she has destroyed any quality of life I had. I really don’t want to live anymore.
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I really hope you find a new provider that is willing to help you! I’m on clonazepam myself for anxiety and I’m not sure how I would go on without it.
Is it possible to get a Continuation of Care letter from your old psychiatrist stating the need to continue clonazepam?
I am very sorry for your pain. I was someone who was overmedicated by psychiatry and successfully tapered off clonazepam in 2018. The newer resesrch indicates that increasing anxiety while someone takes benzos is really withdrawal not a escalation of the diagnosed psychiatric comorbitiy. I agree with the recommendatio to taper you off but also know it may be unrealistic. There can be protected withdrawal issues long after stopping them. This did not occur with me with benzos. But with anti depressants it did. I tried a medically supervised taper off Prozac but in retrospect after the completion I felt some form of dissociation. I did not feel like me. I take escitaloram 10mg now. Lamotrigine for seizure prophylaxis. Nothing else that involves the brain or nervous system
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1 ReactionYou are indeed correct about the protracted withdrawal symptoms, they suck and lasted up to 18 months for me after quitting cold turkey, which I knew then was not the way to do it. But for me, clonzapam was messing up my central nervous system so bad I felt I had to just stop taking it. I have read about people taking much higher doses than me, I had to cringe. At those doses, this med would have put me in a wheelchair. I literally walked around all day with my body buzzing and tremors etc. but my sleep doc. refused to believe it was the clonazepam. My regular doc and a neurolgist I saw (thinking I had something more serious coming on) both said I should have never been given this drug. For those it works for, I'm truly happy for you and hope you can continue or find a workable solution.
Get back on your old routine immediately!!!!!!
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1 ReactionSadly, I am not able to find a provider to prescribe it.
I have been on clonazepam for 30 plus years and never increased the dosage. Being retired I thought it would be a good idea to taper off and eventually stop taking it altogether. When I had my yearly physical I told her it was very difficult and affecting my quality of life.
She looked at me and said it was my idea to get off it. Her comment was that since I never increased my dosage for all those years there was no reason to eliminate it.
I exercise 5-6 days a week and just had a stress test in which I did extremely well.
At the age of 73 she said if it’s not broke don’t fix it.
Just a thought.
Right, if it's not broke. Why won't your Dr. Reinstate it? Dr's. Don't like to start someone on these
But with 30 years on it they should restart it for you
I was taken off 2mg after 15 years. 6 days and they stopped it. 5 years later even after restarting it I still have tremors and balance issues. I was like you, just stop it. HUGE MISTAKE. My issues are now permanent. I take more pills now than before. But I was reinstated 4 weeks later, too late for me. Now I would try a telecom and explain your problem. They might help
My Doctor did go back to my original dosage.
After hearing your story I am glad she did and I only hope for the best for you.
Good luck.
You’re not alone. People are being cut off allover. Benzos are going the same way the opioids did.