What is the best way to taper off Klonopin?

Posted by kittymama @kittymama, Apr 7, 2019

Can anyone tell me the best way to taper off Klonopin? I feel it does nothing for my anxiety

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@falon

@merbreb -Hi Merry-These episodes happen a couple of times a day almost every day. Thanks for the heads-up about drug interactions and alcohol. I am a non-drinker so that's not an issue but I will definitely check with my Dr. about drug interactions as I am on other medications as well. But this just started when I was about half way through my taper.

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I am so glad that you brought this up, hearing someone call your name. I too have had the same thing happen to me but I was so I was so scared, I thought I was really going crazy. I have been tapering off of klonopin for the last 4months. I have been on it for 30yrs.

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@dianekbrown

Klonopin has the longest half life of any other benzodiazepine. It takes over 24 hrs for half of it to leave your system, another 24 hrs for half of that to leave your system and so forth. Speak with the prescribing physician on how to do this SAFELY, PLEASE. I was a detox nurse for over 20 yrs.

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That is absolutely not true. The longest half-life Ben is are Valium, Librium and clorazepate. Please be factual.

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In reply to rose bookays comment. I DO know what I'm talking about. As a nurse in the field of addiction and detox for over 25 yrs, I'm well aware about benzos and detoxing from them...it's similar to detoxing from alcohol. Do your research.

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@falon

I'm weaning off Klonopin, about half way through now. I've started hearing voices, which is to say (for example) that I'm in the kitchen or somewhere else in the house and I hear my husband calling me from another room. However I know that my husband is at work. No one else is in the house. It seems very real to me, so much so that I go looking where I think the voice is coming from. Anyone else have this or am I just crazy?

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The same thing happened to me. Very scary stuff. I was afraid to tell anyone about it, not even my Dr. I have been on klonopin for 30plus yrs. The Dr wanted me to get off of it so I tried for months. Nothing really worked and I tried everything! So my new Dr a neurologist told me I didn't need to. I look at it this way almost all drugs are addictive so I'm sticking with klonopin. My choce.

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As I began tapering down my benzodiazapines, which I had been on for the better part of the past forty-plus years, the primary care physician I'd had advised me to switch from Xanax to Klonopin because due to the longer half-life, the withdrawal would be easier for me to handle. Over a one year period I went from taking 1 to 2mg/day Xanax (my pill doctor refused to change my med's) to about 0.5/day. I was certainly progressing. Then I relocated (couldn't afford living in CA) and wasn't able find a doctor who would prescribe benzodiazapines. I ran out at the beginning of the year and am not coping well. I feel anxious and agitated, and I have horrible insomnia. I'm a Vietnam veteran whose neurological problems have gotten debilitating. Playing sports and being quite active had kept me grounded, but now I simple get out and walk as much as possible using a cane or sometimes a walker. The VA says my condition is unrelated to either Agent Orange exposure or from toxic drinking water at Camp Lejeune, so there's nothing they can do and don't have any useful resources especially with what's been happening to them recently. I'm no longer able to drive, live in a town without mass transport, and I'd probably veg out in front TV, but I've never owned one and don't wish to have one in my home. I used to love to read, but now I can't seem to concentrate or stay focused. I know I have much to be grateful for, but these past several months have been some of the toughest times I've ever had to face. And I was a person who lived most of his life on survival mode having left home at fourteen to escape regular physical and emotional beatings. I feel empty right now and wish I could just pop a little pill to lift the weight off my chest. I'm sure there's a light at the end of the tunnel. How long does withdrawal last.

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