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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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The idea is to build a blood level. If you don’t like how it affects you, you need a new medication.
Have you tried Clonazepam? Of all of the ant anxiety drugs I have been on, this is the most effective for me. That’ why I have fought so long and hard to get back to 0.5mg three times a day. If you have anxiety, like I do, that’s why I recommended Paxil. It is more sedating than many of the other anti depressants. Also, you may need more than one drug. I was on Lamictyl {used for seizures but they found it to be helpful with depression}. Your history seems complex and it sounds as if you have been on quite a few drugs. The important thing to remember is that is NEVER stop any medication abruptly. Give the medications long enough time to decrease a blood level before you decide to stop. Same when you start. It takes at least 3 weeks for your brain to adjust to getting off and getting on new psychiatric meds.
I don’t know how much more I can help you because I don’t know your past history. I wish you success in finding the therapeutic medication dose that works for you.
Jeanne
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2 Reactions@jeanne51
I did not yet good information from my doctor and I was too uninformed to do it correctly. I dropped from 150mg a day to 75mg and then stopped. I was ok for 9 months until I relapsed. I can’t find a hospital to go to in Phoenix. What kind of hospital were you in? General or Behavioral. None here take Medicare.
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1 ReactionI’m a little late to the party but I feel your pain. I was on klonopin for over 10 years & was taken off it by my doctor. I did it thru detox. But the after effects were devastating. This was 5 years ago & I am just starting to get some semblance of a realty back. It was truly debilitating. I wouldn’t wish that on anyone. And I feel like you…I’m freaking 65 years old….cant I just have some good life left? I also never abused klonopin…never needed an increase. But they are dangerous drugs apparently so maybe it’s best to come off? Nah…I prefer peace. BTW mirtazapine has helped a lot. Good luck.
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4 ReactionsI am finally back on the dose of Klonopin that I was in for 18 years. I will stay on this medication until I die. At 73 years old, if I have upcoming dementia, so be it. I want quality of life NOW! The torture of tapering a medication to control my anxiety and social anxiety doesn’t magically make the anxiety disappear. I wish the FDA would not put out a blanket restriction on this drug. Each provider needs to evaluate the individual and not project what MAY happen down the road. If it is such a big deal, don’t start people with anxiety on benzodiazepines and don’t take it away from the people it works therapeutically on.
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2 ReactionsToo fast of a taper!
Most psychiatric hospitals do not take Medicare. I have a supplemental insurance, AARP United Health Care. I haven’t been hospitalized for 18 years and didn’t have this insurance at the time.
Most do not accept insurance. You need to research psychiatric hospitals, often times in a general hospital. I google a lot and find a lot of help. That’s how I found my current provider. Look up Family Care Center and see if there are any near you. They take Medicare. You will need a psychiatrist for a referral to a hospital or outpatient care. These Family Care Centers have everything you would need without hospitalization. I hope this helps. I take it you aren’t non an antidepressant now after coming off Effexor? Just Valium will not help you. You need a complete start over with a new psychiatrist.
@jeanne51
I will try to find a Family Care Center.
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2 ReactionsI hope you find one and they accept you. I really do understand how people with mental illness are so misunderstood and how poor the services they offer are. I have been in this tangled web for 50 years.
jeanne51 | @jeanne51 | 1 second ago
I hope you find one and they accept you. I really do understand how people with mental illness are so misunderstood and how poor the services they offer are. I have been in this tangled web for 50 years.
I started using 0.25mg of Clonazepam once in sporadically at approximately 50 yrs of age for insomnia. It would happen perhaps once a month during my menstrual cycle that I could not sleep well and after a few days of getting up at 2am I would take a small dose to get a good nights rest. When menopause was getting closer (58 yrs old) my sleep pattern became an issue and so i needed it more frequently before my bedtime. Sleep became an obsession! The half dose of the pill was great here and there and then it became necessary to take it every night and then upon turning 60 many things gave me anxiety and I started taking 0.5mg. I am now 62 and I really don’t like to depend on this as the only way to get to sleep an entire night. I tried to ween myself off by going down 1/4 pill less every week and only got back to 0.25mg and at that point I could not sleep at all. I was staring at the ceiling at 2AM and that made me even more angry that I was so dependant on that pill that I said I’m gonna tough it out and cut it out! I could not sleep at all for 4 days!! I was so distressed that I went right back up 0.5mg! My doctor suggested for me to take Buspirone 10mg and then to start weening myself off the Clonazepam again. It has been 1 month and I am now at 0.25mg again for the last two evenings. It’s really not easy - I want off of it!! I can’t understand why women my age sleep so well and I can’t without this drug??
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1 ReactionI’m sorry you’re feeling so stressed about your need for this medication, the stress is what causes sleepless nights and the medication helps you so you’re in a bad place. It’s not uncommon that the dosage went up over time especially with this type of medication, if you really want to stop then a new drug might help you get more sleep and then tapering down your dosage will be more tolerable. I’ve been taking the same medication, albeit a different brand for many years, I use it for anxiety and ptsd and it works well for me, I don’t understand why doctors give it to people who have sleepless nights because there’s better options available, I can say the same for me but this is what I use for over 20 years. Many people especially seniors are the most likely to have this issue but it will eventually be phased out with younger doctors who won’t prescribe it, sadly they are putting unnecessary pressure on the seniors by forcing them into a withdrawal which will probably cause more harm than good.
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