1. < Depression & Anxiety

I have been in Clonazepam 0.5mg TID for 18 years

Posted by jeanne51 @jeanne51, Jan 7 4:49pm

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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frouke | @frouke | 1 day ago
In reply to @frouke "I’m sorry you’re feeling so stressed about your need for this medication, the stress is what..." + (show)
@frouke

I’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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I would also like to add that issues with sleeping well is a huge problem for many seniors but also for the younger people. I found that those who sleep well never had any problems in doing so and those who need help with sleep have been struggling for many years, eventually it will lead them to asking for help. We trusted our doctors and didn’t really question the medication they prescribed but now we know better. It’s an outrage that we’re forced into stressful withdrawal because they want to remove this medication thus creating another crisis. There’s no reason for them to hurt innocent adults who have never abused their medication.

REPLY
jeanne51 | @jeanne51 | 1 day ago
In reply to @frouke "I’m sorry you’re feeling so stressed about your need for this medication, the stress is what..." + (show)
@frouke

I’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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My dosage never went up over 18 years. I was on Ambien for sleep 5-10 mg hs prn. My psychiatrist managed and watched that my dosage wouldn’t go up. Then he retired and All Hell broke loose. I was tapered down two drugs at the same time. I finally tapered off the Ambien but still had insomnia even though thePA wanted to continue tapering the Clonazepam. I quit going to her, found another PA in a different clinic with the same philosophy. I walked out of the appointment. I found, on my third try, another PA . She has allowed me to stay on Clonazepam TID and I am doing fine. I take the third dose close to bedtime and it acts as a sleeper.
Everyone is different, and I was told a bunch of hogwash when they said the Feds in Colorado were regulating the drug to twice a day. I was in high anxiety and developed social phobia because of it for an entire year. I agree that these drugs should not be started on new anxiety patients. However, being on a drug for 18 years, it is cruel to try and titrate them down.

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jeanne51 | @jeanne51 | 1 day ago
In reply to @suzihomebaker "I started using 0.25mg of Clonazepam once in sporadically at approximately 50 yrs of age for..." + (show)
@suzihomebaker

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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Clonazepam is the longest acting benzo. I found Busbar did nothing, it was like a placebo, and this is before I was on Clonazepam.
There are new drugs out for insomnia but the one I tried wasn’t in my drug formulary and cost $600 with a copay of $400for 1 month. It worked very well and in 10 years it will become generic. I tried one other, quite a bit cheaper, but it made me feel weird. Are you in a state that allows CBD TCH gummies? I was using them for a while and they worked. Trouble is you aren’t supposed to use them with other anti-anxiety or depression pills. My philosophy is if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Stay on the Clonazepam. An interesting method I discovered was to break a Clonazepam in half snd let it dissolve under your tongue when you get in bed. It is absorbed quickly. I am not a doctor or a pharmacist, I discovered this on my own after taking Ketamine first a year, which did not help my depression.

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suzihomebaker | @suzihomebaker | 10 hours ago

I live in Canada so insurance is not an issue for most meds unless it is not covered by Medicare. I tried CBD, THC (not on Medicare and pretty expensive) on the advice of many people and because it is legal here in Canada but as you say Buspirone did nothing for you, so was this method for me - perhaps I didn’t give a long enough try. The only thing about CBD/ THC is that you cannot travel with it and we do a lot of travelling! What do you do when you do travel?? Go back to Clonazepam? I’m not depressed - I am the opposite. I can’t stop going - I’m like the ever ready bunny!! I need to calm down. I thought maybe my endorphins were too high from exercising so much?

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1 reply
jeanne51 | @jeanne51 | 8 hours ago
In reply to @suzihomebaker "I live in Canada so insurance is not an issue for most meds unless it is..." + (show)
@suzihomebaker

I live in Canada so insurance is not an issue for most meds unless it is not covered by Medicare. I tried CBD, THC (not on Medicare and pretty expensive) on the advice of many people and because it is legal here in Canada but as you say Buspirone did nothing for you, so was this method for me - perhaps I didn’t give a long enough try. The only thing about CBD/ THC is that you cannot travel with it and we do a lot of travelling! What do you do when you do travel?? Go back to Clonazepam? I’m not depressed - I am the opposite. I can’t stop going - I’m like the ever ready bunny!! I need to calm down. I thought maybe my endorphins were too high from exercising so much?

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I have never encountered your situation so I don’t feel qualified to
answer. I would not take a prescription drug to counter your endorphin
boost when you exercise.

Jeanne

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1 reply
suzihomebaker | @suzihomebaker | 5 hours ago
In reply to @jeanne51 "I have never encountered your situation so I don’t feel qualified to answer. I would not..." + (show)
@jeanne51

I have never encountered your situation so I don’t feel qualified to
answer. I would not take a prescription drug to counter your endorphin
boost when you exercise.

Jeanne

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I didn’t take it to counter the endorphin since endorphins are a great feeling I have been very intense in working out since my mid 40’s and have not stopped since. The sleeplessness began slowly in my mid 50’s despite my very active daily activities and exercise. I never suspected endorphins could affect the sleep pattern until someone mentioned that perhaps the reason I could fall asleep but not stay asleep was that I may have been working out too much. I did mention this to my family doctor but it was not taken seriously. I did not pursue the issue with my psychiatrist as he is fully aware of my exercising passion. I’m just looking for anyone who has successfully weened themself off of 0.5mg Clonazepam and if they took anything else to help the transition.

REPLY
1 reply
jeanne51 | @jeanne51 | 3 hours ago
In reply to @suzihomebaker "I didn’t take it to counter the endorphin since endorphins are a great feeling I have..." + (show)
@suzihomebaker

I didn’t take it to counter the endorphin since endorphins are a great feeling I have been very intense in working out since my mid 40’s and have not stopped since. The sleeplessness began slowly in my mid 50’s despite my very active daily activities and exercise. I never suspected endorphins could affect the sleep pattern until someone mentioned that perhaps the reason I could fall asleep but not stay asleep was that I may have been working out too much. I did mention this to my family doctor but it was not taken seriously. I did not pursue the issue with my psychiatrist as he is fully aware of my exercising passion. I’m just looking for anyone who has successfully weened themself off of 0.5mg Clonazepam and if they took anything else to help the transition.

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I have never exercised enough to raise endorphins. I have read that it is very difficult to wean off Clonazepam, as I have experienced. Your situation sounds complex and perhaps you need a sports medicine doctor. Running can lead to addiction to the highs you get. Perhaps cut back? I don’t think I can help you….sorry

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