I said I would not post anymore but I am making an exception for you.
Unfortunately because of the Opioid epidemic in this country “ benzo’s” have been lumped in as a controlled substance. I have never heard of anyone overdosing on clonazepam and I can speak from experience that I certainly don’t use it to get high. I have taken the same dose for over thirty years to treat my depression and I know what I would go through if I tapered much less had to quit cold turkey. I did try tapering because of this site and when I told my primary care physician her comment was why would I do that. She told me that since I don’t smoke or drink and exercise vigorously 6-7 days a week there is no reason for me to stop taking clonazepam. She told me to tune out the chatter on the site regarding “benzo’s” and just continue what I was doing.
I don’t know where the Tri State area is but my guess is it is in a conservative part of the country. Have you tried going outside of the VA network? I would imagine the VA doctors are strictly by the book.
Hang in there. I hope you can find some Doctor willing to think outside the box. They are out there but normally they have been in practice for quite awhile. My primary care physician sees only elderly patients and does think outside the box.
Good luck and I am glad you reached out to me. I wish I could do more for you.