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How to taper off clonazepam?.
Hi my name is Mary and I am a first time user of ever using a discussion blog online but have felt in my heart I need some advice and help with an issue I am having. My dr I have seen for many years moved out of state and referred me to another phychiatrist within his office. At the time of his moving away he had me weaning off clorazapam slowly and doing it as slow to not make it not so difficult as you all know , and I was doing well at it until I was having extreme chest pain and they put me in the hospital for 2 days to check to make sure it wasn't my heart, with all this happening I knew it was the weaning off the meds that was causing it so i went back up in dosage and it all went away again, and I was almost off it...My old dr started me on this med 27 years ago and I had no idea what it was but my body anxiety was shutting down my body and it helped it all go away so i didnt question it, well not until I went to school for nursing did I find out what it was all about. He put me on .5 mg three times a day and that stayed that way for 27 years not knowing what It does later in years, so I asked my dr to help me with the weaning off it, so our weaning process was as follows: Take .5 in a.m. ,25 afternoon and ,5 evening dose for 2 weeks then cut morning dose to .25 afternoon to .25 and evening .5 for 2 weeks then finally .25 three times a day for 6 weeks and then starting the last of the wean at this point the same as we did the first .25 till i was off. My new dr went from .50 3 times daily to .25 two times a day starting right away to get off it, that is over 1.0 mg a day off it all in one day and forward , I am already sad and crying because I dont know what to do, I have been there and I know how hard it was just to get off the way my old dr did slowly.....anyone out there that can help me with what to do I am so scared and I don't think she knows how extremely hard it is to get off this stupid stuff or that I really do want to do it, but please make it as painless as possible if there is such a thing with these meds. At 56 I didnt think I would have to go through menapause and this hell(sorry about the word but so true) all at once...at times I think it would be easier to just get cancer or something and die. Sorry but its true if you have been there you will understand. PLease help me!!!
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I'm not sure you are entirely accurate in your comments, but I'm not one to argue about it. There is viable info so easy to find on the internet, for instance: https://cbhphilly.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Helping-Patients-Taper-from-Benzodiazepines-FINAL-3.pdf This will answer the tapering off periods, the half-life I mentioned, and alternative to clonazepam. So, there it is. Clonazepam can have as little as a 20-hour elimination half-life. If you're saying that doctors do not have this information readily at hand, I think you are mistaken. But I've been on and off cold turkey from my 2 mg daily clonazepam several times, and the doctors/interns are only worried about seizures upon withdrawal. Let the poster's doctor decide whether a slow versus abrupt withdrawal of 0.5 mg of clonazepam is risky or not. Try helping out the original poster here rather than giving me grief. I have my own extensive experiences with clonazepam which means nothing to anyone else.
https://cbhphilly.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Helping-Patients-Taper-from-Benzodiazepines-FINAL-3.pdf (This is all you really need to know).
I don't need to read this crap. I know what this drug did to me and I know many younger physicians are now taught not to prescribe this class of nasty drugs. The old guys are generally the ones giving out this poison. But feel free to have at it.
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2 ReactionsThis information is out of date. The taper guidelines are too fast.
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1 ReactionI provided information to the original poster. Believe you had already chimed in and I responded to the misguided information in your post. Consider using reputable and evidence based resources like The Maudsley Deprescribing Guidelines for safely reducing or stopping benzodiazepines. Cold Turkey off a benzodiazepine once dependency develops is not supported by any reputable resource.
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1 Reactionbeen on benzo for 15 years I am down to 0.25.mg day sometimes I need to take a other 0.25 more but only take 0.25 if can help it. how do you taper off that low of a dose and what sub meds would help
@beck80, Welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. Getting off of Clonazepam is not easy, be proud of the progress you have made.
I have moved your question to an existing discussion,
- Clonazepam Taper: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/clonazepam-taper/
I did this so you can connect to the many others who are/have tried to navigate the very difficult terrain of getting off of prescribed benzodiazepines.
@beck80, have you been working on this taper together with the prescribing physician?
@beck80 I have been off clonazepam for 2 years after a very long time on 1 mg per day. It was very hard at the end. There are 0.125mg dissolvable tablets that are half of what you take now. I feel like even after 2 full years, my nervous system is still slowly repairing. I take Lunesta for sleep now and deal with anxiety in natural ways with diet and exercise.
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1 ReactionI’m not sure if this is the right forum/group but I am needing and seeking hope and help to taper off 9 years of clonazepam.
There have been several discussions about this over the past 2-3 years. The general consensus has been that a taper off any benzo requires a doctors supervision and a slow reduction over many months to minimize discomfort. I took almost a year to be totally off clonazepam. It was very hard but two years out, I’m better for it.