Connect
Tapered off Zoloft and Clonazepam
Sorry this is not about Ativan .... but I GOT MYSELF off of Zoloft and Clonazepam over the past years..... along with aging and physical medical issues it was very difficult and some other commenters have said they would need to stay on, either one, rather than go through withdrawal. My comment, and its just how "I" feel, not that it is suitable for everyone trying to get off drugs been on for fifteen years etc... is to get some medical help doing it and not try and do alone. I succeeded but at a cost. Take care, J.
Like
Helpful
HugInterested in more discussions like this? Go to the Depression & Anxiety Support Group.
Connect
@lacy2
I am a little old lady, too, at 81.
I have a friend who got of clon. that way, too.
I was told the decreases had to be gradual and done very slowly. How long between each dose decrease, and did you weight the pieces on a jewler's scale which i read can be very tricky once one gets down to the very low doses?
Would you be comfortable telling me how much you were on and how long it took your to get off?
Did you use a hyperbolic curve method, for example, 5 percent of the previous dose?
I am currently on .5 mgs,, been there several months and having miserable breakthrough withdrawal symptoms several hours before the next dose, but don't know what to do about i.. Any suggestions?
I don't want to increase the dose, as =my goal is to t begin tapering as soon as i can get a plan from SafeTaper program, hopefully this week. Has anyone use this Calif. program and how did it work for you?
It was suggested I switch to a liquid formula, but I a nervous I might have problems adjusting. has anyone done that?
Thanks in advance. I've researching this for a long time and am still flumoxed!!!
....am afraid my memory is failing me ... but they were 0.5mg every evening for decades althoug new dr now old dr said 8 yrs.. but didnt have my old file.. anyway, nothing precise... I started by trying half a pill that didnt work so it was aboutg 3/4 then half then a quarter but used little pill splitter and sometimes crumbled ... I actually could hardly believe it that I got off them. Originally for sleeping and they should have stopped me after diagnosis of Normal Tension Glaucoma with narrow angles 2018 but when they said no meds that increasae eye pressure daugher iwth me and said Zoloft? and he said yes so i quit cold turkey. But she didnt menhtion Clonazepam which is also risky.... I had a rought ime and the next Feb. a Dr put me back on Zoloft but I also quit it again c.T. I KNOW, i know, it was risky but 2018 Glaucoma news, 4 of a few friends died, I got C.Diff and vancomicin for months and to be honest I never really recovered from that... then covid, then a year of bloody uring and 9 to 12 antibiotics and no wonder my poor little body and brain are fed up.. but keep chugging along. Now only on Synthroid and Monoprost and Imodium. Wish you the besst....it isnt easy .. was it worth it? I dont really know. Hugs
@lacy2
Hooray, good for you. Has anybody out there used a tapering by dropping a pill in water, and then removing a small portion at a time to taper off?
@gunshy I’m not exactly sure what you have available in the US, I live north of the border and we have something called Compound Pharmacy, I only learned about this recently. The pharmacist is able to reduce your dose to very small amounts, it can be very helpful if you’re tapering slowly for a long time.
....I live north of the border too... thanks for info... that would have been a better way to go I think....(in my next life)
@lacy2 I am north of the border too and our pharmacists can do a lot they know all the medications and what to do
@lacy2
Let's hope benzos are banned by the time the next life rolls around and we are spiritual fit to handle whatever is dealt us!!!
@gunshy benzodiazepines should be banned in the USA. I have been tapering Klonopin for months. Right now I’m on .125 at 5:00 in the morning and 0.5 at 4:00 pm. The tapering is not small enough. The 0.5 is scored and can only be reduced by quarters. Still too much for tapering. I was at 1 mg at 4:00 pm but the doctor broke it is half ( 0.5).
My next taper will be the morning dose being completely taken away. It’s too much. It takes me 2 days to recover from the anxiety that crept up when switched from 1 mg to 0.5 wich I’m still on but I’m afraid that stopping the morning dose will increase my anxiety again.
I’m also on 125 mg of Seroquel at bedtime for sleep. Put them in my system and I am feeling over sedated. I stopped my Seroquel once due to a very low blood pressure and Seroquel lowers the BP.
Cardiologist said that I needed to go to the hospital and do not take the Seroquel as you could bottom out and not wake up!
This resulted in a major panic attack as I have GAD. I can’t stop the Seroquel and the taking away of my morning Klonopin will kill me but I’m at the lowest pill dose already. I’m messed up badly.
@andytheman
Oh dear one. It does sound as if your doctor is taking you down way, way too quickly. Any way it would be for me, I can't even break the. 5 mg in half very accurately, let alone do it in quarters. I read that the taper should only be 5 to 10 percent of the current dose, which is called a hyperbolic curve which results in even smaller decreases as one approaches the end of the taper. I was told not to go on to a further reduction until I was stable on the last decrease -- which makes incredible sense to me. I feel so bad that you are suffering so much from what to me seems to be a very inept subscriber. I gave up on my GP and others who would have "rushed" me through this process and now am about to begin a taper by dsisolving a .5 mg tablet in a certain amount of water, shaking it vigorous and removing a small portion of it and dividing it in to two doses which I will take at 7 am and 7 pm, I was told the taper would last about a year!!! This process is best done under medical supervision which one can receive at home through a telehealth program to know the precise amounts necessary for a smooth taper.
I finally broke down and paid a professional in the field. It was pricey, but my life and health are priceless. I have yet to start this process, but I am more comfortable with than the others I have explored. I say trust your self and your body and do what YOU think is best for you. Maybe you can find someone that will be ok with you going at your own pace, which makes sense to me. A little prayer for guidance helps a lot, too,
I agree that prayer helps as I use my bible to take my anxiety away as I find it soothing. I have a psychiatric nurse as the actual psychiatrist has moved on. He can fill prescriptions. I am seeing him in 2 days and I will discuss a 5% to 10% taper instead of his stopping the .125 completely. I would agree to cut the .125 to half of that but I don’t know how to cut it other than cutting the .125 in half rather than his idea to stop it altogether. I think that that would work. I live in an assisted living facility and they have the tools to cut the .125 cleanly in half. ( a pill splitter) . We have medication medtechs that handle all my meds. I’m looking forward to tapering down further just a little bit.