Klonopin taper

I'm sorry, I was thinking that should be Mg and not Grams but I never bothered to check and correct. Yes, I should have said milligram. My original dose when I started about 14 years ago was 1 Mg. I have ramped up to 1 1/2 Mg about 6 years ago. I started tapering In January after trying to first quit cold turkey (as I was forced to do so before with no major withdrawal symptoms other than not sleeping well and the return of my RLS) and this caused me to suffer nearly every withdrawal symptom on the books. That's when I did the research regarding tapering and instead of resuming at 1 1//2 mg, i started taking just 1 mg and the withdrawal symptoms declined almost immediately. I started tapering about 1/8 gram per week and one morning I woke up with no feeling in either of my hands (completely numb). After more research I discovered my tapering was too fast. so I tried tapering 1/4 mg per month and now down to 1/4 mg with about a week to go before taking it down another 1/8 mg. I intend to proceed as long as I'm not having any serious withdrawals and if at 1/8 mg dosage I have no adverse effect I will quit using entirely and from what I understand if I should have any serious withdrawals it will happen from 4-10 days after being completely off. If I can get through that last hurdle without adverse effects, I think I can consider myself unaddicted.

@stanof53
At the end is when things got dicey for me. I was taking tiny chips at the end.
Give it a shot but I'd do it more slowly.
As far as stopping medication “cold turkey” is concerned, another member tried it with a different medicine and had a stroke so be careful.
Good luck with your taper,
Jake

That is exactly what happened to me only she did prescribed it for me after a go around she was my new Dr so she didn't know me I had to go see her the next day which was fine she told me she would refill them for me monthly I told her oh no no I want to come off them she gave me a taper down schedule. I was taking 1mg a day for the last 7 years. I really believe (I'm exquisitly sensitive to medication) now that I haven't been thinking clearly the last 7 years and I was falling often enough it was a concern. Interesting enough my brother told me when his wife was dying the Dr put him on ativan he took one on a tough day and fell down a flight of stairs breaking his wrist he said to me you haven't been your fun loving self in a longtime I miss you. I've noticed it myself I've been having mood swings thinking crazy things like my family and friends don't love me anymore because they don't respond to me when I contact them it's not true they work and have a busy schedule I'm home. I'm one week into tapering down I'm at .25 twice a day I've been having the shakes and feeling like I'm jumping out of my skin feeling it doesn't last long and it passes is that withdrawal symptoms? Yesterday was the first time I experienced it twice once during the day and my legs shook I fell asleep without a problem. So far today I haven't had any I did start with a panic attack but splashed cold water on my face and it stopped it I find for an anxiety attack the same distraction it works great for me. I will be glad to get off them and have some fun its been a long while taking them I'm not the positive person I was so there was a personally change with them. I have to taper down to .25 grams twice a day for two weeks and the take one every other day for two months and then stop them. I never felt like I was addicted to them I had misses a few days at a time but learning now two things 1 it stays in your fat cells longer then a regular benzo and two even 1 mg I think its a small dose your body can still be addicted to it. I never really knew anything about it until now that I'm coming off it the benzo is a good thing and also a brutal drug.

My Mom was addicted to Libium it was a nighmare for my family she was taking up to 100mgs a day at one point they got her down to 10mgs a day and she took that until she passed away. Back in the 50's a woman with anxiety was given a tranqulizer to quiet them not knowing how highly addictive they were and the ability to abuse them. I will be back letting you know how its going.

@irishgirl55
Just taper very slowly. You may want to consider going a bit slower.
hope you have an uneventful taper,
Jake

This sounds like a rapid taper. Rapid tapers are not good. Please do some research before continuing. Don’t ask your doctor. The majority of doctors have no idea how to do a safe taper.

In a perfect world we would get the proper help when it comes to tapering. Unfortunately we don’t live in a perfect world. Do not even think about going to a rehab clinic or hospital to taper. They taper patients waaaaaaay to quickly. Quick tapers are the worst thing you could do. Google Ashton Manual.

The clonazapam

Totally agree. I had been on Clonazepam/Rivotril/Klonapin 15 years and psychiatrist , very nice, in training at hospital, never seen before said to go off the meds 0.5 a day, after my last five pills in the container! His idea, break them in half and take one every other day. I was shaking all over etc. etc. at age 75! Luckily my family dr. said no, too fast, but halved the dose and provided no help... see you in three months he said; and I still went into withdrawal. No one had ever told me it was addictive or that it would be hard to stop taking, no one!! Gave it to me like candy and I used as a sleeping pill. Now back on it because its the lesser of two evils!

@lacy2
I don’t know why doctors stop some drugs virtually cold turkey. I don’t know why you were taking Klonopin but I took it for seizures. Stopping seizure medication can cause Conulsive Status Epilepticus which is a serious medical emergency which can be fatal. I’m sorry you experienced these symptoms. If you believe you no longer require this medication getting off it is simple to do provided you go slowly enough.
I can’t guarantee you will have an uneventful, symptom free withdrawal but I feel safe in saying even if you have symptoms they will be significantly reduced and less severe.
I remember someone tapering so slowly it would have taken them 17 years to be off the drug and he/s still had some side effects. I’m not saying no one will ever have side effects on a slow taper but it seems to be the exception rather than the rule.
Take care,
Jake

In tapering off Clonazepam, I was a 1 1/2 Mg user each night before bed. I can't even remember when I started tapering, it was shortly after I had tried to quit cold turkey and suffered nearly every withdrawal symptom on record but fortunately not the most critical ones. This was easily resolved by taking 1mg and resuming it's use at a medical site recommended tapering at a rate of 1/8 mg per week. This is still way to fast as by time I was down to 1/8 mg dose I experienced some pretty significant withdrawal symptoms. I kicked it back up to 1/4 milligram about 2 weeks ago and outside of some discomforts I've been holding up pretty well, but discovered something that never seems to be discussed hear and felt it interesting to convey. The slight discomfort I was feeling was in the lower left quadrant of my abdomen, in the Colon area. I had a bowel movement that seemed to relieve the discomfort but then it returned hours later and slightly magnified from before.
Here's where things get interesting. I suspected irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) so I searched that illness. To my surprise, without even mentioning Clonazepam, the first link was an article stating that this drug is being considered for treatment of IBS. The illness isn't listed as an effect of withdrawal (Constipation and diarrhea is, but never relating it directly to IBS). So since taking the drug it seems that I have actually developed IBS but because of taking the drug I never experienced the illness of IBS (my own self diagnosis) till I started tapering off. I started taking the drug to treat RLS (restless leg syndrome) but with this new found element being unveiled through tapering, it's quite possible I my just be stuck at the 1/4 mg dose. Of course, I'm not sleeping well and that's the effect of my RLS, I'm thinking now I may just have to bite the bullet and increase my dose to at least 3/4 mg, at least every other day to get a decent nights sleep, why I even started the drug in the first place. Has anyone else had this type of experience with tapering?