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Using CBD oil to help taper off anxiety & depression meds?
Depression & Anxiety | Last Active: Feb 13, 2023 | Replies (94)Comment receiving replies
Hi etranger,
How is your taper going? I've been slowly tapering for about 1year from 3mg Clonazepam (it's also been about 8 years at this level although I have been taking Clonazepam for about 20yrs total using 2mg as a maintenance dose) and have been steady for the last 6months or so at 1.5mg. I'm quite proud of that. Because I've noticed that I feel sharper and better without the higher doses of Clonazepam, I've decided to further taper down to 1.0mg last week with the help of CBD capsules (from Aurora). It has helped tremendously with both tapering and withdrawal symptoms. I'd like to know how your journey has been as we are both tapering from the same drug. Are you still taking CBD to help with your taper?
Replies to "Hi etranger, How is your taper going? I've been slowly tapering for about 1year from 3mg..."
Something I'm wondering about, re using CBD to help with tapering off (in my case) Clonazepam -- CBD inhibits the activity of the Cytochrome P450 enzyme group in the liver, which ordinarily metabolizes away the benzos and many other drugs after they've been in the body for a while. So, when CBD is present, many drugs persist in the body longer, and have more effect, than they would without CBD present. The benzos are listed as one of the drug classes with which CBD interacts in this way -- so couldn't they be potentiating the benzos, making them last longer in the system, and have more effect, than they would otherwise? (Grapefruit is another, more widely known Cytochrome P450 inhibitor, which is why we don't eat grapefruit when taking tetracycline, for example).
Does anyone have any idea how significant this would be for the use of CBD to help with weaning off Clonazepam?
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Hi, @gettingbetter75, and welcome to Connect. As you mentioned a taper from clonazepam, I'd like to suggest you also check out this discussion on tapering off that medication https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/tapering-off-clorazapam.