Tapering off clonazepam (Klonopin, Rivotril)

@There was a Psychiatrist in Europe who was depressed and had a drinking problem so he started taking Klonopin, unfortunately when it came time to stop he took his own advice and stopped it in 10 days. Needless to say he suffered greatly. He learned something from the experience though. Now he is an advocate of the 5-10% taper.
Wishing all well,
Jake

I came off of clonozepam 1.5 mg a year ago. I did not have any problems, but I did take months to do it. I have a body that apparently does not digest medicine efficiently so the 1.5 was not at all much for me.

Hi @johnhans I noticed you mentioned that you did not have the problems of withdrawals from clonazapam as many others do. I was wondering how your last doses went and how much you cut at the end? I am close to getting off totally and am wondering what to expect with no clonazapam in my system. It has been almost 6 months since I started my taper of 1.5mg. I am happy with my taper so far. Thank you in advance.

@fluffykitty I did not taper off real gradual. I just went from .5 to nothing and then did take one after several days, but that was it. My body does not seem to digest medicine as well as others so the 1.5 mg I took was not much for me. I believe that everyone is different in how they react to their meds so you may be different. I have entered my info to encourage others that it can be done if the doctor wants you to go off the clonozepam.

Before discovering the wonders of CBD, tapering from Benzos have been difficult, to say the least. I've experienced almost all of the classical symptoms with the brief exception of nausea. CBD has helped alleviate, irritability, headaches, muscle pain and stiffness let alone the anxiety for which I was taking clonazepam. I was taking 3mg – 4mg at my peak and I'm now down to 0.75mg. I've been taking these drugs since my early 20's and I'm now in my early 40's. For whatever reason, I simply came across some online resources which were spelling out the benefits of quitting these drugs, mostly feeling ALIVE again and not in a constant state of drowsiness and emotional blunting. You don't know how deeply these drugs affect you until you get off of them. I'm also aware that I still have a substantial journey ahead of me but this is an amazing beginning.

I just started the most recent taper (1mg to 0.75mg) 5 days ago and I'm feeling OK. I do have a bit of trouble sleeping, especially after waking in the middle of the night. I should also add that I quit sleeping aids at this time also (Unisom specifically, 5 days ago). Through help from this forum (thanks @annfsd), I've switched Unisom for melatonin. It knocks me out at night but as I mentioned, I'm working through falling back asleep after waking in the middle of the night. The fact that I've been able to maintain such a low dose of clonazepam (for me) along with complete elimination of Unisom is nothing short of remarkable for me and I'm quite proud of that. I've gone from 3mg to 1.5mg without CBD and it was extremely difficult with a very high level of irritability and insomnia. This most recent taper from 1.5mg to 0.75mg (in 0.25mg increments) was done with the help of CBD and there is a tangible difference.

CBD (tinctures/oil, caps and or dry flower (High CBD, negligible THC)) has helped tremendously to help deal Benzodiazepine withdrawal. If I'm having a particularly difficult day, I will use one of the above delivery methods depending on my environment. For example, if I'm at home, I will vape it as it's the quickest delivery method (seconds). If I'm traveling, I will use either the tincture or gelcap. I should also add that I live in Canada so I have access to regulated CBD flower, oils, and gel caps, although at a steep price. For those us actively trying to taper from these difficult drugs, I think we can all agree that it's difficult to put a price on alleviating withdrawal symptoms.

Hope this helps and please note this is my experience only.

Thank you for your post. I’m new here. I’m on .75mg of klonopin for 10 years and looking to start tapering after a month long of withdrawals from a bad batch from pharmacy. I was originally prescribed it for insomnia and am now seeing what a horrible drug it is. Would you mind telling me the dose of cbd you use and is it straight cbd? Does it help with insomnia? That’s my biggest fear of starting the tapering. I appreciate any help.

CBD helped me immensely with withdrawal symptoms while tapering off Klonopin. It also helped with anxiety. I'm a medical patient in Canada so I have access to medical-grade CBD from the major LPs however, I will warn you, it's not cheap at $90 for 40ml but worth it to help temper those withdrawal symptoms. It helped a lot on this difficult journey to get completely off Clonazepam and I would recommend it. My journey started on Dec 18' and was finally off by father's day. And no, it was not planned that was just the way the taper timing eventually worked itself out with the taper schedule. I was taking 2.0mg every night for reference. Now I'm working through insomnia problems. Always something...