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Klonopin taper

Depression & Anxiety | Last Active: Apr 2, 2023 | Replies (547)

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@archermac15

I am very proud of you. It is very hard. I am 53 and been taking Clonazepam for 16 years. I should have detoxed years ago or never got on it. I was on 2mg and cut back to 1mg in the summer. I didn't have a hard time, but I am going through menopause. It's my second year and it's really hard. I had Restless Leg Syndrome back in 2017 and my pain management Doctor prescribed Gabapentin. I took it for two days and stopped when I discovered that exercise worked better. I was also taking Topiramate and Baclofen for migraines and thought the muscle relaxant, Baclofen had made it go away, but turns out that the Restless Leg Syndrome was something that would come and go during peri- menopause and then it went into remission. Now it has come back with menopause and it's in my arms and neck. I've tried to take Gabapentin yet again and I did for 5 days and it was helping, but my heart started racing and I started getting chest pain. This was towards the end of February. I had an EKG February 15 and it was normal, besides right bundle branch blockage, just a minor electrical thing in one's heart. Then I've tried a few a couple other medications and after a few days my heart will race and I will get pain in my heart. It seems like I can only take my own medication nothing new. I've never been sensitive to medication like this before. I've been really foggy. I thought it might be the Topiramate which I found out causes memory problems. I had recently lowered my dose on that 2 weeks ago because that is a seizure medication too, so I thought I should lower the Clonazepam before I get off the Topiramate. I have 1mg pills and cut them in quarters to took a .5mg and .25mg so I'm not good in math but would that be .75 of a 1mg? Gosh, I'm in so much pain and I do feel so jittery. I've lowered the Clonazepam in the last two days and my body feels worse. It's not a good time to detox, and I've been having chest pain and palpitations. I cry everyday from the pain. I've been in pain management for many years so the pain medication doesn't work for the new pain and my pain Doctor doesn't want to give me a higher dose and my Psychiatrist is not very good. He was prescribing Clonazepam 4mg 2 years ago and then cut me off without detoxing me down. He wouldn't be a very good Doctor at weaning me. Three months ago he wanted to cut me off from 2mg down to 1mg, but didn't because I'm in the middle of a divorce. I would have to find a new Psychiatrist. I really want to detox but I'm in so much pain. I just don't want to stay on it. I know it gets harder the longer one stays on it. I'm so sorry you are not feeling good. Oh, I wish that I could take Gabapentin. That helps the Restless Leg Syndrome which has also gone into my arms and neck.

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Replies to "I am very proud of you. It is very hard. I am 53 and been taking..."

I recently found out I was under dosed when transferring from Lorazepam 6mg to Clonazepam to start tapering. I was prescribed .5mg Clonazepam, which should have been 3mg to start my taper. All along I felt something was wrong because after just a bit I starting having tremors and a multitude of other problems. My Psychiatrist would tell me no you are not having withdrawals, they are over. No you are not having protracted withdrawal. No my hair falls out too. I could go on and on. All I can say is we need to do our own research, as much as we feel our Doctors have our best interest in mind, they very well may not have had much training on Benzodiazepines. I truly feel it is almost Criminal what has happened to me. My Primary Care Doctor and the Psychiatrist at UCSF which worked thru my tapering had no idea what was going on with me. It was because I was not on the correct amount of Clonazepam.