I may be the devil's advocate here, but I was sent this discussion by my Dad as an encouragement.
I have been prescribed Clonazepam for 20 years for an anxiety disorder. I was taking 1 mg in the morning a 1 mg as needed.
I started seeing a new mental health professional, who explained to me that it was too late and I would be on a benzo for life. She wanted to start me on xanax xr instead because she said what I was taking was not working any longer. I completely agreed with this.
I read an article on the internet and was reassured that the extended release xanax would not cause me any withdrawal from the Clonazepam.
I went through the process without tapering on April 7th 2022 and I feel like I know what is was like being in a Chinese torture chamber.
I was literally paralyzed with fear from day 5 to day 8, when I was told in the late morning of April 14th, to go back on the Clonazepam. I almost hyperventilate when I heard from her to go back, I basically went through all of that I went through for nothing.
My advice wear a heart monitoring device like a fitbit, its not quite as sophisticated as what you would find at a cardiologist office, but I knew things were wrong when I saw that my heart rate had been 130 to 149 while I was laying on my couch for 3 days.
I should have called it quits on day 5.