1. < Depression & Anxiety

Tapering off clonazepam (Klonopin, Rivotril)

Posted by mmussak @mmussak, Dec 19, 2018

Hi my name is Mary and I am a first time user of ever using a discussion blog online but have felt in my heart I need some advice and help with an issue I am having. My dr I have seen for many years moved out of state and referred me to another phychiatrist within his office. At the time of his moving away he had me weaning off clorazapam slowly and doing it as slow to not make it not so difficult as you all know , and I was doing well at it until I was having extreme chest pain and they put me in the hospital for 2 days to check to make sure it wasn't my heart, with all this happening I knew it was the weaning off the meds that was causing it so i went back up in dosage and it all went away again, and I was almost off it...My old dr started me on this med 27 years ago and I had no idea what it was but my body anxiety was shutting down my body and it helped it all go away so i didnt question it, well not until I went to school for nursing did I find out what it was all about. He put me on .5 mg three times a day and that stayed that way for 27 years not knowing what It does later in years, so I asked my dr to help me with the weaning off it, so our weaning process was as follows: Take .5 in a.m. ,25 afternoon and ,5 evening dose for 2 weeks then cut morning dose to .25 afternoon to .25 and evening .5 for 2 weeks then finally .25 three times a day for 6 weeks and then starting the last of the wean at this point the same as we did the first .25 till i was off. My new dr went from .50 3 times daily to .25 two times a day starting right away to get off it, that is over 1.0 mg a day off it all in one day and forward , I am already sad and crying because I dont know what to do, I have been there and I know how hard it was just to get off the way my old dr did slowly.....anyone out there that can help me with what to do I am so scared and I don't think she knows how extremely hard it is to get off this stupid stuff or that I really do want to do it, but please make it as painless as possible if there is such a thing with these meds. At 56 I didnt think I would have to go through menapause and this hell(sorry about the word but so true) all at once...at times I think it would be easier to just get cancer or something and die. Sorry but its true if you have been there you will understand. PLease help me!!!

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cinrose | @cinrose | Jan 11, 2023
In reply to @brw321 "Hi, I am 63 and I have been on Clonazepam (.05 mg) twice a day for..." + (show)
@brw321

Hi, I am 63 and I have been on Clonazepam (.05 mg) twice a day for six years. I have been on a (six month) taper down to get off this drug. I am on my last taper at .0125 once a day. I take it for the next three weeks and I will be done! I will be praising the Lord.
This drug is great for short term use (5 days max) based on my doctor but not great for long term use.
I was put on this drug for nerve pain due to a tumor in my spine. Pain Mgt. left me on this medication after surgery and I tried coming off several times but too quickly and needed up in the E/R. So I gave up. This time under a doctors care and a six month plan I have done a slow taper which seems to have worked well. I am still under a doctors care while I taper off completely. I will be off in three weeks! This drug went from being a miracle drug when I first began taking it, stopped my horrible pain to my enemy that caused emotional mood swings, caused pain and robbed me of quality of life for years. I took the same (.05) mg the entire six years. I am taking back control of my life with the Lord in prayer.

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Good for you for being so brave! Keep up the good work and cheers to a new life after the taper. I am in the process of doing a taper as well but only after a two month usage. It is still quite brutal. May god bless us both and help us succeed in our efforts.

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cinrose | @cinrose | Jan 11, 2023
In reply to @toomanyquestions "Hi I weaned myself off clonazepam. After several weeks at .0125 I just stopped taking it...." + (show)
@toomanyquestions

Hi
I weaned myself off clonazepam. After several weeks at .0125 I just stopped taking it. This is a pre therapeutic dose. I doubt that it’s actually doing anything. But I always just check with my doctor first.

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I am on 0.125 once a day at the end of a taper. How did you get such a low dose of .0125? Is it a liquid from a compounding pharmacy?
I am still having a hard time weaning off this little bit. Very bad insomnia, anxiety, and mood swings.

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sears | @sears | Jan 11, 2023
In reply to @bean2649 "I have been taking clonazepam for 30 years. I am 73 years old and I have..." + (show)
@bean2649

I have been taking clonazepam for 30 years. I am 73 years old and I have multiple health issues. I’ve had CFS for 26 years along with arthritis in every joint, neuropathy, GI issues and anxiety and depression. We moved from Vermont to Pittsburgh hoping for better healthcare. My new doctor immediately told me that I had to get off the clonazepam. I was taking two.5mg pills in the morning and three more at bedtime. She cut me down to one pill in the morning and three at night. I’m just two days in and already the side effects of withdrawal are awful. I have ringing in my ears, a horrible headache, I can’t concentrate. I can’t do this. My medication schedule was worked out by a nationally recognized CFS specialist. Then five years later another CFS specialist at Harvard reviewed my medications and he too said they were completely appropriate. My doctors in Vermont had no problem with this. We lived there for 22 years.
How do I convince my new doctor to let me keep taking it? I get no support from my husband. My kids all live far away. Also I took medical marijuana in Vermont. We lived with my husband’s sister in Gloucester and all I could get was very low dose edible gummies. I have tried to register for it here in Pennsylvania but the website doesn’t recognize my address. We have had this problem since we moved into a 55+ community. It’s beyond annoying. What am I going to do?

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This is inhumane. A 73 year old with health problems should not be going through this.

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1 reply
bean2649 | @bean2649 | Jan 11, 2023
In reply to @cinrose "Ugh! Klonopin is an awful drug and the taper is truly a living nightmare, but you..." + (show)
@cinrose

Ugh! Klonopin is an awful drug and the taper is truly a living nightmare, but you can get through it and come out on the other side with meditation and CBT therapy. It is extremely difficult though. This drug should be outlawed! It is a shame that the medical professionals do not educate us patients the dangers of taking this ahead of time.

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Who is overseeing your taper? What kind of doctor?

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bean2649 | @bean2649 | Jan 11, 2023
In reply to @sears "This is inhumane. A 73 year old with health problems should not be going through this." + (show)
@sears

This is inhumane. A 73 year old with health problems should not be going through this.

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Thank you. I agree with you 100%. It feels like I’m being punished. I’m too old and too sick to go through this.

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1 reply
sears | @sears | Jan 11, 2023
In reply to @bean2649 "Thank you. I agree with you 100%. It feels like I’m being punished. I’m too old..." + (show)
@bean2649

Thank you. I agree with you 100%. It feels like I’m being punished. I’m too old and too sick to go through this.

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Keep us posted and let us know how you’re doing.

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2 replies
bean2649 | @bean2649 | Jan 11, 2023
In reply to @sears "Keep us posted and let us know how you’re doing." + (show)
@sears

Keep us posted and let us know how you’re doing.

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I had an appointment today with a pain specialist to get me medical marijuana. My idiot husband made me late so I had to reschedule. So I’m in withdrawal from clonazepam and medical marijuana. Why did I stay with him. I’ve been a devoted wife and mother. Did anyone appreciate me? NO!!!!!!!!!!

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sears | @sears | Jan 11, 2023
In reply to @bean2649 "I had an appointment today with a pain specialist to get me medical marijuana. My idiot..." + (show)
@bean2649

I had an appointment today with a pain specialist to get me medical marijuana. My idiot husband made me late so I had to reschedule. So I’m in withdrawal from clonazepam and medical marijuana. Why did I stay with him. I’ve been a devoted wife and mother. Did anyone appreciate me? NO!!!!!!!!!!

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A lot of us here can relate!!!!

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krista1220 | @krista1220 | Jan 11, 2023
In reply to @thankful "@mmussak- Speaking from my heart is what I know and this morning when I opened Connect..." + (show)
@thankful

@mmussak- Speaking from my heart is what I know and this morning when I opened Connect your post was the 1st I saw.
I knew I had to speak into your situation. Thank you for your kind words of assurance! Have a blessed Christmas season.

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Such a beautiful exchange from four years ago.

Love this for others who arrive here with similar dilemmas.

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bean2649 | @bean2649 | Jan 13, 2023
In reply to @sears "Keep us posted and let us know how you’re doing." + (show)
@sears

Keep us posted and let us know how you’re doing.

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Good news! My persistence paid off. My current PCP is backing down and will give me the full dose I have been taking for 30 years. She was punishing me as if I was taking an illegal drug. Don’t the doctors in San Jose, Rochester, MN (ie Mayo Clinic), Pittsburgh and Vermont have responsibility for continuing to prescribe this medication? No one ever questioned whether or not this was medication was appropriate. They just kept renewing my prescription. I saw this doctor on 12/22 and since then my life has been a living hell. I haven’t been able to unpack from our move. All of my other health issues have gotten worse. I went to her for help with my chronic pain, the arthritis in my spine, hip, shoulders, hands, etc. Plus I haven’t been able to eat normally for 3+ years and I have constant diarrhea. She should have referred me to a psychiatrist and not started the taper herself. She’s not qualified to oversee tapering off this type of medication.
Hugs to everyone here. I lived in the shadow of the Mayo Clinic for years and then I worked at one of Mayo’s hospitals. I have always believed that Mayo would be there for me. There’s a reason it is the gold standard for medical care.

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