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I have exactly what you’re describing. I’m on Clonazapan (Klonopin) and it is a benzo and I’m 69 years old. My psychiatrist gave me a prescription for klonopin. 1/2 mg in the morning and 1 mg at 4 pm.
I recently had to spend 20 days in patient at a local hospital for something unrelated to this.
When I went to the hospital I gave EMS a list of my current medications. The hospital lost my medication list and relied on an older list from 3 years ago. I was not on klonopin then so the hospital refused to give me some of my current medication. Klonopin being one of them.
They gave me lorazepam instead (adavan benzo). At first the adavan helped to relieve me of my Klonopin addiction. Slowly that was not klonopin but adavan. Both benzodiazepines. Adavan started to wane. It stopped from doing its job. I went through extreme withdrawal symptoms that only Klonopin took away.
I admit that I am addicted to klonopin. I can’t even taper off even if it takes a year. I cannot get off klonopin at all. I was a nutcase because they still wouldn’t give it to me. The symptoms are a nightmare. I started bugging the nurses to get me some klonopin. Still, the doctor refused.
I became a person that I didn’t like. I became aggressive and dangerous to others and myself.
Klonopin (and adavan and Xanax) are very dangerous drugs and should not be available to anyone. Benzodiazepines need to be taken off pharmaceutical shelves. It’s a poison.
While Klonopin takes away some of my generalized anxiety disorder known as GAD, it’s not enough for me. I can’t get a dose increase but as soon as I got home from the hospital I took a 1 mg pill and before I knew it. My anxiety level dropped significantly although I became a zombie. That’s what I have to look forward to. (Possibly the rest of my life) I’m 69 so it may no longer make me feel like a zombie when I’m dead. It’s bad.
While losing your balance and being wobbly is probably part of getting old, I believe that benzodiazepines have exacerbated it. And I am light headed and have to use a cane, not because of my legs but because of my klonopin use.
Replies to "I have exactly what you’re describing. I’m on Clonazapan (Klonopin) and it is a benzo and..."
Andy,
You are not addicted. Your body/CNS is dependent on a horrendous benzodiazepine. None should be prescribed for more than 3-4 days, but that’s a moot point for most of us. You are not stuck on them. You had a horrific ordeal at the hospital because doctors know very little about these drugs beyond 3 months of use. It’s despicable, but they weren’t taught and are very slow to admit they need to change.
I urge you to go to https://www.benzoinfo.com/
You will find information on safe, slow discontinuation tapers under Resources. You might be lucky and NOT develop tolerance (the meds stop working and throw you into withdrawal anyway), but most do. If you’re not in tolerance, you could start a very, very slow taper off. Read the Ashton Manual. It’s the gold standard, but there are a ton of others who have either gone through what you did, which was unforgivable, or abruptly cut off. Most hit tolerance after years of the drug working and decide to taper. You can do it the wrong way (super fast) or the safe way (low and slow) or just continue to feel like crap. It does get better when you finally get off, but it’s a marathon. Plus, if you’re taking a generic, some have been discontinued and new brands are causing issues.
I’d suggest reading Ashton first and making sure you are prepared on all fronts if you want to get this poison out of your body. I’m 66 and am doing a slow taper from 35 years of 1mg clonopin. The longer on and the older we are, the slower we should go.
I wish you the best, but don’t think you have to be on this s**t for life. There are plenty of coping skills for GAD. I know and I know they really help MORE than a pill.
Also, stay off any FB groups. There’s a lot of good info, but too much negativity AND IT’S FROM THE YOUNGER PEOPLE! Go figure. They have it much easier and they can’t even cope with one anxiety attack. Wisdom has its advantages.
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Andy, wishing you all the best and sorry about your klonopin issue. Only being on it for 7 months, it was affecting me in a major way. I did notice the loss of strength in my legs at times which was concerning, no wobbling, but definite weakness. I am 65 but in pretty good shape so it was new territory for me. I truly believe if you can ever come off of this benzo, you would see slow improvements. Just so happened I had appt. with new sleep disorder doc (she's also a neurologist) yesterday and I told her of my issues with Klonopin and my sudden withdrawal. She agreed that this drug can effect people in various ways, although she does occasionaly prescribe but watches patients reactions closely. After 2 1/2 months I do still feel some withdrawal symptoms but they are gradually getting better. My leg strength has returned. The drug is terrible in my opinion. Wishing you the best.