Can someone tell me if I’m going slow enough

Posted by amdavis70 @amdavis70, May 20, 2023

Can anyone provide me with a more definitive description of what it means to “ go slow”. I think I am but suffering terribly with withdrawal. My psychiatrist doesn’t seem to know much about tapering and I have zero confidence in him.
I’m 71 years old and do not take drugs well, having tried three different antidepressants that either didn’t work or made me nuts. The only thing that worked was klonopin and have been taking it for about 14 months with a daily dose of 1 mg that I divide into 4 doses a day at .25 mg. I was never comfortable taking klonopin but every doctor or therapist I spoke with assured me that I was on a very low dose and not to worry. I wish I did my own research because nothing could be further from the truth. I started to suffer from tolerance withdrawal and so I had two choices, either up my daily dose or get off of it. I started to think the klonopin was the actual source of my anxiety and so I decided to get off it.
I asked my doctor to give me a prescription for .125 mg which I was told is the lowest dose I could get and that is what I’m using for my taper. I’m tapering down .125 mg every two weeks. I know I should be tapering at 10% but the math doesn’t work when you start to reduce the daily dose. My first taper was 12%, second taper was 14% and things were going, for the most part, pretty good. Lately it’s becoming a nightmare. It’s been 3 months now and I’m down to .375 mg daily. Tonight I’m scheduled for another taper reduction by .125 mg which would be bringing me down 33%. Don’t know how to avoid this since i only have the .125 mg to work with.
I want this nightmare to be over as soon as I can but worried I may be going to fast. Is four months a safe taper from an original dose of 1 mg? Any feedback or guidance would be greatly appreciated since I’m doing all of this on my own having no faith in the medical community. Thanks

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I believe only you can determine what your body feels. Plus, being elderly makes a difference, I know. Klonopin was nasty for me. I took it off-label for a headache. Keep drinking lots of water. Good luck.

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@mikaylar

I believe only you can determine what your body feels. Plus, being elderly makes a difference, I know. Klonopin was nasty for me. I took it off-label for a headache. Keep drinking lots of water. Good luck.

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Thanks. My brain says get this over with already and my body sends confusing signals. Some days are a living hell and others are almost normal. There doesn’t seem to a pattern to it but I know that if I had a physically active day, the next day I pay a price.
I think I’m going to stay with the two week taper and hopefully it won’t be too much to take. Thanks again.

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Also, your family doctor could help you. And, the internet could offer some guidance about tapering. Some meds take months. This site is very helpful for a lot of things because other people offer their views and you can apply them to yours. We all help each other.

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@amdavis70

Thanks. My brain says get this over with already and my body sends confusing signals. Some days are a living hell and others are almost normal. There doesn’t seem to a pattern to it but I know that if I had a physically active day, the next day I pay a price.
I think I’m going to stay with the two week taper and hopefully it won’t be too much to take. Thanks again.

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A lot of people go four weeks or longer between cuts. If you’re not doing well don’t hesitate to stay where you are and stabilize. Older people seem to have a harder time tapering. Our brains become less plastic as we age. You’ll do fine. Don’t be impatient with the process.

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@amdavis70
I’m elderly also, and yes it’s a living hell. It took me 2 + years to get off 2 mg daily. I tried to rush it and paid a hellacious price! I would say go slow as you need to, and stabilize at every cut, for as long as it takes. Even go back up if you need to. I know what it feels like and even though you want this crap away from you, just be as patient as you possibly can. You can do it. Others have. You’ll get there.
Also, I’m assuming you’ve read the critical parts of “The Ashton Manual”? The Gold Standard. Keep the faith, @amdavis70

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I’m 76 and have just finished tapering off the benzodiazepine Clobazam. I had been taking it on and off since 1985 but a hiatus hernia operation left me in a bad way and I lost a lot of weight. I took clobazam three times daily from the end of November. I started to taper off in February, at first about a mg a week. I found that every time I dropped the dose I had many different side effects, some of them very depressing. I realised that they were side effects as they would come and go at random. I thoroughly recommend the Ashton manual which is available on line and has a tapering schedule for Klonopin. It is easy to read and extremely helpful. I also found it essential to do relaxation exercises on a far infra red mat (the warmth seeps into my old bones), followed by meditation on Bible promises. I am still finding it difficult but have come a long way since the beginning of the year when I felt totally desperate. If you follow the Ashton manual you will find a lot of encouragement there. I have also found great encouragement in reading books by Max Lucado like “Anxious for Nothing”. May God bless and help you to get through this.

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What were the symptoms of tolerance withdrawal? What withdrawal symptoms do you experience as you reduce your dose? Don't be afraid to slow down. Your taper is going pretty fast. It took me 2 years to go from 1 mg to .4 - mine was a particularly tough (and failed) withdrawal, which is the last thing you want. Even the Ashton Manual protocol was too fast for me. You may need to reduce by even less than 10%, especially as you get closer to the end. Also, you should be taking 10% away from your current dose, so .125 was 10% of a dose a while ago, but is now a much higher % of your dose, 33% in one cut is probably way to much for you. There are ways to reduce by less than a whole pill, such as crushing (I use a mortar and pestle) and weighing and some do a water taper. Both take considerably more calculating than just taking a pill, but could address withdrawal and slow down your taper. Also holding at one dose until you feel "stabilized" - the idea is to cut the dose, ride out the resulting symptoms and cut again when they have subsided, and so on. This didn't work out so well with me because the symptoms never subsided, I had to hold for long periods and make minute cuts, and still experienced never ending symptoms from the very beginning. The more you can avoid this never ending array of withdrawal symptoms, the more likely you are to stick with it and complete the withdrawal. I admire that you are taking this on bravely and independently at this stage in your life.

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Make sure friends and/or family are aware of what you are doing. Someone should check in on you regularly. God bless you! You can do this. Keep busy and drink lots of water.

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Thank you for your encouragement. Having a really hard day today so it
was nice to read your comment

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@sears

A lot of people go four weeks or longer between cuts. If you’re not doing well don’t hesitate to stay where you are and stabilize. Older people seem to have a harder time tapering. Our brains become less plastic as we age. You’ll do fine. Don’t be impatient with the process.

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I’m not very patient with this because I think I’m screwed if I continue to taper and I think I’m screwed where I am right now. Starting to lose hope and think I’m not ever going to be normal again and that’s when I get into a really dark place and I hate myself even more. What an evil drug this is.

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