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← Return to Tapering off of Clonazepam???
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I 86 years old and have been on Clonazapam for about 4 years. The doctor who performed spinal surgery put me on it but my internal medicine doctor said I really did not need it so she reduced it to 1.0 mg per day. Well, I really did not want to be on it, so I reduced it to .5 per day without her permission, In fact, I
reduced it without anyone’s permission, However, I
have had some strange symptoms such as hearing music playing and sometimes people talking in another room. I was freaking out until my daughter told me those sounds were from the Clonazapam so I started ignoring them. I have not heard the sounds recently but now I am concerned about stopping it completely. However, at the age of 86, does it really matter? I doubt whether I will live past 90 and since the sounds I hear on occasion aren’t life threatening, I think perhaps I should just keep taking the .5 every evening. Anyone disagree!
PS. Until I read your post, I was not even aware that there was a dose lower then .5 mg. In fact, my local drug store told me that they no longer carried any .5 and I had to call around to see if any other drug store kept the .5 in stock and I finally found one that did. Strange, isn’t it!??
Replies to "I 86 years old and have been on Clonazapam for about 4 years. The doctor who..."
Hello, I have been taking .5 mg for years. I was put on it, because I was hearing digital Christmas card music, and it was really intrusive. My old school Psychiatrist told me it was caused by a reverberated brain circuit, which no one seems to have heard of. Clonazepam worked very effectively., and the music stopped. A year or so ago, I wanted to switch to Lorazepam for other reasons. My Doctor made the change, however, she did not taper me off, and I had the worst withdrawal effects. I had been taking eight tablets per day, and it was like coming off heroin or something. As I have three brain injuries, I have forgotten now exactly what those effects were, but I can tell you it was one of the worst experiences in my life, and I do know that it affected my nervous system. I had to go on Clonidine to help with the withdrawal symptoms. It helped tremendously. I ended up not being able to wean off Clonazepam entirely, though I take half of what I had been taking, but I’m still taking 0.1 mg of Clonidine. I don’t want to go through an experience like that ever again. It should be noted that I am taking a lot of medication for various issues, including narcotic pain medications. I hope this helps somewhat. I wouldn’t come off it, but that’s your choice. If you do want to, then ask your Doctor about what he or she thinks of Clonidine to lessen the severity of the withdrawal effects. Best wishes!! 💜
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Don’t remember how long you were on 1 mg but reducing from 1 to .5 is very dangerous. These drugs need to be reduced very slowly. The songs you are hearing are probably from withdrawal. You are playing a dangerous game as you can have a seizure if you don’t come off slowly.
They do sell a .25 disintegrating tablet but not regular. I broke my .5 pills in half and only ever took .25 at one time. You were taking three times as much. Please be very careful.