Benzo withdrawal

Posted by joeakel @joeakel, Oct 27, 2022

Hello i've been using clonazepam for 4 months 0.75mg , 0.25mg morning and 0.5mg at night for anxiety, im so afraid of withdrawal and tapering symptoms. Any positive vibes please?

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@ellerchim

Only takes a couple of weeks to become “dependent “ on benzos, and if you stop or cut back you will get withdrawals. FDA issued a Black Box warning about how you should SLOWLY stop
with any of these. I took lorazepam for several weeks after my husband died and then stopped. Did not understand why I felt so awful until I got on a benzo site in FB. My doctor never told me how addictive these are in a short time frame. And never helped me. In fact most Doctors are either ignorant about the reality of how serious this is or refuse to help because it is time consuming to wean off of this.
After 4 months ( lost 30 lbs ) trying to get refills on my original prescription because you cannot stop cold turkey. Being ostracized and put down by the medical so called professionals. I finally found a site on FB where there are so many like us who are refused help. Did receive a taper which I have been doing for a couple of months, but it will take me several more until I am finally off of this poison. Just two weeks into this taper I slowly put back on some weight and started to feel good again. But still have numbness in my feet and other issues which are suppose to resolve themselves when I am completely off. I was on 1 mg of lorazepam and down to .25 twice at night. I do a water taper and have had very little withdrawals. I am 72 years old and never thought I would be doing this at my age. There is help out there, but not by the ones that prescribe it. They want to get you off too fast or they tell you you’re crazy because they don’t want to deal with it. Good luck and check out Benzo sites.

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Hi,

I will never take a benzo chronically again.

I have cognitive issues from a traumatic brain injury and was taking ativan one time a day for sleep. Not a lot, right? It was enough.

When I ran out, and at the same time, I realized it had been causing some of the mental health and worsened cognitive issues (affected my work performance), I elected to discontinue the drug. As I withdrew from it, the anxiety was horrible, and though I gor through it, I never want to feel like thar again!!! I do on rare occassions take 0.5mg for nausea (I have severe gastroparesis and have begun running out of options for treating it-most ot he drugs typically used for nausea have quit working), but I am working with GI in Rochester to come up with other options).

Benzo withdraw is miserable.

REPLY
@ellerchim

Only takes a couple of weeks to become “dependent “ on benzos, and if you stop or cut back you will get withdrawals. FDA issued a Black Box warning about how you should SLOWLY stop
with any of these. I took lorazepam for several weeks after my husband died and then stopped. Did not understand why I felt so awful until I got on a benzo site in FB. My doctor never told me how addictive these are in a short time frame. And never helped me. In fact most Doctors are either ignorant about the reality of how serious this is or refuse to help because it is time consuming to wean off of this.
After 4 months ( lost 30 lbs ) trying to get refills on my original prescription because you cannot stop cold turkey. Being ostracized and put down by the medical so called professionals. I finally found a site on FB where there are so many like us who are refused help. Did receive a taper which I have been doing for a couple of months, but it will take me several more until I am finally off of this poison. Just two weeks into this taper I slowly put back on some weight and started to feel good again. But still have numbness in my feet and other issues which are suppose to resolve themselves when I am completely off. I was on 1 mg of lorazepam and down to .25 twice at night. I do a water taper and have had very little withdrawals. I am 72 years old and never thought I would be doing this at my age. There is help out there, but not by the ones that prescribe it. They want to get you off too fast or they tell you you’re crazy because they don’t want to deal with it. Good luck and check out Benzo sites.

Jump to this post

The Medical profession front line employees have a never ending stream of patients (Dr shortage).
Recently Kaiser launched speech to text capability for Doc note taking, it is so new that my PCP was watching the screen instead of looking at me as I talked. No warm and fuzzy connection. They take care of you unless upward referring to a specialist. It ain’t yo mama’s doctor no more.

REPLY
@catmomma

Hi,

I will never take a benzo chronically again.

I have cognitive issues from a traumatic brain injury and was taking ativan one time a day for sleep. Not a lot, right? It was enough.

When I ran out, and at the same time, I realized it had been causing some of the mental health and worsened cognitive issues (affected my work performance), I elected to discontinue the drug. As I withdrew from it, the anxiety was horrible, and though I gor through it, I never want to feel like thar again!!! I do on rare occassions take 0.5mg for nausea (I have severe gastroparesis and have begun running out of options for treating it-most ot he drugs typically used for nausea have quit working), but I am working with GI in Rochester to come up with other options).

Benzo withdraw is miserable.

Jump to this post

Benzo withdrawal is miserable and can be deadly. I applaud you for your strength. I am a recovering person and have dealt with withdrawal from several substances. It is not easy, but worth it not to be in that state ever again. One day at a time. Hang in there.

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@mythmara

The Medical profession front line employees have a never ending stream of patients (Dr shortage).
Recently Kaiser launched speech to text capability for Doc note taking, it is so new that my PCP was watching the screen instead of looking at me as I talked. No warm and fuzzy connection. They take care of you unless upward referring to a specialist. It ain’t yo mama’s doctor no more.

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Right there’s no connection. They are just there to SELL their poison. Most getting the commission off their sales, not to mention free trips. They never mention if these benzos are addictive ever and when that does happen to a patient, they wash their hands of you or try to get you off this poison in a few weeks, which does more harm than good. Anything to not be bothered by you again, unless you want higher dose, which they will gladly prescribe.

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@skullbasecancer4

I feel the same way . You are not alone . I have been on Klonopin for over a year . Trying to wean has been a struggle for me . I don’t feel well at all . I have terrible anxiety because my husband has cancer and I have to find an another place to live . I support you . I have never ever been addicted to anything .

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So very sorry. It is a nightmare but one that can be won. It takes time. Remember the actual withdrawal doesn't really start until it is 100 percent out of your system. Look up Amanda Adnama on You Tube. She withdrew from Klonopin and made a couple videos.

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