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How to taper off clonazepam?.
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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@kawanhee that’s impressive! Much admiration.
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4 ReactionsVery impressive!
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1 ReactionThanks for your input and congratulations on your slow taper. And I am so sorry for your being left without meds. I have used clonazepam 6 months, .5 tid. I am decreasing 1 dose by 1/2 each month and hope to stop in 6 months. Fingers crossed:)
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2 ReactionsGood luck to all of you. I'm amazed when I read these posts on clonazapam and the dosage many are/were taking? I was only on .5mg once a night and it messed me up. After 7 months I stopped cold turkey. That was one year ago on March 3rd and it took a full year for my last symptom (tremors) to finally subside. The doses that many of you are taking would have killed me I'm certain, or at least put me in a wheelchair, and I'm a very healthy 66 year old guy. I'd like to strangle the doc who prescribed this to help me sleep better, what an idiot, but that's a different matter. Best of luck to all of you in your quest to get off of this crappy benzo.
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2 ReactionsI totally agree, why force a senior to go through so much stress to get off a drug, having been taking benzodiazepines for over 20 years and I take 0.5 in the morning and then 0.5 at bedtime. In Canada we have a shortage of doctors so if you have one like I do you hang onto them, especially if he’s the one who started me on these pills from hell. My doctor tried to force me into a withdrawal and no idea what he was doing, he would reduce my dosage without even talking to me. I had to fight with him and make him stop doing this to me, he would only relent if I had stress from cancer returning. I found out what it feels like being a yo-yo, the anxiety and depression would escalate and I felt like a trapped person in a abusive relationship, no one would help me and even if I were able to find another doctor they wouldn’t prescribe benzodiazepines. I try to keep myself on the same dose but since I have long covid I now have anxiety that doesn’t respond to benzodiazepines so that’s very challenging.
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1 ReactionSo sorry that on top of everything you have long covid too. That is tough. Best to you!
Methods used for tapering off .5mg Clonazepam after taken for over 5 years? Considering micro taper as not wanting to switch to Diazepam. Suggestions and experiences welcomed. Thank you,
Ativan is another benzo; this is how I tapered as recommended by a sleep medicine doctor. I really took my time. Successfully off it for a year.
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1 Reaction@hiker2024 Welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect!
@kawanhee has offered a very sound tapering schedule in their post. My question to you, is if you have discussed this with your prescribing doctor, and the reason for the taper and elimination of this medication? Are you replacing it with something else? As you read through the posts, you will find that as people change off medications, doing so in very slow changes has the best outcome.
Ginger
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1 ReactionThank you, very much
Yes, I initiated discussion with my Provider after recent review of research literature regarding many concerning health/brain consequences associated with use, notably long term use. He is supportive of a patient guided taper, though the plan is left to me. He is not of the belief that discontinuation is needed or that it could be problematic to do so. The reasons for me wanting to taper off include it no longer providing a benefit along with potential for protracted withdrawal even while taking. I do not wish to replace with another medication, which has issues of its own, but do take Propranolol and find it helpful. Yes, very slow is the plan, especially once at .25mg. Efforts to taper by half were unsuccessful, which I now understand why. Thank you for the response and your interest.
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