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I have been in Clonazepam 0.5mg TID for 18 years
My psychiatrist retired and I was left to find a replacement. It seems there are a majority of nurse practitioners these days taking patients as providers, many do not take insurance. I found a nurse practitioner with a very good educational background. I saw her in person and she renewed the medications I was in for 6 months. Next month we had a zoom meeting and she told me she wanted me off the Ambien and Clonazepam because I would get dementia or Alzheimer’s with long term use. She insisted I start tapering against my will. I had school phobia in grade school, began having depression symptoms in my 20’s, and in my late 20’s had two major panic attacks. I have been depressed with anxiety most of my adult life. I have been hospitalized twice because of this. I have never asked for an increase in dosage of Ambien or Clonazepam fur 18 years after I found a wonderful psychiatrist who was so good at medication management.
Now, tapering Ambien and Clonazepam I have started self mutilating by picking my fingers raw until they bleed. I can’t sleep at night, I have become socially phobic. I have become isolative and often think of suicide with no plan. I am 73 years old and I think it is so cruel to put me through this when all I want is to have quality of life, not quantity. I live with my husband in adult senior living which I have not adjusted to. Taking these meds away has decreased my desire to exercise and my endurance is decreasing. My new provider told me if I didn’t want to taper my medication that I should find a new one provider. I did manage to taper the Ambien but I am down to half of the Clonazepam and feel like I can’t go on. Please help me. I am on Paxil and Wellbutrin for depression but it is anxiety and insomnia making my life miserable. I am not the same person I was a year ago.
I feel miserable, she has destroyed any quality of life I had. I really don’t want to live anymore.
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Hi. Just joined. I've been on btween 2 @ 6 mg a day of Lorazepam for the last 20 years. Heard about all this brain damage and decided to go off it. Also I ran out by a week early the last 2 out of 3 months. My doc switched me to 1.5 mg Klonopin. (It was an abrupt switch and I was involved in that decision) it's been 3 weeks now. I'm having massive panic attacks and way worse anxiety than ever in my life. After a couple of falls, I cannot even go out my front door. Questions: Is the Ashcroft manuel still the gold standard for benzo conversion? And how much longer is this going to last? I don't think I can take it anymore. Final comment: medicine has changed a lot in the last 20 years. I've been trained in the new techniques: music, meditation, deep breathing...and honestly, it just feels hopeless
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1 ReactionThank you, Dbomas
Yes, government propogandized paranoia against benzos is hitting me also.,
My four valium a day that my retired psychiatrist of lifelong experience is endangered after years of it for serious generalized anxiety disorder, by this nurse practitioner. She is completely against them and such a dose, both being my mainstays.
Without the valium I may go bonkers... not on withdrawl, I have forgotten to take them so far today (heroin addicts never think "did I have my fix today or not?").
I do catch up the dosing else I may crash, which really is crazy-making.
What the gov't hates about benzos is not what they purport, but to eradicate prescribing of them, the generics, in favour of new side effect ridden pills Big Pharma has to sell.
Society is crashing to self-destruction. Sorry kids, it's true, and current trends are causing it all.
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