Protracted Benzo withdrawal

I have been taking Klonzipan for over 30 years, I am taking 1.5 mg per day. i am a totally disabled vet Now the VA is taking off and it has been the only thing that has really worked for me. Any suggestions?
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Welcome to Connect @weathermike1.
Why is the VA taking you off Klonzipan? What treatment is being recommended?

Have you told them that Klonopin is the only drug that works for you? I don't understand why after 30 years they would even bother taking you off this drug especially if it works for you. I don't know how the VA works when it comes to changing doctors. I guess I don't have any concrete suggestions, but good luck anyway.

Leslie

I just wanted to post my story
I have been taking Lorazepam for 15 years at least for sleep mostly but also for anxiety. This stuff is nasty if i only knew i would never started using it!
Im taking a total of 2 mg a day now , 1 mg at night for sleep. I guess i am doomed for life

Hello @ada1957. I would like to welcome you to Mayo Clinic Connect.

Please tell us a little more about yourself. Have you been instructed by your provider to taper off of the drug?

It's now almost July 2017 and I have gotten no better in fact I took an OTC pill( one) and 4 days later I am having severe symptoms like never before! I have a pool but since 2013,after stopping my Benzo,I have not been able to even get to my pool ,muscle stiffness is still beyond belief!

Has anything been found in 2017 to help with this insane muscle tightness and panic attacks 4-1/2 years after a 3 week taper from a high dose Benzo ,my condition has not improved and is the worse it's ever been ! If I didn't have total help from my wife,I could not have survived this!

Your wife is getting her strength from Our Father. She loves you and is there for what ever should happen. Pray to our Lord every time you feel you need help and courage........you will get it.....of course with your wife's help. She is your angel.
Your are in my prayers Patti

I had been a hermit for about 4 years, and being unable to picture things in my mind I attribute to the same anxiety that left me unable to leave the house. Although I was really only a hermit for four years a good part of 25 years I had extreme difficulty leaving the house. Often I had to get high on booze, or benzo's to just get me out of the door to shop for groceries. This in turn manifested itself in severe addiction which took years for me to over come.

THERE IS HOPE. I RECENTLY HAD KETAMINE TRANSFUSIONS AND MY DEPRESSION AND MY ANXIETY ARE NEARLY GONE. This is a relatively new approach which has not been FDA approved although a doctor can do it off-label. It would take millions of dollars in testing to get it FDA approved and the makers of Ketamine would not find it financially feasible to spend the money for the testing since the drug has been out around fifty years now and it costs very little and therefore the profit would be too small to pay for the testing.

Look online under ketamine and depression and ketamine and anxiety and I have not seen one bad review. I had it two weeks ago and after having suicidal idealization every day for almost twenty years I have had only one day since the treatment where it occurred. My sleep which was usually limited to four hours a night has bumped up to six or seven hours a night and my anxiety is on tenth of what it was.

I strongly advice you to look into this. It has worked wonders for me.

It is unclear to me whether your doctor is taking you off of the drug or if it is no longer paying for much of the prescription. If it is the later you are lucky as the generic would cost about fifty cents a milligram if I am correct and hopefully that is something you can afford. If the doctor is taking you off of it than tell us what the new therapy is going to be. For anxiety I find Lyrica works wonders. I take 150 mg 3x a day. The problem here is unless medicare pays for it or one of your type b insurance pays for it, it will cost a fortune. About $6.00 a pill Best of luck to you nd thanks for your service to our Country.