gb84 Posted January 19, 2019 Share Posted January 19, 2019 I am going to try and get off klonopin if my doc agrees to it. I've never liked how flat it makes me and I feel it keeps me from enjoying life. I've been taking klonopin for 12 years so I am assuming that it is going to take quite a while to taper off. If you have tapered off benzos, I would like to know what your experience was like. How long were you on benzos and how long did it take to get off of them? Did you have withdrawal? Was it mild or severe? Did your doc give you any additional medication for the withdrawal if you had it? Not looking for any medical advice, just want to know your experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Velvet Elvis Posted January 19, 2019 Share Posted January 19, 2019 After a few months of tapering down, I cut my last ten into .25mg chunks. I took one every few days, only when I couldn't stand not to. I tried spreading them farther and farther apart, but one it was down to .25 ever 4 days or so, that was as good as it was going to get. Once those last chunks were gone I still felt like shit for a couple months and that's after staying drunk for a couple weeks at the start of it. I was incapacitated for most of the summer of 2016. I have no intention of taking daily benzos again ever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
looking for answers Posted January 19, 2019 Share Posted January 19, 2019 my experience is not nearly as bad Ive taken benzos basically for 18 years.......... I have taken xanax, xanax xr, klonopin, valium, ativan Most i eve was up to was 2mg xanax or 2mg klonopin i was on 2 mg xanax when i tapered off the one time. I went from 2 to one mg over 2 weeks. then 1 mg to 0.5 for 1 week, then i went off. I actually did pretty well, felt a little off for a week or two, sluggish and edgy, but that was it..........im lucky. Then i went back on them when i crashed. I was up 2 mg klonopin again. I asked for a reduction and went to 0.5 mg 2xday. Realized almost instantly on that drop for a few days at work, that I kept "forgetting" to take my morning dose. When i realized that I just stopped taking it. SO i went from 2 mg to 0.5(at night) in like a week. No ill effects. Thats where i am currently, but made that 1.5 mg cut with ease. I honestly dont feel like i need it at night for sleep now, but pdoc says take it. whatever. I hope you have a smooth taper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gb84 Posted January 19, 2019 Author Share Posted January 19, 2019 Any bad physical symptoms or is it more mental? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jt07 Posted January 19, 2019 Share Posted January 19, 2019 I came off 3 mg of Klonopin per day that I had taken for 3 years by reducing the dose by 1 mg each month. After 3 months I was free. I did not have any withdrawal symptoms and I had such a tolerance that the med wasn't doing anything for me anyway. I've come off other benzos before without symptoms but I never was on one for 3 years until Klonopin. Maybe I'm just lucky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
looking for answers Posted January 19, 2019 Share Posted January 19, 2019 6 hours ago, gb84 said: Any bad physical symptoms or is it more mental? mental if any, like i said mine wasnt bad. No physical symptoms 2 hours ago, jt07 said: I came off 3 mg of Klonopin per day that I had taken for 3 years by reducing the dose by 1 mg each month. After 3 months I was free. I did not have any withdrawal symptoms and I had such a tolerance that the med wasn't doing anything for me anyway. I've come off other benzos before without symptoms but I never was on one for 3 years until Klonopin. Maybe I'm just lucky. this sounds like me, except i have been on and off and on for longer than 3 years, but easy on, easy off. But they seem like sugar pills right now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gb84 Posted January 19, 2019 Author Share Posted January 19, 2019 I take .5mg x2 a day. It still calms me down and sometimes helps me sleep. I guess I'm just worried about withdrawal since I've been on it so long. It's not a drug I like anymore, I am taking it because I know I'm dependent on it. Maybe it won't be so bad. I guess I am going to find out in the near future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
looking for answers Posted January 19, 2019 Share Posted January 19, 2019 1 minute ago, gb84 said: I take .5mg x2 a day. It still calms me down and sometimes helps me sleep. I guess I'm just worried about withdrawal since I've been on it so long. It's not a drug I like anymore, I am taking it because I know I'm dependent on it. Maybe it won't be so bad. I guess I am going to find out in the near future. well have you talked to your doctor? did they give u a taper? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gb84 Posted January 19, 2019 Author Share Posted January 19, 2019 (edited) I see her the first of next month. It's not something I have had time to bring up yet. But I'm pretty stable now on vraylar, so hopefully she'll be receptive. When I was in the hospital in June the doctor there told me that it would take a long time to taper since I have been on it so long. I guess it's silly to worry about something that may or may not happen. Edited January 19, 2019 by gb84 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wonderful.Cheese Posted January 21, 2019 Share Posted January 21, 2019 On 1/19/2019 at 5:30 PM, gb84 said: I see her the first of next month. It's not something I have had time to bring up yet. But I'm pretty stable now on vraylar, so hopefully she'll be receptive. When I was in the hospital in June the doctor there told me that it would take a long time to taper since I have been on it so long. I guess it's silly to worry about something that may or may not happen. If it helps, I’ve gone from anywhere from 0.5 mg of Klonopin to 3 mg of Klonopin and up and down throughout the years and I’ve never had a problem or withdrawal symptoms. Sometimes I just need a higher dose (like now), but there are times where I have needed less (like 0.5 mg total). I know it’s not the same as completely coming off of it. So feel free to ignore this if not helpful. The only problem I had actually when I have been on a low dose of Klonopin for a while and shit hits the fan and I need a higher dose again, is that I feel a return of symptoms of my GAD. So that’s the only I guess “bad” effect, that the anxiety returns full force again when I’m needing a higher dose again. I think for me now with clozapine once I get a higher dose I probably will be able to lower my daily Klonopin dose at least in half I hope that makes sense. ? I feel like I didn’t make sense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gb84 Posted January 21, 2019 Author Share Posted January 21, 2019 You made sense ? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam_I_Am Posted January 22, 2019 Share Posted January 22, 2019 I had a pretty easy time tapering off Klonopin in the past. I was on 1mg BID (didn’t always take it twice a day thought), so went down to 1mg once a day for 2 weeks, then 0.5 once a day for 2 weeks, then 0.25mg for 2 weeks, then done. (Yeah, I’m on it again now). I didn’t have any ill effects or really any increased anxiety (in part I went off of it bc it wasn’t effective for my anxiety anymore and I didn’t want to increase my dose again). If anything, tapering off of SSRIs was much harder for me. But everyone is different. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xheimlich Posted April 8, 2019 Share Posted April 8, 2019 I didn't quite taper off on purpose, but it basically worked like this: reduce enough that my complaints (a flat affect and lowered productivity) went away and stay there. I went off Klonopin maybe in two years, but not on purpose! Could have done it faster but had no reason to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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