Dawn writes in . . . actually . . . shouts in . . .
HI I WAS ON KLONOPIN FOR ABOUT 15 YEARS NOW AND I AM TRYIGN TO WEAN MYSELF OFF. I AM NOTICING I HAVE THE SHAKES, I CANNOT THINK STRAIGHT AT ALL, I CANNOT RETAIN MUCH OF ANYTHING, MY FACE GETS ALL TINGLY AND IT GOES NUMB.ALSO, MY MIND SEEMS OT FOCUS MUCH MORE ON OBSESSIVE THOUGHTS. SOMETIMES I EVEN FEEL LIEK IM GONNA LOSE MY MIND.I DONT FEEL LIKE MYSELF AT ALL AND I CAN DEFINATELY TEL LTHE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A PANIC ATTACK, WHICH I GET EVEN ON THIS KLONOPIN, AND THESE OTHER ODD SIDE EFECTS. SEE, I AM DOIGN THIS MYSELF. I WAS ON 3 MILS A DAY AND NOW I WENT DOWN TO 1 MIL A DAY AND ITS BEEN ABOUT 3 WEEKS. I AM FREAKIGN OUT. BUT I DINT THINK IT WOUDL BE THIS BAD. MY DOCTOR HAD SAID GO DOWN FROM 3 TO 2. MAYBE I SHOULDA DONE THAT? I DUNNO.I JUST FEEL COMPLETELY NUTTY. I WISH IT WOULD GO AWAY :0(
Yyyyiiiikkkkeeessss!!!!
Dawn . . . get back on the klonopin . . . NOW.
As you all know by now, Klonopin is one agent in that wonderful class of medicines called benzodiazepines . . . the antianxiety tranquilizers. They work well. They work quickly. And are dangerously seductive for people who tend toward the anxious. While not the first line agent for anxiety in most cases, 15 years ago they were. Since then, we have modified our approach as we discovered how effective the SSRIs can be in managing anxiety for most people. But even tho’ the benzos are highly effective, they are far from the perfect solution for anxiety. As Dawn describes so eloquently above, they don’t necessarily take care of all the anxiety (she has breakthrough panic) and they can be very addictive. Once you are on these for years, you will have trouble getting off. And 15 years on 3 mg is a long time . . . a verrrryyyy long time.
You mention that your doctor recommended that you go down to 2 mg and you decided to go to 1 mg on your on. Well, Dr. Dawn, seems like you made a mistake. I would urge you to listen to your doctor’s advice and increase your dose. Call him ASAP and let him know what you did and how you feel. Going down too fast on Klonopin after all that time is physically and psychologically dangerous. You sound like you feel horrible.
How would I approach this if I was your doctor?
First off, I would explain that the likelihood of your anxiety getting worse is very, very high. If you are on 3 mg of Klonopin and getting breakthrough anxiety anyway, you are likely to have more breakthrough anxiety on less. You better be prepared for it. If possible, I would get you on an SSRI to manage your anxiety before we started down. My guess is that either you are on one or they have been tried before (15 years on Klonopin is a long time). Tapering down off Klonopin after being on it that long just takes time. A long time. I would go down no faster than 0.5 mg every month. If there were any withdrawal symptoms (and what you are experiencing are potentially dangerous withdrawal symptoms) I would slow it down even more, decreasing by 0.25 mg every month . . . or even slower. If you experienced uncomfortable panic symptoms, I might also slow down the rate of taper.
If the ultimate goal is to get off, it is best to go slow. As a general rule of thumb, the higher the dose and the longer you are on it, the slower you must go in a taper of Klonopin. Going too fast increases the chance that you will be uncomfortable and eventually give up on the taper and go back to the higher dose. If you do, you may not have any interest in decreasing the dose again . . . and you risk feeling defeated because of it. I think it is an admirable goal to try to be on less medicine. But it is not always possible. To do it correctly requires careful thought and planning, a great deal of patience, and is best done under the careful supervision of a doctor that you trust. If you are getting advice from a doc you trust . . . take the advice. If you don’t trust the doc . . . get a new doc. Don’t take this matter into your own hands, however. Getting off Klonopin can be tricky and dangerous and is best not done on your own.
–Dan Hartman, MD
hit send before finishing….
Hi, Dawn.
Just a little note for you from personal experience. I take meds for anxiety and depression. Tried, at one point, to “eliminate the need” for one of those meds, without the supervision of my doctor. Yes, I trust this doctor implicitly – I have been working with him for a while now and he really knows his stuff. Needless to say, I did not do well with the elimination of the medication. When I told the doctor……he said he did not remember telling me to taper or stop this medication and that since he was the one to prescribe it, he would prefer to be the one who would make those decisions. (the guy does this with seriousness and a sense of humor!) He was/is right. If we, as patients, have side effects using the medication, it is our doctor who helps us with those side effects. In the end, it’s our doctor who helps us through the decision WE make about changing those meds. SO…..hang in there……work WITH your doctor….. As long as you trust this doctor, and he knows you well…..I would believe he knows what is best. The anxiety stuff is WICKED – I do understand. Hope you feel better soon – Take care of yourself.
AMF
Dawn, Trust me! You don’t want to go through withdrawals from any medication without a physician’s assistance. You can end up having a heart attack, stroke, not to mention how incredibly uncomfortable you feel. I was on prescription opiates for about 2 years and the first attempt to stop was catastrophic. I had 2 strokes and many seizures.
Definitely call your doctor and let him/her know what you are doing. They can prescribe a non-narcotic that will help you and keep your heart rate in check. The one that was given to me was Clonodine. Propanolol also helps keep the edge off.
GOOD LUCK TO YOU!!!! And as everyone here says, going cold turkey can cost you your life. Just like weight loss……slower is healthier.
Take care and our thoughts and prayers are with you.
Katey
I’ve been off klonopin for three weeks after a slow and gradual decrease. I have been taking 2mg a day for 1 year. I still had a hard time, praying to the porcelaine goddess, shaking, insomnia…etc, I can’t imagine 15 years! I know I will never ever ever touch another benzo for as long as I live. I’m finally starting to feel “normal” again.
Goodluck to everyone trying to get off this drug.
I am 49 yo woman who intermittently used Klonopin until Jan 08 because of terminal illness in family and fear of flying. I then had 3 months of Valium 5mgs per day for shoulder injury. Then breast surgery in June 08. A few weeks after the surgery I began to have internal tremor, insomnia, numbness in face, burning skin, anxiety(like I never had before), muscle twitching, convulsive movement, photophobia, weight loss. Many tests later nothing was found. I am experiencing all these symptoms due to benzodiazepine withdrawal from Klonopin. I was never warned these were addictive. Could have saved a lot of money on medical tests. Hope to find a way to get off.
Toni . . .
Really . . . really . . . really . . . really . . . s … l … o … w … l … y … !!!
Also, I have heard from some folks that switching from Klonopin to Valium and then coming off the Klonopin is easier. I think that it is individual and you (and your doc) should keep an open mind. If coming off the Klonopin is really difficult, try to substitute Valium (does have metabolites that are longer in duration than klonopin).
–DH MD
Coming off klonopin is serious business. Never quit cold turkey. I did this, thinking that the faster the better. Wrong! I almost lost my life and became suicidal and ended up in the psch ward. Tapering at a slow rate has been extremely hard for me because klonopin gives me amnesia when I take it, but it’s the only way. May your family members be with you. God Bless You and yours!
hello, i have been om 8 mgs of K for 13 years,i had a pre warning i was loosing my health insurance , here is what i did. first thing i did was went to 4 mgs daily ( WOW ) and would never recommend that to my worst enemy, basically my body had tremors , i was “sitting” on the toilet many many times a day, shaking like a leaf , nervous, sick, headaches, name it , i felt it, however , i was not seizing , so i kept my dose there for about 10 weeks, i then went down to 3 mgs where i currently am now , this was also a hard step and i am still a bit shaky and still sitting down a lot , i am a little irritable but not to bad. HERE IS WHAT I HAVE DONE TO HELP , #1 CUT OUT ALL SWEETS AND ANY CAFFEINE AT ALL !!! # 2 YOU MUST EXERCISE #3 I GOT A TEA BY THE COMPANY NAMED “YOGI” IT IS THERE “SLEEP TIME” TEA AND HAS VALERIAN IN IT AND WOW , THIS STUFF HAS REALLY HELPED. just a few things i did that will “HELP” and i hope somebody else can be helped , i told a friend that is also getting off benzos about the tea, at first he was just to hard headed, he started using the tea last week and now he is sold on it as well, please remember , this is only what i did , but it has helped greatly . going down to 2 mgs in another week . good luck !!!
I can attest to the dangers of “self-tapering” Klonopin.
I was at a high dose (8mg/day) for just a few weeks and stopped rather quickly (at a rate of 0.5mg each day) stopping in 16 days.
Well, not only did I feel “weird” (that’s the best word I can come up with to describe my mindset) I had a grand-mal seizure after two day’s cessation! Luckily, I’m okay.
After being rightly scolded by my psychiatrist, we settled on a six month reduction schedule. I went from 6mg/day to zero in that time; THAT worked.
The moral is: SLOWER IS BETTER!
This is my history/experience:
-9 years on Klonopin (3.5mg max)
-Klonopin/Valium-taper, 10 months
-14 months post-withdrawal, to date
In addition to the side w/d side effects written in many other sites online, I’d like to stress that for me at 14 months post Valium that depersonalization/derealization has taken center stage. And what’s so weird about it is, that unlike getting a headache, the onset of these side effects are not at all obvious; and it does feel like I’ve become crazy. There are no windows that provide any kind of clear cut contrast to the ongoing feelings of being crazy. And this, again, is what I’m experiencing at 14 months post benzos. One writer said he was not feeling together for 23 months post withdrawal. I still have undiminished tennitus.