Anyone here who had difficulty tapering off clonazepam ?

[Aerose91]

Please, please just taper insanely slowly. Even slower than you think is necessary. I was on ativan for only 2 weeks and was told its ok to go c/t- i then entered into the 7th circle of hell. Now, 3 years later im still far from recovered.

Like someone else said, the only way out is through it and its so unfortunate that you got put in this mess, but as long as you dont titrate too quickly you'll come put the other side unscathed. Have you thought of switching to valium or water titration?

 

[Braz]

@Aerose91,

A brief switch to diazepam was horrible. Respectfully, I disagree with the 'taper the drug as slowly as possible'. It is poison, and extremely harsh to taper. I am already 'scathed'.

 

[Aerose91]

@Aerose91,

A brief switch to diazepam was horrible. Respectfully, I disagree with the 'taper the drug as slowly as possible'. It is poison, and extremely harsh to taper. I am already 'scathed'.

Im sorry you had trouble with diazepam. Maybe sticking with klonopin is best since it has a long half life. I know where your head is at; the stuff is horrible and you just want off- thats exactly what i thought and i paid the price for it. Im telling you, as shitty as it is you're saving yourself so much pain by not going cold turkey.

Dont think so? I was on ativan for only 2 weeks. When i went c/t i had over 70 symptoms- just a few were; 20 hour long panic attacks, i slept 4-5 hours/week for at least 3 months and my sleep has never recovered, tinnitus so loud i could hear it over movies in a movie theater, intense dissociation, i only saw black and white for a couple months, then everything with a pastel like filter after that, i would dig through dumpsters looking for trash, i thought i had been kidnapped in my sleep and placed on another planet and my friends were "in on it", cold felt hot and hot felt cold, deep suicidal depression..... thats just a FEW. And they were all at the same time along with over 60 more. Hell, i still have tinnitus so bad there are days im going crazy because it never stops. I may likely never recover from this, yet everyone i know who tapered eventually recovered

I know how badly you want off it because it IS damaging and you feel it but i assure you just cutting it out will make it worse. It's hard to keep doing something like that. Its borerline criminal that these doctors dont know how dangerous benzos are but unfortunately they dont. Stay the course, you will eventually come out the other side and recover

 

[dannybex]

If I remembered I'd be happy to say, but I honestly don't remember. I was taking it based on Cheney's "neuro protective" idea, which I now think he just made up, and all that I remember was that the dose was significant...nothing like a "low dose" strategy. When the dose became a problem, the advice Cheney was giving was to increase it. I reached a point where I couldn't increase it, and I couldn't decrease it...and then hell began.

IMHO, Cheney is without a doubt THE most overrated ME/CFS "specialist" in the history of this illness. Add the insanely outrageous prices he charges along with his dismal 'success' rate, and, well...let's just say in an ideal world, he'd go on the record and take back some of his 'recommendations', but no doubt that would open him up to legal liabilities.

I remember in one of those early interviews he claimed klonopin wasn't habituating because as one recovered from ME/CFS they had no problem getting off the drug. But in a later interview when he was asked how many of his patients had recovered, his answer was zero or none. I'm pretty foggy brained and got C's in math, but even I can see that doesn't add up.

 

[Insomniac]

Basically, this drug makes me sick. And I'm 'hanging by a thread'.

Did anyone switch to diazepam or follow some approach other than 'go slow' ?
I did read the old threads.

I tried direct taper from Clonex - didn't work.
So moved to Valium - then reduced by 10% every month.

I am benzo free for 3 years now although occasionally take baclosal during really bad nights. I am very careful not to get addicted to baclosal. I learned my lesson.

I tapered off so slowly that I barely felt the reduction.

I spent about 1-2 months on the move from Clonex to Valium before even beginning to taper. I don't know what to advise if you reacted badly to that step alone. Maybe try again with the next longest half life Benzo???