Posted by electricstorm on May 5, 2005, at 0:02:54
In reply to Re: Going Off Klonopin, posted by Mildred on April 14, 2005, at 5:18:39
> I started weaning off of klonopin this week. I was on 1 mg/day for a couple of years - mostly to help me sleep and get through a difficult time in my life. My pdoc told me to start taking 1 mg one day and .5 mg the next day, etc. Today was the second .5mg day for me, and this afternoon I started experiencing . . . well, not sure how to describe it . . . brain zaps? I will forget what I'm saying, gasp, body parts jerk - dropped a load of laundry tonight. Can't keep a thought in my head. Can't remember what I'm doing. Almost like mini seizures.
> My questions:
> Has anybody else experienced this? Can I expect these nasty episodes to stop soon? Can anybody suggest an easier taper method?
> Thank you in advance -If you ask me, you're tapering too quickly. You're decreasing your Klonopin intake by 50% over the course of two days. You've obviously developed a chemical dependence on the drug. It sounds like you're experiencing myoclonic jerks or possibly even some type of seizure activity. Of course, this is impossible to know without knowing more about you and your medical situation. I would suggest that you go back to where you started and taper much more slowly. If not, you risk continued problems, migrains, etc. At the very least, I would speak to my doctor. I speak from personal experience as I made several failed attempts - all under the watchful eye of some of the best doctors I could find - to free myself of .5mg of Klonopin which I took for 11 years. To avoid the seizures and the chronic migrains - which would last 4 or 5 days - here is the taper plan I followed:
It actually turned out to be fairly simple. I cut the .5mg tablet into eights. I then weaned off over a period of eight weeks reducing the amount I took each week by 1/8 of a tablet.
I recognize that there are those who take this drug for anxiety, depression, etc. and that not everyone will suffer the same withdrawal symptons. However, if you happen to suffer from any type of seizure disorder, I believe that special care should be taken when attempting to wean off it.
I hope the above helps.
poster:electricstorm
thread:464665
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/wdrawl/20050424/msgs/493948.html