Posted by erik98225 on February 13, 2006, at 3:11:06
In reply to Re: Any good meds to use during KLONOPIN withdrawal??, posted by qbsbrown on February 9, 2006, at 3:11:30
> i know exactly what you are going through. It's the toughest thing ever! Paxil, alcohol,tobacco,effexor withdrawal was cake compared to benzo withdrawal.
I got off Paxil in a month without any withdrawal. It was replaced with Lexapro (much less addictive) after another month.
I've been through alcohol withdrawal. It sucks a__ but lasts 3 days.
I'm not ready to undertake tobacco withdrawal -- from what I hear, it's even worse than heroin. I smoke about 1 pack a day, started when I was 14 and too immature to understand the meaning of addiction (I'm 25 now). It can give you cancer but takes 30+ years to do so; pdoc agrees that it's the last withdrawal to undertake.
FYI: I have ADHD and SAD. Ritalin withdrawal isn't that bad (you just get sleepy). On the other hand, benzodiazepine withdrawal (for the social anxiety disorder) probably feels worse than Hell.
> There are two great sites.
>
> benzoisland.org
> benzo.org.uk/manual/index.htmI've read the Ashton Manual and showed it to my pdoc. I don't think the 2 year taper (or whatever it is) is necessary, but I'm glad that my pdoc is not benzophobic and is allowing me to taper at my own pace. I got stupid once and went off 2.0mg Klonopin cold turkey. Ended up in the ER.
> Xanax is probably the worst thing you could take for a klonopin withdrawal. It itself has a much shorter half-life than klonopin, thus itself has WORSE withdrawal effects.I was initially prescribed Xanax, then asked if I could have something that only needs to be taken once a day, hence the Klonopin. I never had any symptoms of benzo withdrawal while taking Xanax -- the half life is so short that you're basically withdrawn after every dose.
Pdoc said that taking Xanax could make the Klonopin withdrawal worse and that I shouldn't take it during Klonopin withdrawal. However, he said that once I'm off Klonopin, I can take Xanax occasionally when needed without risk of dependency (IIRC benzos are addictive when taken daily for at least a month).
I will avoid the Xanax until I'm down to 0mg Klonopin (probably about 2 months from now) and then take it only when absolutely necessary (why it was originally prescribed).
Thanks for your help.
Erik
poster:erik98225
thread:599201
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/wdrawl/20060117/msgs/609112.html