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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 14 of 14. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by SteelyDan on February 4, 2008, at 23:04:40
I take 3 mgs. of klonopin daily for anxiety. My problem is that i think it is causing my depression. My goal is to reduce it down to 2 mgs. a day,(slowly of course) and then maybe further. My problem is every time it try to reduce it .50 mgs., or .25 mgs a week i feel like crap, get frustrated and go back up to the initial 3 mgs. I am very frustrated, any help will be greatly apprecciated. I am also on remeron and effexor.
Dan
Posted by Maxime on February 4, 2008, at 23:04:40
In reply to Help/pointers in reducing Klonopin, posted by SteelyDan on February 4, 2008, at 18:09:35
I was on 4 mg for 10 years and now I am off it. When I was in the hospital in November they took me off it cold turkey. They put me on Seroquel. Oddly enough I didn't go through withdrawal. I wonder if you could try the same.If not, then reduce it and when you feel like you can't bear it just nibble off a little bit from a pill. That will satisfy your brain. You are going to have to suffer a little bit with this one, but it's worth it.
Maxime
Posted by Phillipa on February 4, 2008, at 23:04:40
In reply to Re: Help/pointers in reducing Klonopin » SteelyDan, posted by Maxime on February 4, 2008, at 18:53:14
Same with my valium cut down 5mg had a fight with husband and went back up and felt better next day. Today back down and don't feel well at all. Phillipa
Posted by Phoenix1 on February 5, 2008, at 9:23:26
In reply to Help/pointers in reducing Klonopin, posted by SteelyDan on February 4, 2008, at 23:04:40
> I take 3 mgs. of klonopin daily for anxiety. My problem is that i think it is causing my depression. My goal is to reduce it down to 2 mgs. a day,(slowly of course) and then maybe further. My problem is every time it try to reduce it .50 mgs., or .25 mgs a week i feel like crap, get frustrated and go back up to the initial 3 mgs. I am very frustrated, any help will be greatly apprecciated. I am also on remeron and effexor.
>
> Dan> I take 3 mgs. of klonopin daily for anxiety. My problem is that i think it is causing my depression. My goal is to reduce it down to 2 mgs. a day,(slowly of course) and then maybe further. My problem is every time it try to reduce it .50 mgs., or .25 mgs a week i feel like crap, get frustrated and go back up to the initial 3 mgs. I am very frustrated, any help will be greatly apprecciated. I am also on remeron and effexor.
>
> DanHi Dan,
Since it has such a long half life, Klonopin is usually not the worst benzo to taper off of. Be glad you aren't trying this with Xanax! I hardly noticed reducing .5mg per week of Klonopin. But then you have been on it for quite a while if I remember correctly, which may make it a bit more difficult.
You could try switching over to an even longer half-life benzo like Valium or clorazepate in equivalent doses and taper off of that.
Look up Heather Ashton's free literature at:
http://www.benzo.org.uk/manual/index.htm
She has LOTS of experience in this area, and suggests very, very slow tapers with very, very small dose decreases. Maybe show her manual to your pdoc? For certain reasons, not everyone agrees with her method, but I think it's a humane comfortable way to taper off of benzos and she has had a fairly high rate of clinical success.
Also, I know you are on Lyrica. I found that it helped to reduce my need for benzos. See what you can do here in terms of increasing Lyrica while decreasing Klonopin.
I have to say that eliminating Klonopin helped my depression considerably. For me personally, it was a bad drug, but YMMV.
Hope this helps a bit.
Good luck, you will get through it and feel better for it in the end!
Phoenix
Posted by Phillipa on February 5, 2008, at 12:05:38
In reply to Re: Help/pointers in reducing Klonopin » SteelyDan, posted by Phoenix1 on February 5, 2008, at 9:23:26
Dan how's it going? Love Phillipa
Posted by SteelyDan on February 5, 2008, at 15:38:27
In reply to Re: Help/pointers in reducing Klonopin, posted by Phillipa on February 5, 2008, at 12:05:38
> Dan how's it going? Love Phillipa
slower and more difficult then i thought it would be.
Posted by Phillipa on February 5, 2008, at 19:44:45
In reply to Re: Help/pointers in reducing Klonopin, posted by SteelyDan on February 5, 2008, at 15:38:27
Same here. Phillipa
Posted by Phoenix1 on February 7, 2008, at 8:46:52
In reply to Re: Help/pointers in reducing Klonopin, posted by SteelyDan on February 5, 2008, at 15:38:27
> > Dan how's it going? Love Phillipa
>
> slower and more difficult then i thought it would be.Did you read some of the Ashton stuff I linked to in my previous post? It really does make the withdrawal process much easier and less painful. I would strongly recommend taking it to your pdoc...
Phoenix1
Posted by Justherself54 on February 12, 2008, at 16:17:14
In reply to Re: Help/pointers in reducing Klonopin » SteelyDan, posted by Phoenix1 on February 7, 2008, at 8:46:52
I've been taking .05 clonazapam at bed for years..I decided to reduce it very slowly..I have been very anxious this past week and couldn't figure out why..I thought the Nardil was pooping out on me..so I decided to take about 3/4 of a .05 last night and I feel much better today..I'm stressed as I'm selling my house and trying to get lots of painting and such done..
Is this usual? I thought as I am such a small dose, I wouldn't even notice it as I titrated down..
Any thoughts?
Posted by tecknohed on February 12, 2008, at 19:36:18
In reply to Help/pointers in reducing Klonopin, posted by SteelyDan on February 4, 2008, at 23:04:40
Would a switch in antidepressants not be a possibility? IMHO if 2 ADs aren't even cutting through Klonopin induced depression then they're not the right ADs. Some people (like myself) need to be on Klonopin to get by, and if thats the case with you then maybe you should concentrate on getting a good AD fix.
I totally agree that Klonopin can cause depression in certain individuals, but if you need it then try fixing the depression.
teck
Posted by tecknohed on February 12, 2008, at 19:42:40
In reply to Help/pointers in reducing Klonopin, posted by SteelyDan on February 4, 2008, at 23:04:40
Sorry, didn't see your thread above so didn't know that Klonopin was no longer effective. So you can ignor what I just said.
teck
Posted by Phillipa on February 12, 2008, at 20:03:30
In reply to Re: Help/pointers in reducing Klonopin, posted by Justherself54 on February 12, 2008, at 16:17:14
Cut valium by 5mg from 20mg to 15mg didn't notice for about a week took the full dose again and everything was fine. Phillipa
Posted by 49er on March 1, 2008, at 15:26:39
In reply to Re: Help/pointers in reducing Klonopin » Justherself54, posted by Phillipa on February 12, 2008, at 20:03:30
Dan,
Continue a slow taper. The recommended pace on the Paxil Progress boards is 10% of the current dose every 3 to 6 weeks.
Someone who tried to go faster ended up with several seizures. Another person who is sticking to this rule is doing great.
Ways to do this:
1. Purchase jewelry digital scale on Ebay so you can accurately measure dose
2. Use compound pharmacist - google for one near you
3. Water titration method - Not my cup of tea but many people do use it.I am not going to lie and say this is easy. But until this morning when I encountered insomnia, my Remeron tapering has finally been smooth.
Steady and slow wins the race
49er
Posted by cache-monkey on April 16, 2008, at 11:35:58
In reply to Help/pointers in reducing Klonopin, posted by SteelyDan on February 4, 2008, at 23:04:40
I've been trying to reduce benzos for the last 3 years. On the Klonopin, I was essentially in the same boat: cut the dose, freak out, go back up.
For me it's been slightly easier since switching to Valium. My anxiety still escalates after a dose reduction, and I still get muscle stiffness and aches. But it doesn't seem to come on as fast.
That being said, it still sucks. The worst seems to be about after a week and then it gets gradually better. I think the most frustrating thing is that the on-set of the bad stuff is much quicker than the time it fades away. It took me about 5 after weaning from 20 to 15 mg to finally not be aware that something was missing. I.e. no more muscle pain, back to baseline anxiety.
So, unfortunately, it seems (for me) to be just a matter of toughing it out and telling myself that it's going to be temporary, although a very long temporary.
One thing that helped me tremendously was Tegretol. After an initial adjustment period of oddly increased anxiety, Tegretol took away the muscle pain, insomnia/poor quality sleep, and the edge of panic. Unfortunately, I went completely allergic to Tegretol, and had to re-up my benzos because of the quick discontinuation of the T. But my sense was that it really would have made tapering a whole lot easier.
Good luck,
cache-monkey> I take 3 mgs. of klonopin daily for anxiety. My problem is that i think it is causing my depression. My goal is to reduce it down to 2 mgs. a day,(slowly of course) and then maybe further. My problem is every time it try to reduce it .50 mgs., or .25 mgs a week i feel like crap, get frustrated and go back up to the initial 3 mgs. I am very frustrated, any help will be greatly apprecciated. I am also on remeron and effexor.
>
> Dan
This is the end of the thread.
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