rravenn13: tapering Klonopin think I went to fast and need support

[rravenn13]

 

Member's Benzo topic:  -tapering-klonopin-think-i-went-to-fast-rravenn13

 

Hello,

 

Thanks so much for taking the time to read this and give support.  I feel pretty scared and vulnerable at the moment and  am looking for some hope.

Here is my story:

 

I had been taking Xanax as needed for about 6 months which turned into nightly .5 for about 3-6 months. 

For a number of reasons I decided I wanted to be off of it. I had one doctor tell me I was on such a small dose that I wouldn't have to worry about withdrawal and another tell me that the drug is not in my system long enough (because I only took it at night) to have a physical dependency.

 

After randomly starting to taper I found my self waking up one day in the worst despair I had ever felt with suicidal thoughts and crying. I've never experienced depression before this time. Not knowing what was happening I just got scared and went back up on my dose. 

 

Long story short, when I decided to try tapering off again the depression came back. I then put it together that it must have to do with the Xanax. I started researching and became convinced this was the case.

 

When I realized this I had already been tapering for about a week and was in a pretty bad way. I demanded to get in to see a doctor so I could switch to Klonopin and get support for a taper. They agreed to support me with the meds but no good advice on tapering. So, this is what I did:

 

I switched over to Klonopin and switched my dose to twice a day.

 

I took the full amount .5 (.200mg weight) for two days and then went down to 

 

.180 weight split into twice a day

 

I then decided to then decrease by 1% per day.  I think this was a mistake as I also did not account for the declining total weight

 

1 month later I was down to .122       If my math is correct this looks like about a 36% in one month

 

I started feeling pretty bad about two weeks ago and one week ago went up to .130 weight and have been holding.

 

My symptoms are severe fear in my stomach and chest, anxiety, depression. To the point I cant go to work normally. 

 

My questions should I continue to hold and if so could anyone shed light on how long it might take for me to gain some sort of stability again ?

 

I plan to do a much slower taper once I get to that point again and would love some guidance.

 

Kindly

Tim

 

 

 

 

Edited January 7, 2019 by ChessieCat
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[Shep]

Hi, rravenn.

 

Welcome to Surviving Antidepressants.

 

Please tell us more about your crossover from Xanax to Klonopin. What dose of Xanax were you on before going to .5 mg Klonopin? What date did you start your crossover? 

 

Please stop tapering and hold, you may even benefit from an updose depending on the date of your last reduction. Please do not make any changes yet. Let us have time to go over your history. 

 

Are you on any other drugs?

 

Please add a signature.  Include drugs, doses, dates, and discontinuations & reinstatements in the last 12-24 months. Also include supplements. This will help us give you the most accurate advice we can. 

• Any drugs and supplements prior to 24 months ago can just be listed with start and stop years. 
• Please use actual dates or approximate dates (mid-June, Late October) rather than relative time frames (last week, 3 months ago) 
• Spell out months, e.g. "October" or "Oct."; 9/1/2016 can be interpreted as Jan. 9, 2016 or Sept. 1, 2016. 
• Please leave out symptoms and diagnoses. 
• A list is easier to understand than one or multiple paragraphs. 
• This is a direct link to your signature:  Account Settings – Create or Edit a signature.

We have a members-only benzo forum for our members withdrawing from benzodiazepines. If you aren't taking any other drugs besides Klonopin, please go ahead and start a thread for yourself there.

 

Benzo tapering and recovery

 

Please include the information on your crossover and provide the dates for your reductions, with as complete a timeline that you can give.

 

If you are taking other drugs, please let us know what they are and continue to post here in your main intro thread so we can help you set up a gameplan for coming off more than one drug. 

 

[rravenn13]

OK I just posted on the Benzo support board.

Thanks

[ChessieCat]

Hi rravenn and welcome to SA from me too,

 

Thank you for creating your drug signature.  To make it more compact so that you will have room for your future Klonopin dose changes, please put the supplements in one line like this.  Thank you.

 

Supplements:  b12 1000mcg every other day, Magnesium 300mg daily, EPA 180 mg, DHA 360 mg, D3  2000 IU daily

 

[rravenn13]

Fixed it. Do you know when my post on the benzo board will be approved?

[ChessieCat]

We currently only have one benzo mod and as you can imagine she is extremely busy.  The mods are all unrostered volunteers and assist members as we are able.