Clonazepam Withdrawal

Klonopin, or clonazepam is one of the hardest drugs to get off of. I have seen this in hospital settings as a nurse myself and as a patient of this horrible drug. Benzodiazepines should never have been invented. I have been on this med for 3 years now, and cannot handle the withdrawal affects no longer than one month. I wish the doctor would have warned me of how dependent your brain and the central nervous system relies on this med only after even 2 months of taking this. I have been advised by doctors to slowly shave the pill down over a period of a year if needed, and then I have had some doctors tell me that may never be able to get off of this drug ever!! Withdrawal symptoms include for myself a feeling of anxiety and panic constantly, never-ending, shaking, hot and cold, no appetite, frequent diarhia, vomiting, no sleep, nightmares if I am lucky to get any sleep. Weak muscles, muscle pain, eye sensitivity to bright lights, hallucinations since the drug controls the gaba receptors in your brain, thus affecting your eye functioning as well. Worse of all is the constant fear and panic, day after day, week after week, never-ending. I would like to kill the doctors that invented this crap and the one whom so casually prescribed this to me, or better yet, put them on this drug for 3 months to 1 year and cut them off cold turkey at say 3mg a day. That is all I have to say for now.

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I have congestive heart failure and my nerves are shot, I don't sleep. But, if not for this pill i would be an absolute loon. I strongly disagree with your comment, but that is your opinion.

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I too disagree with this statement. I have post-traumatic stress syndrome with car riding as well panic disorder, and this has been nothing but helpful in road trips and my everyday life.

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Yes, for some the drug does work wonders, however, as to being hooked on it, truthfully that will happen with ANY substance that you take into your body regularly for a long period of time.

It does not matter if it is a prescription drug such as Clonazepam or your morning coffee. Your body gets used to that substance after you have been using it for a long period of time and any sudden withdrawal of the substance will result in some withdrawal symptoms.

The primary thing you need to remember is that there is a difference between addiction and dependence. Dependence results from taking the same amount of something into your body in regular amounts for a prolonged period of time.

Addiction results from abusing the med, taking it too often or taking increasingly more and more.

Dependency withdrawals are inconvenient and annoying and do cause some illness and problems, but they are generally not outrageous and will not kill you.

Abuse addiction withdrawals can cause seizures, coma, and death in some cases.

Drugs such as Benzodiazepines cause alterations in body and brain chemicals, that is how they work. The withdrawal problems when you try to get off of it occur because your body and brain basically forget how to function without this substance, so the symptoms occur because your brain and body have to reset and learn to do without it again.

As I said, this happens with anything you put in your body regularly, regardless of what it is.

Next, no one, NO ONE, has to take a drug blindly. When your doctor prescribes something you are always free to make your own decision to use it or not.

You can ask your doctor questions about it, you can ask your pharmacist, you can research more information on your own online, in books, in medication leaflets, in PDRs and etc.

So everyone is free to learn about a drug, what is causes, what types of effects it has, how severely it causes dependence and if you may need to take it for life or eventually stop taking it and what you will have to do to stop taking it.

3mgs is a very low dose and it does seem that your doctors have tried to support you in getting off of it, since it seems that has still not worked for you, it seems you may need more than the physical support they are providing. It is possible you have a psychological dependence as well and need to see a counselor or someone who can support you in that way as well to make the transition easier and teach you coping skills.

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Clonazepam should be better regulated and not given at all maybe. i have tried to get off it for the last two years and go nuts each time hallucinations lack of sleep, impending doom and nervousness thanks doctors

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ANY thing can be habit forming, and cause your body to NEED it. some people's bodys just NEED a medication to make them normal anyway. for example.. i am bipolar with other disorders, there fore i have to take mood stablizers daily, to make the chemicals in my brain at a normal level. bc without it, my highs and lows are very extreme there is no in between really. and it sucks to have to take a medication every day, to NEED it esp to be normal surely i didnt ask to be this way, or want to.. neither did i grow up wanting to be an addict or addicted to ANYthing. =[ however i am fighting a severe opiate addiction right now. i volunteraily put myself in an outpatient clinic and was put on methadone. some people want to look down on methadone bc they think its substituting one drug, like heroin for example, to another. one addiction to another. bc methadone can be habit forming as well, become dependant on it.. well the fact is, my body is already dependant on opiates i cant last more than 2 days, cant stand the withdrawl that long. i started off taking hydrocodones and percocets because i NEEDED them. i liked the way they made me feel, gave me energy and motivation and i got things done. my tolerance grew so high i could take at least 75 5mg pure oxy codone percocets [meaning no tylenol in them] in one day, and more. my tolerance is so high it will kill someone my size or even bigger. i only weigh 90lbs ad am only 5'2'' so yea. i do have severe problems that cause me to be in horrific pain but so many i wont go into which or why and so on. but yes i also did like the 'high' from the drug. more less the energy it gave me bc im anemic due to a unintentional eating disorder so im always tired and fatigued =/ anyway i began taking stronger things.. oxy contin and then i was tricked into doing raw heroin thinking it was an oxy contin. i then began doing scramble and china white and other forms of heroin bc it was alot stronger and cheaper. i began taking it in august, in september i started trying to get into the maryland health department's outpatient treatment clinic. it took me until the end of january to be seen. i could of been locked up or dead by then. in fact i went from snorting the heroin to injecting it, and found out i was pregnant in december i stopped EVERYTHING immediately but i was already 5 weeks pregnant, 2 weeks later after going through a week of withdrawl AND morning sickness on top of it, going off everything cold turkey, feeling like i was dying or wishing i was to make it stop.. i lost the baby and miscarried =/ which was extreme pain, so they prescribed me loritab / vicodin (hydrocodone) and endocet / roxicet (percocet) which just put the opiates back in my body and i was back at square one. =( From august to december I only got high 3 times. and i did it every day, I had to.. I was buying it to and buying only enough to, keep me from not being sick. I spent about $1,000 a month, sometimes more trying to fight the battle on my own, and get off, because I couldnt go to the doctors and by then in the end.. tell them I have an opiate addiction that severe I was hospitalized from the withdrawl symptoms bc I got EVERY single on that has EVER been written as a symptom. from shaking freezing to sweating horrifically, to tempatures of up to 103, to my eyes watering until i felt like i was pouring acid from my eyes burning, to runny nose, and vomiting non stop to consitpation and diahreia to headaches to my whole body hurt it wasnt even just muscle or bone pain to fatigue and depression to anxiety attacks like you wouldnt beleive i felt like i couldnt even breath my chest was caving in my heart racing, it was probably the worst experience of my life and i wouldnt wish that on my worst enemy. opiates from my experience and others that i know, have said.. it is the hardest and worst addiction EVER, even worse than these benzos. however benzo addiction.. trying to come off can cause you to have seizures but a heroin or opiate addiction that is really SEVERE, you can die trying to go off it cold turkey. i didnt have medical assistance and they treated me like s*** when i went to the hospital they gave my boyfriend going through the same s*** as me but no where near as bad, alot of methadone so he caught a buzz and was all f****d up nodded out, however they wouldnt give me s***. but motrin (which hello if im an opiate addict.. wtf is a motrin going to do for me? i mean really.. NOTHING ..and thats exactly what it did, nothing.) they tried giving me a benedryll althought idk why they thought i needed allergic medication o.O but it makes me tired and knocks me out so i couldnt take it, i had to drive us home, and then they gave me phenobarbitol / donnital for my stomache to deal with the nausea which.. it didnt help, his cocktail of non-narcotics.. SUCKED. and i was right back to the streets buying prescription drugs and street drugs to just maintain what i needd to live and feel normal by day 2 i couldnt even get out of bed. so yea some pple are lucky as hell and dont get addicted or dependant others like myself with an addictive personality.. go through hell bc we become physically dependant weither we were taking it as needed, as we were supposed to, or abusing it to get high, it doesnt matter. you can all look down upon me and my story because of the things i did i was prescribed the pain pills i was taking in the begining.. many people abuse their medication, i took mine properly however i still became addictetd just like alot of pple, after my body physically needed it, and i couldnt get to the doctors or get a doctor to write me another script bc i needed it, without telling him im physically dependant so hed look at me like im a drug addict and say no for sure then, and then never write me any kind of narcotic ever again and it sucks bc i really need some medications. i really need an anxiety pill, but because of my past history.. theyre not going to give it to me. i asked for one at the hospital, not a benzo i had them at home.. if i wanted benzos i have access to them, but i dont like them, i dont like drugs like weed or flexorils that knock you out and make you tired and lazy and you do nothing. i like to get energy and get s*** done! and if you want to know why i dont just take caffiene pills and energy drinks and all that instead.. i have, but i have to take them all day on a regular daily basis so my body has became used to all that stuff.. and it does

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I strongly disagree as well, even ambien is more hard to get off of then this, and i could easily stop. But i'm not saying thats how it is for everyone - everyone has their own reactions to chemicals and behaviors as well as mental control over themselves while in these states of mind.

I'm not one to suggest illigal drugs, but i have had great luck in the past with my severe insomnia, depression, anxiety and most of all, the inability to simply RELAX and not be so tense all the time.

I do not ever smoke marijuana, so it does not effect my thinking or brain cells, as well as health and lungs, i cook it with food and in tea before sleep, it's legal here though. And it saved me from the wierd chest problems and respiration problems i was noticing from ambien and klonopin, i finally just got off all my meds once school had ended and i could not be so stressed out. I dropped the adderal, dropped the sleeping meds, and now will only ever use cannabis tea... and it works wonders. I feel better then i have ever felt in my entire life and its no lie, i can easily just cut cold turkey for a year, i've done it many times - the only problem is that big pharma and the big brother like you thinking otherwise which helps you lose control over your mind while believing the lies of how its addicting. Sure, it may have a minor mental addiction if you make it a 6 year habit, for every day... but thats ... not EVER needed, come on... but even then its no different then many things i have come across that you naturally become dependent on FAR worse, that they sell right at drive through's or grocery stores. There are no withdrawal effects, the only problem i had my very first year of using it a few times a week to get sleep and then cutting cold turkey, was that i missed the taste of the tea, so i found other yummy tasting teas. And it was harder to get to sleep of course, but after that first night things got beyond back to normal, my insomnia was cured.

Kavakava and valarian root helped quite a bit to. And a side note about ambien, it seems to make me perfectly normal, or seem like i'm more myself, but when i realize the next day i was a completely different person it scares me, what if this pill causes schizophrenia/bipolarity/draws attention to a split persona which in turn creates the unnatural existing idea of a split personality.

I'm ranting... yes, and believe it or not i just took a klonopin an hour ago, cause i'm on an important business trip, and look at me i'm at least talking somewhat normal, its working its hardest on me as well - but its just not normal, its not natural i dont like it, it creates a multiple personality in some wierd aspects, not in a scary way, but , just as if your in a dream and people are around you talking but then you realized, theres no one there... your just somehow dreaming while awake....

I don't like clonazapan nor ambien, i hate hard pills, i hate all pills in general... but hey, if its what helps people with things far worse then my conditions, i feel they should go for it. But they could at least legalize certain things for the patients who don't need that type of med, when theres a perfect alternative already, just to many assholes abuse it.and ruin it for everyone.

anyways, hope this helps anyone .... i dont know why i wanted to post, i just wanted to say that... and its one of the effects of these meds on me.....its been a long while since i stopped taking them, im not starting again, but, i'm in bad need of sleep.
so goodnight
:)

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oh one last thing i forgot. I hate ambien for the fact that after about a week, it will start to give me digestive problems, minor diahrea, and my eyeballs each develope their own headache in the back of them and its just so annoying! My neck also gets stiff, and from what i've read on peoples descriptions of lsd, through some of my courses i've taken, it is probably equivelant to that acid feeling they get in their necks whilie on it, how its just completely tense and soar. ugh. i hate... pills

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Well Aaron, I can understand your frustration with Ambien, but you trashed the drug because of your side effects, which most people go by. Ambien has been a lifesaver for me. I do not sleep until I drop, been like that most of my life. Doctors tried several drugs, I would not take them due to the hangover. When the doc gave me Ambien I said yeah, right, let's try it. Have been on it for 11 years, 10mg at each sleep time. I have ran out of it for 10 or more days because I didn't remember to refill. NO withdrawal symptoms, other than I have insomnia, which I have anyway.

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I completely understand, sorry Rob if that came off the wrong way. I believe everyone has their own cures, ambien just wasn't mine, sometimes it is, sometimes its not, it's just the type of mind i have... its very up/down/all around. For normal people, i'm certain it would help them if not save them. For me it makes it harder to wake up then if i hadn't taken it at all and just gotten my reg. insomnia sleep.

i think i'm going back onto ambien though, i'm in a state where medical canabis use is illigal, even if i'm just using it in food/tea. So, i will take ambien for 3 weeks to get me into a good schedule, i will fight the urge to sleep walk, its possible, very just takes my self control haha, then, will hopefully be on track and not need it for sleep.

Ambien does help, just don't let it take over peoples.....

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Good reply Aaron, but keep in mind, that some people get addicted to aspirin. But, one drug that helps one person should not be taken off the market because one person became addicted to it. Each person should be evaluated by his/her doctor unless the drug is found to be dangerous in and of itself. I am a Police Officer and I think that Medicinal Use of Marijuana should be legal in all states. However, I do not think anyone should be at work while stoned, especially if your job is dangerous. I do not want my surgeon doing open heart surgery on me and forget what he is doing or where he put his instruments.

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It is risky for people to use psychotropics and they should be used as a last resort. Be very careful. It is important to make your own decisions with all medical advice. Remember, your doctor doesn't have to live with his mistakes.....you do. The benzo withdrawal symptoms can be impossible to tolerate and should never be compared to a coffee addiction. Doctors easily prescribe psychotropics because we live in a society that does not permit people to stop working in order to cope with their crisis. Mos people have very stressful lives. It is also very sad that so many people are subjected to such devastating situations that they develop PTSD. I wish I could make everything better but I'm not in control of this ship.

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I am dying from clonazepam...Please were do i get help..i can't find a dr to help me taper.......HELP Please I can't sleep, walk drive cook or bathe talk......What do i do...i tried to reach Nic

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I have all of the symptoms of Nic...where can i get help???? I am so sick don't want tot go back into the hospital.... from clonaxepam but I haven't slept in months...I am going 100% CRAZY....iCAN'T FIND A DR TO HELP ME WEAN....

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I am telling everyone now that is on Klonopin, I reached 4mg a day, may not seem like too much! But I can tell you coming off it is sheer hell! It's the truth. You will build tolerance up one day or the other, then I hope everyone the best coming off cause this is hell! I'm not exaggerating, The w/d is so strong sometimes, it's like you can't even explain it. At it's worse Lethargic, Panic, Seizure, Trapped inside yourself. I know ppl say Oh I love this medicine, it helps so much well when you're coming off, you'll wish you never seen it! That's all I'm going to say. And some of these ppl are probably Big Pharma, so you need to watch out!

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I do agree with you. I was given this drug by a holistic doctor no less and he said it was fine and that he had patients on it for year. Yes, now I know why because its so hard to get off. You become dependent quickly because it is altering your neuro chemistry so that what you should be producing on your own is not happening. Then you start to need higher doses to get the same effect. Whats actually happening is your body is withdrawing already because the lower doses arent' cutting it-so little by little you take a little more. Some of the very things that I have taken the drug for have gotten worse over time and I believe its partly due to the drug. And then you have to keep running for a check up because its a controlled substance so you can get more. I agree if its so controlled why are the doctors able to have people on it for years-perhaps the drug companies really only care about one thing and thats their bottom line. How about if their own employees start taking it or the big heads of the drug companies. I too wish I was never prescribed this drug. If anyone has a method for weaning off please let me know. The shaving down is not ez. One person mentioned beer-I don't drink but its worth a try.

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I am so sorry to hear of your problems. I was on a drug for my nerves years ago and I can't remember the name of it. I told the doctor who prescribed it to me that I was ready to come off it. He smirked and said I'd never be able to come off it. I then responded 'Watch me!' I then came off it. Ijust remembered what the drug was . It was Xanax. I started weaning off it so slowly, without his knowledge and it took me 15 months when I took my last pill. It's possible to do it but I found that by the doctor not knowing I had complete control as to how my body felt etc. I never felt withdrawal since I came off it so slowly and on my terms that it went as smooth as can be. I did what that doctor said couldnt be done. I don't know if this helps but I hope so. I feel your pain. I also was not told that it was terribly addictive. Patti

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I AM ALSO A ADDICT MY DOCTOR HAS GAVE ME SUBOXONE TO TAKE ME OFF THE TAB'S BUT THIS OTHER DOCTOR GAVE ME TRAMODOL I HAVE FRIEND'S WHO USE THE SUBOXONE AND DID GOOD ASK YOUR DOCTOR BOUT IT

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I'm on a bit of the Klon for the past six or seven weeks.

When I had to get off Percocet three years ago, my father gave me sage words of advice: At some point, you just have to suck it up. The history of mankind is littered of stories of people doing amazing things, and this is something people can do if given the right help.

I try to take as little clonazepam as I can, 0.5 to 1.0 mg. a day. It's not a permanent thing, just something I need now. When I go off it, I already have a support network through AA, and I have friends who got off clonazepam. Call me paranoid, but my ability to not take clonazepam is just as important to me as my ability to take it.

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I have floating anxiety disorder (anxious at any moment for unpredictable lengths of time) but am commonly quite self-confident. I have a sleeping disorder but it is not associated with breathing. I wake up every hour, alert, and then go back to sleep. I repeat this cycle over and over. I nap in the afternoons and come home exhausted. Clonazepam provides me with a good nights sleep for 3 months. When the script was finished my old pattern returned. I've had a number of nightmares but no other side affects have shown up. I haven't had any moments of craving or need for it but really appreciate it's ability to let me sleep. I agree that some people are far more sensitive to many physical issues and can become emionally dependent. I also agree that EVERYONE chooses to take the action following a doctor's advise INCLUDING informing him of your experiences. The doctor must understand the impact of his decisions upon you with medication. That's what the word consultation means. I'm grateful for this drug.

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I take Klonipin only on rare occasions. It helps me cope with certain situations. For me, I am grateful for this drug. The pharmacy warned me this drug was addictive and to be careful, so I am. My advice is to SLOWLY take yourself off a drug. Cut the drug into pieces and lower the doses. There will always be something to be addicted to if you're not careful. Willpower and self-determination can work if you want it to. Make goals of when you want to be off it such as 6 weeks and then each night slowly decrease the dose. I hope the best for you.

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I have been on a 5mg dosage of clonazepam for two years. My psychiatrist prescribed 5 1mg pills a day for my anxiety. He reduced my 5mg pill a day to 4mg a day. I am concerned about withdrawal from not taking that 5th pill. Do I need to be worried?

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I understand Nic, thank you for your testimony. I'm getting beat up for what happened to me

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I’ve been on clonazepam now for 15 yrs at 2mg every night for going to sleep. Now I want to quit taking it. How long will it take and how can this be done by myself, getting off the drug?

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You are so right Nic, I had the most horrid withdrawals. I found a few recovery groups to get through the unrecognizable unimaginable, unexplainable withdrawals! On CNN Sept 29 there will be a story on this medication.

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Some people do need it. Some people should never have taken it in the first place like myself. But if someone needs it by all means

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I have also been taking this damn drug Clonazapam for a little over a year. I am not going to lie, i have doubled or even tripled my dosage to feel good, and now im having problems. I am torn between seeking treatment or finding a doc that will give me the amount i want. Help!! Im 26 and i originally got prescribed Ativan in the ER for a severe anxiety attack. I was in and out of the hospital. I would start screaming and crying my chest would hurt and fingers and lips would gp numb from hyperventilating. But after some therapy i am able to control it. But i cannot stop taking the Klonopin even though i want to bc i get headaches, agitated, mood swings, and yes sometimes i feel good but not as much as before...

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i think everyone has a addiction problem! i know been there done it got the mug! get out live !! stop get help you dont need all this crap in your body
i was on 10 different meds xanax, somas,floricets,loritabs just to name a few AND ONE DOCTOR GAVE THEM ALL TO ME FOR 3 YEARS all i needed was a divorce!! i thought it was me and it was him took 3 years of my life iam good now BUT yes iam going there!! I have to bring GOD in this picture! He will be the boat in the storm .. you will have to go threw a period of dts but he will bring you threw it, i shook, and didn't eat, zombie funny 1 week after giving it up i went to the center for drug free living took a IQ test ( part of the required 1000 forms) i scored a 85 which is retarded !! i have a BA from ITT tech. that i got like 5 years before this so yes it messes u up.. Now i have a counseling licensee and IQ of 135 been clean since 1996!! LISTEN TO ME. THE WANT IN YOU TO BE FREE HAS TO BE STRONGER THE THE WANT TO GET HIGH!! and its easier to!! peace out GOD BR WITH YOU ALL!!

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thanks peaces

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dear nic kovolik i agree with you thats how its doing me were here for help otheres life may be different but mine is like NIC KOVOLIK SO WHAT DID YOU DO ARE YOU OFF OF IT

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i have a heart promble 30 year old liver disease and my doctor put me on this and nowing what would happen o please doctor know iam sick iave had cancer and my mothere died on this clonazepam and finley the doctor said she would alway be on it well shes dead now so look what happen my liver bad what do i do i got shot and in my splen and iam so sick i never abuse it she just took me off one med put me on other god can some onee email tell me who made this drug iam so sick the with draws i was out of my head who would make this drug and who ever did should be held for it my body is sick and on top of this o mine god i need help i had no idea this was like this my doctor said its better for ya so any help please email me

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