Klonopin Withdrawal Help (Top voted first)

All HELP and encouragement is appreciated! Last year, in November, I abruptly stopped 60mg. of Cymbalta after taking it for 3 years. I had NO IDEA what would happen. I experienced a 20 day constant panic attack that I later learned was withdrawal.Needless to say, I was prescribed Klonopin as needed and went on Zoloft. I got through that and I think I only took a couple of .5 K. FAST FORWARD to this year...My PDOC had me on 100mg. zoloft and 36mg. Concerta, and 2mg. of Abilify. 11months later, I was so distant, I decided to come off Abilify. Stopped abruptly. Anxiety, sickness came on with a vengeance. My PDOC convinced me that he would not let me become addicted to the Klonopin and that I needed to take it regularly. Long story short, I took between .5 and 1mg for about 6 weeks. I then told him I wanted to taper. He suggezsted this:
5days - .5 am and .5 pm
5days - .5 am
5days - .25 am
(wanted me to stop after that but day 3, I couldn't take deal, so we continued taper)
13 days - .125am
1 day - 0
1day .125
then stopped.

SO, a total of 10 weeks in all I think of regular use.

This whole process has been HELL. I started having some hopeful days on the .125, but now I am on day 4 of being off and I am still having anxiety, have to force myself to eat, and depressed that I will never be back to my old self! I've lost 20lbs. and can't find Joy in anything. My faith is also suffering.I am 33, a mother of two great teens and this has been going on for 4 months now. I REALLY hope that it is just the withdrawal and that I am over the worst of it. PLEASE, ANYBODY give me HOPE that this will end soon. I just need hope to carry on. I am currently on:
20mg. Lexapro( have taken 5 weeks today)
36 mg. Concerta a.m
AND I have been taking Vitamins (Omega, B, Calcium and Magnesium)
Thank you so much for any help, encouragement, or advice. Horror stories won't really do me any good. I've read them all on internet. THANK you

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Hang in there sweetheart! You are over the worst of it. Now it will mostly be psychological. It sounds like the physical addition is pretty much finished. Just keep telling yourself This too shall pass and try and take your mind off of it. I too was once hooked on pain pills and once you stop taking it, you have anxiety once in awhile, but once the horrible physical effects are over, it is much better. I would suggest getting a support group or finding someone to talk to whenever you have these anxiety attacks so that you don't relapse and have to go through it all over again! Good luck! Keep praying too! Never underestimate the power of prayer! I will pray for you as well!

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Thank you so much for the positive encouragement. I'm sorry you had to go through this. THANK YOU THANK YOU for the prayers!! I hit the BOTTOM ABYSS the day after I wrote this and the update is...my PDOC gave me 5mg zyprexa and upped my lexapro to 30. Zyprexa brought me out of the abyss, but I'm scared of MEDs now, so I told my doc I only wanna take it 2 weeks. He said that was fine. I took 5mg for 6 days and took 2.5 last night. I'm doing every other day of .125 of klonopin for another week, and upping my lexapro to 25 then 30. How does that sound? I'm just so scared now of WITHDRAWALS! I've read that people have them coming of Zyprexa but hoping that a short stint on them will just get me through until Lexapro kicks in. I don't know...Thanks again!

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Yes, unfortunately, the withdrawals can be very bad and can take quite a period of time.

I went through it with narcotic medications, after being on pain management for many years and it took me over a month to beat the worst of the withdrawals.

You should be through the worst of it, so try to find something to distract yourself and not think about it so much.

Many times I would just turn on a movie and zone into it, that way I couldn't think so much of the way my body was feeling.

I do wish you the best of luck, please post back and let us know how you are doing.

https:/­/­rxchat.com/­wiki/­Klonopin/­

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keep fighting woman. you have a very strong will and I know this doctor doesnt give a damn about you because look what he put you through..we are suppose to trust our doctors and they use us as puppets or bank accounts. its not fair to us because it destroys our lives. I am a mother of 4 but 2 of them I gave to my parents because of drugs and then the 2 me and my husband have together. my family suffers with me and I feel they deserve better. the doctor that prescribed me 100 10mg hydrocodone 3x a month did not do me any good..he said we will wean you off before even telling me what he had to do that for...HE NEVER TOLD ME THE SEVERITY OF THIS DRUG OR THE XANAX, KLONOPIN ALL BENZO'S AND PAIN MEDS..I new nothing of these ..and they were never explained how badly addictive they were...fast forward to today..where I am on 100mg of methadone to cope and I still have to take my xanax which eats up the methadone..and the withdrawals from trying to get off both? HELL..but honey god is gonna take care of you, you keep fighting as I will to..one day honey you will be back to your old self..god knows you , your hearts desires and keep praying...GOD IS ABLE..NEVER LOSE YOUR FAITH IN GOD...as I live by these words everyday...good luck to you and remember this is only temporary..when its time...gods time...not ours honey...you have to understand that also..this will be your testimony...a very strong inspiring one at that! good luck, god bless and may GOD KEEP YOU!
corina sanders

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Damn, I'm so sorry your going through such a hard time right now.
But like they said you sound very strong and are very sure of what you want and where you want to be. keep your head up! you'll be there in no time. I to will pray for you.

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Thank you so much to all of yo ufor your encouragement. I'm on Lexapro(20mg) and Abilify(2mg) now and its curbing the anxiety. So I'm out of the hell pit, but still discouraging to not have energy and still struggle with no motivation, etc. Still, this is better than HELL by far! I just wish we didnt have to settle. But Im too scare to try another medicine and risk going through that again :(. Hope you are all well!

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I wanted to reply to the message on klonopin where the patient said her doctor was suggesting a "vacation from" benzos, as well as perhaps other meds.

I want to point out that it can, in some cases, be VERY dangerous to suddenly stop taking a benzo or even to make a sharp reduction. It depends upon the individual but there is such a thing according to the AMA as "Benzodiazepine withdrawal syndrome". This is an official term and not just an ancetotal story, as some users on this forum seem to believe.
If you look up the term Benzodiazepine withdrawal syndrome on wikipedia or on a medical website, it explains what it is and what can happen to some people who suddenly discontinue a benzo. There is also a danger in suddenly discontinuing a SSRI, and perhaps other meds. Also for an elderly person the half life is doubled so instead of for example a ten hour half life, it would be a twenty hour half life. There is always some risk in discontinuing OR decreasing the dose of any benzo
and I would research it carefully. A doctor suggesting a "vacation" from the drug sounds like a naive and idealistic idea
but it could be dangerous to your health. You cannot just stop taking a benzo (or many other drugs) or severely cut back your dosage without risking severe side effects which can last for months OR YEARS. DO NOT PLAY AROUND with benzos..........research them and find a medical docror or psychiatrist who actually knows about and will admit the risks.
Most doctors and psychologists/psychiatrists have not been educated and do not even know, and won't admit, there is any risk while the AMA has specifically defined the risk in the term Benzodiazepine withdrawal syndrome. Withdrawal risks also exist for sleeping medications like ambien, and SSRIs, and other medications. Usually the patient is not forewarned
and the flyer with the medication isn't really clear about the severity of the risk and symptoms. Some patients actually become suicidal when suddenly taken abruptly off of benzos. Although benzos can help some people, the risk needs to be clearly understood. It varies from person to person so there is no way to know what type of response you will have. It is thought that the lower the dose and, more importantly, the shorter the time the benzo is regularly taken, the less risk of severe withdrawal symptoms but this again varies with the individual. It's too bad because klonopin is a good medicine in itself but most people will be dependent upon it (physically not just mentally) in as short a period as four weeks of regular use. This is how fast a physical, not just pyschological, not just in your head, but actual, physical depence, develops with a benzo, at least, with klonopin and its generics. The brain actually changes in response to the medication. I do not know whether other meds that are less risky are available for the symptoms that they give benzos for or not. I would look up
Benzodiazepine withdrawal syndrome to find out the facts. There are some similar withdrawal syndromes for other meds which probably have different but similar names.

Finally don't let any doctor or other medical person tell you it's OK to just suddenly stop your medication, especially if it's a benzo (like klonopin) or if it's ambien or an SSRI. They may not mean any harm and are ignorant but it could be dangerous to your health to do so. Gradual and slow tapering is the best way if you need to come off or want to reduce your dosage. For example, most medical people say you can just stop ambien (or its generic) even though you've taken it for seven years nightly. They are ignoring the AMA which says seizures can occur and you need to taper off ambien very slowly. Usually rehab centers want you to taper too fast. Taper very slowly and you will have less of a problem with horrible side effects. It may take longer but it is safer.

There is a book and website online called "The Road Back". As far as I know they are not medical people but have been helping people taper off medications. The book is available free if you email them and ask for it. They recommend nutritional supplements which are NOT for everyone. Ask your doctor before taking any nutritional supplement. You can use the free program without the nutritional supplement by tapering more slowly. You can email them with your questions. I can't vouch for them but it is one resource. Please take the time to go online and thoroughly research a drug before you actually decide to take it. Unfortunately our medical people are often not well trained and will prescribe what looks appropriate to them without fully understanding the risks or the dependency/addiction issue. This is why we have to research it ourselves. You will hear "oh, every medication has risks" which is true but is also a sloppy answer because not every medication has the risk of quick addiction or severe withdrawal symptoms.

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I’m on week 3 cold turkey after 6 years of 1 mg 3x daily. On kpins I feel ur pain and am battling everything. The ear ringing and lack of sleep is at its worst now! Can u reccomend anything that helps. I’m on you team. I’m physically alone during this madness and it sucksssss

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Hello, I’m so sorry you are going threw this. Benzo seem to take so long to get off! And the effects seem to last long. My daughter tapered off, even months later she gets zaps in her body! Like she is being electrocuted, if you still feel like this, maybe try a holistic dr, maybe they can help give you something natural to fool you body. This scares me. I have been on Ativan for 20 years:( and pain meds, for chronic pain!!!

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you are most likely going through "discontinuation syndrome" from your antidepressant Cymbalta. I believe cymbalta is an SNRI. Most doctors are not familiar with discontinuation - you will feel better, just give it a lot of time. Your motivation and desire for life will return even thought you cannot see your way out of it right now.

Three years of an SNRI and your doctor let you stop taking it abruptly! My old doctor used to make me take the SNRI in front of him in his office to test me for compliance :) The most common complaint I hear from SNRIs is "my doctor refuses to take me off of it"!

I believe that abilify is an atypical antipsychotic which may have been prescribed as a "booster" for depression and probably for GAD. _Very_ few doctors know that you should not stop taking antipsychotic medication abruptly. You probably felt very nauseous and full of anxious or irrational thoughts. Luckily the withdrawal from antipsychotics is not as long as an SNRI!

Wow you are a very strong person, I would recommend asking around for a doctor that knows what an SNDRI is and that knows about discontinuation syndrome.

Remember you will feel better again. I really like remeron. Hope you feel better sooner than later. If I can make it through discontinuation than you can too!

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I applaud your decision to take a day off of the klonopin for tapering. The half-life is such that you might not even notice it. Yes very few people are familiar with anti-psychotic medications. I thought _everyone_ by now knows about the withdrawal from SNRIs. Boy was I fooled.

I know that you are scared of drugs now and will probably be so forlong. I like remeron (mirtazapine). I've been taking it for years; it is very calming and is indicated for many anxiety related issues. Not a recommendation just something to think/talk about with your doc.

The last part of the discontinuation is the longest, I have found that Epinephrine when administered at the right time will diminish the effects. I believe that the epi will give the nor-epinephrine and dopamine a bit of a kick start. Good luck finding a surgeon though.

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