Bad withdrawal from klonopin

I am posting this hoping it will help someone in the future. I have recently come off clonazapen/klonopin for anxiety and it wasn't easy but I am successfully off it for almost a month now and I feel so much better. I did it slow under a doctors help and it really helped with withdrawal.

I was on it for four years. Walking really helped with the anxiety withdrawal feelings. It was really bad for 5 days and then it got much better. It was an awful feeling but if you can do self talk and journaling and meditation and progressively relaxation you can do it. It is important to have tools to use to help with withdrawal. I have so much more energy after being off the drug. I was tired for four years and now I feel awake. I also feel less anxious if that makes any sense!k

I was on it for anxiety and I also have fibromyalgia my pain did get a little worse for a week but I got physical therapy, massage and acupuncture to help with the pain. Just remember you can do it, the withdrawal does goes away it is just so important to ween off very slowly with help of a GOOD doctor! When you get down to one pill you should have it for a month then take a quarter for a month then stop it! the slowness of getting off is crucial! I went looking for answers when I was coming off and could not find much helpful information just stuff that made me feel worse so again I hope this information helps you!

I am coming off because I want to have a baby and wanted to try dealing with my anxiety without medication. Also, I did try coming off the klon once before and was unsuccessful so don't beat yourself up if you can't do it. Wait a litte while and then try again. It worked for me the second attempt.

I am still on 20mg of Elavil and 2 mg of zanaflex so I think being on something might help with coming off the Klon.

Besides walking/exercising, journaling and self talk meditation and acupuncture, there is a crucial thing I forgot to mention, Therapy really helped me and having a friend to talk to.

Good luck and remember it can happen it just takes patience and the withdrawal does eventually go away if you can stick in there, and do it slow the slower the better!

Interesting thread. I've been taking 0.5 mg colozapam before bed for three years to relieve restless leg syndrome which it did very effectively. I've slept like a baby during the entire time and had no adverse symptoms except that odd pain outside the hips (3,000 units of vitamin D3 daily cured that) - if you're agoraphopic you certainly aren't getting your sunshine vitamin! Yes, I'm often tired but who isn't these days? I decided to stop taking clonazapam to try a drug more specific to RLS, if necessary. I'm cutting down 0.125 (quarter pill) every two weeks until it's gone and I'm hoping the RLS is gone too. I also take 20 mg of Lexapro daily which is also a great relief from mild depression. Even though I have two teenagers, my life is no longer stressful since I retired and I don't think I need these medications anymore. I'm hoping I won't experience the horrors that I have read about here. If you believe in God, may he bless and console you. If not, just tough it out.

I went to the my regular Dr. I was taking 1 mg. of klonipin in the evening for sleep. Have been doing so for about 2 years. It has worked wonderfully and I have had no complaints. My Dr. decided that I should go off it and try sleeping without it and try lorazepam instead. So no going off slowly just cut off. The lorazepam is not helping and I am having terrible side effects w/o klonipin. My Dr. never mentioned any side effects. I have barely slept. It has been 5 days. My blood pressure which is usually 120's/80's has been in the 160's/90's range. My pulse which is usually about 80 stays over 100. I have headaches and mild to moderate chest pain (like I can't breathe without effort) I have had upset stomach with no appetite and very fatigued. I have been reading people's experiences and other Dr. online saying wean off NEVER go cold turkey. Why has my Dr. just thrown me off the medication?
I don't get it? He's on vacation right now - unreachable.

pixiegirl74 wrote:

Oh my Gosh!! I am taking just 0.5 twice a day and let me tell you even on that low of a dose I tried to stop taking it cold turkey..and no way never again!!! I thought I was going to die I would shake really bad and cry on the bathroom floor while a friend would try to calm me down:( its horrible I wish to God I never started taking it. Just even thinking that I am down to a few pills befor my next refill causes severe anxiety. I am so mad that the FDA even came out with such an addicting drug. Its kinda sad to say but most drugs for anxiety (that work) are addictive. I have to say that exercise does really help. I am a dance teacher now and love that it helps with all my emotions. God bless all of you and its so cool knowing I am not alone.

This is exactly what happened to me. I was crying, shaking uncontrollably and couldn't be left alone. I was having panic attacks, and on the floor just sobbing. I didn't sleep for four nights. I couldn't believe what it did to my body - I really thought I had done permanent damage to my nervous system. I also had severe sensitivity to light and sound so everything that moved freaked me out.

I went back on .5mg a day because after several days I was still experiencing this unbelievable depression as part of the withdrawal. Not just a sadness, but upon awakening this feeling of utter hopelessness and failure.

I knew I was in trouble the first time I took a Klonopin because it felt so good. Everything seemed normal. I wasn't worried, anxious and stressed out. I just felt like the world was right. However, it's not the answer. Eating healthy and exercising is paramount as well as proper treatment with a psychologist. EMDR, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Hypnotherapy are fantastic.

Some of us are more sensitive then others, but everyone has stuff they deal with. Life isn't a bed of roses all the time for anyone.

All -

If you haven't already, Google "Heather Ashton" or "benzodiazepine withdrawal". There are a few outstanding support sites for safe benzo withdrawal. Klonopin is a very potent benzodiazepine (1 mg of Klonopin is roughly equal to 20 mg of Valium). A gradual crossover to valium is normally suggested as the half life in valium is longer than klonopin, thus allowing a more steady blood concentration. Once stabilized on valium, a reduction of 10% of your total daily intake is suggested either once a week or once every two weeks. Slow elimination profoundly reduces the risk of "protracted withdrawal symptoms" which may last for 2 years or longer.

Please be careful with these drugs and do your research.

Best of luck to all

This is my second attempt at withdrawing from Klonopin. I was only on it for a week when I knew it was making me feel nauseous. The doctor didn't agree and said to keep taking. After two months I wanted off and insisted he help me. He suggested stopping the evening dose of .25 for a week and then stopping the morning dose of .25 the following week. Yes, I am on a low dose. Well, it was so bad that I ended up going on .5 in the evening just to try and feel somewhat normal. Now I am on a slower withdrawal, but its not helping either. I'm back down to .25 am and pm, but when I tried to stop my first .25 in the am yesterday I was so sick. Nauseous all day, anxiety level high, shaking. Its so scary. I took the usual .25 last night, was able to eat, but still felt anxious and strange. I woke up every hour with trembling all over and anxious thoughts. I'm beginning to think I'll never be able to get off this horrible med. My friend is a psychiatric nurse practioner and is helping me, since the doctor was no help at all, but I think I need to go even slower. She gets angry when I check the internet, because even she doesn't realize how addicting this drug can be. I want to feel normal again so badly and hope I can get through this.

[quote="Guest"]I hope you are doing better. I went off my Klonopin after taking it for two years, one pill a day, every day. I did not see a doctor about how to get off the stuff, but I did know that it had to be done gradually. Maybe that is why you are having such symptoms? did you suddenly stop taking it or gradually go off from it? I too had a difficult time getting off the stuff even when I was cutting back. I had chest pains/difficult breathing, increase of panic attacks. [quote]I also kept getting twitches in my brain, which are kind of hard to explain. that was the worst of the withdrawal symptoms, I believe. it was like a popping sensation every time I moved my head. [/quote]Unfortunately I have relapsed back into using the medication again to help me sleep, but I wish that I hadn't. I do not take it regularly, and I've been having weird symptoms. the worst one is this throbbing sensation in the side of my head, a very localized pain. I do not understand it, but believe that it is caused by irregular use and thus could be a withdrawl symptom. I feel like I'm suffocating a lot of the time too. If you are still having problems, you may want to talk to your doctor about how to cut back gradually and safely, but I do hope you are better now, as that post was written almost a month ago. I think when I quit the first time, my withdrawal symptoms lasted just about two weeks.[/quote]

So glad I read this I am having that same brain thing and I noticed it's when I move my head it feels like time freezes and a shock goes thru my brain it happens so quickly and is scary. I hoped it was withdrawal and not a brain tumor LOL but seriously it is hard to explain. I have been on 2 pills at night for 5 years and am barely down to 1 1/2 and it's been months of this withdrawal symptom so at this pace it will be a year or more before I wean off. I don't have an addictive personality, with fibromyalgia I have been on strong pain meds for months and can quit cold turkey. I read klonopin was hard to get off of and now I understand why. THANKS

I was put on Ativan after surgery. I weaned myself down to .5 mg a day, even though my psychiatrist and therapist wanted me taking MORE, not LESS drugs. They put me on Seroquel to help with sleep - WRONG! Seroquel does the same thing to you as all the other benzo's. It took me 6 weeks to wean off of that. I was put on Restoril 7.5 mg at night to sleep, not knowing it was going to do the SAME THING to my body, addiction-wise.

After 9 months of not sleeping ,not eating, shaking, tremors, twitches, etc on a DAILY basis, I finally found a neurologist who said I had to get off the drugs. Ativan goes in to your body fast and comes out fast, so basically, I was not giving my body what it wanted and was going through drug withdrawal on a daily basis for 9 months, without even knowing it!

He switched me to 2 mg of Klonopin which put me to sleep for 48 hours straight. What a relief that was! We are using the .25 and .125 mg disolvable tablets. I have been tapering for the past 14 weeks, and am down to .125mg in the morning and .125mg at bedtime.

Mornings are the worse - I wake up in a panic and usually shake, twitch, have diarrhea for about 2-3 hours. Then I have tremors for the rest of the day. BUT, this only lasts for the first few days after a drop in dosage. Then I usually stabilize enough so I can get through the rest of the week. No one can say that those hours of shaking don't take a toll on your body and mind.

I am very lucky in that I have a supportive husband who talks me through the rough times. I have been through all the symptoms - depression being the worst, I think. The shaking hurts the body for a while, but the depression hurts everything.

I also go to a hypnotherapist - this can be a big help if you stick with it and listen to tapes made of your sessions to practice self-relaxation. I have a chiropractor/kinesiologist who helps keep my body and emotions on an even keel, using accupuncture and homeopathic meds when necessary. I have a wonderful yoga instructor who guides me through restorative yoga (find a class or private instructor and do this - sometimes it was the only time I felt calm all week) and stretching because your muscles do take a beating during withdrawal.

Most important, find a neurologist who understands how hard it is to get off the drug and will help you through it - DON'T ADD MORE DRUGS INTO THE MIX DURING WITHDRAWAL! Don't change anything other than the drug you are trying to get off of. The trick is - go slowly and if you have to stay at a certain dose for an extra week or two to stabilize - do it. You can't go too slowly, but you can definitely go too quickly.

Good luck all. Just keep repeating to yourself while taking deep, slow breaths - I WILL get off the Klonopin and I WILL feel normal and healthy.

SMB

Wow, what a shock to find this thread. I was on Klonopin for nearly 10 years at appx .5mg to 1mg per day, as needed, which had been daily due to anxiety, OCD, and depression. I have a drug test at a place I applied in a few days and know that they will not hire me if I come back positive for benzodiazepines.... Sounds crazy but I'm sure of it. So I went "cold turkey" last Tue. Since then my wife has given birth to our second child and I was already unemployed for the past 1.5 mos. This is already one of the most stressful times of my life... and since 1-2 days after stopping the drug I'm coming unglued. Unbelievable agony. I told my wife that I think it's withdrawal- what else could it be? Then I did a search and looks like I'm right!

My symptoms- major anxiety, increased moodiness, shaking, muscle spasms, etc. Sounds familiar!

Best to all and- to be honest- I think Klonopin has been a life-saver for me. On the other hand, tapering off slowly was absolutely the way to go.

It's funny, I stopped taking my .25 in the am and .5 in the pm a few days ago just because I wanted to. Meanwhile, I get this damn tooth infection and need pain pills. To make a long story short, I thought the toothache kept me up for 3 nights straight, waking up every 45 minutes. But last night when I took my .5 at night for the first time in about 5-6 days, I slept just fine!!!! I'm glad I found this site. I had a funny suspiscion about the insomnia...