Clonazepam Weaning & Paxil

Hello, my first post here.  I am recovering from psychological and emotional trauma following an accident which has also affected my physical body.  It has been one year of great difficulty.  I used to be on 20 mg paxil (paroxetine) for several years prior to the accident, now I am on 30 mg paxil and 0.25 mg Clonazepam every day for the past 3 months, with psychiatric okay - I started to have serious tremors of anxiety and the Clonazepam helped.  I need that help to try to recover fully and to function in daily life of course.  I understand from the psychiatrist that 0.25 mg of clonazepam/day is a very low dose, but if it's so low, how come it turned the anxiety around for me so significantly?  In other words, it's all relative.  Please don't dispel my inquiry because I'm on a lower-end dose. 

My prayer is that I recover fully physically, psychologically and emotionally.  If it's best for me to remain on the meds long term, I will do what is best for me.  But I am wondering if anyone has taken Clonazem daily for a long period of time, for example one to four years, and been able to gradually wean themselves off of it successfully?  My hope is that following my recovery I can successfully wean myself off the Clonaz.  Does anyone reading this have experience and/or knowledge please?

Thank you very much,

Mokie Bear

Hi, I was on Klonopin (Clonazapam) for 2 years then got pregnant and stopped that day. Although my anxiety has gotten much, much worse these days, Ive been on Xanax for a year now. I don't think I could just stop now because my anxiety has gotten so much worse, or because it's a different med, but they are all the same class type of medication. When I wake up in the mornings I'm so shaky I have to run for my meds. This is not the type of life I want to keep living, so my Dr. has prescribed me Lexapro which he said I would eventually not need the Xanax at all or at least not as much as I do now. So I think Im going to start the Lexapro and try to wean off the Xanax. Keep us posted with how things go, I'd like to know since I'm going to be in the (same) similar boat! Good Luck! (-:

Mokie,

Welcome to HealingWell and do not worry about anyone judging you re the medications you are prescribed.  I have been on a antianxiety medication for over 10 years and I am not worrying about weaning off of it as I take it strictly as prescribed by my physician whom I trust.

Clonazepam may be taken everyday at regular times or on an as needed basis. Typically, your healthcare provider will limit the number of doses you should take in one day. Only your healthcare provider with input from you can determine the length of treatment that is right for you.

If the time comes for you to wean from this medication do look at the protocol by Dr. Heather Ashton which I researched and then copy and sent it to my psychiatrist to see if she felt this was a good process? Here is the link and it took me 7 months to wean completely off of Ativan 4 mg when I was on that drug.  I know there are lots of other methods but this one allows you to go slow and substitutes a long acting benzo into the protocol so you can extended the time needed to taper off the med slowly.

http://www.benzo.org.uk/manual/

Remember we are here to support you,

Kitt

MB,

If this can be considered a physical manifestation of PTSD, then you could do a search here on PTSD, as we have quite a few threads on that subject.

...but to be honest, your experience sounds unique, so I am not sure if you will find anything matching your situation exactly...and to my knowledge we don't have any current members who are going through the same thing specifically.

However, many of us do understand what it is to go through physical symptoms as a result of anxiety, so we can empathize with what you are going through.

Keep posting with us, and we will be here to cheer you along your journey to wellness.:)

S.C.

Mokie,

A great deal of faith has been put in the hands of medical practitioners for a good many years. There are many who have performed incredible surgery and are a credit to their profession.   We are extremely lucky to have the medical knowledge, expertise and dedication we have.

There are times when you, or a member of your family, are at your most vulnerable; when you’ve placed your trust, and your body, in the hands of trusted experts and those experts fail to live up to the high standard any member of the public should be entitled to enjoy.

Not only is there the physical harm you have suffered but also the psychological and emotional trauma for you and your family.

Chronic pain can cause significant psychological and emotional trauma and often limits an individual’s ability to fully function. Psychological trauma can cause chronic pain even when no cause can be found.

Traditional approaches used to treat emotional trauma include CBT. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a form of treatment that focuses on examining the relationships between thoughts, feelings and behaviors. By exploring patterns of thinking that lead to self-destructive actions and the beliefs that direct these thoughts, people with psychological trauma can modify their patterns of thinking to improve coping. CBT is a type of psychotherapy that is different from traditional psychodynamic psychotherapy in that the therapist and the patient will actively work together to help the patient recover from their illness. People who seek CBT can expect their therapist to be problem-focused, and goal-directed in addressing the challenging symptoms of trauma. Because CBT is an active intervention, one can also expect to do homework or practice outside of sessions. 

I am sorry this has happened to you and remember we are here to support you.  We do know where your coming from and what you going through.  Many of us have experienced significant traumatic events in our lives.

I wish you fair winds and following seas.

Kitt