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Klonopin Withdrawal

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Posted 12/18/2014 10:27 PM (GMT 0)
I POsted this in the depression forum, but thought I may get more feedback from here.

Hello,
I have been on Klonopin for roughly 3 months, 1.5mg daily for the first month, 1mg for the 2nd month.

Two weeks ago I saw my Psych and told him I was feeling 80% of myself after (at that time) 4 weeks of Paxil 30mg, and 2mg of Abilify and 1mg klonopin, so we decided to titrate off the klonopin completely.

I started that night, reducing to .75, then .675 the next week and three days later to .5, which is where I am now. Two days ago, my depression returned badly. I read that this could be a klonopin withdrawal symptom, but it doesn't say how long it will last.

I'm just wondering if anyone else has had a similar experience while getting of klonopin and how they coped, etc. I keep telling myself it's just withdrawal, but I'm not sure I fully believe it. The depressed part of me thinks it's my depression coming back full force and that I will never again be normal. I've been going through this MDD episode since July, and have taken variety of meds that seem to control my symptoms, but they never go away fully.

Your input is very appreciated.
Posted 12/18/2014 11:56 PM (GMT 0)
Hi Keaz,

I can't speak to your question directly...but want to send my encouragement.

I am thinking this has to do simply with your wean, and is not indicative of anything permanent, or related to a relapse.

Speak rational things to yourself and use your positive mantras and other coping tools to get you through this time.

Keep us updated, okay? Wishing you the best!

S.C.
Posted 12/19/2014 2:24 AM (GMT 0)
Keaz,

I haven been on klonopin, but I have weaned off xanax before. I was on 1.5 mg per day. I dropped down to .75 fairly quickly. After about two weeks I got down to .5. I do believe I experienced a little rebound anxiety at this point, for about 3 days. Then I tapered down to nothing over the next three weeks. The whole process took maybe 6 weeks.

I know klonopin is longer lasting, so the wean might be a little different than xanax. I have read of people switching to Valium if they are experiencing too much withdrawl effect from other benzos. It has a super long half life that makes it a little easer to get off of. Good luck!
Posted 12/19/2014 2:32 AM (GMT 0)
I have been on 1.0mg of Klonopin for about 7 months. I ramped up to 20mg of Lexapro about 30 days ago and within a week of being on 20mg of Lexapro, the anxiety went away. I felt like I was taking Klonopin for no reason. So I decided to reduce my Klonopin to 0.875mg (1/4 of a 0.5mg pill). Within a week of doing this, the anxiety came back. It was pretty bad, so not sure if it was Klonopin withdrawal or the Lexapro still not working fully. I called my doctor and he asked me to go back up to 1.0mg and resume the old schedule of it. It has been a week and half and I am still not feeling as good as I did that one week. In fact, as of last night, I raised my Klonopin to 1.25mg/day.
So you might have to wait a bit longer and reduce it at a much smaller increments and stay at that dose for a longer period of time before you reduce it further.
This what I would do next time I try to reduce 1.0 Klonopin. Go to 0.875mg for one day, back to 1.0mg the next day, then 0.875 etc... I would stay on this for 2-3 weeks if I feel ok, then I would go to 0.875mg for a 2-3 weeks. If things are working well, I would then try the same thing with 0.75mg etc.... But again, I am not a doctor, so it is good idea to ask your doctor for a tapering schedule.

I hope this helps
Posted 12/19/2014 2:34 AM (GMT 0)
I am currently in the process of weaning off klonopin myself. I am now down to .5 mg a day but will sometimes take more if my anxiety rebounds. It appears I'm having more good days then bad so that's something.

But yes I have noticed an anxiety rebound when weaning.
Posted 12/19/2014 4:11 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks to everyone for your replies.

I'm wondering if anyone has experienced depression as a result of withdrawal. I also have random bruising on my body and my memory of the last two weeks is a little hazy.

For now I'm staying on the .5mg, until I fully stabilize on the paxil/abilify combination that I've been on for 6 weeks.
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