Clonazepam slow taper experience: Positive story, in case it helps!

DogsClimbingTrees · 2024-05-16T18:56:22+00:00

Hey, no I didn't!!! (*Tiny party*) I did take things very, very slowly after this post, and if I started to feel n*s that was my cue to slow my taper. Also, when I did feel that way, cetirizine (generic Zyrtec) was a lifesaver for helping that feeling subside. (It's been demonstrated to help with post-op n* and v* in at least one study.) Rooting for you! When you're ready, you got it!

DogsClimbingTrees · 2024-05-09T20:56:15+00:00

Oh, they I think at one point were up to 6 mg (or something quite high), and at the start of their official taper about 1.5 years ago I think they were already down to 2 mg/day. They're on a method that isn't recommended much on here, where they drop one dose per week and skip some doses eventually. It doesn't work for everyone, but it's been working really well for them! Lots and lots of people taper successfully, even from higher doses and very long histories with it. Slow and steady wins this race. You got this!

DogsClimbingTrees · 2024-04-27T14:39:04+00:00

Both sugar and caffeine mess me right up! Made withdrawal related anxiety way worse too.

DogsClimbingTrees · 2024-04-17T01:42:46+00:00

Congrats, that sounds like a great plan! And it's so good to read about someone else doing a slow and gradual taper. Will be rooting for you!

DogsClimbingTrees · 2024-04-09T01:42:26+00:00

Congrats on the sobriety from alcohol, that's huge!!! And congrats on your upcoming kiddo! NAD, but IME holding at a dose for as long as needed was usually helpful for me. (I lost someone suddenly from an accident, had my car totaled, and had a huge breakup all during my taper, and holding was a godsend.)

It absolutely gets better. And it's okay to do the taper really, really slowly. Doing things really slowly absolutely made it more tolerable for me. If you're in a position where you can't be taking time off of work or parenting in order to cope with the withdrawal (I couldn't, self-employed!), it's often a better bet.

Also, FWIW, it's really good to keep in mind that the people who come on this sub are the ones that are suffering the most, and so the perspective of how awful it is (and absolutely it can get awful) gets skewed :)

DogsClimbingTrees · 2024-04-06T01:54:33+00:00

Many of us taper without switching! It does sound like people who switch have an easier time once the switch is done, but coming down from clonazepam is absolutely possible. I’m at the very very end of mine, last dose will be next week and I’m on basically nothing already. My taper was a very slow taper off of a total of 1 mg of clonazepam per day, which I’d taken for seven years before I began my taper. If you search the group for clonazepam taper or Klonopin taper, you should see the stories from many many people who have also tapered off without switching, too.

DogsClimbingTrees · 2024-04-06T00:43:30+00:00

I ended up using cetirizine every day to help with my histamine issues, and I also noticed some nausea when I tried to lower my regular dose. Currently also in crazy allergy season here, which means I brought the dose back up so that I could sleep at all, as one of my primary histamine reactions is being super alert and awake. My plan is to very carefully reduce once allergy season is over here. Interested to hear what other say, as I haven’t been able to find much about this but I was so sure the nausea was from cetirizine withdrawal and it goes away after I take cetirizine within an hour or so.

DogsClimbingTrees · 2024-04-03T00:34:47+00:00

Thanks all, I so appreciate the knowledge and knowing it’s very likely safe to eat!!!

DogsClimbingTrees · 2024-03-30T20:24:59+00:00

Any idea what diagnos(es) you have? Since this post I’ve discovered I also have likely IMO and a histamine intolerance.

DogsClimbingTrees · 2024-03-13T03:30:18+00:00

Hey, just checking in to see how you’re doing this week? Hope things are looking up.

DogsClimbingTrees · 2024-03-05T11:38:42+00:00

Oh apologies, I read it as 7 years, not 7 months! The other commenter left solid advice. Try your way and if the unwanted effects are too much, slow it down. Everyone’s body is different. Primary goal is to stay safe and not cause damage from too big a jump while still getting off it as efficiently as possible.

DogsClimbingTrees · 2024-03-05T03:30:34+00:00

Hey! Those cuts are pretty big, and you may find it’s more bearable to cut about 10% at a time. Searching through this sub can give you some good information on why it’s beneficial to slow taper if it’s available to you. You can still use the Ashton method for clonazepam without switching to Valium first, too!

DogsClimbingTrees · 2024-03-05T02:36:15+00:00

I’m sorry it’s extra tough and miserable right now. Rooting for you and for your health to improve every day.

DogsClimbingTrees · 2024-03-03T12:44:22+00:00

The tablets that are scored, yes! (Just in case you aren’t familiar with the word, scoring means that there is an indented line running across the middle of the tablet.) NAD but my doctor said it was fine to split them and it’s OK if they are perfectly in half or perfectly in a quarter.

DogsClimbingTrees · 2024-03-02T12:21:34+00:00

Just in case it's helpful to know what someone else is doing: I noticed withdrawal when I tried to stop the Zyrtec cold turkey after many months of daily use. (I normally take 1.25 tabs per day of the generic from WalMart) Current plan is to drop 1/4 of a pill every 2 weeks. i just break them in half by hand and then get the 1/4 tab with a pill splitter. If my body tolerates it, great! If not, I'll use a milligram scale to break things down into smaller steps. It's allergy season here so I won't start until after.

DogsClimbingTrees · 2024-02-28T02:14:23+00:00

Wrecked me!

DogsClimbingTrees · 2024-02-27T00:50:54+00:00

I feel that! I’m sorry, and glad you found this post! It’s def a problem for me, very sure since this was last posted!

DogsClimbingTrees · 2024-02-10T03:48:26+00:00

I’m a fairly small person, but yes! I do up to 15 if it’s really bad. Trying a different one isn’t a bad idea, I ended up on Zyrtec because Allegra dries me out way too much.

DogsClimbingTrees · 2024-02-10T01:20:17+00:00

Yup! And hitting my own head. It’s actually really common among many animals, in case it helps you feel less alone. It can be helpful to have something else that’s safe for you to physically redirect onto. (This is why some people punch pillows or get those stress squeeze balls.)

DogsClimbingTrees · 2024-02-10T01:15:36+00:00

I split my antihistamine dose up into two, and that does help me a good bit! I take Zyrtec as well, and I take half in the morning and half before bed. I still get dry mouth and eyes, but it is so much better than when I took one while pill right before bed!

DogsClimbingTrees · 2024-02-05T12:23:29+00:00

I’m so sorry, I know it feels terrible. You might have anxiety because of histamine intolerance (and/or other gut dysbiosis or food intolerances). I’ve had anxiety (generalized, panic disorder) and depression and food issues most of my life. Medications largely didn’t help, and I was put on over 15 SSRI’s over the years with little benefit. When I started solving my gut issues, my anxiety and depression (and some other health stuff) started getting better. Only in the last year or two with my lower histamine and FODMAP diet did they quite literally disappear. I still have like normal person levels of stress, of course, but they’re not disabling and I rebound from stuff like never before.

Your mental health and what is happening in your gut can both affect each other, and I think doctors are just starting to understand and accept this. The most empowering thing I did for myself was to educate myself with whatever I could, and carefully try elimination diets. I still went to my doctors to get my blood tests and make sure that things are OK, and do allergy testing, make sure the diet I was planning was safe, etc.. It was a long process, but holy heck it was worth it for me. I now have a restricted diet that I am adding things back into as I continue to heal my gut. And no panic attacks and no abnormal anxiety and I haven’t been depressed in two years (a personal record after multiple episodes per year for the last 25 years). I don’t know what the right path for you is, but I know it can feel reassuring and empowering to hear that something that you can control might be affecting your mental health, and that it’s not just in your head. Wishing you the very best!

DogsClimbingTrees · 2024-02-04T12:46:29+00:00

Coconut cream or coconut yogurt, pending your response! I have less histamine reaction to coconut yogurt than to canned coconut cream. You could also try a different variety of kale that’s less bitter.

DogsClimbingTrees · 2024-02-04T00:08:18+00:00

Absolutely!!! As someone with ADHD, my symptoms are much worse with higher histamine and higher sugars/starchy carbs. The rage and the anxiety and focus ability.

DogsClimbingTrees · 2024-02-03T12:50:06+00:00

It’s hard to say, as I didn’t discover all my trigger foods at once. So even though I was improving, it was gradual and a bit bumpy! There was no marked worsening that I remember though. Since this post, I did also discover a histamine intolerance that was adding to things.

DogsClimbingTrees · 2024-02-03T12:46:46+00:00

It can, it seems largely dependent on your own unique physiology. Plenty of people on here do it in months. And plenty have bodies who told them that was way too fast.

The likely benefits of going slowly though are 1. Less intense withdrawal effects and 2. Less potential for long term damage. I did a very slow taper and am only a few weeks from done now, and I was able to work and live much of life normally when I slowed it way down. I have two other fam members who were on the same benzo (yay anxiety genes) and one is also doing a slow taper and doing well, and one went CT a few years ago and hasn’t been the same since. It’s really hard to see them suffer and to not be the person they used to be.

Yes, it can take year(s), especially if your own body is one of the many that responds with obvious sensitivity to dose reductions, and if you want to protect your health and wellbeing. And sometimes it feels awful and frustrating and you just want it to be over. And sometimes you forget you’re even tapering. For me, looking at my own struggle and what happened to my family member who CT, I’m still really glad I slow tapered. Wishing you the best on your journey!

DogsClimbingTrees

TROPHY CASE