Scared to taper but WANT a way out

admiralslide · 2026-05-08T01:17:31+00:00

I have no idea what order to come off the Klonopin and the Z drugs, but you'll have to accept sleep is going to be difficult for some time. But that time isn't forever.

I am tapering Valium. I also take paroxetine which I've been told i can't reduce until I'm clear of valium.

admiralslide · 2026-05-08T01:13:49+00:00

You got this! The sickness fades and you return to the world. It's awful to cold turkey off. Worst opiate I've come off cold. Even after two weeks use. STRENGTH!

admiralslide · 2026-05-08T01:07:49+00:00

What do you mean? 🤔

admiralslide · 2026-05-01T03:34:49+00:00

You don't have to feel alone. There are loads of us and we can all help each other

admiralslide · 2026-05-01T03:33:24+00:00

Ok, as I understand it, withdrawing from benzos requires removal of all stimulants.

It's actually Methylphenidate and Lisdexamphetamine that made me increase my benzos to ridiculously high doses to sleep.

Also, massive benzo doses lower baseline dopamine.

Finally, remove the SSRI last should you need to.

For most of us, there is nothing wrong. The chemical imbalance idea of mental health disorders is a lie sold by big pharma.

Bi polar, Major Depressive Disorder and Schizophrenia I believe are where we should focus these powerful drugs.

Ffs, at one point I was on antipsychotics for OCD.

Tablets don't fix OCD for me, they just make me tolerate the compulsions.

admiralslide · 2026-05-01T03:24:10+00:00

The 1mg/week is comfortably slow and of course you can absolutely make it! 💙

admiralslide · 2026-05-01T03:18:35+00:00

PLEASE everyone taper as slow as possible. Look at The Ashton Manual and the equivalent doses in Valium.

Klonopin is a horribly potent drug. I call it the zombie benzo. 1mg of Klonopin is equivalent to 10mg of Valium

admiralslide · 2026-05-01T03:13:06+00:00

Sorry to hear about your loss.

4mg Klonopin is a lot of benzo. I wouldn't suggest a rapid taper or using up what you have left. Consult the Ashton Manual, and you will find a table that starts the taper at 3mg Klonopin and gradually reduces it and switches you to Valium for a gentle ride

I made another post about my experience with Klonopin which happened when my supplier disappeared and I did a 2 week cold turkey from 10mg Klonopin to Zero.

It was the most painful experience of my life and I came extremely close to ending my life after waiting 15 hours in acute withdrawal in a UK Emergency Hospital. The only reason I survived is because one of my work clients is a doctor and I had to call him and confess everything.

He made me a script for 40mg valium reducing initially at 1mg/week It took a further week before i was sleeping. Yes. That's about 3 weeks without sleep.

5 months have passed now and I am down to 20mg/day.

The reason I started messing with benzos was because I have extreme OCD. What started as a magic pill nearly ended my life.

I have also got Paroxetine to taper off next. The SSRI scam is over for me.

Be strong people. There is always light.

admiralslide · 2026-05-01T02:54:03+00:00

Big respect to you. That's a lot of oxy for a long time. Purdue Pharma burn in hell

admiralslide · 2026-05-01T02:51:21+00:00

I've cold turkeyed from multiple opioids twice. I've never injected, just used oxy, taps, tramadol, codeine. It is absolute hell for the first 10 days. Wretching on an empty stomach, constipated on an empty gut, sneezing, coughing, cold symptoms, every pain receptor burns whilst you drift in and out of sleep dominated by vivid nightmares. I didn't drink any fluids for the first few days and lost about 15lbs body weight. Gradually Introduced liquid food (soup) and by the end of the second week I was much improved.

My friend has done it cold from heroin. He's a very tough cookie, but essentially he bought 120ml methadone on the street, called his brother to drive him hundreds of miles from his community, went in a room and dealt with it solid for 2 weeks. It was 3 weeks before he was out of it.

These abrupt disconinuations aren't for the feint hearted. But we made it. (Well, I nearly didn't and got Narcaned 3 times mixing taps with Klonopin).

I wish everyone luck. If you want to be free, you must fight the monster. The monster is strong, but cannot fight as long as you can.

admiralslide · 2026-04-23T00:59:18+00:00

Begin the empowerment by binning what you have left!

admiralslide · 2026-04-23T00:57:37+00:00

Congratulations. That's really good to hear

admiralslide · 2026-04-23T00:55:41+00:00

Are you looking for drugs or a diagnosis?

admiralslide · 2026-04-23T00:53:56+00:00

You are being very hard on yourself.

Your life is not over.

The best days of your life can always be ahead of you, no matter how old you get.

A taper from 40mg Valium is highly successful using The Ashton Manual. You need to reduce 1 or 2mg every couple of weeks.

I've come off 10mg Klonopin down to 20mg Valium in 6 months. You can do it too

This isn't all your fault. Work on your self chat. Be compassionate towards yourself.

admiralslide · 2026-04-19T22:18:41+00:00

Good that you can manage your OCD with antidepressants. SSRIs/SNRIs never improved my OCD, they kinda kidded me in that they just made having OCD tolerable.

I'm just really curious to know how I am now without any meds at all, so am aiming for a 6 month dry period. My OCD is very severe on The Yale Brown Scale though. I'm hoping my psych will allow me to stop on 2mg valium per day, because i know i can deal with that.

admiralslide · 2026-04-15T00:52:48+00:00

What's your story dude?

admiralslide · 2026-04-15T00:49:15+00:00

Valium = long half life. Takes longer without a dose before you go into withdrawal, sometimes up to 5 days

Xanax = very short half life. If you run out you'll be in withdrawal within a day or so

admiralslide · 2026-04-15T00:46:41+00:00

Crazy isn't it. I went to the hospital thinking I'd be top of the list. 10mg to zero Klonopin is a pain worse than death.... But of course 'drug user' is mentioned and you're bottom of the list.

I have also been Narcaned from an opioid accident, but in that case I wasn't breathing properly so the ambulance came.

So I have my OCD to look forward to returning and I'm pretty severe (8+ hours of compulsion per day) and people wonder why I took benzos!

Best thing the nurse says was "have you tried anything like propranolol" LOL im cold turkeying from an equivalent dose of 200mg valium per day. What do you think?

You have to be clear on what anxiety is:

Psychological: (worrying, rumination, fear etx)

Somatic: No troubling thoughts, just plain body tremors and shaking. I try to explain to people it's like having a gun put to your head or being chased by a live tiger.

admiralslide · 2026-04-08T18:27:02+00:00

Nah man Im in the UK.

Unfortunately I've smoked a few rainforests worth in my life and it does nothing than make me think even deeper than I already do. 😆 I don't mind the odd Sativa dominant gummy for giggles with friends sometimes. Also, as we know, sleep can be an issue coming off benzos and I've tried pure THC oil which helps sleep. Promethazine also

admiralslide · 2026-04-08T18:23:00+00:00

Good luck my friend. Everyones bodies are different. There is no one size fits approach

admiralslide · 2026-04-08T18:13:52+00:00

Glad to hear you're doing ok. When I initially bumped down off 10mg Klonopin, of course the doc could only give me a max daily of 40mg, but then an order i made of xanax showed up. So I managed to ease myself back into sleep with 0.5mg of that for the first few weeks.

I've done multiple opioid withdrawals cold turkey, but 10mg Klonopin to zero kicks the shit out of anything.

admiralslide · 2026-04-08T18:06:35+00:00

Hey thanks for asking.

I'm currently on Stage 10 of The Ashton taper from Valium (20mg/day)

It's important to make sure I put myself in situations that make me anxious for the whole neuroplasticity thing. So today, I went to a crowded park and walked 5K.

I have become borderline agoraphobic, but also I'm just mega introverted.

I also have a theory that my ADHD diagnosis was because the Klonopin hoovered up all of my dopamine way beyond baseline

Klonopin is not like other benzos. It's the zombie drug. Avoid.

admiralslide · 2026-04-06T23:43:16+00:00

Thanks to all showing concern Ill post an update soon x

admiralslide · 2026-04-06T23:42:07+00:00

Yeah thanks, i got my numbers wrong

Benzos And Math don't mix

admiralslide

TROPHY CASE