Archive for the ‘Klonopin’ tag
Klonopin Withdrawal
Hi Folks,
I'm sober twenty years in AA and NA. I've recently discontinued antidepressants (last Winter I ended Zoloft which I'd been on/off for 8 years). I then was on Cymbalta..then Welbutrin. I also discontinued Klonopin. I'd been on .5 mg to 1mg / day at bedtime for sleep. I tapered to .75mg, then to .5 to .375mg to .25 to .125 This was over the course of 5 weeks (the taper from .75 to .125 mg)
I am curious about klonopin withdrawal.I've read everything I can get my hands on and the range of information on the net is disorienting. My simple question is how long do the more acute symptoms last. I see a kind of consensus of one to two weeks..with other people going longer (few months) or others going shorter.
I am having acute anxiety in the morning. I wake up and cover my head in blankets and can't get up to do basic things. I pace. My arms ache. My hands ache. Strangely around 6pm (after waking at 8am) I feel myself. I can't figure out this body rhythm. I feel scared all day, wanting nothing more than to be back on medications and yet by 6pm I feel I can make it through the next day. One day at a time. i feel like I'm getting sober again...meaning like the first six months of sobriety.
I guess I am looking for information, useful anecdotes about how other people felt going through klonopin withdrawal and staying off of the klonopin. When did the worst feelings of separation subside. I'm convinced that an even slower taper would not have helped. When I moved my dose down , even by .125, I immediately got bad symptoms that have been no better from .5 mg downard.......so I'm toughing it out.
Thanks
I'm sober twenty years in AA and NA. I've recently discontinued antidepressants (last Winter I ended Zoloft which I'd been on/off for 8 years). I then was on Cymbalta..then Welbutrin. I also discontinued Klonopin. I'd been on .5 mg to 1mg / day at bedtime for sleep. I tapered to .75mg, then to .5 to .375mg to .25 to .125 This was over the course of 5 weeks (the taper from .75 to .125 mg)
I am curious about klonopin withdrawal.I've read everything I can get my hands on and the range of information on the net is disorienting. My simple question is how long do the more acute symptoms last. I see a kind of consensus of one to two weeks..with other people going longer (few months) or others going shorter.
I am having acute anxiety in the morning. I wake up and cover my head in blankets and can't get up to do basic things. I pace. My arms ache. My hands ache. Strangely around 6pm (after waking at 8am) I feel myself. I can't figure out this body rhythm. I feel scared all day, wanting nothing more than to be back on medications and yet by 6pm I feel I can make it through the next day. One day at a time. i feel like I'm getting sober again...meaning like the first six months of sobriety.
I guess I am looking for information, useful anecdotes about how other people felt going through klonopin withdrawal and staying off of the klonopin. When did the worst feelings of separation subside. I'm convinced that an even slower taper would not have helped. When I moved my dose down , even by .125, I immediately got bad symptoms that have been no better from .5 mg downard.......so I'm toughing it out.
Thanks
Day 2
I am back to the beginning and this time I am quitting klonopin too. I was not on a high dose. Anxiety has always been an issue for me, so this will be extra challenging.
Just begining recovery, wanted to get involved here
Hello! I am new to the this forum but have searched it for advice in the past and have been lurking for the past month. I am off of Oxycontin for a month now, started cold turkey and then have been on Suboxone for about two weeks
I am also on:
Adderall
Klonopin
Zoloft
and have just started
Lunesta and Sonata
Just wondering what other people's experiences are with these drugs and recovery. Just a quick note to get started is what this is, really! Trouble with insomnia and depression (look at the meds). Things have been rocky so far, especially with the holidays, but I have not relapsed and the Sub is managing things very well! I have a great doctor and other people I am working with, but I decided not to go the inpatient route for a number of reasons, chief among them are privacy and not wanting my life disrupted any more than it has to be.
So I guess I am looking for some support here, support that would be kind of akin to what "group" meetings are about, in that I would hear from people who have had similar experiences. I am eager to get involved and offer what experience and help I can. Hope you guys are as welcoming as the board seems!
My first question is about the drugs I am currently on, I can post dosages in a later thread if it would help, and I know it may seem unusual but they are all scripted from one doc...I know some won't prescribe benzo's or adderall or others to someone who is coming off an addiction but I'm only taking whats scripted for me.
posternutbag
I am also on:
Adderall
Klonopin
Zoloft
and have just started
Lunesta and Sonata
Just wondering what other people's experiences are with these drugs and recovery. Just a quick note to get started is what this is, really! Trouble with insomnia and depression (look at the meds). Things have been rocky so far, especially with the holidays, but I have not relapsed and the Sub is managing things very well! I have a great doctor and other people I am working with, but I decided not to go the inpatient route for a number of reasons, chief among them are privacy and not wanting my life disrupted any more than it has to be.
So I guess I am looking for some support here, support that would be kind of akin to what "group" meetings are about, in that I would hear from people who have had similar experiences. I am eager to get involved and offer what experience and help I can. Hope you guys are as welcoming as the board seems!
My first question is about the drugs I am currently on, I can post dosages in a later thread if it would help, and I know it may seem unusual but they are all scripted from one doc...I know some won't prescribe benzo's or adderall or others to someone who is coming off an addiction but I'm only taking whats scripted for me.
posternutbag
An update on me…
As most of you know I had about three months clean and was feeling a bit better every day. I had these weird dips downward of disassociation and severe depression but they never lasted more than a few days. I was medicated with Effexor (112.5mg daily), Klonopin (0.5mg-1.5mg daily) and Seroquel XR (50mg-100mg daily). I rarely took the Seroquel as it made everything generally worse and I kept the Klonopin down to a low-level so as to not develop a benzo dependence.
Fast-forward from August 23rd to around November 24th or so and I'm feeling really bad. Not just REALLY bad but worse than I've ever felt in my entire life. The meds are doing nothing anymore. I schedule an emergency meeting with the psychiatrist.
I explain everything to her. How I've suffered from bouts of disassociation/depression/anxiety for long periods (6+ months each time) since the age of 8. There is no reason for an eighty year old to suffer from these kinds of symptoms on a purely psychological basis, so she concluded, as I had many moons ago, that my depression is endogenous and almost totally physical in nature.
I explained to her how I had tried a long list of anti-depressant medication (illegally) before I found narcotics. None of them ever did a damn bit of good and the only thing that ever took my symptoms away was a moderate dose of opiate medication. I wasn't so much having a barnburner of a time taking opiates as I was just using them to feel some semblance of normalcy from the beginning.
After years of using oxycodone daily I never seemed to develop a tolerance, and though I always had enough money and enough supply to take more than 5-20mgs daily, I rarely, if ever, did.
Oxycodone gave me a life. It made me feel what I assume most normal people must feel like. I never really felt "high" (certainly not in the way most people describe) or out of control or anything like that.
After doing a lot of research I came to the conclusion that I have some kind of genetic endorphin dysfunction. A SPECT scan revealed that my brain activity was consistent with that of someone with extremely low (almost non-existant) levels of dopamine and endogenous opioids who don't respond to traditional anti-depressants, SSRI, tricyclic or MAOI.
While most people get progressively better as they remove opiates from their diet, I got progressively worse. Around the end of November I was so disassociated everything started to look 2-dimensional, like I was living in a world of paper. I experienced time distortion, event-continuity distortion and a host of other psychotic symptoms.
I gave in. I threw my toxic medication away and resumed my habit by insufflating 10mg of oxycodone. Within ten minutes all of my symptoms disappeared and I began wondering WTF I'd been doing for the last three months and why I even put myself through that hell to begin with.
I explained all of this to my psychiatrist and showed her some research I'd found on the internet about severe refractory neurosis being treated with opioids very successfully. She agreed with me completely; in that my quality of life and well-being was more important than outside opinions of my consumption and stiff prohibition laws. However, she was not technically allowed to prescribe these kinds of medications at her clinic (even though she legally is). She referred me to a hospital in downtown Montreal where they deal with this exact thing.
I have an appointment in early January and she said I could expect to be treated with Methadone and if it doesn't work I'd be supplied with my opiate of choice (besides diamorphine, obviously, not that I'd want it anyway).
The point I'm trying to convey here is that while most people who abuse opiates do so for pleasure, some of us do it out of necessity. Not once in my years of using Oxycodone did I consider using something harder, or using more than I was accustomed to because I had found a medication that finally made me feel like a human being and I didn't want to screw it up. I'm not condoning any of you go back to using, but I'm saying that a small minority of us that choose opiates may do so for reasons that are as legitimate as a diabetic taking insulin.
Well that's it I guess. I assume I'm still free to post here even if I'm not "clean"? :P
Fast-forward from August 23rd to around November 24th or so and I'm feeling really bad. Not just REALLY bad but worse than I've ever felt in my entire life. The meds are doing nothing anymore. I schedule an emergency meeting with the psychiatrist.
I explain everything to her. How I've suffered from bouts of disassociation/depression/anxiety for long periods (6+ months each time) since the age of 8. There is no reason for an eighty year old to suffer from these kinds of symptoms on a purely psychological basis, so she concluded, as I had many moons ago, that my depression is endogenous and almost totally physical in nature.
I explained to her how I had tried a long list of anti-depressant medication (illegally) before I found narcotics. None of them ever did a damn bit of good and the only thing that ever took my symptoms away was a moderate dose of opiate medication. I wasn't so much having a barnburner of a time taking opiates as I was just using them to feel some semblance of normalcy from the beginning.
After years of using oxycodone daily I never seemed to develop a tolerance, and though I always had enough money and enough supply to take more than 5-20mgs daily, I rarely, if ever, did.
Oxycodone gave me a life. It made me feel what I assume most normal people must feel like. I never really felt "high" (certainly not in the way most people describe) or out of control or anything like that.
After doing a lot of research I came to the conclusion that I have some kind of genetic endorphin dysfunction. A SPECT scan revealed that my brain activity was consistent with that of someone with extremely low (almost non-existant) levels of dopamine and endogenous opioids who don't respond to traditional anti-depressants, SSRI, tricyclic or MAOI.
While most people get progressively better as they remove opiates from their diet, I got progressively worse. Around the end of November I was so disassociated everything started to look 2-dimensional, like I was living in a world of paper. I experienced time distortion, event-continuity distortion and a host of other psychotic symptoms.
I gave in. I threw my toxic medication away and resumed my habit by insufflating 10mg of oxycodone. Within ten minutes all of my symptoms disappeared and I began wondering WTF I'd been doing for the last three months and why I even put myself through that hell to begin with.
I explained all of this to my psychiatrist and showed her some research I'd found on the internet about severe refractory neurosis being treated with opioids very successfully. She agreed with me completely; in that my quality of life and well-being was more important than outside opinions of my consumption and stiff prohibition laws. However, she was not technically allowed to prescribe these kinds of medications at her clinic (even though she legally is). She referred me to a hospital in downtown Montreal where they deal with this exact thing.
I have an appointment in early January and she said I could expect to be treated with Methadone and if it doesn't work I'd be supplied with my opiate of choice (besides diamorphine, obviously, not that I'd want it anyway).
The point I'm trying to convey here is that while most people who abuse opiates do so for pleasure, some of us do it out of necessity. Not once in my years of using Oxycodone did I consider using something harder, or using more than I was accustomed to because I had found a medication that finally made me feel like a human being and I didn't want to screw it up. I'm not condoning any of you go back to using, but I'm saying that a small minority of us that choose opiates may do so for reasons that are as legitimate as a diabetic taking insulin.
Well that's it I guess. I assume I'm still free to post here even if I'm not "clean"? :P
60 days off opiates and booze. now trying to get off benzos
We'll, Ive made it 60 days off opiates and booze. I have felt pretty much bad the whole 60 days, however, I know now that the klonopin is causing my problems.
The benzos are hell trying to get off.
Im only on .5 mg a day but this chit sucks. I found a website thats helping me taper though.
STAY AWAY FROM THE BENZO's. TOTAL HELL THEY ARE.
The benzos are hell trying to get off.
Im only on .5 mg a day but this chit sucks. I found a website thats helping me taper though.
STAY AWAY FROM THE BENZO's. TOTAL HELL THEY ARE.
Does it ever end?
I have been suffering from Panic Disorder for 11 years now. I have been on Klonopin 1mg 3 times a day for almost 9 years now. I am gettng off vicodin addiction now and the klonopin helps still, yet the panic is still there. No triggers, I could be standing in the kitchen getting a drink of water and bam a panic attack,
What I really want to know is....After suffering from panic attacks so long can one turn into a paranoid schizo? Or something like that? That is my main worry as I have kids and a wife and dont want to go all ape shite on them one day because of this.
Doc is going to be putting me on Effexor as well soon (just moved to a new state and waiting for insurance to kick in)
Thanks for any input!
What I really want to know is....After suffering from panic attacks so long can one turn into a paranoid schizo? Or something like that? That is my main worry as I have kids and a wife and dont want to go all ape shite on them one day because of this.
Doc is going to be putting me on Effexor as well soon (just moved to a new state and waiting for insurance to kick in)
Thanks for any input!
Hello To All
I put this thread in the new to recovery (alcoholic forum, Think I made a mistake)
As an Admin for a pc help site I know how frustrating it can be at times!
Here is the story thus far.
Where to start? I have been helping others on pc forums for years, so you would think I would feel at ease doing this!
My name is Brandon and about 5 years ago I had a kidney stone. The doctors gave me a prescription for Vicodin. Well I took the 2 I was supposed to and got real out of it and forgot I took 2 and took 2 more. All of a sudden I was struck with sooo much energy I cleaned the house (wife was happy) and stayed up for a whole day. This is where my addiction started.
About 3 years ago my doc would no longer prescribe me the pills so I started hospital jumping (I think that is what you call it) and I got pretty good at it.(stuck pins in my fingers to fake blood in my urine which show's a kidney stone etc.)
Now 4 years later I just moved to Indiana and have visited 4 hospitals about 4 or 5 times each. I am addicted to the energy they give me. I really dont get "high" off of them but get tons of energy. After reading a little bit it seems I dont take as many as one can. I usually take 4 or 5 7.5's a day. 3 at once and another 2 later in the day.
I find coming off of them though feels the same as others have expressed. Feels like getting hit by a truck, no energy depressed and agitated. My wife is getting fed up with it (as she should) I wish I knew what to do. My pride gets in the way of going to rehab, I also suffer from Panic Disorder and take 2 Mg's of Klonopin a day for almost 10 years. (have not abused those) and the Vicodin took care of the panic attacks as well. Have been off of them for 2 days now and just feel like crud. Have exhausted hospitals (which is good) just afraid I will start going to different dentists now and telling them my tooth hurts. I told my wife to hide the keys so I wont, but I have to go to work. She says I get really angry when she wont give me the keys (as she knows what I am up to).
Sorry for the long post but it feels good to tell someone (even if it is online) this story as I have not told anyone ever before (except the wife) I know it is not good for my kids to see me lying around when I come off the pills.
SO my question is what can or should I do?
As an Admin for a pc help site I know how frustrating it can be at times!
Here is the story thus far.
Where to start? I have been helping others on pc forums for years, so you would think I would feel at ease doing this!
My name is Brandon and about 5 years ago I had a kidney stone. The doctors gave me a prescription for Vicodin. Well I took the 2 I was supposed to and got real out of it and forgot I took 2 and took 2 more. All of a sudden I was struck with sooo much energy I cleaned the house (wife was happy) and stayed up for a whole day. This is where my addiction started.
About 3 years ago my doc would no longer prescribe me the pills so I started hospital jumping (I think that is what you call it) and I got pretty good at it.(stuck pins in my fingers to fake blood in my urine which show's a kidney stone etc.)
Now 4 years later I just moved to Indiana and have visited 4 hospitals about 4 or 5 times each. I am addicted to the energy they give me. I really dont get "high" off of them but get tons of energy. After reading a little bit it seems I dont take as many as one can. I usually take 4 or 5 7.5's a day. 3 at once and another 2 later in the day.
I find coming off of them though feels the same as others have expressed. Feels like getting hit by a truck, no energy depressed and agitated. My wife is getting fed up with it (as she should) I wish I knew what to do. My pride gets in the way of going to rehab, I also suffer from Panic Disorder and take 2 Mg's of Klonopin a day for almost 10 years. (have not abused those) and the Vicodin took care of the panic attacks as well. Have been off of them for 2 days now and just feel like crud. Have exhausted hospitals (which is good) just afraid I will start going to different dentists now and telling them my tooth hurts. I told my wife to hide the keys so I wont, but I have to go to work. She says I get really angry when she wont give me the keys (as she knows what I am up to).
Sorry for the long post but it feels good to tell someone (even if it is online) this story as I have not told anyone ever before (except the wife) I know it is not good for my kids to see me lying around when I come off the pills.
SO my question is what can or should I do?
Hello To All
Where to start? I have been helping others on pc forums for years, so you would think I would feel at ease doing this!
My name is Brandon and about 5 years ago I had a kidney stone. The doctors gave me a prescription for Vicodin. Well I took the 2 I was supposed to and got real out of it and forgot I took 2 and took 2 more. All of a sudden I was struck with sooo much energy I cleaned the house (wife was happy) and stayed up for a whole day. This is where my addiction started.
About 3 years ago my doc would no longer prescribe me the pills so I started hospital jumping (I think that is what you call it) and I got pretty good at it.(stuck pins in my fingers to fake blood in my urine which show's a kidney stone etc.)
Now 4 years later I just moved to Indiana and have visited 4 hospitals about 4 or 5 times each. I am addicted to the energy they give me. I really dont get "high" off of them but get tons of energy. After reading a little bit it seems I dont take as many as one can. I usually take 4 or 5 7.5's a day. 3 at once and another 2 later in the day.
I find coming off of them though feels the same as others have expressed. Feels like getting hit by a truck, no energy depressed and agitated. My wife is getting fed up with it (as she should) I wish I knew what to do. My pride gets in the way of going to rehab, I also suffer from Panic Disorder and take 2 Mg's of Klonopin a day for almost 10 years. (have not abused those) and the Vicodin took care of the panic attacks as well. Have been off of them for 2 days now and just feel like crud. Have exhausted hospitals (which is good) just afraid I will start going to different dentists now and telling them my tooth hurts. I told my wife to hide the keys so I wont, but I have to go to work. She says I get really angry when she wont give me the keys (as she knows what I am up to).
Sorry for the long post but it feels good to tell someone (even if it is online) this story as I have not told anyone ever before (except the wife) I know it is not good for my kids to see me lying around when I come off the pills.
SO my question is what can or should I do?
Edit: I hope this in the right forum.. As I now see the NA forum =(
My name is Brandon and about 5 years ago I had a kidney stone. The doctors gave me a prescription for Vicodin. Well I took the 2 I was supposed to and got real out of it and forgot I took 2 and took 2 more. All of a sudden I was struck with sooo much energy I cleaned the house (wife was happy) and stayed up for a whole day. This is where my addiction started.
About 3 years ago my doc would no longer prescribe me the pills so I started hospital jumping (I think that is what you call it) and I got pretty good at it.(stuck pins in my fingers to fake blood in my urine which show's a kidney stone etc.)
Now 4 years later I just moved to Indiana and have visited 4 hospitals about 4 or 5 times each. I am addicted to the energy they give me. I really dont get "high" off of them but get tons of energy. After reading a little bit it seems I dont take as many as one can. I usually take 4 or 5 7.5's a day. 3 at once and another 2 later in the day.
I find coming off of them though feels the same as others have expressed. Feels like getting hit by a truck, no energy depressed and agitated. My wife is getting fed up with it (as she should) I wish I knew what to do. My pride gets in the way of going to rehab, I also suffer from Panic Disorder and take 2 Mg's of Klonopin a day for almost 10 years. (have not abused those) and the Vicodin took care of the panic attacks as well. Have been off of them for 2 days now and just feel like crud. Have exhausted hospitals (which is good) just afraid I will start going to different dentists now and telling them my tooth hurts. I told my wife to hide the keys so I wont, but I have to go to work. She says I get really angry when she wont give me the keys (as she knows what I am up to).
Sorry for the long post but it feels good to tell someone (even if it is online) this story as I have not told anyone ever before (except the wife) I know it is not good for my kids to see me lying around when I come off the pills.
SO my question is what can or should I do?
Edit: I hope this in the right forum.. As I now see the NA forum =(
I post on the other board yesterday, AH admitted to trying to kill himself!!
He admitted to me on the phone that the day he was real messed up, got fired from him job and ultimately kicked out of our home that he had take 40 to 50 50mg demerol, I forget how many merergan fortis and klonopin. He said he was so ashamed of coming back here to me under the impression that he had clean for a year and then me finding out it was a big fat lie pushed him over the edge. He's surprised he's alive and so am I.
I didn't put him on my insurance for the upcoming year but reminded him he was still insured until the end of December and encouraged rehab. I told him that I would work as much extra at the hospital as I could (which is not much, with the economy the way it is people don't come to the hospital because they don't have insurance) that I would pay his child support and student loan until he got out. He sounded like he was going to go admitting he needed help. But, he said I have to think about it. Today, I texted him to see what he decided and he said no for many addict reasonings. I told him that I wished him well but that today would be the last time we speak again. I changed both of my telephone numbers (never went that far in the past 11 yrs). I also blocked him for my email. I have mixed feelings of relief and anger. He said , when I offered rehab and taking care of his bills " I wish you didn't love me so much". Not sure why he said that!!
I didn't put him on my insurance for the upcoming year but reminded him he was still insured until the end of December and encouraged rehab. I told him that I would work as much extra at the hospital as I could (which is not much, with the economy the way it is people don't come to the hospital because they don't have insurance) that I would pay his child support and student loan until he got out. He sounded like he was going to go admitting he needed help. But, he said I have to think about it. Today, I texted him to see what he decided and he said no for many addict reasonings. I told him that I wished him well but that today would be the last time we speak again. I changed both of my telephone numbers (never went that far in the past 11 yrs). I also blocked him for my email. I have mixed feelings of relief and anger. He said , when I offered rehab and taking care of his bills " I wish you didn't love me so much". Not sure why he said that!!
tapering off klonopin.
Hi everyone. I am a new comer first time posting! So i been taking klonopin for about a year and a half and i am trying to get off it. I been taking 2mg for about a year and then tapered off to 1mg and now taking .5mg per night to sleep. My psychraist prescribed me trazodone and seroquel to help me taper off. I dont know how effective trazodone and seroquel is but i think it is working and as i am down to .5mg of klonopin per night. On November 13th i will be getting off on klonopin completly. I have been taking .5mg for the last 2 weeks and i hope i will not withdrawl from it. I am very scared and anxious. I have also been taking codiene cough syrup but i have ran out. I think i am withdrawing from that right now. i get very nervous and anxious and cant still stay in one spot. What do you guys think of my meds? i'm very uncomfortable these past few days and i'm trying to hang in there. I think that my physcian shouldnt of prescribed me codiene cough syrup cause i think i am addicted to it now.
