Re: Tapering Clonazepam

[Guest guest]

Sherry writes:

<<Dear ,

I hope you¹re feeling a lot better now.

I need some guidance on how to proceed from where I am now. I was given .5 mg

of Clonazepam last September. I¹ve been gradually tapering, but seem to lose

about 2 days of life from nausea each time I try a cut. I¹m now at

..15mg. When I cut from .25 mg to .2 I had one day of heavy anxiety and 2 days

of nausea. Then I cut from .2 to .17 and had about the same reaction. So I

tried .17 to .15 and again I had the bad nausea. >>

** Unless the nausea is unbearable, 2 days for that and one for anxiety is

to be expected. There's no way to do it with no reaction. These drugs cause

unnatural changes in chemistry and brain structure so there is no way to do this

symptom-free. Anyone who says you can is misinformed or trying to sell

something.

Sherry writes:

<<I¹m taking 300mg of Avapro, 100 mg of progesterone and a .5 mg patch of

estradial. I¹m really eating healthy organic food. I¹ve cut the supplements

for now. I took 3 weeks between each cut ­ should I take more time? Should I

switch to Valium and cut on that? I¹m really confused on how I should proceed.

>>

** Why would you cut out the supplements? What supplements and doses were

you taking?

As far as 3 weeks between decreases, I'm sure you've read that I tell people

it's not about counting the time between decreases. The only true way to do it

is to listen to your body. When you feel as well or better than you felt prior

to the cut is the only time the next cut should be done. If you can't say you're

now as well or better than right before the decrease, you're not ready for the

decrease.

I'd have to know more about you before I would know if switching to Valium

would be in your best interests.

Sherry writes:

<<Should I have a private appointment with you? I have an appointment with my

doctor on Thursday and I¹d like to give her guidance on how to proceed ­ but I

don¹t know how.

I would appreciate anything you can tell me.

Sherry>>

** An appointment serves you well in that much more ground is covered and

protocols for drug reduction are tailored to the individual. I always recommend

that anyone on other medications take this route because some surprising things

can come up with these drugs during reductions. Also, some supplements can be

very helpful during this time.

The statement " I¹m really eating healthy organic food " is one that doesn't

tell me much. People have very different ideas on what constitutes " healthy " .

For now, I'd strongly recommend adding magnesium 3x a day. You can get

Gillham's CALM Magnesium or NOW brand powdered magnesium. Vitacost has good

prices and inexpensive shipping. This way you can titrate the dose and take a

bot during anxious times. You could begin with 500 mg a day in split doses.

I'm sure I could reduce the nausea but have to get a thorough description of

it.

I retitled this post so it would reflect the content making it useful in the

archives. Everyone should keep subjects relevant to the email. Thanks.

Regards,