Re:Klonopin withdrawal (w/response)

[Guest guest]

kkilmartin@... writes:

<<Thanks ,

I am still seeking your advice . I am trying to find a " baseline " so

that I can start a withdrawal dose. My dose for 8 years was 1.5MG per

day, before having problems and attempting withdrawal on my own.

Going up to 2mg was pure hell and walking around as a total zombie

without being able to move, drive, or make sense to anyone. I used the

word " sedated " as I got it from my pharmacist. I won't elaborate but

whether this is still withdrawal or sedation, this cannot be the

baseline dose I am trying to achieve.

Now I am back at .5mg 3xday (1.5) of klonopin, but still feel like

withdrawal.

So I ask again where do I go from here? I tried twice to move up to the

2 mg and felt some relief when reduced back to 1.5 MG., but as you

explained this relief is just temporary

I've been at this for 7 weeks now and I am still going going through

this same dose withdrawal trying to move on with my care.

More below:

>

> ** Kathy, I'm going to comment up here and I'm going to delete most of

the past history below because it has now become too long. Your original

post is right below my comment here.

>

> Everything you describe screams withdrawal to me, not over sedation.

If it was over-sedation you wouldn't be feeling badly late afternoon in

the ways that you are feeling badly. You could not have a panic attack

from being too sedated. It is physiologically impossible. But, you CAN

have one from being in withdrawal.

K: To clarify. I had the panic attack on the lower 1.5 withdrawal

dose, not at what I termed the sedated dose. It was after this episode

and how I continued to feel that day and night that I began the increase

at the late PM dose.

I was attributing my afternoon fatigue to the pill I take in the

afternoon and my lack of sleep at night.

,>

> While in general I would see no problem with trying twice a day, the

problem here is that you are currently exhibiting signs of withdrawal

when taking this 3x a day. What are you proposing dose-wise for 2x a

day?

> K; though it maybe more convenient to do 2x day I think this is adding

another variable that may not be the best idea right now.

> Was the original dose, before you ran into trouble, 2X a day?

K: I was taking all 3 pills (1.5mg) at night for sleep. It was

originally 1 3x day for my neuralgia but over the years somewhere I

started taking them all at night. it was the severe headaches in the

morning that was one of the symptoms that made me first look into the

klonopin. I adjusted to 3 x day with no relief

Kathy

's response:

** Kathy, if I were trying to find a baseline and one dose is too much and

one dose is too little, the next logical step would be for me to try a dose in

between these two. That would be 1.75mg.

If that didn't work for me I would opt to take the higher dose and count on

adjusting to it. But there's one thing that makes no sense. You were

originally taking the full 1.5mg at bedtime and never complained of being too

sedated. But now, taking less than that at bedtime and 2 other small doses

during the day and you believe you are too sedated.

A few possibilities come to mind.

1)Try two doses a day instead of 3 and see what happens.

2) Have you been taking pills from the same prescription since this issue began

or have you had to refill the bottle since the problem began? It's not unheard

of for pills to not be the strength or even type they are said to be.

3) Tell me again the very beginning of how far you got when you first

attempted withdrawal on your own. Be as detailed as you possibly can. An

example:

" I decreased by 0.5mg for one week, then I dropped another 0.5 mg. I felt

weird the next day but by the 2nd day I had xyz symptoms. I stayed at this dose

and never went any lower. "

Make sure to include what you did in response to having withdrawal symptoms.

4) Are you absolutely sure these symptoms didn't begin until you began

reducing the klonopin? Just checking...

I know you must be pulling your hair out right now but whenever an answer is

elusive it's because a detail is being overlooked.

I haven't gone this far with a problem like this in the group since 2005 when

we had only a few hundred people. It takes too much time and attention this

way. Your needs are not well-served. This type of case is best served in private

consultation. It is there that the clues show up. Being able to converse in real

time makes this happen. There's no altering what you say and clues come out of

this. If we can't find out the missing clue in the next two exchanges, I have to

bow out of it in this forum and recommend that you book privately with me.

Regards,