It's been a LONG time since I've posted here. I'm kinda here and there. Lately I've been busy with college and have been dealing with things I haven't before or haven't in a while.

I take 3mgs of klonopin (clonazepam generic name) daily. Sometimes (especially when I'm taking the bus to classes and have to wait an hour at a time before each class just sitting there with my mind racing while everyone is happy and talking to eachother) one extra mg in the morning when I feel my head is going to explode.

Well, I saw a new doc March 27th and he demanded that I get off clonazepam quickly. His weaning schedule seems harsh to me, but I gave it a shot. From 3mgs to 2mgs IMMEDIATELY... then down to 1mg after a month... then down to 0.5mg another month and cold turkey after that. Well, that frightened me since I'm rather well-versed on benzo weaning methods and withdrawals (I tried a cold turkey withdrawal in 2004, I only lasted 2 weeks, it was awful and I was only on 1mg!)

After trying 2mgs daily after being soooo used to 3mgs, in 4 days I had full blown panic attacks and could think of nothing but awful awful things (people killing/torturing me, my soul being disemboweled forever, etc) and so I called his office, told his nurse that the jump is wayyy too much for me and she called back the next day and said "try 2.5mgs". Well, I'm at 2.5mgs now and am feeling weird. Not as bad as last time. But, getting these suicidal thoughts (I quit taking prozac 20mgs 5 weeks ago) and just agoraphobia kicking in is making me question whether I should get off this stuff.

I have no job. I am almost homeless (probably within 3 months) and now this hits me. I just want to go into a coma and have it be 2 years later with the drug out of my body and me being healthy again (just being $2,000,000 in debt to the hospital

I just gotta wait it out until I have my next doctors appointment (I switched docs). I seriously wouldn't mind being on this stuff for the rest of my life. But then again another part of me wants to be free of drugs.

I know benzo's are no easy feat to kick, but you really should try your best to get off of it. Eventually 3mg may turn into 4mg, 4 mg may turn into 5 mg......An ultra slow taper sound slike it might work best for you, but you gotta stick with it. Why did you go off the prozac? Was it not helping you? There are other SSRI's out there that are very good for anxiety and panic attacks. I'm on lexapro right now for depression but I know it has a very good reputation for treating anxiety. Maybe getting back on an SSRI could make it easier to help stop the clonazepam?

This post has been edited by maintainin: Apr 11 2007, 08:27 PM

I quit taking prozac because of financial reasons. I should probably be back on it. It's the easiest ssri to get off of (half-life of 45 days!) and to get on. I am hoping that the new doc will be more compassionate since the other doc never made eye-contact with me the entire session until he told me to leave. Hopefully in a couple years I'll be just on an ssri with no need for any benzodiazepines. I just have to somehow see my way through it. I can already hear the hell-hounds of withdrawal. Hopefully just my imagination. I don't know.

Your doctor was right that you were taking too much clonazepam.

It's possible that some of the effects that you are attributing to taking less clonazepam are actually the effects of stopping your antidepressant.

Please do talk to your doctor. Does he know that you've stopped your AD?

KA

Yes, my pdoc knows that I quit prozac. Although in retrospect I know that it was a bad idea. I thought everything was fine and quit (I've done that numerous amount of times). But, hopefully this new pdoc will agree with me that I need to stabalize on clonazepam first while getting back on prozac (never-ending cycle? not this time... maybe). I do agree that I have to get off the clonazepam and am slightly grateful for the slap in the face that I got from my pdoc.

So far it's been 5 days at the lower dose and I do feel somewhat normal now (some days are better than others), except the depression is in full gear. I would like to get on prozac since then it'd be easier to quit smoking as well. And I'd also like to get at least a part-time job so I can afford more treatment and it'd get me out of the house forcing me to face my anxieties. But I already do that to some degree by taking a long bus ride to class every-other day.

I've also started eating raw-vegan as of 2 weeks ago and have noticed that I am not as hungry as I used to be and have been dropping weight like crazy (10 lbs in one week!). Well, I should quit babbling on and drink some more coffee.

Let's hope that you won't have as many withdrawal symptoms with the slower reduction of dose. Keep us posted on how you're doing. Does your new pdoc plan to put you on any other type of medication or will he wait to see how you do unmedicated?

Vegan diets are really great for your body. One important thing to remember is to get enough protien (dry beans made into soup is especially good).Another good thing is if you quit smoking, you can reach for a piece of fruit, carrot or celery stick when you get a craving for something and you won't turn into a blimp. lol

I'm having a cup of coffee with you.
Sheepwoman

Well, it looks like I still have refills on prozac left. This should help. It's just too bad I'm not able to speak with my pdoc first. I threw out my prozac bottles a while back and well, now I need to go back on them again. Prozac is pretty much the only anti-depressant that I can tolerate. I'm hoping it goes well in conjunction with weaning off clonazepam. I just have to wait a day or more in order to get the refill I need. That's fine I suppose. I just need to overcome these overly compulsive ideations of suicide and kill this low horrible mood. Still at 2.5mgs, obviously, heh.