Posted by cubbybear on May 16, 2003, at 9:53:26
In reply to How's the Klonopin Washout Going?--CubbyBear, posted by Jack Smith on May 15, 2003, at 13:30:09
Hi Jack,
Great to hear from you. I always see your name on this board so I'm assuming you've been following my progress with the Parnate as well as my latest doings with the Klonopin.
After encountering withdrawal anxiety and insomnia for the first time at the 2.50 mg dose, I had to get a different doctor since the first guy turned out to be an SOB who refused to let me backpedal to 2.75 and was adamant about my proceding with his plan to have me go down .25 mg per week regardless. I could go off on a tangent that this kind of borders on malpractice--but as we say here, T.I.T. =this is Thailand. Thais have subtle ways of telling you they don't want to see you anymore.
Anyway, after experiencing the discomforts of benzo withdrawal, I got pretty scared. The new doctor was fully amenable to letting me go at my own pace. So I went backwards to 2.75 mg for a couple of weeks. I made the decision to proceed with the decrease at the ultra slow rate of .125 mg. How many days will I stay on each dose? I guess about one week--barring any unforseen subsequent problems. I bought a pill cutter and cut the .5 mg tablet into quarters. I took my first 2.625 mg dose two nights ago (Wed. night) and immediately felt a change in the sleep category. Same again last night--not bad but not so great either. Boy, have I developed a dependency on Klonopin. This is going to be a long, drawn-out affair to zero milligrams.
One other thing I've realized is that Parnate is a fairly stimulating AD which tends to cause insomnia, so it may be contributing to the difficulty of withdrawing from the Klonopin. Make sense? Perhaps in a couple of months, provided I'm feeling fully confident and unstressed, I'll decrease my dose of Parnate from 40 mg. to 30 mg. and that might make the Klonopin reduction easier.
One day at a time. . .By the way, I'm not sure if I still have your E-mail address but if you have mine would you please send me an E-mail and I will give you the hot scoop on my personal plans for the future.)
Take care
poster:cubbybear
thread:226869
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030514/msgs/227023.html