Posted by curmudgeon on July 12, 2006, at 15:50:41
In reply to HELP!!!, posted by kaseyintrouble on July 12, 2006, at 14:45:03
Hi, Kasey:
This thread might be redirected to one of the other boards......Anyway, I'll tell you a little bit about my experience with Klonopin. I took it, at 2+ mg/day for almost 8 years. My shrink didn't tell me about the addiction/withdrawal stuff. Nor did she realize that Klonopin contributed directly to my explosiveness (medical term: disinhibition), although she was trying to treat that with other meds. During previous times that I was briefly without the drug (brief hospitalization, ran out, trying to stop), the extreme discomfort and insomnia I was experiencing was due to withdrawal, although I was unaware of the reason. I tried a slow taper in 2004 but failed. Last December I stopped cold turkey because I wanted to and had no source for prescriptions. The discomfort started about 4 days later and was horrible. This time I suspected withdrawal and found www.benzo.org/uk, where I found gobs of info about these drugs and the problems associated with them. My withdrawal symptoms, which were getting worse and would continue for about 2 weeks, matched many of those described on the website. The insomnia (which sleeping meds didn’t help) was the worst, followed by extreme agitation, shakes and ringing in my ears. The site’s descriptions of long-term problems scared the crap out of me. It got so bad that my wife wanted to check me into a hospital but I didn’t feel that it would help. At the height of my withdrawal, I spoke to the doc who was prescribing it all these years (I had moved to another state and no longer had a shrink) and she was willing to re-prescribe Klonopin for an extended wean-off but suggested that I stick it out since I had come this far. I agreed. It was hell but the symptoms started to abate after about 2 weeks. The longest lasting problem was insomnia. I took Ambien (which now was working) most nights until recently. Finally, I am sleeping on my own. I sleep lousy but I’ve had sleep problems most of my adult life. And it’s kinda ironic that the Klonopin was originally prescribed for sleep problems. The upside is that I survived the ordeal. Personally, I feel that benzos are often treated by docs as innocuous drugs. But anyone who’s gone through withdrawal would not agree. But I’m OK now and I’m sure you will be, too. The only thing I’m not sure about is whether cold turkey or slow taper is better….except for the fact that during slow taper, you have the drug in your possesion; too easy to take more. Best wishes.
poster:curmudgeon
thread:666384
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20060709/msgs/666409.html