# BENZO withdrawl!



## optimusrhyme (Aug 24, 2004)

is anybody here going through benzo withdrawl?? what type of symptoms do ya got?

Im 2.5 months off of klonopin and its the most horrifying thing i've ever experienced.Please be careful when you come off benzosand read the ashton manual!!

Heres a link:

http://www.benzo.org.uk/manual/index.htm

holla back

jordan


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## handyandy (Apr 28, 2010)

Hey! I'm going through withdrawals, I'm feeling for you! How are you coping, thus far?

Benzo's are one of the hardest things to get off! I had brain fog for about 6 months... still not real good. in a constant state of DP.

How you doing?



Optimusrhyme said:


> is anybody here going through benzo withdrawl?? what type of symptoms do ya got?
> 
> Im 2.5 months off of klonopin and its the most horrifying thing i've ever experienced.Please be careful when you come off benzosand read the ashton manual!!
> 
> ...


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## Guest (Apr 28, 2010)

Sigh. Sorry about this.

My fear. I wanted to kill myself, the DP was so bad ... not drug induced ... since childhood. By a stroke of luck in 1987 I got on Klonopin. It literally saved my life. I've been on 6mg/day since then, so that's what 23 years this summer. For me, my DP was horrific BEFORE Klonopin. All the other benzos did nothing, and stopping them did nothing.

I KNOW without Klonpin my life will be a living Hell. NOTHING ELSE worked.

Meantime, I'm 51 ... I don't dare go off of it, even if it takes 3 years, as I KNOW I will return to what I lived with since childhood.

I also talked with my therapist today. She has said, in her long experience ... (25 years?) ... many individuals have DP/DR WITHOUT ANXIETY.

I cannot live without clonazepam (generic). Until some miracle occurs in medicine ... which I doubt will occur in my lifetime. I will take this.

Anyone going off of this, TAKE ALL THE TIME IN THE WORLD to go off of it. Please.

For me, the risk/benefit is worth it.
Seriously, if the severe DP comes back ... I cannot live. It's as simple as that.

Best of luck to all of you.
TAKE AS LONG AS YOU CAN TO GO OFF OF IT.
And no, I don't know why I tolerate this so well. Different metabolism I had since birth.
I have no recollection of not having some level of DP, and at some point I was so "non-existent" I couldn't function.
<3
D


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## aloof (Nov 18, 2008)

Ive been on Klonopin just about a year now and I say I want off of it but then when i try my original horrid detachment symptoms come back. I have only been on a low dose of 0.5 mg per day for most of the time...but I have lived with severe chronic anxiety since my teens and even earlier. The DP kicked in in my early 20s but it is a function of the anxiety(and OCD) in my case. The Klonopin still helps, but its not as effective as it was and I do not want to increase my dose i refuse to go that route. I really would like to be off of it but it lessens my DP still. I am also on Trileptal which helps some mostly as a mood stabilizer but lately I have been mildly depressed so I am experimenting with a small dose of Ritalin as a mood booster. I also have Lexapro which I may try but I hate SSRIs and responded poorly to Zoloft and Prozac......It is certainly difficult to find the right med cocktail with this damn DPD and maintain a constant feeling of well being and feeling comfortable...its like a moving target- nothing seems to work well for long.


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## Guest (Apr 29, 2010)

aloof said:


> Ive been on Klonopin just about a year now and I say I want off of it but then when i try my original horrid detachment symptoms come back. I have only been on a low dose of 0.5 mg per day for most of the time...but I have lived with severe chronic anxiety since my teens and even earlier. The DP kicked in in my early 20s but it is a function of the anxiety(and OCD) in my case. The Klonopin still helps, but its not as effective as it was and I do not want to increase my dose i refuse to go that route. I really would like to be off of it but it lessens my DP still. I am also on Trileptal which helps some mostly as a mood stabilizer but lately I have been mildly depressed so I am experimenting with a small dose of Ritalin as a mood booster. I also have Lexapro which I may try but I hate SSRIs and responded poorly to Zoloft and Prozac......It is certainly difficult to find the right med cocktail with this damn DPD and maintain a constant feeling of well being and feeling comfortable...its like a moving target- nothing seems to work well for long.


I hear ya' ... the fact that I can tolerate 6mg/day of Klonopin stuns people, but it is my mainstay. I also take Lamictal 200mg/day which also helped. I'm also on Celexa 40mg/day. This in a sense is the "British Cocktail." Interesting that the anti-convulsants (which are used for so many other things now) seem to be most productive. I've said before, huge doses of Valium, Xanax, Ativan, in the past did nothing for me. It was only the Klonpin. I know a number of people who have responded very well to Neurontin as well. Thing with Klonpin and other anti-convulsants is individuals with seizures can take VERY high doses. I believe the maximum for Klonpin is 20mg/day ... and that would be pushing it. But for someone with seizures, the concern going off of it is ... seizures. So again, risk/benefit.

I also got negative results from Prozac (very jittery), Anafranil (slept all the time), on and on.

*For those of us who have had this since childhood, and have severe comorbid anxiety, it's a Catch 22. I know many don't want to be on these meds.

I'll say for the 1,000th time. Re: Klonopin/clonazepam. IT IS NOT A TAKE AS NEEDED MEDICATION. I take it every day on a regular schedule, just like my Lamictal and my Celexa. I have never abused it. I only know that without it I can't live, I was NOT functioning in any way -- had trouble all through school, etc. though I pushed myself to the limit. I can't live that way.*

For me, the meds have given me stability, for quite some time. I'm not back in "reality" -- haven't been for years ... but it is tolerable. It's all I expect. But this damned DP/DR has taken away so many things I wanted in life.

You do what you have to do. But I'll say this again to people. DO NOT TAKE KLONOPIN AS NEEDED. DETERMINE A REGULAR DOSE THAT SEEMS TO BE OF SOME HELP RE: THE DP/DR AND STAY AT THAT DOSE. IF YOU WANT OFF, TAKE AS LONG AS POSSIBLE. THE CATCH 22 IS IF YOU HAD SEVERE DP/DR BEFORE YOU GO OFF ... WELL WHEN YOU GO OFF, YOU WILL HAVE WHAT YOU STARTED WITH. I will not discontinue this medication. At 51 I am not pleased about this. About how I will tolerate it as I get older. But I consider it like cholesterol medication, or blood pressure meds (which thank God I don't take) -- take it or risk heart attack and stroke, etc., etc.

Best,
D


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## aloof (Nov 18, 2008)

Dreamer* said:


> I hear ya' ... the fact that I can tolerate 6mg/day of Klonopin stuns people, but it is my mainstay. I also take Lamictal 200mg/day which also helped. I'm also on Celexa 40mg/day. This in a sense is the "British Cocktail." Interesting that the anti-convulsants (which are used for so many other things now) seem to be most productive. I've said before, huge doses of Valium, Xanax, Ativan, in the past did nothing for me. It was only the Klonpin. I know a number of people who have responded very well to Neurontin as well. Thing with Klonpin and other anti-convulsants is individuals with seizures can take VERY high doses. I believe the maximum for Klonpin is 20mg/day ... and that would be pushing it. But for someone with seizures, the concern going off of it is ... seizures. So again, risk/benefit.
> 
> I also got negative results from Prozac (very jittery), Anafranil (slept all the time), on and on.
> 
> ...


Yeah my experience is the same. I have found only the anti-seizure meds to be beneficial- trileptal, klonopin and i have also taken small doses of neurontin as well. Meds that mess with serotonin and dopamine have not been good to me. I may still try Lexapro for the hell of it as an adjunct at 5 or 10 mg....only because it does apparently work well for many people for anxiety and OCD. GABA is really the deal though in my opinion when it comes to chronic anxiety/DP.


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## Guest (May 3, 2010)

Dreamer, can't agree with you more, I don't care if I'm on this the rest of my life, and at my age (23) it could be cut short due to the intake of my medicine, but hey, we all live the life we live, id rather live a shorter life on klonopin and happy, than a longer one afraid to leave the house cause of the DP. I'm sticking with the only thing that's cured me.


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## psychiatrysucks (Oct 17, 2007)

aloof said:


> Ive been on Klonopin just about a year now and I say I want off of it but then when i try my original horrid detachment symptoms come back. I have only been on a low dose of 0.5 mg per day for most of the time...but I have lived with severe chronic anxiety since my teens and even earlier. The DP kicked in in my early 20s but it is a function of the anxiety(and OCD) in my case. The Klonopin still helps, but its not as effective as it was and I do not want to increase my dose i refuse to go that route. I really would like to be off of it but it lessens my DP still. I am also on Trileptal which helps some mostly as a mood stabilizer but lately I have been mildly depressed so I am experimenting with a small dose of Ritalin as a mood booster. I also have Lexapro which I may try but I hate SSRIs and responded poorly to Zoloft and Prozac......It is certainly difficult to find the right med cocktail with this damn DPD and maintain a constant feeling of well being and feeling comfortable...its like a moving target- nothing seems to work well for long.


Lexapro and all SRIS are great for OCD. Whathappened in your case?


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## aloof (Nov 18, 2008)

psychiatrysucks said:


> Lexapro and all SRIS are great for OCD. Whathappened in your case?


havent tried it yet. I am very hesitant because any SSRI/SNRIs I have tried have all fucked me up- Prozac, Zoloft, Cymbalta and also Wellbutrin all either made my DP worse or made me more agitated/obsessive. So I am not sure about the Lexapro I guess it depends on how well I can manage with what I am doing now.


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