A big scare? A reality? Not quite a reality yet!

Question:

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Okay. I will start off with an odd introduction here. I’ve been diagnosed with recurrent depression, GAD and PD since 2003. I started a regimen of 25mg paxil and 1mg clonazepam. Over a course of four years I’ve had it upped to 3mgs (well within the accepted dosage range for controlling panic and anxiety which to my knowledge is 1-4mgs) and discontinued paxil without any withdrawal that wasn’t bearable (only lasted a week, it was more annoying than anything). Now, come late March of this year and my pdoc asks me to start weaning of clonazepam. I was warned a while ago from someone on an anti- benzo board about extremely dangerous withdrawal symptoms (they told me I wouldn’t even be able to started weaning without going insane… yeah right). So that added a bit of paranoia and anxiety to someone predisposed to both on top of weaning off anti-anxiety medication. After months of being on anti-benzo boards which perpetuated a self- destructive state of mind, more hope fell apart as I was told things such as: "well, if you haven’t experienced extreme withdrawal yet, wait till you hit 0.Xmgs"; "you absolutely cannot wean directly off clonazepam dry cutting pills, you’re insane" etc, etc. This at first didn’t put me off, but instead added to an INTENSE state of depression and panic. I’m predisposed to both as I’ve said, and have had long stints of unemployment and suicidal ideation unmedicated. Now, I think my self-preservation instincts are kicking in but it’s a tad bit late… but not too late. I’m just broke, not in college and jobless. I can remedy that situation once I resolve this issue that I might go bananas when I eventually quit clonazepam. The first step to get better for me is to stay far away from those anti-benzo places since all they throw around is paranoia and self- destruction (in one group, a moderator actually told me to use an online pharmacy to purchase more drugs to slow my taper even more (this taper is already a year long! yeesh)). The next step is to say, yes, I’m at a pretty low dosage and haven’t experienced ANY moderate withdrawal symptoms looking back on it all. At first if I had a headache I’d think w/d. Not attribute it to that we all get headaches all the time! Or if I was anxious I’d think "here comes a seizure i think!" Now, who needs to live in that shell-shocked existence? I’ve been living like that for the past 6 months, and from now on I’m going to just take it as it comes, since nothing bad has happened yet which pretty much means nothing bad will happen as long as I follow this weaning schedule properly. Now, my perspective on why there’s so much panic about benzos is that there were a few who abruptly discontinued or detoxed rapidly from benzodiazepines and then spread their plights across the internet and through the medical community. This creates a very negative atmosphere for anyone trying to wean off a benzodiazpeine, since ONLY the negative (and rare) side gets advertised. The ones that never suffered any ill-effects never join an anti-benzo board, and their numbers are far more vast since I actually have 3 people in my family that had no problem whatsoever with benzo discontinuation even after years of use. I’m down to 1/2 mg from 3 mgs. I’m told on all of the anti-benzo boards I’m doing this wayy too quickly and I might drop dead if I continue. Well… so far so good, so why the scare? I think so that their methods aren’t tarnished by someone who can withdrawal differently. Sorry for the long introduction.

The mind is a very powerful thing. You can psych yourself into panic attacks and withdrawal symptoms, or you can psych yourself into having no withdrawal at all. Look at how many people are cured by the placebo in drug testing. While getting off these meds may be difficult, some people have problems and some don’t. It is what it is, and everybody is different. Don’t assume you’re going to be the one who has problems, and don’t immerse yourself in the Internet looking up withdrawal symptoms or you will go nuts. If 3 people in your family did it why not assume you have the same genes and you’ll do it, too. "If" things get bad talk to your doc and slow it down. He/she should comply, especially with someone prone to anxiety. Hang in there and good luck. — The charter is available at: http://readystump.algebra.com/~asapm

Response:

I did a slow wean off Klonopin over the course of several months and suffered no withdrawal symptoms. However, I did have the return of panic attacks while driving on the freeway. Once the Klonopin was restarted the panic attacks ceased. chip

Chip, I could have written this myself, line-for-line. Joe — The charter is available at: http://readystump.algebra.com/~asapm

Response:

Okay. I will start off with an odd introduction here. I’ve been diagnosed with recurrent depression, GAD and PD since 2003. I started a regimen of 25mg paxil and 1mg clonazepam. Over a course of four years I’ve had it upped to 3mgs (well within the accepted dosage range for controlling panic and anxiety which to my knowledge is 1-4mgs) and discontinued paxil without any withdrawal that wasn’t bearable (only lasted a week, it was more annoying than anything). Now, come late March of this year and my pdoc asks me to start weaning of clonazepam. I was warned a while ago from someone on an anti- benzo board about extremely dangerous withdrawal symptoms (they told me I wouldn’t even be able to started weaning without going insane… yeah right). So that added a bit of paranoia and anxiety to someone predisposed to both on top of weaning off anti-anxiety medication. After months of being on anti-benzo boards which perpetuated a self- destructive state of mind, more hope fell apart as I was told things such as: "well, if you haven’t experienced extreme withdrawal yet, wait till you hit 0.Xmgs"; "you absolutely cannot wean directly off clonazepam dry cutting pills, you’re insane" etc, etc. This at first didn’t put me off, but instead added to an INTENSE state of depression and panic. I’m predisposed to both as I’ve said, and have had long stints of unemployment and suicidal ideation unmedicated. Now, I think my self-preservation instincts are kicking in but it’s a tad bit late… but not too late. I’m just broke, not in college and jobless. I can remedy that situation once I resolve this issue that I might go bananas when I eventually quit clonazepam. The first step to get better for me is to stay far away from those anti-benzo places since all they throw around is paranoia and self- destruction (in one group, a moderator actually told me to use an online pharmacy to purchase more drugs to slow my taper even more (this taper is already a year long! yeesh)). The next step is to say, yes, I’m at a pretty low dosage and haven’t experienced ANY moderate withdrawal symptoms looking back on it all. At first if I had a headache I’d think w/d. Not attribute it to that we all get headaches all the time! Or if I was anxious I’d think "here comes a seizure i think!" Now, who needs to live in that shell-shocked existence? I’ve been living like that for the past 6 months, and from now on I’m going to just take it as it comes, since nothing bad has happened yet which pretty much means nothing bad will happen as long as I follow this weaning schedule properly. Now, my perspective on why there’s so much panic about benzos is that there were a few who abruptly discontinued or detoxed rapidly from benzodiazepines and then spread their plights across the internet and through the medical community. This creates a very negative atmosphere for anyone trying to wean off a benzodiazpeine, since ONLY the negative (and rare) side gets advertised. The ones that never suffered any ill-effects never join an anti-benzo board, and their numbers are far more vast since I actually have 3 people in my family that had no problem whatsoever with benzo discontinuation even after years of use. I’m down to 1/2 mg from 3 mgs. I’m told on all of the anti-benzo boards I’m doing this wayy too quickly and I might drop dead if I continue. Well… so far so good, so why the scare? I think so that their methods aren’t tarnished by someone who can withdrawal differently. Sorry for the long introduction. — The charter is available at: http://readystump.algebra.com/~asapm

Response:

I did a slow wean off Klonopin over the course of several months and suffered no withdrawal symptoms. However, I did have the return of panic attacks while driving on the freeway. Once the Klonopin was restarted the panic attacks ceased. chip

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Okay. I will start off with an odd introduction here. I’ve been diagnosed with recurrent depression, GAD and PD since 2003. I started a regimen of 25mg paxil and 1mg clonazepam. Over a course of four years I’ve had it upped to 3mgs (well within the accepted dosage range for controlling panic and anxiety which to my knowledge is 1-4mgs) and discontinued paxil without any withdrawal that wasn’t bearable (only lasted a week, it was more annoying than anything). Now, come late March of this year and my pdoc asks me to start weaning of clonazepam. I was warned a while ago from someone on an anti- benzo board about extremely dangerous withdrawal symptoms (they told me I wouldn’t even be able to started weaning without going insane… yeah right). So that added a bit of paranoia and anxiety to someone predisposed to both on top of weaning off anti-anxiety medication. After months of being on anti-benzo boards which perpetuated a self- destructive state of mind, more hope fell apart as I was told things such as: "well, if you haven’t experienced extreme withdrawal yet, wait till you hit 0.Xmgs"; "you absolutely cannot wean directly off clonazepam dry cutting pills, you’re insane" etc, etc. This at first didn’t put me off, but instead added to an INTENSE state of depression and panic. I’m predisposed to both as I’ve said, and have had long stints of unemployment and suicidal ideation unmedicated. Now, I think my self-preservation instincts are kicking in but it’s a tad bit late… but not too late. I’m just broke, not in college and jobless. I can remedy that situation once I resolve this issue that I might go bananas when I eventually quit clonazepam. The first step to get better for me is to stay far away from those anti-benzo places since all they throw around is paranoia and self- destruction (in one group, a moderator actually told me to use an online pharmacy to purchase more drugs to slow my taper even more (this taper is already a year long! yeesh)). The next step is to say, yes, I’m at a pretty low dosage and haven’t experienced ANY moderate withdrawal symptoms looking back on it all. At first if I had a headache I’d think w/d. Not attribute it to that we all get headaches all the time! Or if I was anxious I’d think "here comes a seizure i think!" Now, who needs to live in that shell-shocked existence? I’ve been living like that for the past 6 months, and from now on I’m going to just take it as it comes, since nothing bad has happened yet which pretty much means nothing bad will happen as long as I follow this weaning schedule properly. Now, my perspective on why there’s so much panic about benzos is that there were a few who abruptly discontinued or detoxed rapidly from benzodiazepines and then spread their plights across the internet and through the medical community. This creates a very negative atmosphere for anyone trying to wean off a benzodiazpeine, since ONLY the negative (and rare) side gets advertised. The ones that never suffered any ill-effects never join an anti-benzo board, and their numbers are far more vast since I actually have 3 people in my family that had no problem whatsoever with benzo discontinuation even after years of use. I’m down to 1/2 mg from 3 mgs. I’m told on all of the anti-benzo boards I’m doing this wayy too quickly and I might drop dead if I continue. Well… so far so good, so why the scare? I think so that their methods aren’t tarnished by someone who can withdrawal differently. Sorry for the long introduction. — The charter is available at: http://readystump.algebra.com/~asapm