Posted by Maxime on May 3, 2005, at 19:31:39
In reply to Re: SLS? Larry? Anyone? » Maxime, posted by SLS on May 3, 2005, at 10:12:46
Actually Scott, you were really helpful. I don't have the fear of God in me any more. :-) I'm allergic to Depakote, I break out into hives.
I think .25 every week may be too fast, but like you said, I will listen to my body.
Thanks for responding when you aren't feeling that great yourself. I hope you feel better soon.
Maxime
> Hi Maxime.
>
> I'm sorry that I don't have the energy to write a comprehensive post right now.
>
> To allay your fears, I would say that as long as you don't discontinue the drug abruptly (cold turkey), you will not incur any negative long term effects. To discontinue a BZD abruptly might possibliy invite kindling and the possibility of inducing seizures.
>
> If you have the luxury of time, you should be able to discontinue clonazepam without suffering intense withdrawal symptoms. I've been poking at the Web to see if I could find a specific taper schedule, but there don't seem to be too many. From 4.0mg, you can perhaps try decreasing by 0.25mg every week or so. If this is too fast, your body (brain) will tell you by producing withdrawal symptoms. If you remain flexible with your taper dosing, you should be able to fine-tune the rate of decrease to keep up with the body's rate of re-regulation of the neurotransmitter system.
>
> It is the last 25% of the original dose that seems to be the hardest to work with. I advocate the use of a flexible-dosing strategy that will allow you to set the pace of dosage decrease based upon the appearance of withdrawal symptoms. You will need to cut the clonazepam tablets into very small pieces and use them almost like a PRN. I think one should be prepared to take these small doses 2-4 times a day - whenever withdrawal symptoms appear. Please take a look at the previous posting-periods to read how about this system as I have described it. Basically, you want to take as much medication as will allow you to go 6-8 hours without symptoms. However, it is important to wait until they re-appear before taking your next dose. In this way, you can be sure that you are reducing your dosage at a rate optimized to the rate your body is re-regulating itself. Just don't allow the withdrawal symptoms to persist for more than an hour before dosing again. You should find that the amount of drug necessary to last the 6-8 hours becomes less and less. Again, the key word is "flexible". If you are not hitting that 6-8 hour zone exactly, simply take a small dose whenever the symptoms do appear. When you reach a plateau and seem to reach the point where no further dosage reduction will allow for symptom-free periods, then it is time to discontinue the drug entirely. Hopefully, the length of time that you must experience the withdrawal syndrome will be relatively short and mild in intensity.
>
> Do you have any Depakote laying around?
>
>
> - Scott
>
>
>
> > Hi Scott, Larry and anyone who can help me.
> >
> > I am going to come of 4 mg of clonazepam. I am going to do it VERY slowly. I joined a group that is very anti psych med.
> >
> > People on that group claim that they came off Clonazepam cold turkey and suffered brain damage and permanent physical disabilities. Is this possible?
> >
> > I have been taking the med as a mood stabiliser for 10 years. But since I have been so depressed I decided to try coming off the stuff hoping the veil would lift a little for me.
> >
> > I couldn't sleep last night worrying about this.
> >
> > Maxime
>
>
poster:Maxime
thread:493061
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/wdrawl/20050424/msgs/493302.html