Quote:
Originally Posted by waves
Well, this is progress! The big nasy beastie is out of the picture! 
To summarize, it does seem fast to me, but you haven't taken Klonopin very long so it might be just fine.
Tidbits from my personal experience and some general information:
When I taper, I roughly observe Ashton's protocol, but then this is designed for those who've been in long-term treatment which is my case (6 years of use the first time, 2 years the second time and I'm still working on that taper  ).
For your reference, Ashton's guidelines are described here:
The Ashton Manual
Bear in mind that, except for the Valium & Librium ones, all the different schedules are for substitution with Valium. I use the Valium schedule as a basis for my own tapers. It calls for a 5-10% reduction every 1-2 weeks.
0.5mg is 25% of your starting dose (2 mg) every 5 days. That may be ok given you've only taken Klonopin for 7 weeks so far. You could simply try it and see what happens after one reduction. If there is discomfort, you should report it and ask to taper more slowly (you could suggest 10 days between decrements). The point of a rapid reduction might be to keep the total treatment time down, to reduce the chance of stronger dependence. These are all things to discuss with a doctor.
Do you have a psychiatrist you can see, without going to the ER?
I don't think a comparison is useful. Your experience with the gabapentin does not predict how you will react to removing the Klonopin because they act on the brain via different mechanisms.
Also you were on a very high dose of gabapentin, but 2 mg of Klonopin is still moderate.
There isn't any contraindication to exercise per se. If you use machinery or weights that could pose a danger to you, then you'd have to evaluate how the meds affect you and whether you are "safe" using the equiment.
It is good to keep thinking positively. Whatever happens though, try not to get down on yourself, ok? This wasn't your fault. Just do the best you can. It will work out.
waves |
Excluding the 7 days when they made me cold turkey after 26 days of use, I count a total of 37 days of use (with some ambien mixed in for some reason for sleep). Yes I have a psychiatrist I can see who is an addiction specialist — if indeed I am dealing with addiction which it kind of feels like already. I am now already at 1.5 mg/day, .5 in day and 1 at night (for 3 days). So conceivably I could reduce .5 every 5 days and be off in 15 days (or conservatively in 30 + days)? Or should I be reducing more like .15-.25 next reduction and so on so that it would be more like 45+ days? How long can one go without sleep during such a withdrawal — or does that matter? Also, in your experience how long (weeks or months?) after complete cessation might withdrawal continue — or does this just depend on each person?
When I meant exercise, I was referring to aerobic exercise where one sweats a lot and one's heart rate/pulse is up. I was told that this will cause panic attacks because of cortisol levels or something? I have read that this is not a good idea during withdrawal.
I hope I don't sound like a naive and am not blowing my situation way out of proportion — I have just read so many horror stories about Klonopin withdrawal on the web that I am just worked up into believing the worst!
With all good wishes, Adamo