Dr. Peter Coleman, who is Board-certified in Addiction Medicine and has been in recovery from opioid use himself since 1984, …
47 Comments
I'm currently reducing my daily dose of Clonazepam.I was on 6mg day but I've reduced it to 2mg per day and my next step is to reduce by 0.5mg. The tablets are scoréd into quarters so I'm going to try reducing a quarter of a pill at a time. I'm currently on a waiting list to do a medically assisted detox as an in patient at a unit in hospital where they said they will taper me off with diazepam and when I get down to a low dose they're going to give me a symptomatic detox. But all this is going to be done in 6to7 weeks which I think is far too quick and I'm dreading it.
i was on benzos for 14 years straight. Failed to get off twice due to tapering too fast. Third time, a 20 week taper, worked fine with little side effects. Once I was off them, I was just fine. No problems at all. These days I take a benzo once or twice a month for RLS. For anxiety, use beta blockers. All I can say is, I guess everyone is different. I would go back on benzos again if my anxiety got really bad. No problem.
Wow I'm 64 and have been on almost all antidepressants and benzos since I was in my 30's.I understand brain lock or brain freeze. I have been through High Anxiety and deep Depressions off and on during my life.Seems like I was doing okay .I never took more medication than my doctor prescribed. I tapered 0.25 mg of my Klonapin a few months ago.I'm talking 34 th mg of klonapin at night + 150 mg. Of Welbrutrin ( Bupropion) HCL ER (XL) ) what ever that means. and 5 mg.of lexapro. I'm not doing well and don't know what to do ???
7 years clean…use keto to avoid major problems with sugar spikes…pray, hope, don't worry God's God you n He's not democrat or republican. There's a couple of videos on my page I made about my journey. Bless you all n I'm so sorry.
Six years clean off of Klonopin that I was on for 20 years for sleep never abused it the first two years I had every symptom you could think of I couldn’t work after six years. I would say I’m 90% better still have some symptoms but manageable.
benzos withdrawal can kill a person i advise a specific diet b4 reduction plus a check for chemical imbalances b4 any detox inorder to strengthen the body b4 cold turkey or tapering
It’s not the use but getting off the drug. Docs need to learn this and keep patients on meds if requested. Being stern when first give patients Rx is different ballgame than one who has been on for years to yet dcs do not differentiate.
Just a very curious question , is it still as damaging and bad for the brain if it’s NOT taken daily , what if it’s recreational use , once a week etc Does it still take the brain to heal and are they still messing the brain up I know I sound very dumb and stupid but just can’t get to get this answer
It is literally hell on earth. My klonopin dose was small (I got off heroin 10 years ago and would prefer it), but a low dose of klonopin for 5 years getting off is hell. I moved and forgot my script 4 days before refill along with Zoloft Remeron and my bp. My dr filled the latter 3 but (also I lost my insurance hence why I moved), would not perceive the klonopin and wrote in buspar busbar not sure the name but huspriorione, and I’m going through more agony than opiate withdrawal. I was able to just take 1 a day not the second dose, but a couple days after I ran out, nobody told me… my dr just refused to write even a taper or anything. Right now I’ve found alcohol numbs the symptoms but I work in a restaurant, when I’m at work my hands don’t cooperate with my brain there’s some type of disconnect. Idk what’s happening I’m terrified.
Any medication u abuse u will have problems but if u don't abuse the medication u will be fine stop scary people man nuff is a nuff don't abuse the medication that's all use it properly
On tamasapam and tramadol for 20 years for fibromyalgia. Clinic closed and no doctor will fill prescription. I've been cold turkey for 6 weeks. I'm 80 years old! Help
Klonopin is the worst. I ran out one week because I thought it was a great idea to take more tabs for a few college presentations to ease the anxiety. But I felt exactly the same on more mgs. When the bottle was empty the room started spinning, dry mouth, hands shaking, cold sweats, could barely speak, 3 days no sleep, couldn’t eat, the list goes on. I was so desperate that I reached out to a dealer for oxy which helped ease my symptoms only slightly. I got my refill from the pharmacy and moved on like nothing happened. I’m on 1mg per day now which is half the dose I used to take. I still want off this nightmare medicine and these success stories are giving me hope.
Tapering slowly with gabapentin helped me lower to 1mg took gabapentin in the day and benzos at night, but I haven't been able to continue tapering , I am take 1mg Xanax and I hate them , please pray for me I'm in anguish , how could my mom recommend them to me , why was I so stupid too , I didn't know benzos withdrawals where so hard for me its severely chronic withdrawals 😢😢😢😢😢😢😢
18 months clean and I feel as anxious as always. My brain simply cannot relax or feel 'happiness' – instead it will produce strange, brief flashbacks to ancient dreams from my my youth (I will be doing something mundane and then I suddenly remember a dream I had 20+ years ago)
What helps is mindfulness, meditation, wim hoff breathing, yoga and straight up praying for help.
11 months ago I had a seizure because my doc told me to just stop taking 2mg ativan after a week long taper. It has taken me 11 months of a slow diazepam taper. After months of waking up feelint like I was on fire
Well what I am gathering is that most of these. Moment are people who are going through hellish withdrawal, because they stop abruptly. You brain is looking for dopamine. You have to slowly decrease doses until you no longer need it. It and yes it takes counseling, prayer, positive and encouraging community. Do the work to get better. Exercise do all the healthy things and you’ll be fine. You shouldn’t do it alone. I am still going through it . Used to be a lot worse, cause I wasn’t listening to my doctor. You’ll know a good doctor from a bad one. They’re supposed to support you.
I pretty much quit xanax cold turkey on my own after 6 years with no withdrawals but if I am damaged after 2 years off them i don't seem to be getting any better. Anyone know if 2 years isn't enough time to feel better?
❤ ive been on since 1995 😢 3a day , 2021 a new provider took just one away daily, but still feel withdrawal from 1benzo??? I'm also been on suboxone since july2007. Im in Northern Maine no "real" doctors these dayz. And I want to DIE Sir 😢 I been clean from street drugs for over 10yrs. Helpless in Maine.
I may or may not have been taking 5 bars a day for about a year. I have ptsd and other things i wont get into, and may or may not have stopped cold turkey. My alleged withdrawl may or may not have lasted around 5 weeks. This alleged withdrawl may or may not have been quite hellish.
it's been two years since I stopped an 18 year, 1mg 3× a day xanax dose cold turkey. it takes time and it is hard af but it can be done. I sure could benefit from a xanax at times, I haven't yet but no more than 2 or 3 mgs a week. we need to get honest about drugs and the human condition, it would benefit all of us tremendously, stop the ignorance and fear mongering, you're not sick and you do not have a disease
I've got permanent tremors, muscle dystonia and different movement disorders after over 20 years on and off Xanax. In additio to a plethora of other side effects. Stay away. Don't let my story become yours.
3 years on benzos and stopped 19 months ago. I'm still healing i think and dreaming of that day when I'll be fully in the moment again and alert like i was before starting them in 2019. Zinc helped me get through detox and taper and i still take 15mg daily. My sleep is great and my anxiety is manageable daily. I cut caffiene way down and don't use alcohol our drugs if any kind. Healing has become a lifestyle of its own. Good luck! You can stop it you want to. It starts with getting in a longer acting benzo and tapering very slowly.
I take it for years now. I know side effects but I have no other option, I live with pain everyday. I appreciate you care and I support you. I feel chest pain when I don’t take it too
Stop badmouthing Benzos just to go and prescribe SSRIs that make you impotent and cause heart damage via arritmias, and either clotting or bleeding – no more BS – we all know the “new generation” antidepressants are very profitable so you have to get rid of Benzos. My mother took Xanax for decades until she passed away in her 90s – zero dementia or evil symptoms. Kept her calm and relaxed. 1 mg a day for 30 years.
I'm currently reducing my daily dose of Clonazepam.I was on 6mg day but I've reduced it to 2mg per day and my next step is to reduce by 0.5mg. The tablets are scoréd into quarters so I'm going to try reducing a quarter of a pill at a time. I'm currently on a waiting list to do a medically assisted detox as an in patient at a unit in hospital where they said they will taper me off with diazepam and when I get down to a low dose they're going to give me a symptomatic detox. But all this is going to be done in 6to7 weeks which I think is far too quick and I'm dreading it.
i was on benzos for 14 years straight. Failed to get off twice due to tapering too fast. Third time, a 20 week taper, worked fine with little side effects. Once I was off them, I was just fine. No problems at all. These days I take a benzo once or twice a month for RLS. For anxiety, use beta blockers. All I can say is, I guess everyone is different. I would go back on benzos again if my anxiety got really bad. No problem.
Wow I'm 64 and have been on almost all antidepressants and benzos since I was in my 30's.I understand brain lock or brain freeze. I have been through High Anxiety and deep Depressions off and on during my life.Seems like I was doing okay .I never took more medication than my doctor prescribed. I tapered 0.25 mg of my Klonapin a few months ago.I'm talking 34 th mg of klonapin at night + 150 mg. Of Welbrutrin ( Bupropion) HCL ER (XL) ) what ever that means. and 5 mg.of lexapro. I'm not doing well and don't know what to do ???
7 years clean…use keto to avoid major problems with sugar spikes…pray, hope, don't worry God's God you n He's not democrat or republican. There's a couple of videos on my page I made about my journey. Bless you all n I'm so sorry.
No
I think it can.
I switched this of.
My wife has been on Klonopin for 15 years.
She's constantly irritable and angry but won't seek help.
What can I do?
I never slept again after discontinuing them. I never slept before I began taking them.
Doctors are meant to taper you off! I was cut off cold Turkey and I feel i will never be normal again!!
Six years clean off of Klonopin that I was on for 20 years for sleep never abused it the first two years I had every symptom you could think of I couldn’t work after six years. I would say I’m 90% better still have some symptoms but manageable.
benzos withdrawal can kill a person i advise a specific diet b4 reduction plus a check for chemical imbalances b4 any detox inorder to strengthen the body b4 cold turkey or tapering
I just came home from a 5 day detox. This is horrible.
Yex! M'I vilnig pfoor t'is ossipble! Dog Ssleb! X
Two months off completely but it was a long taper almost two years ,getting better but it’s still a journey
It’s not the use but getting off the drug. Docs need to learn this and keep patients on meds if requested. Being stern when first give patients Rx is different ballgame than one who has been on for years to yet dcs do not differentiate.
Just a very curious question , is it still as damaging and bad for the brain if it’s NOT taken daily , what if it’s recreational use , once a week etc
Does it still take the brain to heal and are they still messing the brain up
I know I sound very dumb and stupid but just can’t get to get this answer
It is literally hell on earth. My klonopin dose was small (I got off heroin 10 years ago and would prefer it), but a low dose of klonopin for 5 years getting off is hell. I moved and forgot my script 4 days before refill along with Zoloft Remeron and my bp. My dr filled the latter 3 but (also I lost my insurance hence why I moved), would not perceive the klonopin and wrote in buspar busbar not sure the name but huspriorione, and I’m going through more agony than opiate withdrawal.
I was able to just take 1 a day not the second dose, but a couple days after I ran out, nobody told me… my dr just refused to write even a taper or anything.
Right now I’ve found alcohol numbs the symptoms but I work in a restaurant, when I’m at work my hands don’t cooperate with my brain there’s some type of disconnect.
Idk what’s happening I’m terrified.
Any medication u abuse u will have problems but if u don't abuse the medication u will be fine stop scary people man nuff is a nuff don't abuse the medication that's all use it properly
what about just .25 dose once or twice a day
On tamasapam and tramadol for 20 years for fibromyalgia. Clinic closed and no doctor will fill prescription. I've been cold turkey for 6 weeks. I'm 80 years old! Help
Klonopin is the worst. I ran out one week because I thought it was a great idea to take more tabs for a few college presentations to ease the anxiety. But I felt exactly the same on more mgs. When the bottle was empty the room started spinning, dry mouth, hands shaking, cold sweats, could barely speak, 3 days no sleep, couldn’t eat, the list goes on. I was so desperate that I reached out to a dealer for oxy which helped ease my symptoms only slightly. I got my refill from the pharmacy and moved on like nothing happened. I’m on 1mg per day now which is half the dose I used to take. I still want off this nightmare medicine and these success stories are giving me hope.
I used ativan for 2 years, know I am 27 months post taper and I feel ok I think I will be healed fully soon
Tapering slowly with gabapentin helped me lower to 1mg took gabapentin in the day and benzos at night, but I haven't been able to continue tapering , I am take 1mg Xanax and I hate them , please pray for me I'm in anguish , how could my mom recommend them to me , why was I so stupid too , I didn't know benzos withdrawals where so hard for me its severely chronic withdrawals 😢😢😢😢😢😢😢
18 months clean and I feel as anxious as always. My brain simply cannot relax or feel 'happiness' – instead it will produce strange, brief flashbacks to ancient dreams from my my youth (I will be doing something mundane and then I suddenly remember a dream I had 20+ years ago)
What helps is mindfulness, meditation, wim hoff breathing, yoga and straight up praying for help.
Never ever ever take benzos.
Heal? What is to heal? Problem is coming off.
11 months ago I had a seizure because my doc told me to just stop taking 2mg ativan after a week long taper.
It has taken me 11 months of a slow diazepam taper. After months of waking up feelint like I was on fire
Im in australia, can you help me get off benzos?
Well what I am gathering is that most of these. Moment are people who are going through hellish withdrawal, because they stop abruptly. You brain is looking for dopamine. You have to slowly decrease doses until you no longer need it. It and yes it takes counseling, prayer, positive and encouraging community. Do the work to get better. Exercise do all the healthy things and you’ll be fine. You shouldn’t do it alone. I am still going through it . Used to be a lot worse, cause I wasn’t listening to my doctor. You’ll know a good doctor from a bad one. They’re supposed to support you.
I pretty much quit xanax cold turkey on my own after 6 years with no withdrawals but if I am damaged after 2 years off them i don't seem to be getting any better. Anyone know if 2 years isn't enough time to feel better?
Let’s ask Jordan Petersonsteinberg …. Nope!
❤ ive been on since 1995 😢 3a day , 2021 a new provider took just one away daily, but still feel withdrawal from 1benzo??? I'm also been on suboxone since july2007. Im in Northern Maine no "real" doctors these dayz. And I want to DIE Sir 😢 I been clean from street drugs for over 10yrs. Helpless in Maine.
😢😢😢
This is irreversible, basically. Benzos damage too much in the brain.
I may or may not have been taking 5 bars a day for about a year. I have ptsd and other things i wont get into, and may or may not have stopped cold turkey. My alleged withdrawl may or may not have lasted around 5 weeks. This alleged withdrawl may or may not have been quite hellish.
No.
in order to grow and get better, these "programs" can be a start but you need to get past the bullshit, you are not sick and you do not have a disease
it's been two years since I stopped an 18 year, 1mg 3× a day xanax dose cold turkey. it takes time and it is hard af but it can be done. I sure could benefit from a xanax at times, I haven't yet but no more than 2 or 3 mgs a week. we need to get honest about drugs and the human condition, it would benefit all of us tremendously, stop the ignorance and fear mongering, you're not sick and you do not have a disease
I've got permanent tremors, muscle dystonia and different movement disorders after over 20 years on and off Xanax. In additio to a plethora of other side effects. Stay away. Don't let my story become yours.
I'm withdrawing from 10 mg of Ativan. I'm down to 1.5 mg
*upregulate Gaba receptors
Nice to hear something positive- you CAN recover from BZO !!!!
I am also on Clonazepam. 1mg
I m also using respridone…. Clonazepam…..valproic acid….lamotrigine
3 years on benzos and stopped 19 months ago. I'm still healing i think and dreaming of that day when I'll be fully in the moment again and alert like i was before starting them in 2019. Zinc helped me get through detox and taper and i still take 15mg daily. My sleep is great and my anxiety is manageable daily. I cut caffiene way down and don't use alcohol our drugs if any kind. Healing has become a lifestyle of its own. Good luck! You can stop it you want to. It starts with getting in a longer acting benzo and tapering very slowly.
Would it be strange to say that human growth hormone helped me recover?
I take it for years now. I know side effects but I have no other option, I live with pain everyday. I appreciate you care and I support you. I feel chest pain when I don’t take it too
Stop badmouthing Benzos just to go and prescribe SSRIs that make you impotent and cause heart damage via arritmias, and either clotting or bleeding – no more BS – we all know the “new generation” antidepressants are very profitable so you have to get rid of Benzos. My mother took Xanax for decades until she passed away in her 90s – zero dementia or evil symptoms. Kept her calm and relaxed. 1 mg a day for 30 years.