r/BenzoWithdrawal

This new psychiatrist is not going to be any help with tapering. Once again I have to do it myself. I do have a schedule, and he will likely lower me when I ask in January, from 1.0 mgs daily to .5 mgs daily. I am already at .875 mgs daily, when I get refill, going to .8125 for the next month.
This guy actually said that with Xanax, there is a physical withdrawal, but with Clonazepam, because it has a long half life, there is no physical withdrawal, just mental. ???????!!!!!!!

I just can't even comprehend how a psychiatrist could say this?

Also, his idea of tapering is just like my GP: cut to .5 from 1.0 when ready, wait two weeks, cut to .25, then God knows when he thinks you can just magically stop.

I am glad he is refilling my script and he said he will do so again in September and I can set the appt. up with the health center. However, I need someone who will taper me properly once we get to low doses. I really wanted someone to switch me to Valium.

FFS - CVS received the script, but said they can't fill it for 3 more days - Day 31 in the 30 day cycle! WTF that's a Saturday. Nope.

I will go in person tomorrow (Thursday, day 29 of cycle) and ask the pharmacist if it's in stock. Last time she said she didn't know why the system told me not available until day 30, and handed me the pills within 5 minutes. It was day 29 of the cycle. I have learned to not do day 28 but I also want the peace of mind of knowing I have next month's script in hand when I am down to only 2 days worth of pills from current script!

A few months ago, I was given clonazepam. These 0.5 millagrams pills. I noticed when I took it, the tolerance went up everytime I took it. I then tried to go without, and the longer I went without it the worse the anxiety got until I had a bad panic attack that would cause me to cave. It was never because I wanted to feel go it was because I wanted the damn anxiety to stop. Could addiction work like you just want to stop or for it to be an addiction, you crave it because you want to feel good.

I thought you wanting it to stop. That's what a dependency is not an addiction. It seems like when I am not on the drug, I become so lazy and unmotivated and feel like I can't do much through the day because the anxiety kills me.

What is the risk of going 4 days without 4mg of valium? Long story short I had my pills in a weekly container that got soaked in dirty water from a pipe breaking above my cabinet and they're literally paste now.

I have 1 whole pill (1mg tomorrow 1mg Wednesday) until Sunday...

Probably gonna suck but I wanted to see if I'm in any real danger.

Tapered down from 1.75mg klonopin(2 year usage) to 4mg valium over a year and a half.

Hi.
I have been blessed with debilitating tinnitus for about 12 years.
At first it was a hummm and I could live with that. But now it is like 5800 Hrz .
My doctor described xanax during that time.
So now I am a xanax addict and the “cure” is even more a problem than the tinnitus.
I take about 3 mg xanax daily just to keep me sane from the hellish sound 24/7.
It is a miracle I am still here ..

Now after taking xanax retard 0,5 over 4 hour period for about 10 years the problem has become enourmous.
Almost no sleep, panick attacks in the morning with te morning cortisol.
I’m taking all supplements neccecary.

I’m thinking of tapering and building off.
But when I read all the horror stories here the stress builds up and so does the spiking of tinnitus.

I really want to Try the Ashton method.
But I know it will be a huge battle full of uncertainties ahead.
It is hard enough to get through my days and my only “good” period is the night time when the cortisol is low and I can binge watch Netflix shit..

I know that in my case as a more than a decade user my whole Gaba system is fucked up. I just hope it is not a FUBAR .

When I talk with my doctor at the rehab centre hé even said. “ Well maybe you shouldn’t stop at all because of the severity of my tinnitus.

But still there is this fighter in me that really wants to try Ashton.
Which means I will have to take a shitload of Valium ( like 60 grams a day ) and build of under supervision of the Jellinek docter.

I know I am looking at a 1.5 /2 year battle if I decide to actually push through.

I know that if someone would take away my xanax now I would go into psychosis, at least.

I am 62 years old and really looking for good and wise advice.
Please no horror stories, but expierence
and wisdom a required here.

Can I do it or am I cursed to take these xanax till my last breath. Which in some moments feels like overdue.

Respect for all the people battling this battle.

I just want to know if I have a chance for change.

Thank you.

Robert

Hello, in March of this year, I was put on 1mg Klonopin. I have been tapering off at 25% each month.

I am now at .25mg. I heard at a lower dose the taper should be slower. Since I have not been on it for years, is a 10% reduction every week too fast?

I don’t want to taper for like almost a whole year. I want to get off. But I also don’t want withdrawals. My sleep is already getting funky and that’s what I took Klonopin for in the first place. If avoiding withdrawals means a slower taper I prefer that. My next option would be to try 10% every 2 weeks, maybe 3?

Anybody tapered who wasn’t on more than 1mg for years and years?

Been on klonpin for about 2.5 years, max dose was 1.75mg, dropped down to .5mg over a few months, switched to valium, dropped from 10mg to 4mg now.

When is it safe to stop taking it? I have the last of my prescription but I am curious to see if it's safe to stop now.

Hello! I have been on clonazepam for years PRN for sleep with no issues. I would go through a bottle of 60 in six months or more. I had a refill on June 15th, and used 14 pills in a six weeks (0.5 - 1mg). I had really bad anxiety and derealization that was brought on by a severely overcorrected pair of progesssives that I had worn way too long (three months), and took 1mg clonazepam every night for 9 days.

When I got my new glasses, I stopped the clonazepam my anxiety went away the moment i put the new pair on. I started having anxiety and depressive episodes a few days later, and thought maybe I should start a taper. I took 0.5 mg a week ago Friday, still had anxiety that went away when the new lenses were fixed - the new lenses didnt match new prescription (24 hours after my last dose). I still took another 0.5 mg that night despite feeling better. Sunday, woke up feeling depressed and anxious. Thought the clonazepam might paradoxically be causing the feelings, and tapered down to 0.25 mg. Did that for three days and was able to fall asleep without taking anything last Wednesday night/Thursday morning, until i woke up at 2am and had trouble getting back to sleep. I accidentally took 0.5 mg instead of 0.25mg, then had my doctor's appointment last Thursday.

He told me I could stop the clonazepam, and he gave me propranolol along with a referral to a psychologist since I've been struggling with life events. Ive been having insomnia/light sleep for a few nights, plus anxiety and intrusive thoughts. I went to a psychiatric ER on the recommendation of my counselor. I was told i didnt fit the profile of someone going through clonazepam withdrawal. She gave me trazodone for sleep for five days. Every SSRI I've tried to take over the last couple of weeks has left me with brutal activation, and Trazodone has similar mechanisms for its effects. I started getting low-level activation and anxiety at midnight last night. I at least got five hours of sleep, but have been left with a lot of anxiety and intrusive thoughts.

I am a big guy, so the trazodone half life is around 13 hours instead of 5-6. So many variables, but I'm wondering how much of what I'm feeling is from rebound anxiety from the clonazepam, vs lack of sleep and leftover trazodone, since the metabolite of trazodone causes anxiety. What can I do to sleep, which is what I know i really need. Is it possible that i'm not even going through rebound anxiety?

And if I am, how long will it take to stop?

My boyfriend wrecked my car into a telephone pole. He refused to blow, so they pricked his finger? The magistrates bond conditions are pretrial services. In county and state that means he has a pretrial officer and he’s on “colors” except it’s a PIN number.
He takes 3-6mg Xanax or klonopin daily if not more and drinks daily.

What kind of place can he go to detox where they will medicate him? He actually needs to be prescribed Xanax or some kind of benzo he has horrible anxiety & PTSD. To the point where he can’t work. I need help. I don’t know how to help him. Can someone please give me some advice on what to do for him.

To preface I have an appointment on Wednesday to speak with my doctor.

I started taking Xanax almost 2 years ago. After I lost my dad and started dealing with my own health issues I was in a constant state of misery, panic, fear and just wasn't able to function. No doctor would prescribe them so I got my own from a trusted source. I took 1mg a day for about a year, as well as drinking very heavily on them. In October of 2025 I quit drinking cold turkey and cut my Xanax down to half a milligram a day.

I've been dealing with more health issues since January, some kind of vestibular issue my neuro thinks.

Well on June 8th I decided to have a drink and found it made all my symptoms go away. Of course it's spiraled and I'm up to 8-10 shots of 100 proof vodka a night. I've been cutting back 2 drinks a night for the past few days and feel OK. My main issue is I have about 20 days of Xanax left and I am no longer able to get any.

I only take half a milligram a day split into two doses, but it's been for an extended period of time. Is it dangerous to start cutting back the Xanax too? I have a Dr appointment but they don't prescribe any benzos like Valium for taper. I guess I'm just worried about seizures.

What kind of symptoms should I expect? I k ow it's gonna be awful and all the things I've been suppressing are gonna come back 10 fold, I'm just worried about seizure and pod pressure risk.

Any insight anyone can share would be so helpful.

Thank you

So my GP Dr. retired, he had been prescribing Clonazepam for me since summer of 2016. I met with new psychiatrist July 15 and he agreed to take me and my Clonazepam on, and I asked next appointment, he said the central office of the psychiatric /mental health center would call me with the appt. I also asked for his number in case of emergency, he said, call the mental health center.

So I called yesterday (day 22 of cycle) and left a voicemail and no one called back. Called just now and thankfully got a live person, she said oh, he (psychiatrist) hasn't scheduled anything for you, but I can find something - how about Sept. 17?

I explained that a week from today, Friday August. 21, was day 30 in my Clonazepam script. She then scheduled me for 2 pm Wednesday, which is actually the perfect day for Dr. to call in the script, then I will know if CVS is in stock before weekend.

I will ask the dr. to leave me at the 1.0 mg daily script for this month, as I have tapered to .9 mg a day and want another month before we go to .75 mg script. I am just nervous.

Is it normal to have to arrange everything with dr., pharmacy, etc.?

Any here who take a betablocker to cope with the withdrawal?

Hi all. So I've been taking alzam for almost 3 weeks again. A bit of a bender. Most days 1mg but for about 5 days 2mg. I only have 5.5mg left. Can I just stop after this, it's under a months use? Will I have bad withdrawals or seizures?

I consumed 120mg of clonazepam(non-prescription) in the last 90 days. I ran out of pills 6 days ago and have been experiencing really bad withdrawals ever since(insomnia, tremors, palpitations, etc…). Will a doctor help me despite the fact that I was not prescribed these pills? Is there any non-benzo medication that could help me with these specific symptoms?

Long story short, got in an accident (semi truck driver fell asleep and hit me) 2 weeks ago today and totaled my truck (would’ve totaled me also if the truck didn’t take the beating so well). I was shuttled off to the hospital puking from a concussion. I had been on 10mgs of Valium for the past 4 years. Daily. It was only yesterday that I realized some of these “symptoms” are probably withdrawal related and not concussion related. Meds were part of the carnage of the wreck, or got stolen by police or the tow yard, I’ll never know. Accident happened in a different state than I live in, so no pharmacy would refill the Valium, not sure exactly why. I’d been wanting to stop taking Valium for the past 6-8 months anyway as the med didn’t seem necessary anymore, just wasn’t sure on the method. So, here I am 14 days later and finally sleeping a mostly full night and the tremors and other symptoms that may have been Valium related are pretty much gone. Has anyone stopped a similar dose CT and had a similar experience? Anything that could jump back up a month or two from now to be concerned about?

Hello everyone, I’m new to Reddit and would really appreciate some advice. (Im sorry for this long message but i need you attention please)
For about four months, I smoked what I thought was legal CBD, so I believed it was safe. I later found out it was synthetic weed. In April, I had two severe intoxications with intense heart palpitations and terrifying symptoms. Since then, I’ve completely stopped: about five months with no synt w or alcohol.
About a week later, i went to a doctor and he prescribed Valium for anxiety and insomnia. I took 5 mg about eight times over two months, then stopped. In June, during a difficult period, I started taking 2.5–10 mg daily for ~5 weeks (the doctor told me to be careful but to take if needed). I stopped for 17 days but had a severe panic attack and relapsed. I took 5 mg, which didn’t help a lot and took it daily for ~10 days.
I then saw a psychiatrist because I felt the diazepam was making me worse and i was not guided at all. He switched me to prazepam (4 drops/day) and prescribed Zoloft 50 mg/day.
It’s now 10 days since my last diazepam dose, and I’m having withdrawal symptoms: head pressure, heart palpitations, insomnia, anxiety, and other physical/psychological symptoms. They’re difficult but more manageable than when I stopped abruptly.
Am I in a dangerous situation? Does switching to prazepam and taking an SSRI make withdrawal easier, and how long could recovery take? I really want to get off benzodiazepines completely and eventually rely on the SSRI for the time to stabilize the benzo withdrawal.
Thank you and im really sorry for this long message.

i keep smelling things that dont exist,its like hallucinations, is this genuine withdrawal symptom or am i tripping?

I’ve been taking up to 3mg of klonopin, and Fioricet (which has the barbiturate in it) I need to come off Fioricet and baclofen, I’m also prescribed gabapentin. So when I go to rehab and they rip me off klonopin and put me on phenobarbital should I stay off benzos when I get out or would reinstating a benzo to taper down be encouraged or ill-advised? I’ve been on klonopin for 20 years. I just need to get off of this stuff and now family members are kind of forcing me. I want to get off klonopin I just want advice as to what will make me most successful. Like should I come out and ask my doctor for 0.5-1mg to taper down?

Will an ER or an urgent care center prescribe Xanax for a 3-5 day supply. I need a 5 day supply to make it until my refill day I take 1mg x3 a day today is the 12th and I have 3.5mg left. I took .5mg today and feel fine but am worried it’s gonna wear off quick and I’m going to need to take more. I have been to the ER before twice and was prescribed a 3 day supply of Xanax but everytime I google it or research it it says No they will not prescribed it

I was prescribed 0.25mg clonazepam for facial twitches and I increased the dose to 1mg by myself. I know I messed up. have been on 1mg clonazepam for 7 months and wanted to come off the drug. I also have ADHD so I take methylphenidate 72mg in the morning and resperidone 1mg at night. As per my psychiatrist’s advice I reduced the dose to 0.75 for 2 weeks and was then told to reduce my dose down to 0.625mg for 2 weeks and then we will assess if we should go down to 0.5mg. I am 8 days into 0.625mg and I have been sleeping reasonably well and my anxiety has been manageable with moderate withdrawal symptoms occasionally and some facial and eye twitching. Considering my duration and dosage of usage, is the pace of my taper appropriate and what should I expect as I reduce the doses further ? I am particularly concerned about seizures and tend to have a lot of health anxiety.

Ive been reducing lorezopam (again) which i took for sleep only and going back on new sleep meds (daridorexant) but since i went back on it after getting off it for 2 months, ive started having issues with breathing, i am just not breathing enough and my muscles/body goes weak and floppy, as if im extremely tired and docile or sleeping.
Trying to focus on breathing better just leads me to hyperventilate/feel like im suffocating + extremely anxious so i feel trapped between the two states it’s driving me insane.

I am unsure if the too slow breathing is 1. Lorezopam 2. Lorezopam withdrawal 3. Indirect side effect from taking lorezopam at night and poor sleep quality. 4. Daridorexant 5. Linked to PTSD/Depression issues i have or something else health related i need to get checked out

It’s better when I’m actively moving about or preoccupied with a task that i am moving or talking/active but the second i slow down eg eating/reading/sitting down at desk, the intense weakness overcomes me and my muscles start going all floppy and i have to lie down immediately its so intense. The only time ive had this before was when i did mediation, i would sometimes get in this state after which i think is due to the focus and change in breathing. I also have a similar thing were im apparently not blinking enough/glassy eyes, it’s like im dissociated or something. But maybe thats it actually as brain is very blank too. It’s just the weakness is the most intense symtpom that others hopefully will be able to say they have experienced or not to help me work out what’s causing it.

As ive said before, ive not had any help with withdrawing so i over analyse everything which probably doesnt help but i am so fed up with my life being a constant contemplation of what is helping vs harming me and no advice about it :/

Thanks for reading