Clonazepam (Klonopin, Rivotril)

[annV]

After discontinuing Clonazepam, I experienced severe withdrawal symptoms that lasted for over a year.

What kind of withdrawal symptoms did you have, please?

 

[Luman]

What kind of withdrawal symptoms did you have, please?

For the first few months, the physical and mental symptoms included insomnia, tension, anxiety, panic attacks, and more. I thought I had vitamin and nutritional deficiencies and tried all kinds of supplements. I felt like I did not have long to live. My life had not changed in any major way, but depression—something I had never experienced much before—set in.

This condition affects some people very severely, and there are theories suggesting that benzodiazepines can disrupt GABA neurotransmitters, which then take time to return to normal. The non-technical explanation of this made sense to me as I recovered.

My doctors are now telling me that, because I have not had a colonoscopy in over ten years, I need one. In the United States, this is usually done with anesthesia, and benzodiazepines are often used during the procedure, as they were in my past colonoscopies. I am planning to get a CT scanning version of the exam instead. This method, called a Virtual Colonoscopy, does not require any drugs. It is not covered by insurance, but I would rather pay for it out of pocket than be given a benzodiazepine or a similar drug even once during the traditional procedure.

If any issues are found during the Virtual Colonoscopy, I may have to undergo a traditional colonoscopy or surgery. However, this is unlikely, as I have no symptoms or family history of related problems.

 

[elgringuito]

My tinnitus has been progressively getting worse lately, and I think I may have figured out the cause. I came to this realization because my eye floaters have also been getting worse. For about a month, I have been taking Clonazepam occasionally—about 0.5 mg once or twice a week.

I have read that common benzodiazepine withdrawal symptoms include both eye floaters and tinnitus. Could it be that taking just one pill a week is causing a mini withdrawal each time, as if I am repeatedly coming off benzodiazepines? My floaters are definitely worse.

Just putting this out there to see what others think.

Eye floaters… Have you ever been tested for a Bartonella or Babesia infection? Do you have any other symptoms besides tinnitus?

 

[ellees]

I started taking small doses of Clonazepam several times per week for four months. After discontinuing Clonazepam, I experienced severe withdrawal symptoms that lasted for over a year.

@Luman, did the withdrawal make your tinnitus worse in any way? What dosage were you taking, and what was your tapering schedule like?

 

[Luman]

@Luman, did the withdrawal make your tinnitus worse in any way? What dosage were you taking, and what was your tapering schedule like?

I don't know if the tinnitus was made worse, but during my withdrawal I was working on CBT and other strategies to reduce my reaction to it.

My only Clonazepam prescription was given to me in August 2017. It was for 1 mg, twice a day, with a total of 42 pills (three weeks' worth). However, I never took an entire pill. I only took half a pill or less, never more than once a day, and rarely, if ever, on two consecutive days. I continued this for five months, starting slowly. I did not really taper, since my doses were so small from the beginning and I had no idea how to properly do it.

To summarize, from August through the end of December 2017, I took small doses of Clonazepam—0.5 mg or less—a total of 32 times, with about half of those instances occurring in December. I kept track of all of this on a 2017 calendar. In December alone, I used no more than 7.5 mg in total. I never took it again after that month and disposed of the remaining pills by the end of December.

I do not think my experience is typical. Fifteen years earlier, I had taken small doses of Alprazolam a few times a week for five years, which was a much longer period. Even then, after a very minimal taper, I experienced virtually no withdrawal.