Posted by brianw68 on May 28, 2003, at 10:04:12
In reply to HELP! Need TAPER schedule for KLONOPIN asap!, posted by Janelle on May 25, 2003, at 20:47:15
Hi all:
Background: I Started on Klonopin back in December, quickly ramped up to 2.5 mg/day (1 mg in the AM, 1.5 mg in the PM). In February, I began to become tolerant to the effects. At the beginning of April, I began taking Buspar, and have ramped up to 60 mg/day. Two weeks ago, Ibegan my Klonopin taper.
My doctor's view on Klonopin tapering... the slower, the better. I had asked him about a taper schedule of 0.5 mg/week. He said for the first week, removing 0.5 mg (1 pill) would probably be okay, but after that, he wanted me to go in 0.25 mg (half-pill) increments, and with each decrease, stretch out the time in between a little bit. The idea was to make the taper a curve rather than linear, if that makes sense.
First: - eliminated 0.5 mg from PM dose. Experienced 1 or 2 nights of sleep disturbance, but o.w. OK.
Eight days later: eliminated 0.25 mg from AM dose. No problems.
Next step: in two or three days, will eliminate 0.25 mg from PM dose.
Will continue to alternate eliminating half-pills from AM and PM doses, with intervals in between going something like 10 days, 15 days, 20 days, etc. When I get down to my last 0.5 mg/day, I may even taper that down with quarter-pill doses.
All I can say is, so far so good. I believe the Buspar is helping to mitigate the rebound anxiety. Also, I run, which helps tremendously; I do as much of that as my bodily fatigue will allow.
Good luck!
Brian
poster:brianw68
thread:229105
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030525/msgs/229694.html