Benzo Withdrawal

[Matt_H]

I'm currently weening off Clonazepam after 8-9 months of consistant, high dose, use. I read into Professor Ashton's "The Ashton Manual" and her ideas on the diazepam switch-over.

How do I tell my doctor that I would like to be weened off the drug according to The Ashton Manual's methods? Currently I'm doing a 0.5mg taper every 6 weeks, but I have faith in her method.

http://www.benzo.org.uk/manual/bzsched.htm#s5

Thanks

[somewhereinsydney]

Matt I would just have a chat with him about your concerns. I was detoxed from Xanax years ago over a few days. I was only on 3mg per day but I had not received any treatment for my anxiety and was barely functioning and it was a huge mistake. I am still taking Xanax years on but have been able to gradually reduce my dosage over time myself and intend on coming off this medication by the end of the year. I can't take any of the Anti-D's as they don't seem to agree with me so I wont be on anything :unsure:

Good luck with the detox!

[Matt_H]

Matt I would just have a chat with him about your concerns. I was detoxed from Xanax years ago over a few days. I was only on 3mg per day but I had not received any treatment for my anxiety and was barely functioning and it was a huge mistake. I am still taking Xanax years on but have been able to gradually reduce my dosage over time myself and intend on coming off this medication by the end of the year. I can't take any of the Anti-D's as they don't seem to agree with me so I wont be on anything :unsure:

Good luck with the detox!

That's unfortunate that anti-d's don't agree with you. What have you tried? I'm not on the typical SSRIs, SNRIs, NDRIs, etc. I'm on two mood stabilizers for anxiety right now -- Nuerontin and Lamictal

Thanks for the advice. good luck to you as well

[somewhereinsydney]

Yeah it sucks. I am doing some ACT therapy at the moment and am learning to "anxiety surf" to help the way I respond to certain symptoms. I feel really weird on almost all SSRI's but I don't know if it is because I freak out with anything that makes me feel panicky (including coffee and tea!) so will give them another go. I started to get panic attacks at the end of 1999, was given 3mg of Xanax a day, went to a psych in 2000 who tried to put me on Aropax and I thought I was tripping, so horrible! I have tried Prozac, Zoloft, Paxil, Lovan, Lexapro (which I might try again), Cimprimil, Effexor. I took Prothiden for a year and this was OK, but I am not sure if it did anything for my anxiety. But it did help me sleep (this is not an issue for me anymore thankfully).

When are you looking at starting your withdrawal? Good luck with it all!