Posted by Squiggles on September 20, 2001, at 15:44:18
Hi,
After more than a year of hard effort to withdraw
from two benzodiazepines alprazolam (Xanax), and
clonazepam (Klonopin), I can say that getting off the
Xanax was a great success, as all panic attacks which
had become chronic, ceased.On the other hand, Klonopin
was not an easy matter and very difficult to withdraw
from. Infact, nearing 0 dose, I had a "seizure" or something
like it and was reinstated to the cutting dose and then
again two weeks later, after another "seizure" reinstated to a
a higher dose. It took me a month of severe head illness to recover and I am
still feeling the protracted withdrawals.I never had panic attacks with Klonopin, but I did with
Xanax, and this can be attributed to the short half-life
of Xanax.My opinion now is that withdrawing from clonazepam
is very difficult because it is an anti-convulsant
and because it may actually change the brain's structure
or chemistry after long-term use. And who knows,
this may be the case with ADs - as discontinuation is
becoming tapered in current medical practice.I suppose there are some "anti-drug" camps who would
take a look at this situation and use it as an argument
against taking these drugs and definitely promoting
getting off. But I would like to say to those
contemplating this practice, that the advantages and
disadvantages should be weighed. The emphasis should
be on the quality of life if protracted w/d proves to
be a crippling state for a long time.The seizures in particular in the case of clonazepam,
worry me, maybe overly so,
because they may infact cause damage to the brain.
I do feel as if I escaped a nasty and dangerous event,
and I am curious to know what would have happened, had
my husband not given me the reinstating dose during
that episode (whatever it was exactly).I have also become very nervous about repeating this experience.
My doctor said I should not try again for 6 months at
least, but does not seem to think that being on this
small K dose to be the worst thing in the world.So, this has been my experience, and I suppose I would
like to hear your opinions about staying, or getting
off these or other types of drugs. I have not made
up my mind yet because I did get spooked. On the
other hand, if one does get off these successfully,
chances are they will feel much better.thanks for reading
Squiggles
poster:Squiggles
thread:79173
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20010917/msgs/79173.html