# Life after benzo's... (klonopin for me)



## Kevinjustlikeyou (Aug 9, 2010)

Pretty much, I am curious how long it took your body to return to 'normal' after getting off of a benzo you had been on for several years.

I took Klonopin for 8 years (age 17 - 25). Been off of it for a year now, and just feel so, I don't know, not chill. Little things that never bothered me before I was on Klonopin or when I was taking it, such as someone tapping their pen on a desk...or something like that, bothers the hell out of me. I never, ever cared about things like that.

So, were you ever on a Benzo for a few years and got clean? Was it a few years before your body sort of just felt 'normal' again?


----------



## decadeAndAHalfOfSA (Jul 11, 2011)

It takes awhile for your brain to heal back. I've been doing a slow taper for almost 2 years now. Did you do a fast taper, slow taper or what?


----------



## Kevinjustlikeyou (Aug 9, 2010)

Super slow taper. Probably was about a 1-2 year taper, I honestly can't remember. Over the years I just started lowering the dosage kind of randomly. The last 8 months - 1 year I was conscious of the taper and made it a routine to take a certain amount for a certain amount of time, until I was taking literally a few littler grains of a crushed up pill. 

Hows your taper going? How much are you getting off from?


----------



## decadeAndAHalfOfSA (Jul 11, 2011)

Kevinjustlikeyou said:


> Super slow taper. Probably was about a 1-2 year taper, I honestly can't remember. Over the years I just started lowering the dosage kind of randomly. The last 8 months - 1 year I was conscious of the taper and made it a routine to take a certain amount for a certain amount of time, until I was taking literally a few littler grains of a crushed up pill.
> 
> Hows your taper going? How much are you getting off from?


Well, people are affected differently. Water titration and a systematic method might have worked better for you. I've heard stories of people having protracted withdrawal for months to years. Eventually though, the protracted withdrawal goes away, usually. Long term use of benzos may actually cause permanent brain damage. There has been no proof of this though, since there has been no money to fund studies to conclude this. I wonder why.... Drug companies don't want us to know.

People who fast taper and or don't do it via water titration and in a systematic method usually have a longer protracted withdrawal. Also the longer you take it and the larger the dose is a factor too.

I've done my taper in a very slow and systematic way. I started with 3 mg Xanax and 2 mg Klonopin/day. I was on Klonopin for about 13 years and Xanax for about 5 years, before I started tapering.

I also crossed over to Valium to ease withdrawal symptoms, when I could. It has a long half life, so there's less interdose withdrawal. I had to first directly taper off 2 mg of Xanax, before I could crossover to Valium though, because the Valium equivalent was too large of a dose.

Then, once I got off the Xanax, I started on Klonopin. I'm now down to about 25 mg of Valium. 30 mg Valium = 1.5 mg Klonopin.

My taper has been generally been fairly smooth, though I have had a few bumps in the road. I've hoping my protracted withdrawal is not bad and long.

Check out this site for stories about life after benzos:

http://www.benzowithdrawal.com

Your case is not unusual. I try to warn people of the dangers of benzos, but a lot of people don't listen or disagree.


----------



## Foh_Teej (May 5, 2004)

decadeAndAHalfOfSA said:


> I try to warn people of the dangers of benzos, but a lot of people don't listen or disagree.


nah thats not it. most people dont buy into fear mongering. No one here is delusional enough to think benzos are as safe... as say, cigarettes.


----------



## Positive (Jun 29, 2009)

If benzos actually help me for my work, then what must I do to really get off of it? Quit my job?

For me, benzos are really the remedy in band-aiding me and making me somewhat normal.


----------



## CD700 (Apr 22, 2010)

I heard they cause permanent changes in the brain 
Why are you stopping after taking them so long ? Might as well just keep taking them at that point


----------



## barry1685 (May 25, 2011)

Kevinjustlikeyou said:


> Pretty much, I am curious how long it took your body to return to 'normal' after getting off of a benzo you had been on for several years.
> 
> I took Klonopin for 8 years (age 17 - 25). Been off of it for a year now, and just feel so, I don't know, not chill. Little things that never bothered me before I was on Klonopin or when I was taking it, such as someone tapping their pen on a desk...or something like that, bothers the hell out of me. I never, ever cared about things like that.
> 
> So, were you ever on a Benzo for a few years and got clean? Was it a few years before your body sort of just felt 'normal' again?


This might be slightly ignorant, but do you think its your normal body's feeling you are going back to? I mean the benzo made you calm, and now your low GABA levels are returning like they used to be?


----------



## wmacd (Feb 21, 2011)

decadeAndAHalfOfSA said:


> It takes awhile for your brain to heal back. I've been doing a slow taper for almost 2 years now. Did you do a fast taper, slow taper or what?


Keep up the good work..It will be the biggest mountain you will climb.I used to be on 20mgs of Ativan a day,that is like taking 100mgs of Diazapam.I also drank alcohol with these,i was a complete mess and angry with everyone.Iwas taking these for 25yrs.I am now down to 3mgs of diaz now. I am now having panic attacks and suffer from chronic anxiety.That,s not to say this will happen to you,i was on them far to long.I am a much nicer human being though.They have ruined my life.DONT let them ruin yours..


----------



## decadeAndAHalfOfSA (Jul 11, 2011)

wmacd said:


> Keep up the good work..It will be the biggest mountain you will climb.I used to be on 20mgs of Ativan a day,that is like taking 100mgs of Diazapam.I also drank alcohol with these,i was a complete mess and angry with everyone.Iwas taking these for 25yrs.I am now down to 3mgs of diaz now. I am now having panic attacks and suffer from chronic anxiety.That,s not to say this will happen to you,i was on them far to long.I am a much nicer human being though.They have ruined my life.DONT let them ruin yours..


Thanks for that. They already have ruined much of my life, but I'm not going to let them ruin much more. Hopefully you will get better with time. A lot of people are ignorant of how bad benzos are. Don't ever start them, I say.


----------



## complex (Apr 22, 2009)

I am actually in the middle of tapering off I started at 4mg had been taking that for about 5 years. I am down to 1mg a day now it's not easy I have noticed I am more sensitive to sounds and situations. I have been dropping 1mg every 2ish weeks per my Dr. I could go at a slower pace but I feel I am doing pretty good and I am almost done! First time I will be med free since age 13.


----------



## decadeAndAHalfOfSA (Jul 11, 2011)

complex said:


> I am actually in the middle of tapering off I started at 4mg had been taking that for about 5 years. I am down to 1mg a day now it's not easy I have noticed I am more sensitive to sounds and situations. I have been dropping 1mg every 2ish weeks per my Dr. I could go at a slower pace but I feel I am doing pretty good and I am almost done! First time I will be med free since age 13.


The slower the better, not to just avoid withdrawal symptoms but to avoid a longer and worse protracted withdrawal. Your brain needs time to heal back and 1 mg every 2 weeks is pretty fast. Protracted withdrawal is withdrawal symptoms that last up to months and even years after you stop taking benzos. The reason it happens is because benzos change the chemistry of your brain (similar to alcohol) and it needs time to heal back. Some think benzos could permanently change the brain, but there's not much evidence one way or the other regarding that, because of lack of funding for studies.


----------



## Recipe For Disaster (Jun 8, 2010)

I got off benzos 2 years ago and never returned back to normal. I am severely brain damaged and doubt I will ever recover. My life is just a game of waiting for death now.


----------



## chandra85 (Apr 21, 2014)

*Stop blaming external factors!*



Recipe For Disaster said:


> I got off benzos 2 years ago and never returned back to normal. I am severely brain damaged and doubt I will ever recover. My life is just a game of waiting for death now.


 Stop blaming external factors!
First of all, please excuse me for not writing in English as well as someone to whom this is his/her mother language.
"My life is just a game of waiting for death now."?
Well, so something about it. I am sorry; I do not want to be offensive. But you managed to be out of it for two years. 
Congratulations for that!
Now, I don't care if it is alcohol, benzos, heroin, whatever.
You are out of it for 2 years.
And you say that about your life?
It is clear your life isn't good. But you must realize that that was what drove you into benzos, and it is that that will, indeed, kill you, either by leading you to other dependencies, or in any other way, even if only for not letting you have joy in life.
For crying out loud, I can spend a year taking benzos, but I have no problem stopping them as soon as my life gets enjoyable again.
I take benzos (3-6 mg bromazepam / lexotan) daily, for about 2 years now, after being on xanax for another 2.
In this period, I did a PhD, a second undergraduate degree in a highly technical subject, but the problem is that my job situation is the worst I have since I graduated in the late 90's, and I don't find a steady job.
This makes a lot, I mean, ** a lot ** of pressure on you! I have a family to take care of.
But believe me: as soon as I get a steady source of income again, I will be putting lexotan away, as I did many times in the past. I feel glad for having that resource available, though.
I don't think I have "any brain damage", for crying out loud!!! Don't buy into that crap!
Aging, that is a brain damaging process. And even that can be controlled, by doing exercise and having a good perspective on life.
Well, I have things to do!
Bye all! And, please, stop worrying so much. You take benzos because you worry to much, and then keep worrying because you are taking benzos&#8230; It's the worrying, people.


----------



## chandra85 (Apr 21, 2014)

Positive said:


> If benzos actually help me for my work, then what must I do to really get off of it? Quit my job?
> 
> For me, benzos are really the remedy in band-aiding me and making me somewhat normal.


No, stop worrying about the benzos, try not to escalate your dose, and try to reduce it (or simply don't take them whenever posible). Use them as SOS. I read that stopping chronical intake of benzos can aliviate axiety 

I came to this forum by searching for that effect on Google...

You, and everyone else, be responsible, benzos can be used to kill yourself (not effectively), but they can be just another medicine to be used whenever it is necessary.

If you had problems quitting alchool or any other thing in the past, do not start taking any other drug.

If you can control your drinking (etc), you can control benzos, but take some extra care. If your life is stressful, and you are in a period in which you feel too challenged, benzos will be hard to stop.

Bye (i am not an English speaker, natively, and don't have the time now, really, to check this up in word)


----------



## fineline (Oct 21, 2011)

you always here about long, drawn out stories of people in the middle of tapering off of a benzo.

it is pretty rare to find a story that isnt about someone tapering off of them or trying to replace it with something else.

one thing is for certain, you either stay on them, and live like that, or you go off them, and have to make a multitude of "adjustments" in your life to compensate and live life without them.

best bet? find a doctor with will prescribe them with no intention of ever taking you off of them. work your way to a steady dose, and never, ever, increase or decrease it.

or, simply dont even go on them.


----------



## Boulder257 (May 9, 2013)

complex said:


> I am actually in the middle of tapering off I started at 4mg had been taking that for about 5 years. I am down to 1mg a day now it's not easy I have noticed I am more sensitive to sounds and situations. I have been dropping 1mg every 2ish weeks per my Dr. I could go at a slower pace but I feel I am doing pretty good and I am almost done! First time I will be med free since age 13.


Congrats!


----------

