At 1 to 2 mg a night and I stopped last Thursday I can barely sleep how long will this last?
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Why would you stop your medicine without the help of a medical professional? Call a hospital, get PROFESSIONAL help.
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There is no way to tell. it could last weeks, months or years.
You should never quit a benzo cold turkey when you have been on it every night for that long at that dose. You’re almost guaranteed to run into problems. In severe cases you can have a seizure and die.
I was dependent on 0.5 mg of clonazepam 2 years ago and I did a very slow taper to get off it, and I had 3 week of withdrawals after my last dose, but they were relatively mild compared to some of the stories I have read.
Fast forward 2 years and I am now back on it. I’ve taken 1.5mg every night for about 4 months. When I do quit it will be a very slow taper.
If I were you I would reinstate the medication so I can sleep and function and then slowly reduce it over a period of many months.
The standard advice when tapering off a benzo is a 10% reduction of your previous dose every 4 weeks. The “cut and hold” method. That should minimize withdrawal symptoms.
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You need to reduce the doses very slowly, a little at a time with the guidance of your doctor.
Do NOT STOP COLD TURKEY!
I would contact your doctor immediately
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I’ve already cold turkeyed 5 days ago I didn’t know any better for this type of medication the withdrawals suck but I’m getting through it do you think I will die from this?
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Clonazepam has a half life of up to 60 hours, that means it takes 60 hours for half of it to leave your system. It generally takes 4-5 half lives for a medication to be eliminated from your body. That means it could take roughly 12 days to be completely out of your system. Right now you’re not even half way to that point, which means things could get worse.
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Ok thank you 1515
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You should know that just because it is out of your system doesn’t mean your problems will come to an end, don’t expect everything to get better in a weeks time. You’re having withdrawals because you have become dependent on it, once it is completely out of your system you could run into bigger problems than you have now. You’re body is dependent on it but there will be none in your body.
Read up on Benzo Post Acute Withdrawal Symptoms (PAWS). They can last for a very long time.
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Contact your doctor ASAP!
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That’s interesting I didn’t know that. Is it a rule for benzos, or similar for most medications? The 5 half life’s thing I mean.
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It’s a rule for all medications. Everyone has a different metabolism so it could vary somewhat between individuals, but that 5 days is the general rule of thumb.
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I emailed my Dr and she reinstated 0.5mg and I’m doing much better thanks guys
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That’s good to hear @anon80490300
When the time comes to quit just taper off it very very very slowly. The list time I tapered, near the end I was breaking my pills into little tiny crumbs for about a month, before going to zero. They had no therapeutic value but they really helped prevent serious withdrawals.
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