nissan99

I've been taking .5 mg 2-3 times per day with no issue. Some days, only .5 mg. As my drinking got worse, I took more like 1 mg. Now, I'm nearly 90 days sober and just broke up with my girl friend who drove me absolutely insane and find I miss her so much I'm taking 2-5 mg per day just to get by. I got so defendant on her presence, I didn't need the Klonapin so much. I hope this is temporary to get over her.

Biskits

You need to talk to your psychiatrist and therapist, if you don't have one, get one. Your body becomes physically de-sensitized and dependent on benzos, and in times of great stress like this, it's incredibly important to speak with both of your healthcare providers to ensure you have other coping mechanisms aside from the benzos... It can become a snowball and very hard to come down from.

nissan99

During "in patient" rehab, there was a person there who had a benzo and other substances and I never understood how the hell someone could get addicted to benzo's since I had been taking them for a long time, as prescribed and if I had a stressful time, they just made me feel like sh** and I wanted to just take a nap. Now I am seeing the addictive part of them.

Confuseddotcom

hi.. im on 10mg diazepam and 2mg clonazepam (klonapin) a day.. though most days i do what you did and see how i go before popping them. I was prescribed the clonazepam to help with my nightmares and to change my REM sleep pattern, i dont really find it useful for stress and anxiety, thats where the diazepam (valium) comes into play.

I would say, if you notice yourself that you are starting to abuse your meds, its time to be honest with your prescribing doctor. They may do what they did with me and change your meds around a bit, i was additionally put on mirtazapine to help with my depressive episodes (and it sounds to me like you are heading that way though i am obviously not a doctor), depression comes in many different shapes and sizes, it took my psychiatrist the better part of a year to get through to me that not ALL depressed people sit and cry a lot, some just go like me, flat, seeing life as pointless, having no hope that anything will get better, just not seeing any point in making any effort. We tried ssris for me but those just sent me totally loopy and i ended up trying to OD and k*ll myself.

Please, speak with your psychiatrist to have a look at your dosage or any other med, if, like me, you cant actually speak to him/her, write it all down for him/her to read. I found that once i didnt have to verbalize what was going on with me, my dr finally got an idea of how to help me and i could open up about stuff i couldnt when he talked to me.

It seems that you are dealing with a lot emotionally at the moment, the last thing you need is getting into misusing benzos, trust me, ive been there and done that .. but the good thing is that if you are prescribed those, you have access to the very people who can also help you turn this around.

deeker

I am a recovering alcoholic and addict and Bi polar . I was also on clonapin and abused them so bad 8-10 mgs a day. But what I was going to say is that when we get sober, we are going to have to learn new ways of coping with situational anxiety. We have to learn new ways of coping rather than pop a pill every time we feel uncomfortable.

I found when I stopped drinking that my anxiety went away because I was not doing crazy stuff to bring on that anxiety.

If it is your goal to grow in recovery. I would start finding ways to cope with your problems. Because you are going to face a lot of situations that cause anxiety.

I am not saying stop taking what you take as prescribed but if it is specifically when something bad happens then you are still self medicating.

dynarider1233

I couldn't agree more Deeker. It was great to hear another say the same thing I have experienced. Since retuning from Afghanistan my anxiety has been pretty bad. I have managed to cope without meds but I ALSO realized that if I don't drink I don't do things that would normally add to my anxiety i.e. Blow money I didn't have on booze, irresponsible intimacy with women, drunk texts, etc. Thank you for the share. I just got on this app about 30 min ago and love it. Take care and God bless all off you.

nissan99

I spoke to my doctor and he took me off the Bupropion and one of my blood pressure meds but kept me on the Klonapin….he said for now. Within a few months he said that he wants to taper me off of it but for safety reasons felt it was better to stay the course. He also got me into using natural Tryptophan, Melatonin, drinking chamomile tea in the middle of the day etc…the natural stuff. What a difference between working with a Psych who knows addiction vs. my PCP who knows the hot drug reps that visit them. Also, Gonesh Sticks (incense) help a lot…found them at Rite Aid or CVS. Try the Extra Rich NAG CHAMPA which is a flower derivative one….very calming.

DStew1024

Nissan99 I know this is an old post but I needed to comment. I think you need to talk to someone. I was sober 60 days for the first time basically since I was 16 (im 34) and I did it for myself, but for also my girlfriend. Well, being sober was great and we did sober stuff but I found I got very despondent to her, and drove her away. I was, and now devastated she left me. I actually fell off the wagon and went on a 10 day drinking stupor and had all types of thoughts, crying, missing work, just basically thinking of her and it CONSUMED me - I've been sober for 2 days again, and feeling like crap but much better - you don't want to NUMB yourself as it will not help - I did find that .5 milligrams in the morning and another .5 at night helped greatly BUT I am not a doctor. The thing that has helped for me is talking. My mother in NY is a therapist so I got extremely spoiled about that. Coming from a stubborn Irish American family of Cops on my Dads side I was always raised that men don't talk about their feelings. But I now know thats not true. When I hold things in I go absolutely crazy and wind up obsessing and being self destructive (drinking, fighting, texting her non stop and having unrealistic scenarios in my head) - But thats just me. See if you can talk to about it. You can always message me - I am AWESOME at giving advise, just TERRIBLE at taking my own. Funny How it works like that right?

Leslie Catherine

Benzos are extremely addictive and the detox can be very dangerous.
Benzos are a narcotic which inevitably led me back to a drink
and a relapse beyond incomprehensible demoralization.
Clean and sober 4/20/11.
Thanks to AA.