[Mr. Mr.]

I was placed on Klonopin for generalized anxiety disorder by my doctor about 5 years ago.I want to get off this stuff!!I am taking 0.25mg three times a day. I had an insurance physical and I took myself off the stuff cold turkey for 2 weeks.I experienced severe withdrawl symptoms with irritability, inability to think straight, hostility towards others, and just felt horrible, and I resorted to getting back on it.My doctor said I'm taking such a low dose, that I should not worry about getting off it.But I think it's doing more harm than good for me now, and I want to get off this dope!!How slowly do I wean off the Klonopin to prevent first physical withdrawl, and most importantly the psychological withdrawl?I don't smoke, drink alcohol or on any other mind alterning drugs other than coffee.I hope there's someone out there that has had a similar problem and can give me good advise.

[Hey there]

try harm reduction method. It will take a while, but with minimal side effects. Instead of completely going cold turkey, take a pill everyother day, then after two weeks or so, minimize the dosage by cutting the pill in half, and so on so forth..... one thing i wonder, howcome you want to get off it now after so many years...?

[~*Bri*~]

I do agree with the first answer to cut back BUT don't immediately go for every other day. Because your taking it 3 times a day I suggest you cut back to 2 a day and after a few days go to 1 a day give that a few days and go to every other day and then just stop all together.

[gotta luv da Li]

If you are on .25mg 3x a day, you can tackle it a few ways depending on how you respond. The easiest would be to skip a dose for a few weeks and then skip another for a few weeks more. The last dose you'd probably want to cut in half and take that for a couple weeks followed by the same with the last amount.If skipping a dose to begin with is tough, try splitting the dose twice a day from the beginning. That has a psychological advantage in that you are still taking the med at the same time.Klonopin is easy to bite in half, but if you are already chopping your pills by hand, get a pill cutter. You can get one at any pharmacy and they only cost a couple bucks.PS - Klonopin's half life is 10-12 hours, so it is in your system for a long time. That means if you want this smooth with high odds of no/little withdrawal, you need to stretch it at least a week between reductions. Just keep in mind, the reason you went on the med in the first place may still be there. Getting off completely might not be the answer, but getting to a lower dose might be.

[maree]

You cannot take yourself off mood altering drugs, cold turkey, you always end up with withdrawal symptoms. I am surprised that you did not get headaches too.Try omitting the lunchtime half over about a month, then the morning one as well for a month, then, lastly the nightly one.Good luck, I think I took 6 months to take myself off anti-depressants that I was taking.

[Unpopular Opinion]

Look. don't listen to any of these fools. None of them are Md's. Tell your doctor straight up that you want off of it and he/she will help you.