Klonopin Withdrawal - How to ease the symptoms?

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I need some help/advice. My dr has been wanting me to get off of Klonopin for some time, and I was almost off of it this summer. I got scared because of some things going on, and instead of stopping the last .5 pill, I added one at night (my tension at night was really bad). Now, a couple weeks ago, I stopped the night pill again, and I had bad withdrawal for almost a week. It has been about two weeks now?? I think. Well, after the withdrawal stopped, I waited about a week and stopped the last one. I feel like I have been hit by a Mac truck. My skin is so very sensitive (even my sheets hurt), my head feels like it is going to implode and I feel like I have staples and fire in my nose. My throat is also starting to hurt, and I have been feeling sick to my stomach. At times, I feel as if I am going to black out and my eyes are seeing funny things.

I realize that they will get better and they will lessen, but this is so hard, and I have kids to take care of. Is there anything that I can buy (herbs/vitamins) that might help some of these symptoms? I am taking zofran for the nausea when I feel it. I also took a Trazodone (which I also had withdrawal while getting off, so I don't want to get in the habit again). It does help. Has anyone else gone through this and found anything that works? I do not like feeling this way. Two symptoms I did not mention are pain in my abdomen and chest, and also that I feel like everyone hates me. I know that the emotion is a false emotion, and I keep telling myself that, but this makes me feel as if I want to hide in a hole for the rest of my life.

can you cut the klonopin in half and take just the half for a while?

Yes, I could, but I am ready to just stop, and even if I cut it in half, I would still have withdrawal. It would just mean that I have to do it twice. I have been off the med since Saturday morning. This is actually how my doc wanted me to stop - at .5. I asked him if I could be dropped any lower, and he told me I would be fine. I do not feel fine.

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I'm sorry, I had the same experience. I found 0.5 mg too big of an increment to go cold-turkey from (and I'm over 200 lbs). It really is a royal pain in the ass. For now I'd go back to the 0.5 mg dose. I'd do this immediately or you might have to deal with obnoxious withdrawal symptoms for months or even a year or more. I eventually had to go through a compounding pharmacy that made 0.1 mg pills for me but it cost me quite a bit of money. Otherwise you have to crush the pills and dissolve them in water which isn't exactly precise.

If you're sensitive like I was you really have to go slow and it may take several months to get off painlessly. Rushing it will just make the symptoms worse. I couldn't sleep for five days straight when I tried to go cold turkey. I also had severe dissociative symptoms, unreality feelings, and concentration and short-term memory impairments to the point where I had to miss work because I was afraid to drive anywhere. I think just waiting it out isn't the best advice. It might make things worse and take even longer to get over lingering symptoms. I was light-headed, slightly achy/flu-like, had a ringing sensation in my ears/brain, weird sudden sleepy spells, mild tremors, emotional numbness, headaches, muscle pains, etc... for two months or so. The withdrawal symptoms didn't get any worse when I decreased by only 0.1 mg per week. They actually got less severe as I decreased the dose. It just had to be done SLOW. Also, you should try to keep the blood serum level and metabolism process more steady by splitting the dose as evenly as possible to twice a day.

I'll probably have to go to creative measures again if I ever decide to go off my effexor as that's another one of those drugs that isn't manufactured in small enough pills to get off smoothly.

Thanks. :/ I was hoping that there was something to counter the symptoms, since I cannot find anything except for "I hate this drug" posts about it. I actually felt a little more human today, but I am still a long way off. I have considered starting back on it, but honestly, I do not think I will ever be able to get my insurance to pay for the lower doses and I cannot afford to purchase it myself. The most I can do is cut it in half. I guess I *could* grind it up and divide it that way, but I do not trust myself with that. I am afraid I would take too much or too little and then I would just have symptoms. I think I am going to stay off of it and see how I feel in a week. If I am still withdrawaling then, maybe I will add half a pill and see what happens. I am just tired of the symptoms when I get off (this is my 5th? time reducing the dose... and I had symptoms each time, but this is by far the worst). As I said, I did feel slightly better today, but I do feel like I have the flu (body aches and all that) and I am still emotional and having vision issues. I am just hoping that I feel better in a month. I have to go to court. I want it out of my system by then.

Well, if it's getting better each day then you might be okay. For me the insomnia and constant messed up mental state was unbearable. I tried to drive and felt really detached and numb and weird, like things were unfamiliar to me even though they weren't. I felt so whacked out I couldn't concentrate, wasn't sure where I was going and making wrong turns. Then I was afraid I was going to fall asleep at the wheel or something I was so sleep deprived. I had to go back on to get sleep so I could function. Other sleeping pills were not working. If you're at least functioning okay you may not have had as bad a withdrawal reaction as I did.

Yeah, I don't know what is considered "bad." I know that I have been feeling like crap, and I have things messed up, but I can handle it (I am also stubborn and am just trying to ignore a lot). I did not sleep last night. I did not try a sleeping pill either. I finally slept around 6 or so, and I woke up around noon. As for symptoms, for me, I have three types; Body aches and pains (neck, jaw, throat, shoulders, belly, chest), Head pain and associated eye funkiness, and finally the paranoia and irritation. I usually do not have all of them going all at once (except Sunday). I do usually feel at least two of the three. I do not think I should have driven on Monday morning, so I didn't. Feeling these also ranges from mild to "Oh God make it stop!"

I think I am going to look for a new psychiatrist. The one I am seeing now did not put me on the Klonopin, and he actually is the one who has been telling me for 2 years that I do not need it any more. I allowed me to take the final plung when I was ready. I am ready. I am hoping that the symptoms do not last very long. I have been on varying doses since 2007.