Author: Charles Frank

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Working with a mental healthcare provider can ensure you’re treating your depression with a treatment plan that works to improve your depression (and not just anxious feelings you have as a result of it). Medically assisted detox and addiction treatment is your best bet if you are trying to taper your drug or alcohol use. The Recovery Village provides 24-hour detox care and addiction rehab at facilities nationwide, and each care plan can be customized to your exact needs. Call The Recovery Village today to learn more about medical detox. A benzo taper can sometimes rid someone who is recovering of any withdrawal symptoms.

Someday you may face a sudden, short-term health problem such as surgery or an injury. If an opioid is prescribed, let your healthcare team know if you had any trouble tapering off opioids in the past. If you’ve successfully tapered off opioid medicine in the past, taking opioids for a brief time — with guidance from your healthcare professional — may be OK. But ask about all nonopioid pain medicine options to treat your pain, including the benefits and risks. During a Klonopin taper, a plan will be made to ensure your body can handle the reduction in medication you’re about to experience. Usually, professionals follow a typical formula for this process which includes decreasing your dose by 25% each quarter of the withdrawal period—or sometimes per week.

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If you find yourself having difficulty during your taper, support from others can be very helpful. If you and your healthcare professional think you have an opioid use disorder, voluntary groups such as Narcotics Anonymous are structured support groups. They are led by other people who have been dependent on addictive substances.

Because risks of continued use outweigh any potential benefits, tapering her down and off of the medication should be discussed. But there are risks linked to opioid use — including severe constipation, nausea, dependence, misuse, opioid use disorder and accidental overdose. For example, opioid medicines may help when the pain level is very high and short term.

This slow tapering also helps ease the discomfort you may feel as you stop taking opioids. During this time, you can practice new skills to manage pain and other long-term symptoms too. Your doctor is an excellent resource when it comes to helping you wean off benzos. They can design a taper schedule to decrease your benzo dose gradually over time. This may even involve prescribing lower doses of the medication(s) so you do not need to cut up higher-dose pills.

1. Read ahead to learn about Klonopin withdrawal symptoms, why Klonopin withdrawal occurs, and treatment options for Klonopin withdrawal.
2. However, the tapering process may seem confusing and unclear, since the frequency and amount of Klonopin a person should reduce can be vague or confusing.
3. A 45-year-old woman with a history of anxiety and insomnia transferred to our clinic requesting alprazolam (Xanax), which she had been taking for the past year.
4. For example, opioid medicines may help when the pain level is very high and short term.
5. Although some patients may prefer a quicker taper, this must be balanced with the severity of potential withdrawal symptoms.

The Klonopin withdrawal process can occur several ways which depend on how the user decides to quit. This means that you are taking a normal dosage of Klonopin one day and then none the next. The withdrawal process for this method of quitting Klonopin is often downright intolerable, if not life threatening.

How The Recovery Village Uses Klonopin Tapering

This is because tapering allows the central nervous system to slowly adjust to the removal of the drug. Stopping Klonopin cold turkey can be very dangerous and may lead to withdrawal complications like seizures if you have been taking the drug on a consistent basis. Instead, a taper allows your body to gradually adjust to smaller and smaller doses of the drug, letting your body gently ease itself off Klonopin while minimizing withdrawal symptoms. Direct tapers are straightforward and common for long-acting benzodiazepines like Klonopin and diazepam (Valium). In a direct taper, the drug’s dose is slowly decreased over time until you are fully weaned off and can stop the drug.

A 45-year-old woman with a history of anxiety and insomnia transferred to our clinic requesting alprazolam (Xanax), which she had been taking for the past year. It was prescribed by another physician who had since retired, and she insisted that it was the only thing that helped her symptoms. Over the past several months, she had been taking more alprazolam during the day and at bedtime, because it had not been working as well as when initially prescribed. As a general rule of thumb, physicians and rehabilitation personnel suggest a reduction in benzo use by increments of 10% every week. A less conservative approach can push these numbers into the 25% range if necessary—this approach is usually for patients who’ve tried but did not succeed with a taper before. A medically supervised taper can help you stop taking Klonopin without suffering the effects of withdrawal.

And Klonopin withdrawal symptoms can start anywhere from two to seven days after your last dose. Klonopin, a member of a family of drugs called benzodiazepines, is commonly prescribed for treating anxiety and insomnia. Withdrawal from Klonopin typically includes a variety of uncomfortable symptoms, such as anxiety and irritability. In some cases, symptoms can include life-threatening seizures. Tapering is undoubtedly the best method for getting off of Klonopin.

How to Cope With Klonopin Withdrawal Symptoms

This means that it is reduced by smaller increments as the taper period proceeds (since 25% of each dose becomes incrementally smaller). Someone who took a lower dose of Klonopin will complete the withdrawal and taper process much more quickly. Although some patients may prefer a quicker taper, this must be balanced with the severity of potential withdrawal symptoms.

Your healthcare professional may prescribe opioids to help you get through a few days of severe pain after surgery or a serious injury. Opioid medicines also can play an important role in treating pain from cancer. Rarely, opioids may be used to treat long-term pain that’s not caused by cancer when other treatments have not worked. When they decide to quit the drug and go through Klonopin withdrawal, they suddenly have trouble sleeping. This can be quite unpleasant for patients because withdrawal is uncomfortable, and most people would like to be able to sleep through their most uncomfortable withdrawal symptoms. Sometimes, Klonopin can mask other mental health issues in people who take or abuse it.

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Medications Used When Tapering Off Benzodiazepines

If you do not have health insurance, you can go to a community clinic in your area. Community clinics will treat you, regardless of your ability to pay. To find a community health center near you, use this search directory from U.S.

Sometimes, despite a taper, a person needs adjunct medications like anti-seizure drugs in the last stages of a benzo taper. Both carbamazepine (Tegretol) and pregabalin (Lyrica) have that data to support their use for this purpose. Using additional treatment strategies like therapy can help a taper’s chances of success. Among people using benzodiazepines for more than six months, about 40% will experience moderate-to-severe withdrawal symptoms.

A much safer option is to taper down the usage of the medicine naturally. We publish material that is researched, cited, edited and reviewed by licensed medical professionals. The information we provide is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. It should not be used in place of the advice of your physician or other qualified healthcare providers.