--context-- so i didn't want to taper with only the amount i have left, but postal services haven't been available in my country since nov. 15th bc of a strike, and it doesn't seem like it's going to be resolved soon. i assume i won't be able to get a new refill until the strike ends

so, i've been taking bromazolam for about 6 months, an average of 3mg/day, and have somewhat tapered for the last 2 months: i am currently taking about 2mg 3 times a week. right now i haven't taken anything for close to 72 hours and i feel ok, mild withdrawals but nothing crazy, which reassures me.

now, i planned on going on 2mg every 3 days, then every 4 days, but i don't think that's the most efficient way to taper. my current stash of bromaz is in blotters, so i could probably cut a blotter in 4 and get 0.25mg doses.

what would be the best way to taper with this amount and nothing else? take 1mg every day and then reduce to 0.5mg, to then 0.25mg? i also have pregabalin and weed to help

Hey everyone, I take 375mg lamotrigine a day for epilepsy and 1.25mg clonazepam a day.

I recently dropped 0.25 and have had the worst headaches ever along with dizziness,fatigue etc. My mood hasn't changed (so far!) Thankfully. I'm assuming the headaches, dizziness is withdrawals?

Is withdrawing 0.25 once a month okay or will I need to taper for longer than that?

I have been taking clonazepam for approx 3 years

Thanks!

I could not be prouder, would be proud no matter what, but hes a warrior

I recently went through withdrawal from kratom, after two years of abuse. I started with a quick two week taper and then jumped cold turkey. The cold turkey was hellish for 5 or 6 days, followed by a few days of being wobbly.

I am now 19 days clean of Kratom. It has been around 10 days since I experienced any withdrawal symptoms. I have felt pretty great for the last 10 days actually.

For context, I live in Thailand. I went to see a doctor during the first day of cold turkey owing to chronic anxiety fueled by the withdrawal. He prescribed the following benzos:

*Clorazipate dipotassium 5 mg (twice daily totaling 10 mg per day)

*Lorazepam 1mg each night.

I took as prescribed for a total of 3 weeks. I still experienced the withdrawal anxiety while withdrawing but the benzos definitely helped cope with it.

I told him I was worried about becoming addicted to benzos. He assured me that the doses are very low and while I would probably form a mild addiction within a few weeks it should not fear a brutal withdrawal process.

One week ago - after 3 weeks of taking as prescribed - he dropped the dose by 50%. So, for the last week I have been taking:

*Clorazipate dipotassium 5 mg (once daily totaling 5 mg per day)

*Lorazepam 0.5 mg each night.

On day three of this dose reduction I felt mild cold symptoms. Nothing horrible, just a few sniffles. I did not feel lethargic or tired. I woke up in the middle of the night sweating, but felt no anxiety.

That was the only 'incident' I experienced during the dose reduction and it was nothing, really. It lasted a few hours.

Today will be 4 weeks of taking benzos. I appreciate my current dose is very low, but I am growing anxious that I need to stop pretty soon otherwise I really will form an addiction? Then I will be facing hellish withdrawal?

I took a quick look at benzo withdrawal on Reddit and it terrified me. I regret looking now - and after reading just a few comments I abandoned the thread in fear of causing unnecessary anxiety.

Do I have anything to fear going forward? At my current dose reduction my doctor suggested that I stick with it for another couple of weeks. He told me to try skipping the occasional day here and there and see how I feel and just basically whittle away at it until I jump in a week or so.

My question is this:

Have I formed an addiction after 4 weeks? Is my current dose low enough that I should not fear jumping (stopping) in a week or so?

Also can I make a respectful request? I am so easily influenced by 'horror story' feedback so I would appreciate anyone who does reply avoiding the worst case scenario. It could put something in my head that doesn't need to be there and I could send myself into a state of anxiety just by reading something awful. I hope that makes sense! All I'm saying is if you hit me with the worst case scenario it could be enough to prevent me from quitting and I could form a long-term addiction.

I would just like to know the 'typical' expectations from quitting after 4 or 5 weeks.

Am I correct in saying my current dose is really quite low? The horror stories that I have been reading are more applicable to higher doses, possibly, or am I being naive?

I should also say that while I am free of kratom now, I appreciate I can probably expect some PAWS (post acute withdrawal symptoms) over the next 6 months. A little lethargy here and there, possibly blunted feelings on occasion. I know what to expect - sadly I have been there before 7 years ago. I handled it fine and felt OK after 4 or 5 months.

I am just so damned worried about these benzos. I have never taken them before and didn't realize they were so addictive and come with potential terrible withdrawal symptoms! I am just praying that one month at the given low doses is not enough to cause anything awful to happen?

I am quite nervous about all of this suddenly!

Thanks so much x

Today is the first day I haven't had research chemicals, legal highs like altnoids, nand kratom, or illegal drugs in my possession since 2019. Can't believe it took me this long to appreciate sobriety.

I bought 1g of flubromazepam and 540mg of bromonordiazepam for my taper in June. I ended the taper with about 250mg of bromonordiazepam and 600mg of flubromazepam left over.

I expected to taper until December, but stopped in October instead when I noticed I was still getting bad anxiety at my sustained 1.25mg per day dose. Figured I'd just jump.

I held onto my benzos just in case I had any panic attacks and never actually needed them. I'm still dealing with pretty bad anxiety, particularly when I'm alone. For some reason it's not bad around other people even though it used to be.

The first week off was hard. I didn't sleep well and was more anxious than usual. After 2 weeks I was less anxious but anhedonic. Around mid-November, my positive emotions started coming back. I'm happy to report that Thanksgiving weekend was fun and I was very social with family and friends. Probably seemed like my old self to them.

I have drank alcohol a total of 8 days since jumping. Before that I had abstained for 5 months. I don't recommend drinking when getting off benzos. It probably hasn't made recovery easier, but it did make socializing easier on a few occasions.

Today I'm honestly hearing a lot of intrusive thoughts. They don't feel like mine. All the scary, demonic sounding stuff I was experiencing during the taper still happens. Just not all the time. It's only been bad a handful of days. Some days I don't really get them at all.

Just starting to exercise again after slacking off in November.

I'm kinda rambling but the takeaway here is that I'm less than 2 months out and mostly functional. I don't want to downplay how bad these intrusive thoughts are. It would probably be extremely distressing to the average person. But it isn't new, so I'm not afraid of it. I'll get through it.

The irrational fear and literally crippling depression, dpdr, and anxiety is pretty much gone. That's a huge win. I still get anxious and have these OCD-like symptoms, but I haven't felt depressed in weeks.

Doing leisurely things I enjoy (anime, gaming, music production and DJing), getting lots of sleep (with the help of a cornucopia of supplements), and staying in touch with friends and family often has been very helpful. My job also isn't too stressful, so I guess I got lucky.

If you're on an extended taper, let this be a sign that there is a light at the end of the tunnel and things do get easier. Jump when your dose is very low and you've sustained. Don't turn back to the benzos on hard days if you can avoid it. Focus on your healing and be gentle with yourself. You will recover from this.

I was hoping if people could share how they would taper down from .5 mg from klonopin. I used to take 2 mg of klonopin two years ago, but went cold turkey down to .5 which sucked. I recently completed a slow taperdown from 3600 mg of gabaptenin, it took me 2.5 years dropping only 50 mg or so every two weeks.

I’m thinking of going to a compounding pharmacy do make either .05 mg tables or .1 mg tablets and drop every two weeks. I know everyone’s body is different, but would appreciate any insight!

I’m almost a year sober from 5 years of heavy klonopin/Xanax + alcohol + opiate/Kratom abuse and doing good much better than months 2-6! Also I’ve dabbled in amanita muscaria here and there and cbd, Ashwaghanda which have helped a lot in moderation. Guess I’m wondering for all my pharmacology nerds (I’m one pls take no offense) lol would it be risky to use it like 3x a week moving forward?? From what I understand it’s a GABAA agonist like benzos but doesn’t directly modulate since benzos are GABAA allosteric modulators while amanita seeks to replace endogenous GABA under its influence. I’ve been fine thus far even dosing 4 days back to back with no rebound :)

So, I’m currently 2 yrs clean of benzos and opiates. I got straight thru rehab and drugs are on my mind almost every day. Mainly benzos. It even landed me into a violent stay in a mental facility to detox. I still romanticize about downers, thinking that if I picked another benzo…would I still react the same to it? Of course, no. But, I miss the feeling of its release. I’m happier now more than ever….at least I think.

My question is…after 2 yrs clean. Does anyone deal with any lasting effects from benzo addiction? In my hay day, I was stuck on 9mg of Xanax and 100mg of Klonopins. On weekends, cocaine and opiates would enter the fold too. I do have BPD, but sometimes I feel like I’m always in a dark place mentally. Does anyone know if you’re kinda stuck with any issues even after being clean?

16 months off next week. Things are getting better, I think?? Haha. If so, it's like a snail on a rollercoaster. Been having a lot of brain fog, DPDR, vision issues, headaches and fatigue for the last several weeks. Feel pretty brain dead at times. Thankfully the nausea has almost disappeared and I haven't puked in at least 3 weeks so hopefully that part is behind me.

Had a colonoscopy today and the results were great but between fasting, the prep process and a little bit of anxiety I was in rough shape. Disassociating super hard, really fatigued, shaky and weak. But, I made it, back home in bed resting now and hopeful I'll feel better after food and sleep.

I feel like I've been floating through life for 2 years now. The brain fog, DPDR and memory issues can be pretty brutal at times and really warp my perception. I'm ready to be grounded and present again.

Wherever you're at in this journey, hang in there!

It is so hard to take Xanax daily long term. When I’m on Klonopin it’s 100 times easier. I was currently switched to Xanax 2mg 3x a day due to shortage in certain brands and only brand available I can’t take. I was on same dose of Klonopin but easily able to just take 4mg a day and it was stable and easy to decrease.

With Xanax it wears off in like 3 hours and it’s so hard to even just take 3 a day. I have leftover Klonopin stocked up like 75 of them. The 2mg ones. I was saving in case I ever needed them and thinking about just taking those.

My tolerance was gradually going down but since being switched to Xanax it’s been a nightmare. I have 1 refill left of my Xanax then I see my Dr 25 days after that.

He knows I want to be back on Klonopin but I took one 2mg pill at noon 12pm and as I write this close to 3pm three hours later it’s already wearing off.

I can’t take these ups and downs with this. I’m debating on just using my klonopin stash and just taking that. I can’t change my appointment date so I have to ride this out for a little over a month. I have a refill in 6 days or so and have about 60 Xanax left and 75 Klonopin left.

I have bought a script of someone who gets them as I am afraid to be too low. It’s some weird thing I have where I have to always have a certain amount just in case.

I don’t know what to do. My Dr will switch me back when I see him, he’s very nice and understanding but I need to find some other brand besides Advagen or Aurobindo Clonazepam. It doesn’t have to be Teva just anything besides those two.

I’m working and this is a nightmare. I don’t see how these last anyone 6 hours or more. They work really well for like 2 hours. Klonopin is much better to come down off of. I don’t know if I should just keep taking the Xanax and save the klonopin or split it up and take Klonopin part of the day and Xanax the other part or just go to Klonopin.

My tolerance was at 6mg and got it down to 3.5-4ish mg with Klonopin, now with Xanax it’s back up to 6mg and that is still a struggle.

I’ve been on Klonopin for 20 years on and off and never had this issue at all.

I’m not sure what to do. I don’t want my tolerance to keep going up. I try to take gabapentin in between doses to ease the rebound anxiety as I get 90 of those a month as well, the 800mg ones.

What is the best thing to do. I tried to move my appointment but I can’t. My Dr is very lenient and works with me on my dose and script so I am not changing Drs I’m gonna wait but not sure how to go about the next 5 and half weeks.

I was off benzos for almost a year or more. I’ve just been back on them for 6 months. Klonopin the first 4 and a half the this last month and a half Xanax. The same dose with both

I am off Klonopin now for a year. I CT. I did not know I was able to wean off. I have had visual disturbances for the last year or so. I was only on the medication for about a month or two. I have issues driving. Not sure what that’s called? Never had issues driving prior to taking Klonopin. Vision issues started a month after taking medication. Had severe blurry vision, floaters, extreme light sensitivity. That seems to have let up but now my vision feels very unfocused. As if my eyes can’t keep up with what I’m looking at. Any advice? I am deathly afraid this is permanent!

I am on 2mg diazepam (Valium) a day right now and been holding at two weeks going go down to 1.75mg tonight then hold for two weeks ect ect is the plan.

Just wondering what dose most stopped with?

I really thought I was better, but everything became horrible again, I've been without taking any benzodiazepines for a month and 8 days, I'm proud but at the same time I feel like this will never go away...

About two years back I was prescribed 1 mg of Ativan or Lorazepam three times a day. I took it for about 8 months. I stopped taking it because I felt like I was getting addicted and needed more dose and doctor has increased to 2 mg but I didn’t want to go down that path. Then what happened was I changed the doctor changed and new one changed it to Clonazepam which I take 0.5 mg daily and I have reduced to 0.25 mg and I don’t think I am dependent on it. But the thing is I feel like not my self still. I never did proper taper with Lorazepam. Yesterday I was feeling very anxious and I took one Ativan and I had a feeling of immense relaxation so much so that I would cause it pleasurable. I felt normal after a long time. Should I switch back to Ativan and taper it to 0.5 then 0.25 ? Or should I continue with clonazepam?

happened almost three years ago still have the weird brain melting feeling, headache/ head swelling, squeezing feelings in my brain/head area

way better than where i was two years ago but these symptoms won’t seem to go away feel them almost daily hardly a day goes by without me noticing

I'm prescribed suboxone and Valium. I've been taking them 5 years plus. I want to eventually get off both... my doctor knows but we have not started process due to life stressors right now. Anybody have any idea which one I should come off of first? Anybody ever gone through this? Any advice would be much appreciated and I will take it as advice and make sure to talk to my doctor before doing anything. Thanks all

I’ve been off benzos for around 2 years, and while withdrawal and extreme anxiety went away within a few months, a general anxiety and executive dysfunction persisted and still impacts me today.

One of the things I missed the most about benzos was the spontaneity it gave me. Having the urge to just drive somewhere and have a new experience, since I quit I’ve sticked to my routine more or less and don’t challenge myself socially.

Thats been changing slowly. I’ve been starting up a few group homes with my boss and have been forced to interact with so many families and individuals, and having amazing conversations and interactions.

Yesterday I decided to leave work early (I’m on call so I can basically leave anytime there’s mot something urgent to be done) and decided to drive to the nearest Orthodox Church (been wanting to attend Church for years now). The priest was there when I arrived and we talked for an hour. When I get home I told my wife about what happened and she said “you just randomly decided to leave work and drive to a Church you’ve never been to, that sounds like benzo you”. And she was right, it was something the benzo me would do, only this time I remember the experience crystal clear and did it on my own accord without needing to be on benzos.

I’m attending Church for the first time this Sunday and I’m definitely nervous, but every day I feel more relaxed and in control of my mind and my actions, even more so then when I was on benzos. The point of this story is that whatever advantage you think benzos give you can be acquired sober and without the devastating consequences of benzo use. If you are in the process of quitting, there is light on the other side.

So I relapsed a few times on street Xanax in the past month, not sure if they will contain bromaz or etiz. Some sort of street benzo anyway, usually I wouldn’t touch them but I was a bit desperate. I’m currently detoxing and down to 4mg of Diaz a day. I have an appointment with my addiction worker on Friday and I’m worried about being tested. I should be able to get out of giving a urine, have recently been diagnosed with a condition that stops me from being able to urinate. I will most likely get mouth swabbed though, the panel had maybe 8(?) different kinds of substances it was testing for. I’ve had it done once before but it didn’t work. It seemed pretty generic though. My question is, will I pass the swab test? Will the bromaz/etiz just show up as a benzo anyway? I don’t think the test has specific benzodiazepines on it so I should be ok is that right?

I'm using klon about 2 years. First, I was using 0.5mg not every day until August 2023 when I had started using it daily. Since November 2023 i was taking 0.75mg daily. Then, since September this year I was using 1.25mg. I started taper November 23rd and yesterday and today I took 0.5mg (for each day). Today I feel really bad, have nausea and I'm so tired. I also use mirtazapine which helps. Do you think this is too fast? And how i should taper? My doc want me CT but I can't. I have enough tablets to taper so I would like someone help me how to taper properly. Thanks 🙏 (Sorry for my English, I'm still learning)

How am i suppose to keep going. Im tense, mostly upper body. Im weak, can hardly walk Pots like shit Histamine issues

Other than that im good. But still laying in my bed. Im tired

16years, CT 12 months off

Month and a half ago I used them for 3 weeks not continuously (total around 24mg in 3 weeks) usual dose was 1.5mg. (Bromazapam)

After a month and a half he prescribed me to use continuously I took 1.5mg bromazapam daily for 2 weeks and did 5 days tapper (0.75, 0.6, 0.5, 0.3, 0.2). That was 3 days ago. I met my doc and he wants me to continue with at least 0.75 daily for a longer period.

Tell me that I’m not going to hurt myself

I thought I could be responsible this time and only take them for insomnia but I had a bad feeling about it. And here I am again taking high doses everyday to cope with my mental health issues. Should I just get rid of them?

Hi,

so tapered from like 8mg to 3mg in a month. Then was "stable" on 3,5 for a month.

Last week a friend of mine had benzos he didnt need and I couldnt say no maybe 60mg lorazepam or so.

I must have taken them in sleep or something because its been a week and I remember everything but they are ALL GONE. Like they were in a pill bottle so I only noticed yesterday that there are not many left.

Can I just continue with 5mg and then slowly work towards 4mg? This shouldnt have never happened and I feel really really bad that i did this. How much time will this cost me?

FUCK

Had any one had intense crying, SI, and emotional lability (basically extreme mood swings) when tapering or stopping Xanax?

I was on ~0.5mg Xanax daily for a year, and tapered down to 0.125mg over 6 weeks before jumping off. I had the usual suspects of terror, anxiety, Akathisia, etc.

But I also had really intense emotional lability, especially as a response to emotional stimuli, like music or movies.

At it's worst it was actually very troubling, I was hospitalized for basically non-stop crying and SI.

That was 14 months ago. Most other symptoms are gone or considerably lessened, but I still have pretty disturbing emotional lability. Has anyone else has these symptoms with Benzo withdrawal before?

I’ve just been prescribed quetiapine for insomnia and for its tranquilising effect. I took it for the first time last night and had the worst night of my life, couldn’t sleep, took a doxylamine, then 10mg Valium and then an oxycodon and was still literally climbing the walls. Trying to get of Valium after 12 weeks use but doctor doesn’t believe I have an addiction as my dose was too low apparently. Initially started at 2.5mg every other day but tolerance built and by last week it was 10 mg daily.

Hey everyone, so currently I am in the beginning stages of taper (Clonazepam) but I’m already dealing with lots of insomnia, impaired thinking, and moderate anxiety.

My question is: do people help their withdrawal symptoms with supplements? There is a long list of supplements that might help with anxiety, impaired thinking, and anxiety.

And a follow up question is, if taking supplements might actually have negative effects on the body’s own adjustment response to the withdrawal of the benzo drug, and thereby possibly sabotaging the recovery process?

Any thoughts, references to articles, own experiences, are appreciated.

Thanks!

I want to stop taking Xanax. I’ve been in them for 3 years and I’m just tired of having this over my head, requesting them from the doctor every month, making sure I have them….I’m on the lowest dose, sometimes I take two .25mg but I haven’t taken more the .5mg I’m scared I’m going to have a seizure. Can someone give me some hope. Thanks

Hey friends. Been off clonazepam almost 5 months. Had a wave the last few weeks and it was horrible. I just snapped out of it. Has anyone ever felt like they hate themselves? Like, I just don’t like me or what I am or have become. It makes me isolate and get horribly down and down on myself. And I have constant feelings of people disliking being around me. And I get Benzo rage too. And then today, suddenly I was smiling and happy and it hit me quickly. Also physical symptoms like extreme muscle tension and headaches. I just need to know that I’m really deep down not a miserable person. I hate being like this. I used to make people laugh. Tell me I’m not nuts

I’m an 18M who was recently prescribed Lexomil (bromazepam) at 6 mg daily for anxiety. I’ve actually taken it briefly before, last year, but it made me extremely drowsy, so I stopped and managed to quit cold turkey without any issues. Now, my doctor wants me to start again, but I’m feeling uneasy because so many people have warned me about benzos.

I’m currently going through a really stressful phase, and other non-medication options like therapy, mindfulness, and lifestyle changes haven’t helped much. I don’t want to rely on medications, but I also feel like I need some relief to get through this period.

The conflicting advice I’m hearing is making it hard to decide:

•	Some say benzos are lifesaving when used short-term or as prescribed.


•	Others talk about dependency, withdrawal, and long-term risks, which sound scary.

Given my history with quitting it easily and the current dosage, am I overthinking this? Should I just trust my doctor and take it, or explore other options again?

Would love to hear your thoughts or experiences.

Thanks!

Not scripted, it’s Farmapram (so maybe less than 2mg per pill).

Starting my taper today. I have no access to longer-acting benzos. I do not want to unnecessarily prolong this taper but don’t want it to be too rapid. However I’d like some advice/experiences.

I started taking these after a month of sobriety from an extreme alcohol addiction. I have never been dependent on benzos but have taken them very sporadically over the years.

4 months of this daily dosing flew by and I’m pissed at myself. I’m scared but I’m gonna get on 1.5mg for a few days and see how I feel, then go from there. My dosing has been once in the morning, once at night. Occasionally would experiment with 3mg, 4mg total doses but that’s only happened a few times.

My anxiety is worse if I’m reading through this sub but the anxiety stays if I don’t get a “high” which requires me to take at least 1.5mg at once. I am not doing this now, not chasing a high, just trying to stay regulated and get the fuck off these pills.

Share some wisdom please! Good luck to all of you.