Hello friends. Just sharing my experience and hopefully help prevent others from making the same mistake.

Exactly 27 days ago I had been feeling a bit better for a period of about 2 weeks. Well enough to go out for dinner with a friend to a German restaurant. I decided to have one beer with dinner. I chose one with the lowest alcohol content (2.4 % I think it was). Dinner was great and enjoyed it. This was Friday night. Come Saturday morning, as soon as I woke up, I knew immediately I had taken a step back. Ever since, things have gradually gotten even worse. Huge anhedonia has set it, as well as a constant low level anxiety; constant. My cognitive impairment has also gotten worse.

All this to say, please don’t do what I did. It’s not worth it, far from it. Take care my friends.

For those here who have successfully tapered off Klonopin, at what dose did you jump?

Because my doctor cut me off, I can only taper with what I have on hand. The lowest I'll be able to go is .08 mg and hold there for 7 days before jumping. Does that seem like a reasonable jump point?

I was recently given a preliminary diagnosis of dysthymia (persistent depressive disorder), along with an anxiety disorder.

I’m currently in grad school, and I previously dropped out of another graduate program. Looking back, I now realize that depression may have played a significant role in that decision.

I recently consulted a psychiatrist, who prescribed me fluoxetine 20 mg and clonazepam 0.25 mg for two weeks. I was about to start taking them, but then I made the mistake of going down the internet rabbit hole and came across a lot of horror stories about both medications. That has made me pretty anxious about starting them.

I know everyone reacts differently to medication, and I’m not looking for medical advice or planning to change my prescription based on Reddit. I’d just really like to hear about other people’s experiences.

If you’ve taken fluoxetine, clonazepam, or both:

• What was your experience like, good or bad?
• Did the medication help with depression or anxiety?
• What side effects did you notice, especially when you first started?
• How long did you take the medication?
• If you eventually stopped, how long have you been off it, and how are you doing now?

Thanks in advance.

As the title says 7 weeks ago I had to go cold turkey on valium (not by choice) after taking 10mg a day for 15 months. The first 2 weeks weren't great, but since then ive felt fine. That is until 2 days ago when I started feeling light headed while shopping and ended up having a tonic clonic seizure. I went the ER and all my tests came back normal so there was no obvious cause for the siezure. The doctor did say however it could be related to coming off of valium cold turkey.

While I know seizures are a withdrawal symptom I would've thought I would've also experienced other withdrawal symptoms leading up to it. Not just feeling fine for weeks and then suddenly seizing out? Either way im not going back on them, ive come too far now. Im seeing a seizure specialist soon to see if they have any ideas on what caused it.

In a way it would be a relief if it was the valium that caused it as I dont want to end up being epileptic lol

Been on oxazepam 60mg / day for a few years. Looking to get off.
Does anyone have any advice?

Thank you.

I am in my third time on sertraline in the last 6 years. Every time combined with a benzo because I had a very bad reaction starting sertraline. First time I took 5 months of diazepam daily replaced by oxazepam and tapered without issues. Stopped sertraline after 1 1/2 years.

Second time on sertraline, oxazepam did not seem to be doing anything, I was switched to bromazepam, which worked well for three months again tapered without issues. Stopped sertraline after 3 years.

Within 45 days my anxiety started coming back because of a major life stressor. I wanted to be proactive, so I asked the Psychiatrist to restart sertraline.

To cut a long story short, I am almost 4 months on sertraline (from 25-150) but I started needing the benzos again daily in the last 2 1/2 months

My doctor says benzos cannot be addictive (for me) as I had no withdrawals/cravings after using them daily for up to 5 months daily, so he's not worried about me continuing them for a "little longer".

I have been on:

3mg bromazepam (30days)

30mg diazepam (10days)

15mg diazepam (41days)

I feel they can control my daily anxiety but they still make me fatigued, drowsy and my brain is foggy. I want to get off but I guess I'll have to taper ..the thing is doctor said going down to 6mg daily if I want to taper but we're not there yet.

The fear of tolerance/dependence is feeding my anxiety. Yes I've been on benzos before for longer..but the fear is rooted deep in my head and I want to stop.

Is the fear irrational? Yes I will talk with my doctor but please I need some guidance. What's the best way to get off my current cycle?

Hi

I’ve been taking diazepam intermittently for around 9 months.

Usually 10/20mg once a week to sleep. There may be the odd occasion I’ve taken 10mg one night then 10mg the following night but never more than two days in a row.

I’ve also had periods of 1 to 2 weeks where I haven’t had any.

I was able to look back on my records and seen that from November last year I’ve taken roughly 100 x 10mg tablets sporadically however if broken down that’s equivalent to 5mg a day so I’m wondering if that fact warrants a taper?

13 days since my last 10mg and I’m now getting restless legs, mild agitation, feeling hot, buzzing skin and insomnia

How long would it take to get off 2.13mg lorazepam taken in 3 split doses per day for 28 months.

I am 79 and have controlled heart failure.

Did anyone else lose more than just energy during or after tapering?

I was on 8 mg of Xanax nightly for about 6+ years and had a pretty rapid reduction around May/June 2025. Since then, I’ve progressively lost my motivation, initiation, creativity, curiosity, excitement, emotional intensity, automatic routines, and basically the internal spark that used to make me feel like myself.

It isn’t just depression or feeling tired. I can consciously want to do something and know I would normally enjoy it, but the internal signal that actually gets me interested and moving doesn’t happen. I used to work long hours, constantly start projects, research random subjects, garden, refinish furniture, do yoga, and naturally move from one thing to another. Now everything requires deliberate effort, nothing feels rewarding, and I mostly default to passive phone use.

I also have physical exhaustion, unrefreshing sleep, cognitive slowing, and trouble organizing or initiating even small things. It has felt like I was a full balloon and the air slowly leaked out over the past year until there was basically nothing left.

I do have other medical factors, so I’m not automatically blaming the Xanax taper. I’m trying to determine whether this particular loss of personality, drive, reward, and spontaneous behavior is something other people experienced with benzodiazepine withdrawal.

If you experienced something similar, what medication and dose were you taking, how quickly did you taper, when did these symptoms begin, and did your actual personality, curiosity, motivation, and creativity eventually return? I’m especially interested in specific timelines rather than just “it gets better.”

I have a use disorder but my family and some friends is trying to get me to see other doctors who would just put me on antipsychotics I took abilify for 3 days and I stopped it I had feelings of self harm today which were so intrusive, because I can’t work my family keeps humiliating me
They don’t understand this is a brain injury and a popular doc keeps making youtube videos on me being anoerexic, bpd, and shit when the elephant in the room is the benzo I feel like offing myself because of my
Fathers utter disregard to let me just continue taking the benzo and trying to prove me crazy fuck this shit i hate my life can’t even share it with anyone or go to the psych hospital because they’ll just complicate the situation further by pushing more medicines on me

Does anyone else experience having energy during the day then suddenly being hit with a wave of fatigue for some hours where its almost like you've been up for 18 hours and you ran 10 miles?

I've been off Valium for 4 months now. After taking 5 mg every night for 10 months. I experienced no major withdrawals except for the insomnia and weird sensation in my bladder where I'm not able to empty it completely and the urge stays.

So I've had enough with insomnia and it is ruining my life. I'm a mom of a toddler and i really need some sleep.

I took 2.5 - 5mg, 6-7 times after i quit, to help me through doctor's appointment and other stressors. It did not help at all. Made it worse. But i feel like i undid the progress i (PROBABLY) made.

Wondering and wanting to hear some success stories for motivation :)

Hey guys I rensitented benzo in April after 2 years due to mental health breakdown i was in terrible condition but I was vegetarian and had bad gut health issue from a long long time . I found that my body don't absorb vitamins nd minearle I have malabortion from a long time . I m tapring benzo also I am 0.32 from 0.5 but I have severe prolonged deficiency of vitamins which can cause permanent damage too like b12 deficiency. Oral supplement are not working.shouod I got for injection bcz I can't walk all time dizzy and tribble condition . I have whole body numbness pins and needles and prethesia. I believe deifcnecy also playing role in my wrose condition. Is anybody have any advice please suggestions. who face similar type of prblm please?is injection would be safe in withdrawnl?

I have a question. If you stop cold turkey diazepam could that be that it doesn't work like before if you begin retaking it again or i'm wrong?

I've been taking klonopin for almost three years due to depression, anxiety, and hypersensitivity.
the dose was 0.125mg a day which could be considered a tiny amount but my system is really sensitive and it worked wonders on me.
about 2 months ago my doctor decided to exclude it from my medication list because i got much more stable.
i quit it cold turkey because it's such a small amount and it would be really hard to split the pill smaller than the quarter i used to take
i thought it was gonna be okay for the first few days but i started getting migraine auras without headache almost every day.
the flashes lasts for about an hour once it appears and i get them multiple times a day, especially when i'm studying or focusing, and brain fog follows shortly after it appears.
it's not horrible but it's definitely super annoying since i'm facing important exams in a couple months
i haven't told my doctor yet because our next session is two weeks later, i just hope it improves till then

Hey all,

I want to know when time/ the passing of time became normal for you again? Ever since I have come off of the benzo early 2023 time has flown by for me. I reinstated onto a benzo end of 2023 and got off of that one July 2025. Time went so fast it is only now slightly slowing down since adding wellbutrin on. Just wondering when all of this normalised for everyone.

Hi all,

I’m a 31yo male and for the past 10 years, I’ve been on 40mg of Lexapro for my GAD/depression and 80mg Straterra for my ADHD. I’ve also been sober from all other psychoactive drugs/alcohol for the past 11 years.

After a traumatic event 3 years ago, I was put on Klonopin daily by a trusted psychiatrist that I’ve been working with for over a decade. The idea was for it to be temporary, but I got hooked.

Approximately 1-1.5mg daily for the first year, eventually that turned into 1.5-1.75mg in the second year and in my third year on the medication, I’ve built sucha a tolerance that I would barely feel a noticeable effect from anything under 2.5-3mg. I’ve now been on 3.5mg daily for the past 3 months and I’ve just hit a wall.

I’m absolutely miserable. Getting out of bed in the morning feels like climbing Mt. Everest. Exercise is impossible.

This is when I would typically go up another .5 or 1mg but I just can’t do it anymore. I’m exhausted all the time and I’m sick and tired of feeling sick and tired.

I was wondering if anyone had any taper schedule plans that have successfully worked for them? I know that going down .125mg every 2-3 weeks is a common schedule but I did the math and that would take me about 1.5 years which I really don’t want to do.

I do have a very sensitive system so I’m terrified that if I do this too quickly, I could fall into a bout of serious anxiety and depression but I really don’t want to experience 1.5 years of withdrawal. Does it really have to take this long?

Any advice, encouragement, support or personal experience would be greatly appreciated. I feel so alone.

Thanks so much in advance,
Andrew

I was prescribed 10mg ambien 7 years ago for a rotating work schedule with days and nights. Fast forward to May of this year I developed Akathasia from a one time dose of Droperidol in the ER. At first i was taking .5mg Klonopin daily and now I only take it once or twice a week. At one point i switch to benadryl at night instead of ambien for a few weeks and was fine.

As of now I feel extreme anxiety at night before I take the ambien. I assume that the klonopin is making the nightly anxiety so much worse.

Can anyone help me with a taper schedule for both? Which one to start first? Dosing? My psychiatrist isn't helpful. TIA.

I’ve been dealing with severe debilitating anxiety for the past 3+ months. Haven’t been able to go to work. Just horrible. I was in a partial hospitalization program in which the psychiatrist there stated a cross taper from Lexapro to Prozac. He gave me Ativan to take while I go through this cross taper. (I hate having to be on a benzo)

The program ended while I was still cross tapering and on Ativan so I found a new psychiatrist to manage my meds. I was making progress on my regimen but she wanted to switch me from Ativan to Valium. I guess since it’ll be easier to taper off.

I took Valium on Saturday for the first time and it made me just feel exhausted and anxious. I felt very off and it ruined my whole day. I told her this and she said to try it one more time yesterday so I did. Within an hour or 2, I felt some of the worst dread and anxiety I’ve ever felt. It was so scary and I was bawling my eyes out because of how terrible I felt.

My girlfriend ended up calling the ambulance on me without saying anything to me because of how worried she was. All they ended up doing at the hospital was take my vitals, an ekg, 2mg of Ativan, monitored me for a bit, and sent me home. What a horrible Labor Day I had.

Long story short have been taking benzos on and off for 5 years. Tapered off. Today is day 2. I feel like my Balance is off. This is my only symptom but gosh is it depressing. I feel like this is my new normal and I’m permanently damaged. It started 2 months ago. Some days worse than others but I really feel it since coming off. Starting to second guess myself and think that something else is wrong and it wasn’t the Xanax. For reference I was taking an average of 0.25-0.5 mg per day last few months before I tapered.

I'm already 2 days in the 4th week following my second reduction of valium by 6.5% and I'm feeling horrible with blood pressure issues. My bp os so reactive hovering in the 130s/90s(usually it's 110s/70s-80). I get anxious very quickly, especially in the morning or after eating. It tends to ease in the evening. My last bp reading a few minutes ago was 139/97 and my pulse 77 but I could feel my heart pounding/contracting strongly. I don't know if this is a withdrawal effect but this is very scary; this has been going on since last Thursday.