[bill563]

Hello, I took klonopin for the past 3 months and I have been off of it for 1 week now. 1 month into taking klonpin I decided to smoke some pot (bad idea), and since I have had bad chest tightness and I don't breathe like I normally used to. I went to the hospital and to the doctor's and they couldn't determine exactly what caused the chest tightness and I told them about the pot. I currently am not drinking or smoking pot as I just want to get better. Is there any advice as to how to get rid of the chest tightness? I read a few other things about this, and people say that it won't last forever. I am confident that now that I am off klonopin it will go away within a few weeks, but that day can't some soon enough! Other than that I am doing quite well now. I tapered off the medication properly after trying to just stop abruptly with no success (had pretty bad withdrawal then). My only problem is the chest tightness/irregular breathing and slight disconnect from the world. I am not too worried about my mental state as I have noticed progress and I keep as calm as possible so I don't psych myself into a weird state of mind. I am also drinking lots of chamomile tea. Any insight into the chest tightness is much appreciated, I just really want it to go away. Thanks for any bit of help.

[Littlebug]

I am also tapering off of Klon, can you tell me how you taperd it and at what mg you stopped taking it. I wish I could be of more help to you w/ your chest. But I am sure it will pass, not soon enough though for you. My Dr. did give me vistiril for anxiety it is non addicting, it could help you.

[bill563]

I actually don't really have anxiety anymore, which is great. Just have the chest tightness/irregular breathing, but I know it will go away. As far as tapering off, it depends on how much you're taking. I wasn't taking that much, 1 .5 mg pill in the morning, and then another .5 mg pill at night if I needed it. I didn't take it at night very much. So what I did to taper off was go 10 days on 1 .5 mg pill, then 10 days on half a pill, and then 10 days on 1/4 of a pill, and that has worked quite well. I'm sure it's gonna take some time for the medication to be completely out of my system, which is why I feel semi-disconnected a bit, but it's really not bad, and I am starting to feel more alive. Hopefully this helps for you. When I talked to my doctor he said to tape by .5 mg, but at that point I was only taking .5 mg total, and honestly I think that is too much to taper off at a time. I know I certainly just wanted to get off of that stuff, but believe me, tapering off slowly is the best way to go, and you will experience minor withdrawal symptoms if any. Good luck!

[Araminta]

Hey Bill,

I had those symptoms when I was going through an overly fast withdrawal: From .5 mg a day to nothing. Of course I also had all the really bad symptoms that you no doubt experienced when you tried to go off of .5 mg cold turkey: sleeplessness, vomiting, not being able to eat, not able to stop thoughts from racing, along with the chest tightness and irregular breathing. So, I imagine, if those last two are your only remaining symptoms, that you are still experiencing Some Withdrawal from the .25(?)mg. you had tapered down to before you got off completely.

I am currently back at the .5 mg. per day, but I'm trying to cut it down. I freaking hate the W/D symptoms from this drug. I'm going to try and take 1/4 less than my usual dose per day for a while and see how that goes.

Ara

[bill563]

Originally Posted by Araminta

Hey Bill,

I had those symptoms when I was going through an overly fast withdrawal: From .5 mg a day to nothing. Of course I also had all the really bad symptoms that you no doubt experienced when you tried to go off of .5 mg cold turkey: sleeplessness, vomiting, not being able to eat, not able to stop thoughts from racing, along with the chest tightness and irregular breathing. So, I imagine, if those last two are your only remaining symptoms, that you are still experiencing Some Withdrawal from the .25(?)mg. you had tapered down to before you got off completely.

I am currently back at the .5 mg. per day, but I'm trying to cut it down. I freaking hate the W/D symptoms from this drug. I'm going to try and take 1/4 less than my usual dose per day for a while and see how that goes.

Ara

Ya, give it a try, it's definitely better than going from .5 mg to nothing. It will take a day or two to adjust, and you might feel a little off, but don't worry, it will go away and the symptoms shouldn't be bad. I think also that it's really important to try and control your mind as best as possible, because you do have control. You don't want to psych yourself into a uncomfortable state of mind. Keep reassuring yourself that things are going to get better. It's frustrating, but worrying only makes it worse. Hopefully I am not too far off from being completely back to normal.