Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

17 Comments

  1. I’ve been on Diazepam for 20 years. I was on the same dose up to two months ago, when after three sleeping tablets for chronic insomnia, of quite high doses, including 7.5mg Zoplidem Tartrate, never worked, my doctor doubled the dose to 30mg a day. I have excruciating tinnitus (torturous white noise), which anxiety exacerbates – it’s a vicious cycle of anxiety at the noise level and that heightening the level. It strikes at night more; hence the insomnia. In the UK, the government is forcing a blanket ban on taking everyone off benzodiazepines. The decision is taken out of the doctors’ hands. The government doesn’t know my suffering; my doctor does. The Diazepam doesn’t take away the tinnitus, it takes away the focus, so everything is lower. I can ignore it. Tinnitus is linked tinnitus suicide and I’m at risk. I wasn’t affected by tolerance. I’m extremely grateful to my doctor for treating me as an individual. I believe I’m in a clause that allows the continuation of my very valuable medication. Stevie Nicks never needed what’s know as Clonazepam in the UK. I do.

  2. Hello, I have been on 12 milligrams of Klonopin or something equivalent such as Valium or Xanax, daily, for 45 years, for panic attacks. Other than alcohol, nothing else worked. I took it willingly. At the ripe young age of 69 I am slowly coming off of it. There is hope. I only wish more research were done on Benzo withdrawal. I have a good doctor. I’m not going to drive a car over him because it would have to be a rental car and I would be sued from all sides. Joking of course. I’ll repeat: there is hope. Exercise, listen to music you find uplifting, eat well, live well, keep a journal, enjoy nature, take a walk, a park, a river…etc. Don’t let anything get you down. As you leave this dance with the devil and start to feel again you will be glad to be alive.

    1. Can you tell me how many milligrams you are on right now because Iā€™ve been taking this Klonopin for 30 years and I was prescribed 4 mg a day. I am winging myself off this drug and now I am at one and 3/4 mg per day. can I have some feedback?

  3. That was a amazing read. Im currently on a benzo called olanzapine. Why certain people don’t call it a benzo I don’t know but without it I can’t sleep. I’m hoping to stop it before things get to out of hand. This story about my favorite female artist just might be the key I need to stop. I have some kind of brain damage from a cocktail ine tion I received in a mental institution and that has messed me up for life but being on social security has been no fun either. I want to creat and be part of the world again. Thank you Stevie for your story you truly inspire me. I know lady Gaga also takes olanzapine and I hope she’s doing g ok. With all love and peace.

    1. Olanzapine, which I was on for years, is fantastic for good sleep. Be careful of, or research, the side effects of this chemical, including weight gain and predisposition for diabetes.

  4. I had been on 4.5 mg Klonopin for 12 years until the doctor started to ween me off it. I`m now down to 2 mg a day. So much has happened when I was taking that massive dose. My best friend was murdered, my mother died, several dogs that I loved more than the world had to be put down. I barely remember my mother`s wake and funeral. I took extra dosages to “get me through”. Now I`m mad at myself because I never allowed myself to grieve. I was on auto pilot. Same with my best friend. I was so heavily medicated I barely knew up from down. It is where I wanted to be at the time, in that hole of not feeling anything. I`m slowly getting my life back, but it`s been rocky. I just want to wake up one day and not take pills.

    1. It’s been 5 years since being taken off Klonopin cool turkey at a clinic. I wouldn’t wish my experience on my worst enemy. As Stevie nicks says it was like opening the door to hell. I lost my job, went on disability and to this day have issues.

      Never ever go off cold turkey.

  5. I wish this had not happened to her. Hopefully, her speaking out has inspired someone to take action for change in their lives. American healthcare is too wrapped up in prescribing pills and/or surgeries. Not much compassion for mankind in those options. So many people go to their doctor, who carry their prescription pads on their bodies.

    I can’t wait to see you in August here in Austin, Stevie

    1. I never knew.
      I just wanted to be better, my anxiety caused panic attacks,
      imagine 13 years. only .01 mg nightly &
      I never took the rest of my prescription. I only took it at night.
      Somehow, I realized my vision, memory and twitching was absolutely from this medication. And then
      my fight to get off this poison was a nightmare.
      I tapered down to .05 for 6 months
      then to half of that only for a week, my mistake i didnt want to be on it anymore, im now told i should have done .25 mg for another 3 months, therefore
      much to my surprise…
      I was in a state of depersonalization, as I read later. nothing was real. Paranoia, muscle spasms, heart racing, body temperature increase and decrease. no sleep… I did everything I knew in my soul to get through.
      my one thought was that I knew I didn’t feel like that when I went on this medication, so this was a temporary feeling, I prayed and meditated.
      practiced deep breathing. I couldn’t drive, sleep or eat. I made myself drink water and eat chicken noodle soup for 3 weeks. There was so much more to this month long withdrawal. which is the worst of it. every day after that is better and better. I know after taking this for 13 years for anxiety.
      My words to anyone who wants to be off of their prescription. Absolutely, taper and be strong, have a plan, exercise, even just a walk. Expect to feel detached and know it’s temporary. Drink lots of fluids and vitamins, every day will get a little better.
      Just know your body will recover and you will be better.
      God Bless all

    2. My journey to come off Klonopin has just begun and itā€™s a nightmare so far. I took .5 mg at bedtime for over 20 years. My neurologist originally prescribed it for Restless Leg Syndrome in 2001. My Current Dr was totally shocked I had taken this dangerous ā€œaddictiveā€ drug for 20+ years.

      The hardest part of detox is the lethargy from lack of sleep and the overall zombie effect, often referred to as depersonalization. I feel like a wobbly, walking waste case. I did 2 weeks at approx. .375 mg (cutting tablets) now on .25mg dissolving tablets. Dr wants me to stay at this level for 2 months.
      Hope he knows what heā€™s doing, because I really feel Whacky.
      Roche Pharmaceutical should be sued over development of this poison!

  6. my wife has taken this junk for like 30 years it was ruined our family she will not stop taking it it should be fucking out loud like crack her hair when her cocaine or anything else that’s damaging to you and a family nobody should be on this longer than 2 weeks

  7. I’ve been forced down to 0.5 milligram once a day with no warning. Only prescribed 0.5 mlg. 3 times a day as needed.Have’ nt slept for 3 days. So tired, feel like pulling hair out and I’ve chewed on 5 fingers and wearing Band-Aids on left hand,
    all fingers, after 5 yrs. Too much, too fast

  8. I believe the Author meant to write Cocaine, not Klonopin here:
    ā€œI guess when people go off Klonopin (cocaine) they have a hard time.ā€
    Itā€™s well-documented that Stevie did NOT have an unusually challenging time getting off cocaine.
    Stevie, like so many dealing with the unimaginable horror of Benzodiazepineā€™s ā€œGotchaā€ moment and then rapid descent thereafter, was unprepared as to what she may experience at Home and going forward after she left the rehab facility for cocaine.
    She might surely have have had some understanding of what may come, allowed ā€œitā€ all, help onto her deep understanding that I am healing and this discomfort is Temporary.
    She would have endured with grace and grit while remaining steadfast and hopeful in her Recovery.
    No, no might. She would have.
    The majority of Us would have.
    She was drug-free and healing, ready to return to Love and her music.
    She was also terribly weary and working Stevie-Hard to hard at finding her way back to Love.

    Of. Course. She. Was.

    Not at all her natural disposition. Other people missed the ā€œoldā€ ( on cocaine) Stevie and they suggested (pushed) her to see a psych doctor. Our Gypsy Goddess was simply trying to get her bearings and come back to Herself after all the work and healing she devoted herself to in rehab.
    Stevie Nicks is a Warrior and my spirit animal.
    Eternally grateful to Stevie for inspiring me along my way, as a person and as a musician. Rediscovering
    her Music held me on my Journey.
    Thank you, Ms. Stephanie Lynn, you will continue to walk alongside me as we handle the Seasons of our lives.
    Can we? ā¤ļø

  9. Thank you for making this story public. It is horrible to take a drug as directed and not know the devastating effect it has on my life. It made me think I was dying, want to die and try to make that happen.
    L.Cooper