Addiction - SWIM's terrifying and DANGEROUS experience with CLONAZEPAM WITHDRAWAL

[zonaspdbll]

This post is intended for any swimmers out there who use or plan to use Clonazepam recreationally. I hope that swim's story can prevent some one from having a similar experience!

A couple of years ago, Swim was prescribed Clonazepam (aka Klonipin) for anxiety. Swim does not remember the exact dosage prescribed, but the pills were small round and pink and essentially were to be taken once daily and as needed if she felt a panic attack coming on.

Around this time, Swim was using cocaine rather frequently and it didn't take long for her to discover how WONDERFUL the Klonipin was at counteracting the vicious cocaine come-down. Normally, swim dreaded coming down from coke. She often became cranky, anxious, and depressed. But one day, soon after her first prescription was filled, she popped a Klonipin as her come down began. Ten minutes later she was back to feeling great! A couple hours later when swim started feeling a come down coming on again, she popped another Klonipin.

She even shared the discovery with her two girlfriends who were partying with her that night. They too enjoyed the effect and dubbed the pill the "Happy Pink Pill." The three swimmers partied all night and well into the next day without breaking their highs.

Naturally, Swim felt as if she had discovered a miracle drug. And she spent the next two weeks using her two DOCs in this manner, with alcohol to boot.

Until one day, she reached into the orange pharmacy bottle, and all of the Happy Pink Pills were gone! Swim raced to her phone and dialed the pharmacy to request a refill. Psych! She was not allowed to refill the scrip for ten more days!!! Well, swim was annoyed to say the least, but resigned to just using coke and booze for a couple weeks untill her refill was permitted.

***IMPORTANT***

Here comes the lesson:

The next night (approximately 24 hours later), swim was out drinking and doing blow with her boyfriend. She insufflated approx 1.5 grams of cocaine (a "light" amount for her at the time due to a decent-sized tolerance) and had 2 or 3 drinks and then returned home. Upon her return, she discovered her roommate had locked her out of her apartment. The nerve!! Frustrated, she walked over to the adjacent building and asked her friend, John Doe, if she could sleep on his couch for the night. She stretched out on one sofa while John sat on the other one playing video games.

Just as she was about to fall asleep, she realized she needed to use the restroom. She got up, walked to the bathroom, and while washing her hands caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. Her pupils were so big that her irises looked almost entirely black. "What the f---?" she thought to herself as she walked back out to John's living room. John looked at Swim as if she had just grown a second head. "ARE YOU OKAY???" He asked. "Uh... Yeah I just had to pee. Why?" He stammered something in response but she didnt remember what it was. Feeling slightly dazed and light headed, she decided to go home. Swim's roommate walked past her as she was walking to the apartment. Later on, Swim's roommate would tell her that she discovered swim outside skipping (not walking) around on the gravel next to the sidewalk and had greeted her with a "hello" in a creepy sing-songy voice as she passed her. But swim does not personally remember this part of the night.

As it turns out, after swim layed down on John's couch, and before getting up to use the restroom, swim had a grand mal seizure for almost 60 seconds followed by a postictal state (the altered state of consciousness following a seizure, in this case characterized by confusion, amnesia, pupil dilation, drowsiness, the skipping around in a dreamlike state, etc).

Swim does NOT have any other history of epilepsy. However, clonazepam is not only used for anxiolytic properties, but also for its anticonvulsive propertiies. Benzo withdrawal can be FATAL. Yes, swim was greatly exceeding the prescribed dosage, making a dangerous withdrawal more likely. But taking clonazepam for an extended period of time and building up a tolerance to it, and then quitting, can have the same effect.

One of the scarier things about this, is that the only reason that Swim even knows this happened is because her roommate happened to lock the dead bolt on their front door that night, and swim was left with no option other than find somewhere else to sleep, so she had a witness to the events that took place. Had the door not been locked, swim would have gone to bed alone in her room and woken up the next morning with absolutely NO RECOLLECTION of the seizure. And ten days later, when she was allowed to refill her prescription she would have done so, and then probably gone through the withdrawal again. The second time could have been even worse, resulting in brain damage, or even death.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE do not abuse clonazepam!!! Trust swim, she KNOWS how good it can feel, especially when used to counteract the side effects of uppers like cocaine and amphetamines. But it is NOT worth it!!!!

Swim uses/has used many other substances on a habitual basis. Cocaine, alcohol, amphetamines, methamphetamines, oxycodone, oxycontin, and xanax (although she does NOT take alprazolam any more either!) blah blah blah... but clonazepam is where she draws the line. (And now alprazolam as well. But that is for another reason which occured 2 years later). Yes, opiate withdrawal fuckin SUCKS! But it doesn't KILL you. Swim would rather be sweating and shivering and throwing up in a toilet for two days than have a grand mal seizure and possibly die.

Again, even if swiy is complying with the dosages recommended by swiy's doctor, over time swiy can build up a tolerance. And if use is discontinued, the same thing can happen.

I know this post was long, so thank you for your patience. But I had to tell you Swim's story! After all, Swim is my best friend, and if anything ever happened to her, I would just die! So please take care and be safe every one!!!

[bosch man]

I dont wish to sound harsh, but as you say your goat is a drug abuser of it would seem quite epic proportions. It needs to research what shes taking first so she has the idea of how to remain safe, or as safe as one can be abusing drugs. If she had done this she would know not to abuse benzo's in the way she did and make sure she dont run out so when the time comes she can gradually wean off. I do beleive doctors are irresponsible aswell if they do not mention the dangers of suddenly stopping or taking more than recommended doses, most people do not seem to read the patient leaflet so a word from the doc would be good.

Be safe, there are people out there that would miss your goat no doubt.

I apologise if this sounded like a lecture LOL.

[zonaspdbll]

You are right and swim is not offended at all by your response. What happened was extremely irresponsible both on swim's part, her friends', and her doctor's. The events described above transpired in 2005, to be exact, when she was 20-years-old and much less knowledgeable about drugs.

To clarify, swim is not bragging about her drug use. Swim is a habitual drug user. She neither denies nor prides herself upon this claim. She is simply stating a fact and she is not ashamed to do so. That being said, she is now very informed on any and all substances she puts inside of her body. But there was a time when she wasn't so in the know, and there are people who visit this site because they are in need of such information now.

Unfortunately, Swim personally knows a lot of people who abuse benzodiazapines. Hopefully any one researching Clonazepam/Klonipin (something Swim should have done) can now read her story and think twice about using it, especially at high dosages.