How do I cut Clonazepam (Klonopin) pills (1mg) myself by .125mg every 4 wks?

[sparklej5]

My goal is to taper off 1mg without withdrawal. I have tried pill cutters and they usually shatter the whole pill or are not accurate. Scales are $1000, way out of my budget. Do most people have a pharmacist do this? Do I need a prescription? I am on a budget and trying to avoid extra costs, does anyone know how to do this?

[Jaquta]

If meds are beneficial it may be worth the hassle/ discomfort of taking them.
I feel like a small pharmacy just taking iron supplements daily for three months.
While it frustrates me no end I remember how terrible I felt without them.
Good health is probably worth the perseverance.
Good luck to everyone with their individual health issues.

[cooplist]

I find this so weird. I never feel withdrawal unless I stop all my meds at one time. When I do that I feel horrible for a few days to a week, but thats with ALL of them. I was able to come off temazepam, clonazepam and seroquil in a matter of a month with very little tapering. I never did taper off to anything less then 0.25 of clonazepam.and that was only a few days and I decided to just stop them. I rarely have withdrawal with any of these meds alone. Maybe its because I already feel like **** anyways and just don't notice it. lol. I would love to get off all my meds, but that wont be happening now with my other medical issues. (espohageal adenocarcinoma). I cant remember the last time I had NO meds. AHHHH. Sigh!! The good ole days.

[sflynnb]

I did the same thing with mine and was not  that accurate. I work in the veterinary medical field so I just got a scalpel blade and cut them down. The withdrawl sucked for the first couple weeks. Basically made me feel anxious when I had no reason to be anxious. By the time I got down to a 1/4 of a 0.5mg tablet daily I was able to completely stop it within a couple days. It took me probably 3 months or so to get off completely. I felt much better as soon as I was off of it. If only tapering off the Zoloft were as easy.....definitly not the case.

[Roger Gould, M.D.]

You have got some good advice already..I would only add that you don't have to be so exact, so if you cut them up and they fall into pieces, just take enough pieces so they are roughly one half or one quarter as required.

[Jaquta]

With regards to discontinuing your medication it should be done only after consulting your doctor.  They should be able to prescribe an appropriate taper schedule for you too.
With cutting the meds you could always mentally divide the dose and then cut it with a knife (or my mum's doctor suggested nail clippers).
I wouldn't stress excessively if they don't divide out equally (they possibly won't) but you could take the larger pieces and as the taper progresses use the smaller ones.

[cooplist]

I would suggest doing it through a doctor. I was on 2mg of clonazepam and temazepam capsules and am now off both of them, and it didnt take a long time. As for cutting the clonazepam, you can get a prescription for .5 mg and cut it back that way. Cut them in quarters. You dont need a cutter to cut them in half. Do you see the line down the center of the pill? Put your pointy fingers on either side of the line and press. Not too hard, not too soft and it splits them right down the middle without and left over bits. Then to cut the half bits in half, use your nails. Place both your thumb nails right in the middle of the half segment and hold on with your pointy fingers... Like this photo shows  ( http://images.mirror.co.uk/upl/m4/feb2009/4/7/Drug_Pills_Generic_Image_450_823836144.jpg ) except with both hands (make sure your nails are right in the center of the half segment) then press with your thumb nails lightly and pull the sides or the pills towards you. I dont know if that makes sense to you. Its hard to explain. I hope that helps!?!