Hi guys, I am wondering if I am to expect the same despair, hopelessness, fear, panic, crying and all the things i have since fast tapering SSRI and then my subsequent 2.5 year slow taper on prozac once i am off and i properly taper klonopin.

I am hoping that the klonopin would not be the same since with it I would do it correctly from the beginning rather than crash and the reinstate at too high of a dose etc... like I did with the SSRI.

That and I will have been on Klonopin for a much shorter period of time than the SSRI.

So is it reasonable to hope that the future klonopin taper will be less painful and maybe even uneventful compared to what Ive dealt with on the SSRI due to the above facts and differences?

On 9/21/2026 at 8:41 PM, Need to End said:

does anyone else get facial skin issues - redness/breakouts. On top of feeling horrible my skin looks so unhealthy.

Yes, a lot.

On 9/21/2026 at 10:05 PM, Need to End said:

Ty guys, I am sorry you have dealt with this. My skin health def seems worse.

@guacho - my taper coach and i talked today and discussed dropping to 1.2. Im scared to death as the depression has been horrible. If it were up to her completely she would have me hold for a really long tome but she also usually sees people be able to handle these drops a little better at lower doses like me on prozac.

I feel like im going to fall off a cliff into the abyss of depression and hopelessness. But also i want off this drug. I also don't want to do soething that extends my healing out longer. How do i make this choice?

Also my tinnitus has been louder the last week or 2.

What is the longest hold that you've done whilst tapering so far, and did you notice any changes during that?

10 hours ago, Need to End said:

Hi guys, I am wondering if I am to expect the same despair, hopelessness, fear, panic, crying and all the things i have since fast tapering SSRI and then my subsequent 2.5 year slow taper on prozac once i am off and i properly taper klonopin.

I am hoping that the klonopin would not be the same since with it I would do it correctly from the beginning rather than crash and the reinstate at too high of a dose etc... like I did with the SSRI.

That and I will have been on Klonopin for a much shorter period of time than the SSRI.

So is it reasonable to hope that the future klonopin taper will be less painful and maybe even uneventful compared to what Ive dealt with on the SSRI due to the above facts and differences?

N2E no one can predict how a taper will or will not go. As has been repeatedly mentioned to you, one day at a time, learning coping skills like acceptance is the answer, not constantly seeking reassurances that others can't give you. We all understand and are here for you, please put your efforts into working on your mindset. Its the best advice I can give you. x

@Luke I held for 3 months and didn’t notice a huge improvement

@Chippy I feel like it was a fair and reasonable question and in my situation it would be nice to have. Some insight when I have 2 children depending on. My survival and I have no one else supporting me financially or in person while going through sheer panic and fear daily while my industry continues to collapse at the same time I go through this. Sorry if my question felt redundant to you. I have not asked that exact question and feel like it was something that was fair to ask. Sorry for annoying you.

Okay, I forgot to ask as well: how were you on 20mg prozac before tapering?

Not good - I was already in a bad place because of the fast taper of lexapro after taking it for 6 Months which was after taking Zoloft for 10 years and then after the fast taper I was switched around back to Zoloft then back to lexapro again then over to Prozac all pretty quickly and was in a bad state during those switches. By the time I got to Prozac things were tough. Also 12 years ago they first tried me on Prozac and 3 days in I was the floor in an anxiety panic calling my doc and he quickly moved me to Zoloft.

1 hour ago, Need to End said:

feel like it was a fair and reasonable question and in my situation it would be nice to have. Some insight when I have 2 children depending on.

The thing is, we don't have this insight. It's hard to hear that no one knows, but it would be worse if false predictions and reassurances were given.

I asked my taper coach the same question and she said yes chances are very good the klonopin taper will not be the same since it will be done slowly without multiple drug switches etc… I know no one can guarantee anything.

I’ve been following your posts and look forward to reading your recovery story. I relate to so much of what you share, especially the fear that this process will go on forever. I’m rooting for you.

I’m on Prozac and Wellbutrin, and I think almost daily about stopping them cold turkey to shorten the misery of tapering. Then I remember it could make things worse, and reinstatement might not work. I’ve experienced intrusive SI, and since reducing Wellbutrin, passive SI too. It’s horrendous. I also held my doses for six months with little to no improvement, which made the thought of continuing to taper feel even harder.

I’m 47 and live in New York. I’ve never been married or had children, though I wanted both, and that was part of why I decided to come off the medications. So when you talk about the life you’re worried you’ve lost, I hear how painful that is. I also hope you can remember that withdrawal waves can make it hard to see what’s still possible.

I’m holding at 4 mg of Prozac and worry about how I’ll feel at lower doses. Like you, I get the most relief when I’m asleep, though lately I’ve been having waves as I wake up.

May I ask who your taper coach is?

Edited September 23Sep 23 by Healthyagain

@Healthyagain I sent you a reply and we are DM'ing. Ty so much for reaching out.

@Luke What are your thoughts? Also, do i need to be completely stable to keep cutting in order to avoid further withdrawal or injury? My concern is I have not fully stablized on previous holds and I also don't know if i will be able to stabilize with all the pressure in my life right now or distinguish where symptoms are coming from.

17 hours ago, Need to End said:

@Chippy I feel like it was a fair and reasonable question and in my situation it would be nice to have. Some insight when I have 2 children depending on. My survival and I have no one else supporting me financially or in person while going through sheer panic and fear daily while my industry continues to collapse at the same time I go through this. Sorry if my question felt redundant to you. I have not asked that exact question and feel like it was something that was fair to ask. Sorry for annoying you.

You can ask ANY question you want. I was just pointing out to you that you know already no one knows the answer to how long and what will happen in the future etc...... It is reasonable that you would want to know the answer to this question however as no one knows the answer it falls back to the same point again. Acceptance and one day at a time. Which IMO you are not yet ready to tackle, I would encourage you to again put energy into this as it will actually help you and your family.

I’m trying - I dont know if it’s accurate to say I’m not ready. My mind and body continuously fill with anxiety when I try to just be or accept where I’m at or literally an email or call comes in every day with some new problem or pressure that is very real. Eventually those things need to be addressed in adult life so my mind is scared beyond measure. It’s not that I’m not “ready” I’m finding it near impossible to actually execute.

Hey @Luke just wanted to see if you could reply to my last message to you?

Edited September 25Sep 25 by Need to End

13 hours ago, Need to End said:

I’m trying - I dont know if it’s accurate to say I’m not ready. My mind and body continuously fill with anxiety when I try to just be or accept where I’m at or literally an email or call comes in every day with some new problem or pressure that is very real. Eventually those things need to be addressed in adult life so my mind is scared beyond measure. It’s not that I’m not “ready” I’m finding it near impossible to actually execute.

Sometimes all you can do is survive the day N2E, only you can choose if you are able to put into practice acceptance techniques or not. I know some say they can't, for those who can they help enormously. I would say that, if you say you can't then you already have shut the door on being able to accept. Saying you find it hard and difficult and you will keep attempting is more helpful for you I think.

On 9/23/2026 at 10:00 PM, Need to End said:

@Luke What are your thoughts? Also, do i need to be completely stable to keep cutting in order to avoid further withdrawal or injury? My concern is I have not fully stablized on previous holds and I also don't know if i will be able to stabilize with all the pressure in my life right now or distinguish where symptoms are coming from.

I'm not convinced that you will stabilise if you hold.

There isn't always an obvious, right choice when it comes to getting off of these drugs. The harm done by tapering is balanced against the harm done by continuing to take a drug that you don't tolerate well.

Please keep in mind that I don't have experience with doing a safe taper myself.

Ty @Luke

I’m day 25 on a hold at 1.3 and will prob drop to 1.19 soon. Hoping I don’t suffer a big uptick on symptoms.

Do you guys think it’s best to finish Prozac taper first then do klonopin? I only ask because I feel like klonopin harms me more than helps me. I feel extremely tied and dizzy on it and my eyes are always tire me looking, puffy and dark circles.

Also I am panicking today just about everything - I’m on day 27 of a hold and nothing feels better. I’m sorry I just feel alone and scared and like I’m insane. Crying, shaking and just seeing my life falling apart.

On 9/26/2026 at 4:43 AM, Need to End said:

Do you guys think it’s best to finish Prozac taper first then do klonopin? I only ask because I feel like klonopin harms me more than helps me. I feel extremely tied and dizzy on it and my eyes are always tire me looking, puffy and dark circles.

Hello, @Need to End , I’m sorry for all your suffering.

I just saw your message and I cannot give you an answer or an advice, but I can tell you about my own experience. I am tapering Lexapro since October 2024. I have taken Ssri s for about 10 years. I have also taken zolpidem for the same amount of time, a bit longer. I was able to finish the taper of it and stop the z drug, which is quite similar to a benzodiazepine, while I was keeping the Lexapro taper on hold. For me personally stopping the zolpidem was not that difficult but I have to say this is very unusual. But in my case it was possible.

That does not mean that this is advised and it does not mean that it will work for you. It’s just my personal experience, you can read more about this on my thread.

Generally, I would try to keep things as stable as possible. No experiments during withdrawal! I do not know if you are in contact with professionals from the Taper community like Angie Peacock, or Horowitz or one of those. Maybe if you are, you could ask about this strategy.

I wish you all the best!

Edited September 27Sep 27 by Nemina

31 minutes ago, Need to End said:

Also I am panicking today just about everything - I’m on day 27 of a hold and nothing feels better. I’m sorry I just feel alone and scared and like I’m insane. Crying, shaking and just seeing my life falling apart.

I'm so sorry you suffer so badly @Need to End unfortunately It can take many grueling months for the system to level out, assuming no rejection occurs.

Have you ever waited at least six months with zero changes just to gauge how you feel? With fast dose changes telling what's driving what is just impossible.

I’ve done a 3 month hold. I’m scared to keep holding and wasting time. I’ve got a $20k a month nut to meet every month and have to keep things together. I don’t have any space to let go of anything and just survive and I’m alone with no help this is terrifying. It doesn’t seem possible to survive this. If I had a partner and/or didn’t have financial obligations I might see it diffferently but life has dealt me a different hand and it doesn’t look possible at all.

11 minutes ago, Need to End said:

I’ve done a 3 month hold. I’m scared to keep holding and wasting time. I’ve got a $20k a month nut to meet every month and have to keep things together. I don’t have any space to let go of anything and just survive and I’m alone with no help this is terrifying. It doesn’t seem possible to survive this. If I had a partner and/or didn’t have financial obligations I might see it diffferently but life has dealt me a different hand and it doesn’t look possible at all.

I understand the desire to get to the finish line already but three months, especially on low doses which are the hardest for the system to adjust to, is usually just the beginning of minor improvement, trust me, I made the same mistake and am paying the price for it now.

I understand that life is stressful, that you have obligations to meet, and that you're doing this alone, but it seems that tapering every month or two hasn't helped and has only made things worse, so perhaps it's worth trying a longer period without any changes to let your system stabilize?

Ty for the replies esp during all your suffering.

What if it doesn’t help - then I’ve wasted months. I’ve really stayed about the same some things improved like no vomiting and no more tremors. I’m just scared because when I first took ssri they put me on Prozac (med I’m now tapering) and 3 days in I was a complete mess in the floor in a panic calling my doctor so they switched me to Zoloft. Stupid me chose to go back in Prozac 10-11 yrs later but I think my bodyhates this med so I feel like I won’t stabilize.

Edited September 27Sep 27 by Need to End

24 minutes ago, Need to End said:

Ty for the replies esp during all your suffering.

What if it doesn’t help - then I’ve wasted months. I’ve really stayed about the same some things improved like no vomiting and no more tremors. I’m just scared because when I first took ssri they put me on Prozac (med I’m now tapering) and 3 days in I was a complete mess in the floor in a panic calling my doctor so they switched me TJ Zoloft. Stupid me chose to go back in Prozac 10-11 yrs later but I think my bodyhates this med so I feel like I won’t stabilize.

I understand your concern but the very fact that you experienced an improvement with the vomiting/tremors shows that your system is slowly adapting given enough time.

Keep in mind that your system is also in kindling, so that is in the background as well.

I would pause for at least 6 months, perhaps longer and see how things progress but maybe, to have fewer doubts as @Nemina suggested, it would be worth checking Dr. Horowitz's opinion?

I do have a taper coach I’ve been working with for a couple years or so. She follows Horowitz. So we’ve def had these convos. She’s actually a bit unsure in what’s best based on how my situation has unfolded . She gave me the okay TJ drop to 1.19mg but I’ve held off so far