Q. Doctor, please help. I know you primarily deal with questions related to BPD, but I have a question relation to Klonopin, the medication I've been taking with an antidepressant for the past year.

For the past 4 months I have been very slowly reducing my Klonopin use from 2.5 mg daily to 0.5 mg. Now that I'm on this low dosage I can not stop taking it for more than 48 hrs., otherwise I get severe anxiety, muscle pains in my back and now my joints, and all these symptoms stop when I take a dose of this drug.

For a time it was so severe I thought I had Lyme disease, but obviously wasn't. I'm in top physical shape and don't feel, and my dr. doesn't feel there's some underlying disorder. No doctor or articles anywhere deal with benzodiazepine addiction---they only say it's bad and takes time to withdrawal.

My psychiatrist is at a loss, and I'm definitely at a loss. What should I do, what can I take. I seemed to have tried most possibilities.

A. Klonopin (clonazepam) is the most potent benzodiazepines available for general use. 0.5 mg of Klonopin is equal to 15 mg of Valium, which is a good size dosage of Valium. I've had a number of cases like yours, and what I have done is to use Valium (diazepam) to substitute for the Klonopin. In your case, I would probably stop the Klonopin, and at the same time add 15 mg of Valium daily for a few days (probably 5 mg in the morning and 10 mg at bedtime). I would decrease the Valium by 1 or 2 mg every 14 days until you were off. I know this is a long time to get off, but your brain needs to grow back a normal level of functioning in the GABA system which the benzodiazepines effect. Talk to your doctor about it and see if he is willing to try this.