I Was Prescribed Klonopin 4 Mg For Ten Years I Was Forced To Quit Cold Turkey. I Am Now Feel Every Inch Of My Body Move, Depersonalization, Headaches, Difficulty Initiating Movement, Balance Difficulties, Dizziness And Many Other Symptoms. Is It Possible That I Have A Brain Injury?

Posted on Sun, 12 Aug 2018

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Sun, 12 Aug 2018 Answered on

Mon, 6 Feb 2023 Last reviewed on

Question : Hi. I was prescribed klonopin 4 mg for ten years. In February I was forced to quit cold turkey. I am now experiencing some bad withdrawal. I have a burning in the back of my head and up and down my surgical spine, I feel like I have bugs crawling all over my body, Severe anxiety, panic attacks, numbness and tingling in my hands and feet, excessive sweating, ringing in my ears, excessive blinking, hands and feet end to go into a flexion pattern, I can feel every inch of my body move, depersonalization, headaches, difficulty initiating movement, balance difficulties, dizziness and many other symptoms. Is it possible that I have a brain injury?

Answered by Dr. Dr. Erion Spaho (44 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
There should be no anatomical injury.

Detailed Answer:
Hello,

I think symptoms you are experiencing since stopping Klonopin are caused by two mechanisms:

1. Lomg-term use of Klonopin that may cause impairment of the cerebral functions.

2. Cold turkey stopping Klonopin that may cause withdrawal symptoms especially after long periods of use.

I don't think that there is brain injury anatomically speaking, but there should be impairment of functions physiologically speaking mainly due to neurotransmitters imbalances.

It takes several months to improve from these issues and following up with a Psychologist/Psychiatrist is necessary.

Hope you found the answer helpful.

Let me know if I can assist you further.
Thanks.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Nagamani Ng