Harm Reduction Tapering Plan Mega thread - community project

[rab]

Quitting Roxys advice would be nice

im sure theres 100 threads about this and i have been reading alot of them...but i feel like a have a different addiction due to the amounts and my self control ive had with them over the last year or so I've been using them...basically Ive been taking about 4 30mg roxys a week usually spread them out by taking one of them on monday, wensday, friday, and sat..believe me id like to take them more often then that but i dont let myself...but on my off days i feel tired, irritable, and i think about them often..most people i know take more then me and cannot go a day without them..i kind of depend on them to go out/have fun be happy and stuff like that.. what im woundering is how long withdraws last? will they get better after a couple days or weeks? what they include? does useing them as a "crutch" as i do go away? things to do to help with the WDs and getting use to not using them..also your own stories would be great..im gunna continue to look at other threads..but i cant take it anymore i depend too much on these things and i can see it getting worst and it getting harder to keep to what Ive been taking..

thanks ahead of time

 

[Pegasus]

^The part where you are supposed to skip the doses is there at the very end before you drop off completely. In your case, you're going down to 2.5mg/ day... Once you're down to that dose is where you start skipping days.

I recommend to not take that 2.5mg dose 7 consecutive days and then go completely clean from that... I'd recommend instead taking a few extra mg from the previous weeks and allow yourself to go first to 2.5mg for two days, then every other day until you get down to about three doses left, and then taking those three on every third day. That should make you actually almost completely withdrawal off the benzos before ever taking your last dose. The difficulty will never get too unbearable this way either, because you will never be at a position three or four days after taking benzos every day for the previous eternity.

(This practice of skipping days over the final is from multiple personal experiences, as well as from from walking a few others through the process. It is a subjective benefit that I am describing, but in addition to being totally logical in how it works, others have tried it and agree that it helps considerably.)

 

[ech0s85]

dude you have it so good. 4 roxys a week shouldnt even make you have a physical withdrawal its probably 90% in your head. If you do have any physical symptoms id image theyd be completely gone in like three days. I think you might need to figure out why you depend on them so much and work on that and youll be fine.

 

[Tommyboy]

How long have you been using for?
The physical w.d's will be over in 4-5days, and they will be mild. Back ache, restless legs, trouble sleeping, irritability.
You may experience PAWS. Search it. Basically a period of depression and beign lethargic until your body and mind get back into operating without drugs. Your use is mild though, so you should experience minor symptoms. Paws usually effects people that have been using almost daily for over a year

 

[Jabberwocky]

im going to merge this into the tapering thread for you. best of luck. you dont have that bad of a monkey on your back so don't expect things to be too hard for you, honestly.

i'd essentially go the cold turkey route myself with a few OTC aides

 

[Tommyboy]

BollWeevil
Why do so many people suggest valium dosage of 2.5, and other incriments of .5 like the 7.5dosage listed in their taper. Since it comes in 2 mg, isnt it easier to go from 10 mg and then take 4 of the 2mg, and take one less pill a week hence lowering 2mg a week (or every other week depending on schedule) until getting down to 1 of the 2mg pills daily, and then taking every other day, or even breaking in half to take 1mg and then spreading out the days... Just curious because I am on 5mg 2x daily and just had my doc script me 2mg 4x daily so I can taper 2mgs at a time, making it easier to only take 4 or less of the 2mg pills daily

 

[Jabberwocky]

people suggest the 2.5 and o.5mg increment because it's easy enough to split the 5mg tabs in half. you're right though, if you have the 2mg tabs it only makes sense to use 2mg increments. i've done that when tapering using 5 and 2mg tabs.

 

[Tommyboy]

After reading all of the valium tapers, I had asked my doctor for 2.5mg pills assuming thats what it came in, and was surprised when he told me that it came in 2mgs, not 2.5. I think it is often "overlooked" when advising a tapering plan. When tapering off of an existing "stash", and the 5's are all that is available then sure... it makes sense. But under the care of a Doc, the 2mg seems like the way to go. It is always better to take a 2mg pill whole, as opposed to breaking a 5mg in half. Also, the .5 difference is almost nothing in terms of valium, until maybe the very end of the taper.

 

[Captain.Heroin]

hey cap'n, i was just wondering if the taper schedule you gave to the person before for valium was from personal experience.

It actually isn't. I have never been psychologically or physically dependent on benzos. If I were ever addicted to benzos it would be damn near impossible for me to stop, I have anxiety and insomnia to the point where benzos would be too medicinal to quit using if I took them regularly enough.

I pretty much would get in a position where I could be on them for life, and my quality of life may suffer if that were to happen. So I like to preserve my benzos for future times of need.

i pray to god i can get off this, and when i do, i will be able to help others who are trying to get off benzos. thank god i brought some to work today, i would have been in bad shape.

Good luck quitting benzos man! I have faith you can do it.

 

[Pegasus]

After reading all of the valium tapers, I had asked my doctor for 2.5mg pills assuming thats what it came in, and was surprised when he told me that it came in 2mgs, not 2.5. I think it is often "overlooked" when advising a tapering plan. When tapering off of an existing "stash", and the 5's are all that is available then sure... it makes sense. But under the care of a Doc, the 2mg seems like the way to go. It is always better to take a 2mg pill whole, as opposed to breaking a 5mg in half. Also, the .5 difference is almost nothing in terms of valium, until maybe the very end of the taper.

Yeah, in the USA the 10mg diazepam is the most common variant, so people can split those into two or four quite easily.

If a pill has a score on it (the line that splits into multiple pieces), then that means that the pill actually contains equal percentages of the active ingredient in each segment. Breaking a pill along a line that is not a score is not guaranteed to give you an equal dose. In the case of the 10mg diazepam, then, splitting the pill into 2 5mg pills will for certain be 100% effective, but to break down that half into half again that doesn't have a score, you're not guaranteed that each piece of the pill will have the equal dose. It is the case though that many pills are produced to have the same mg/ binder ratio in any segment of the pill so that the pill presser can just shape a bunch of one material rather than add a layer of active ingredient to layers of binders, or something similar to this. There are many ways that pills are made, and my point is just to point out that if there isn't s score along the line you are splitting, there is no guarantee that the resulting pieces will have equal parts active ingredient, though it sometimes works out that the pills are uniform throughout regardless of scoring, depending on the pill press used.

For the purposes of tapering benzodiazepines, the 2mg diazepam pill is a very practical pill to use. It has a score to split it down to 1mg exactly, and would likely split down relatively close to 0.5 if you wished to take it this far. This amount of diazepam is very, very small and is perfect for people who are very sensitive to drops in their dose, or who have been on for very long periods of time.

 

[i are spectre]

looks like i better find some 2mg valium tabs then. so far so good. 25mg/day is where i am at now and i feel fine. and yes, the skip days are for the end. i tried on the 30 and 40mg dose, whoops. quitting drinking has also made a HUGE difference. i couldnt imagine drinking AND trying to taper off of benzos. its been over a week since the last sip. im not sure how im going to find some 2mg tabs though. i have faith that the 10mg tab has an evenly distributed amount of diazepam throughout it. they are the blue apaurines.

 

[Tommyboy]

I highly doubt that the 2mg valium pills are prescribed other than for tapering purposes, so the only way to get them is through a doctor IMO.

And yes, drinking alcohol is a setback to tapering. I find that I may be able to take 1 less pill if I am going to be drinking, but the next day is hell if I am hungover, and I end up taking my normal dose plus the 1 save from the night before, and sometimes another one in order to sleep.

 

[i are spectre]

^tommyboy, yes exactly. the search for 2mg diazepam tabs begins... does anyone know of a benzo with a longer half life than diazepam and its active metabolites by any chance?

 

[debaser]

^ Librium.

 

[Jabberwocky]

I highly doubt that the 2mg valium pills are prescribed other than for tapering purposes, so the only way to get them is through a doctor IMO.
.

no thats not true. i get 2mg tabs from my doctor for short periods of use.

 

[rab]

dude you have it so good. 4 roxys a week shouldnt even make you have a physical withdrawal its probably 90% in your head. If you do have any physical symptoms id image theyd be completely gone in like three days. I think you might need to figure out why you depend on them so much and work on that and youll be fine.

yeah i know thats what everyone tells me..my best friend is on about 10 a day and he said he wishes he took the amount i did...its just weird man i feel like shit when i dont take them and i realllly look forward to taking them...but i dont let myself take more..i just need to get use to not taking them at all..i guess its gunna help that im not gunna have serious WDs when i stop...thanks

 

[Pegasus]

^ Librium.

Diazepam and chlordiazepoxide have the same length, I believe... Flunitrazepam has active metabolites that last the same length as well as a few others. None that I know that last longer, though...

 

[i are spectre]

(valium taper) i have made a decision to drop 5mg a week instead of 2.5mg a week. the reason is i want my license back, so i want to get off valium quicker. today i took 5mg less than normal, so only 20mg today. what i also did was take 2mg of alprazolam tonight. i feel fine now. i think im going to try and drop 5mg per week and try to get off faster, using alprazolam during the times i feel the valium wd creeping on me like tonight. so tomorrow i will try 20mg, and try that for a week, then 15 the next week, then 10, and so on. all of this with a tad bit of xanax in between these weeks. i want my damn license back, and in my situation, i have to pass a 10 panel. im guessing diazepam will be in my system for a month after my last dose. i guess it's hard to say. when i get to 5mg i will go to 2.5 and start skipping days. i will keep people updated on what happens, i just dont want to end up getting hooked on xanax. at least i have a week off of work now. and i want a damn license! (and no, im not moving to texas for 6 months) if anyone thinks this is stupid from personal experience, let me know.

 

[OxyKid69]

Hey everyone...Im new and was told to post here.
Long story short, I got a bad oxy addiction and was doing 3-4 80s a day for about half a year straight, rarely missing a day. As deserpate as I was for relief, my family Dr told me methadone was the best solution. I started at 20mg and they upped me by 5 every visit and I was up to 80 in no time. I was sleeping all day, withdrawls were gone..But I mean, I was laying in bed all doing nothing so it wasnt really helping the situation.(Maybe $$$$ Wise). My Sex drive was completely gone and my DR tested my testerone level...It came back as 1.6(normal for my age, is suppose to be in the 20s...and I was fucking 1.6!!!!!)Im 21 btw. So anyways, I decided it was best to wein off. I was going down 5mg every dr visit.(So 5mg every wednesday, and 5 every saturday, so I guess technically 10mg a week) I know that seems very fast, and It was, but I wanted off as the effects on my body were awful and my depression was getting worse. Anyways, Im at 35mg today, and my DOG is oxies but I couldnt get any yesterday So I bought 3 8mg Diauldid(sp??). I sniffed one of them, and swallowed one, and I got a slight buzz. I will be continuously going down 5 every visit, and I want to know at what MG methadone doesnt "block" at all. Like If I was on say, 15mg on methadone yesterday when I did those, Would I obviously had gotten more high? Im new to Diaulidid(sp?). I plan on buying a bunch of 80s tomorrow and just not take my methadone dose in the morning(people always spit it out once they are outside, or spit into a cup etc) Should I wait until Im basically off methadone to be doing them? I noticed that when I did the 8's last night my withdrawls(from comming down so fast off methadone) went almost all away.
I want someones AIM or MSN to talk to in detail about some stuff. I just wana basically know the mg of oxy id need to get high with the dose im on.(Ill be on 30 this wendesday, then 25 saturday, etc) I know Im going down really fast but I just want fucking off. Its hell. I know its gonna be hell once im completely off or at 5 and 10 too. But I can do it(Btw, I dont plan on "abusing" everyday) I just want to be safe about it(Maybe once im at 0 of methadone 80mg of oxy willl be too much? etc).....Sorry..just really confused about all this...Please someone message me who is in my situation. I dont wana become a junkie again, But I just want off methadone and want to know the "best" or "safest" way to get high. This is probably full of spelling errors and mistakes But I just wanted to get my point acrosss. P.s Methadone withdrawls are fucking AWFFUL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!(Thank god for Xanies)

 

[Pegasus]

(valium taper) i have made a decision to drop 5mg a week instead of 2.5mg a week. the reason is i want my license back, so i want to get off valium quicker. today i took 5mg less than normal, so only 20mg today. what i also did was take 2mg of alprazolam tonight. i feel fine now. i think im going to try and drop 5mg per week and try to get off faster, using alprazolam during the times i feel the valium wd creeping on me like tonight. so tomorrow i will try 20mg, and try that for a week, then 15 the next week, then 10, and so on. all of this with a tad bit of xanax in between these weeks. i want my damn license back, and in my situation, i have to pass a 10 panel. im guessing diazepam will be in my system for a month after my last dose. i guess it's hard to say. when i get to 5mg i will go to 2.5 and start skipping days. i will keep people updated on what happens, i just dont want to end up getting hooked on xanax. at least i have a week off of work now. and i want a damn license! (and no, im not moving to texas for 6 months) if anyone thinks this is stupid from personal experience, let me know.

By adding in 2mg alprazolam (roughly equal to 40mg diazepam) to your drop of 5mg diazepam/ day, do you see how this isn't really equating to you dropping your dose at all? ...Really, it seems to me that it is an overall increase and will prolong the situation...

If you're feeling the effects from dropping back 5mg diazepam that strongly that you can't handle it, then doing 2.5mg at a time is really the most logical option... Adding a large dose of another benzo isn't going to help you get off any quicker.