Been taking ~1mg valium a day for a long time.

[Vaportrails]

I know that this seems like a strange dose, but every other (or every 3rd) day for the past year, I've taken 2 or 3mg of diazepam. I almost never dose consecutive days, and I will only take more (5mg) if I have anxiety, like going on a plane, or going to the dentist. I've been taking diazepam going on 2yrs now. The first year I took about 2mg a day, but I lowered my dose this past year.

I won't go into too much detail, but these are the Roche from Philippines, made in Karachi, Pakistan. Tight blister, legit serial on tight foil, and embossed expiry. Reputable IOP.

The problem is that I'm not really feeling therapeutic from this dose any longer, and I'm not sure whether I should stop taking them, or up my dose again. I haven't had a panic attack in over 2yrs, and I'd like to think my low dose of Diazepam has been helping with that. Recently, I've been getting some anxiety, and I'm hesitant to increase my dose for fear of dependence.

I've experienced mild effects in the past by discontinuing for longer than a few days. It feels like everything is a little too raw, a little too bright, and my jaw feels uncomfortable all day. I also feel restless, unable to concentrate, and mildly dysphoric.

I've looked at some taper schedules, but I'm already pretty much at the bottom, and unless I want to start titrating these 10mg pills, I'm not going to be able to go any lower with any sort of accuracy. I would simply have to space my doses out over longer periods of time.

How would you suggest I proceed? I don't want to stop if they are helping, and I know I can be responsible with my doses, but I don't want to take pills just to maintain either.

 

[debaser]

Which country are you in? In some places, liquid Valium exists for oral route, in which 3 drops equal 1mg. You could use these to taper down to 0.3mg every other day, then quit.

 

[Vaportrails]

I'm in Canada. I'm not sure how I would go about acquiring liquid Valium.

I was thinking about walking into a clinic and explaining my situation to see if I could get a prescription for the 2mg Diazepam. The only problem is that I don't want to be labelled on my medical record as a drug-seeker. I'm not even sure if they keep a database for walk-in clinics. I can't even find this out online.

 

[debaser]

I see you don't even have the 2mg tabs in Canada, let alone the liquid drops. Don't know what else to say...

 

[Anon54]

dont worry about a thing man. it would be harder to quit drinking a cup of tea. u dont need to taper.
if u need to be a little calmer cut down on ya caffeine use.

i took 80mg valium today & barely feel a thing. now just had 250mg of seroquel & still probably wont be able to sleep.

i am envious of u that 5mg of diaz helps your anxiety. because this 80mg is doing shit all.

btw plz dont feel threatened by dependence. for 6 months I abused benzos. xanax & temazepam included & for me atleast it was pretty easy to quit with a monitored taper.

benzos on this site are often made out to be the most horrible thing to be addicted too. but it really isnt that hard with the right taper schedule.

I personally find cigerattes & even codeine harder to quit than using 40mg or so daily use of valium for a month.

others may disagree but i may be one of the cases that find quitting benzos to be pretty easy. and im someone who doesnt drink because i cant handle a hangover from a big night out.

 

[kokaino]

You're not feeling it anymore because you are growing tolerant to the Valium. So you would have to increase your dose, which is, of course, as you already know - is the first step to dependence. You're already dependent on them and you just don't know it - yet.

If you have a legitimate anxiety disorder, I don't understand why you just don't go to a doctor and explain to him/her what is going on. Be truthful and tell them that you've been self-medicating with diazepam for the past couple of years. Explain to the doctor what dosage you've been taking and how much you need now. A lot of doctors can be understanding of situations like that.

BTW, there are 2 mg diazepam tablets in Canada, but I don't know about liquid diazepam (but I'm sure they would have it). Diazepam is a core medicine in the World Health Organization's "Essential Drugs List", which is a list of minimum medical needs for a basic health care system. Basically, that means that diazepam is available to people in all nations of the world. I'm sure a country as developed as Canada has liquid form of diazepam.

I'm going to close this thread simply because all it will lead to is endless speculation as to how you should proceed and what not. That will only serve to confuse you.

If you have any questions you can PM me, or any of the other mods of this forum.