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Benzos Having hard time finishing Valium Taper...

D

DaftPunkFan

Bluelighter
Joined
Oct 5, 2008
Messages
278
So I posted about tapering off Valium a while ago, and I'm down to 2.25mg a day. I wasn't sure if I should bring back such an old thread, but here's the old one:
http://www.bluelight.ru/vb/threads/...(Tapering-Off-Benzos)?p=10361330#post10361330

Anyways, I'm having a super hard time getting lower than this dose. It took me a full month to drop from 2.5mg daily to 2.25, which is kind of ridiculous compared to the cuts I was making before.

I don't know, I guess I just need some encouragement from anyone who has finished a benzo taper.
I'd really appreciate any support or tips at this point.

Thanks so much!
 
How log did your taper tai? Perhaps you have just reached a plateau and need to just say at 2.25mgs until you feel absolutely comfortable and willing to take another step. As long as your dose, or frequency of use remains to the absolute minimum of what's necessary, you should be proud of yourself and satisfied for the time being.

I've been attempting to taper of a very heavy benzo and barbiturate habit myself, and I can tell you that its always awesome to hear about people taking control of their habit. It's very inspirational in my opinion.
 
Hey thanks! Well it's been about 12 months now from the time that I switched from 0.5mg Xanax to 10mg Valium to begin tapering off.
It's been a little longer than I hoped for, but yeah I guess I have made progress :)

Yeah I like your idea, I might just have to start taking it really slow towards the end.
I'm starting to think I could almost jump off at this dose, but I'm just not mentally strong enough for that.
(I mean it seems like it would be safe anyways to just stop at this point, maybe little lower dose)

Best of luck with your taper too, what dose are you trying to get off?
 
Well right now I take 3.5 mgs of alprazolam XR a day, as my tapering medication, to work off a 5.5mg clonazepam/day habit that ive had for roughly 3 years. I have also been prescribed to carisorodal for about 18 months, along with around 3,000mgs of gabapentin daily until about a month ago. I have also been taking high doses of butalbital about 3 days a week for 6 years. Before I was prescribed to anything or my panic attacks and insomnia, I was a daily recreational user of alprazolam, lorazepam, and triazolam. So I have been a daily user of GABAergics for about 7 years. It's bad news for me, my taper is not going to well.

At any rate, I think it would actually be counter productive to force yourself to drop the final 2.25mgs of diazepam, until you feel comfortable and absolutely willing to take that step. Their are many documented cases in which benzodiazepine habituated people have higher rates of severe withdraw when attempting and failing at a taper. Protracted w/d is a very real possiblity. You've come this far, so if you are comfortable at 2.25mgs stay at that dose, and possibly try reducing the frequency as long as you maintain fairly regular plasma levels. Dont let anyone force you in w/d because of your taper, many times it is harder for the patient to recover when involuntarily forced to taper.
 
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Wow, yeah I pretty much did exactly what you did, except cut all those doses in half. I was on 1-2mg Alprazolam IR a day, then switched to Clonazepam until I got down to around 0.5mg daily (which took a while). Then I switched to Diazepam to begin the tapering process. Also I was on Alprazolam for around 2-3 years before deciding that I wanted to get off it.

Yeah I've been trying to keep the Diazepam levels as stable as possible (splitting doses into 2 times a day, but equally dosing all the time). And like you said, I also drink alcohol, but only because it helps SO much with the taper. Sounds ridiculous, but it makes me feel so much better. Other than that I use Hydro/Oxy occasionally, and that's it.

If I were you, I'd drop off about 1mg a month until you're down to 1mg of Clonazepam a day (or Alprazolam if you completely switched over?), then switch to Diazepam for the rest of the journey. Anyways, thanks for the help! Really appreciate it.
 
DaftPunkFan said:
Wow, yeah I pretty much did exactly what you did, except cut all those doses in half. I was on 1-2mg Alprazolam IR a day, then switched to Clonazepam until I got down to around 0.5mg daily (which took a while). Then I switched to Diazepam to begin the tapering process. Also I was on Alprazolam for around 2-3 years before deciding that I wanted to get off it.

Yeah I've been trying to keep the Diazepam levels as stable as possible (splitting doses into 2 times a day, but equally dosing all the time). And like you said, I also drink alcohol, but only because it helps SO much with the taper. Sounds ridiculous, but it makes me feel so much better. Other than that I use Hydro/Oxy occasionally, and that's it.

If I were you, I'd drop off about 1mg a month until you're down to 1mg of Clonazepam a day (or Alprazolam if you completely switched over?), then switch to Diazepam for the rest of the journey. Anyways, thanks for the help! Really appreciate it.
Click to expand...

Trust me, the alcohol isn't helping you. I made it down to 0.5mg of valium every other day after tapering from a 3mg alprazolam dose I was on for 4 years or so. I didn't successfully come off of it, but I did make it to a very low dose for a while.

I never really split my dose evenly. I would wait as long as possible to take my first part of the dose, and then at night I would add just enough to get me sleep. At 2.25mg a day I would take 1.5mg during the day, and then try to take just 0.5 at night, and if you really need you can take the 0.25mg if you need. After a few days you should be able to do without the 0.25mg dose, getting you down to 2mg. From there you can take 1.5 during the day, and 0.25 at night, taking the other 0.25 if you really need, but after alternating a few nights of skipping that last dose you should stabilize at the lower dose. Repeat.
 
Tommyboy said:
Trust me, the alcohol isn't helping you. I made it down to 0.5mg of valium every other day after tapering from a 3mg alprazolam dose I was on for 4 years or so. I didn't successfully come off of it, but I did make it to a very low dose for a while.

I never really split my dose evenly. I would wait as long as possible to take my first part of the dose, and then at night I would add just enough to get me sleep. At 2.25mg a day I would take 1.5mg during the day, and then try to take just 0.5 at night, and if you really need you can take the 0.25mg if you need. After a few days you should be able to do without the 0.25mg dose, getting you down to 2mg. From there you can take 1.5 during the day, and 0.25 at night, taking the other 0.25 if you really need, but after alternating a few nights of skipping that last dose you should stabilize at the lower dose. Repeat.
Click to expand...

Hey thanks, you've helped me a lot. I took a close look at all the advice you gave me from the other thread (listed at the top), and I've really been trying to follow it the best I can. I should say alcohol makes it better for a very short time, probably is making my effort 10 times harder...

You think it's better to take a bigger dose during the day and a little dose at night? I might give it a go and see what happens. Ideally I'd like to split up the doses like you're saying, but I'd prefer to take a small dose when I wake up or in the afternoon, then take the bigger dose in the evening. For some reason I think that would be more doable... seems to calm me down in the evening. Either way I like the alternating dose thing you've brought up, makes a lot of sense to me. Thanks!
 
the .25mg is probably not making a real difference, i bet if someone switched the .25mg to a sugar pill you wouldn't notice. Still i know how hard it is. I did a valium taper last year and quit. My Dr. told me this and it is really helpful, alternate days, for example 2.5mg one day, 2.25 next and do that for a while and keep spacing it out more and more so that you are eventually at 2.25 then do the same for 2mg and downward. You are probably just facing the shit load of anxiety that comes after using benzos, taper or no taper it's going to hit you at some point and you just have to get through it. If you still have underlying issues causing your anxiety now is the time to get them figured out.
 
was spending too much time in tl, wanna get more variety in my 'scribed folder LOL

let's see....
- found them in HS and abused for fun, never had (well, never NOTICED or knew of) w/d's or dependence.
- used therapeutically through college (1mg klon taken in the evenings - no abuse, surprisingly, just used to offset my 10mg of daily adderrall. this was an extremely popular combo amongst my friends at uni, we called them applejacks :) )
- got a virtually unlimited, free supply of xanax probably 4yrs ago. I stopped that and went onto valium (which i got with real rx from my pain clinic dr.) and temazepam. when his offices/pharmacies all got shut down i went cold turkey (oxy/valium/temazepam/methadone, all cold turkey at once - it was either taht, or find new dr and continue on the path that was ruining my life). it was a SUPER ugly withdrawal, and due to the diaz and m'done's half lives, it was unbelievably long. literally hell on earth, talk about "scared straight" haha.

The dosages were always all over the place, except for my college usage which as stated was somehow maintained at "therapeutic" levels w/o even trying (i didn't really acknowledge adderall's or klon's recreational effects at that point, i grouped them<mentally> more with steroids than 'real' drugs). But at bad points dosages were easily maintained at 5mg+ daily (xan/kpin), with 'fun'/abuse days hitting heroic dosages that i'm gonna withhold for both dicksizing / unbelievability reasons.
 
RobotRipping said:
the .25mg is probably not making a real difference, i bet if someone switched the .25mg to a sugar pill you wouldn't notice. Still i know how hard it is. I did a valium taper last year and quit. My Dr. told me this and it is really helpful, alternate days, for example 2.5mg one day, 2.25 next and do that for a while and keep spacing it out more and more so that you are eventually at 2.25 then do the same for 2mg and downward. You are probably just facing the shit load of anxiety that comes after using benzos, taper or no taper it's going to hit you at some point and you just have to get through it. If you still have underlying issues causing your anxiety now is the time to get them figured out.
Click to expand...
^^this except for the sugar pill thing.
your body knows.

it's time to start skipping a day in between doses.
good luck. been there. :)
remember/focus on why you made this decision to quit originally.
that can help you when nothing else can.
you're tougher than you'll feel. :)

<3
 
tokenname said:
^^this except for the sugar pill thing.
your body knows.

it's time to start skipping a day in between doses.
good luck. been there. :)
remember/focus on why you made this decision to quit originally.
that can help you when nothing else can.
you're tougher than you'll feel. :)

<3
Click to expand...

Thanks! Yeah I was gonna say... I can totally feel the difference in doses, even when I only drop .25mg.
I definitely like the alternating doses idea, I'm gonna give it a go next time I make a cut.
 
bmxxx said:
the last leg of a taper is often the hardest, many find it best to realllly reduce taper speed at that point.
for more info see:
http://www.benzo.org.uk/manual/index.htm
some of the best taper scheduling information i've ever found (yes, i was on benzo's long-term, and have been clean for a very long time)
Click to expand...

Yeah thanks, I've looked at that site.
Most of the schedules cut 1mg of Diazepam every 2 weeks, whereas I've been cutting around 0.5mg a month.
But still, the conversions were very helpful.
 
Its very hard to taper of benzos man, you just have to go slow. This is a stupid post and not very helpful.. im well aware but its the truth
 
im in the same boat as the poster, been addicted to valium since i was 15 im 25 now, im getting prescribed 10 x 2mg valiums a month wich get eaten in one go, ive been told to taper off street valium wich are unregulated meaning one could be 12mg and another 3mg, iv'e tried going cold turkey but i shake like crazy, the only thing i can suggest to the op is using alcohol to get rid of the shakes but its no good replacing one addiction with another...
 
I have been prescribed benzos' (mostly diazepam) off & on since my teens (over 30 years) My latest pain management Dr. has reluctantly kept me on 10-15 mg's a day for the last 10 years He now says I have to see a psych' (within the next 3 months) to stay on them, he stated to me I am his only patient he prescribes any (benzos') to. Like I mentioned I have been taking 5-10 mg's for most of the previous 20 years also.
My anxiety attacks are real & very crippling, and of the 6-7 doctors that have prescribed them have always talked about what may be causing them...I cannot for the life of me figure that out (My father (use to) and my sister also suffer from attacks, busperone works for her but only helped me twice before not helping at all. I have been prescribed other types but figured I was doing myself a favor because valium is so subtle, no high, but works so well.
If I take 5+5 or 10 mg's at night, it holds me through the next day without it, the attacks come back with a vengeance I am well aware of rebound anxiety and that is not (my) case.
I got myself down to 5 mg's a day for the most part, but half the time take 2.5 more, the last 2 nights I took 2.5 at bedtime and this morning woke early feeling like hell I had to take 2.5 more just to feel like my heart wasnt going to burst outta my chest I got a feeling Im going to have to go the route of the psychiatrist which sucks because of the bundles of money up front.
I exercise regularly and have a fairly physical job & eat the healthiest of foods.
What can a psych' do for me except keep me on my 5-10 mg. dose ?
 
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mista_kaos said:
im in the same boat as the poster, been addicted to valium since i was 15 im 25 now, im getting prescribed 10 x 2mg valiums a month wich get eaten in one go, ive been told to taper off street valium wich are unregulated meaning one could be 12mg and another 3mg, iv'e tried going cold turkey but i shake like crazy, the only thing i can suggest to the op is using alcohol to get rid of the shakes but its no good replacing one addiction with another...
Click to expand...

Yikes, that sucks man. Sorry to hear that, I don't have the problem of running out (or having to find a dealer to sell Valium).
Anyways yeah alcohol temporarily helps, but I don't drink because of shakes or going into benzo withdrawal. Just helps calm everything down a bit...
 
percyxanax said:
Its very hard to taper of benzos man, you just have to go slow. This is a stupid post and not very helpful.. im well aware but its the truth
Click to expand...

No man you're totally right, just gotta go SO SLOW...
It's definitely just a process that sucks and has to be dealt with, I'm just wondering what things can help make it a little easier, ya know?
Things like exercise, which I've been doing a lot of while tapering (guess that was a good thing that came from this) :)
 
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