Take a holiday from Valium reduction?

[[Ju...]]

I am at 4 mg. Valium, down from 15 mg. two years ago, doing a very, very slow taper because I have been on Valium all of my adult life.  I am getting side effects of a distended abdomen in the afternoon and evening ("benzo belly"), fatigue nearly all the time, and muscle weakness just all the time.

 

I have noticed that others just stay on the plan and reduce until they jump.  But I am wondering if there are any of you who could recommend a hold for an extended time, at least until the benzo belly reduces.

 

I am 67, and I do know that it is harder for older adults to get off benzos.  So the longer I wait, the harder it may be.

 

Advice, please.  And thanks so much.

 

 

[[Ch...]]

I'm just a bit younger than you and am two years benzo free after 30+ years.  I took one break in tapering (Thanksgiving through New Years...too much family/holiday stress). 

 

If it were me, I'd keep on tapering.  Let the healing begin, time's a ticking, right?

 

Challis 

[[Di...]]

I would personally keep tapering too. You might as well just get it over with rather than delay the inevitable. Perhaps you could reduce what you're cutting, on a temporary basis, to give yourself a bit of a breather for a while. You would get the best of both worlds then - a bit of a break, but not a complete stop.

[[Bi...]]

You have done pretty good from 15mg.  I'd let your symptoms be your ultimate guide here.  Never cut when your not feeling right.  New cuts are earned by recovery and healing, that was my gate keeper, no healing = no cutting.  I healed as I tapered or I just did not taper further, it always worked out while the tactic was slow

 

It's also a rule I will apply until I am off all my meds.

[[Ju...]]

Thank you for responding.  I feel more encouraged, just a little feedback helps a great deal, because I was feeling frustrated and worried about myself.

 

I am not too concerned about a quick taper, as my motivation, my balance in walking, is already much, much improved.  I am trying to avoid a syndrome, which I feel might be a big likelihood as I have been on Valium so long. 

[[Bi...]]

May I ask after a 40 year hold on one dose how bad are your balance issues?  Is it in one ear or both?  Any tinnitus?

 

Benzo's can cause problems with the vestibular system do to the effects of excess glutamate.

[[os...]]

 

Hi Julianna,

 

                  I found there was a change at 4 mg... in a way, it is the start of the end of this, as you get lower from here on out, you should experience shifts in your clarity, if you do not have much clarity now, it will come... for me it has been like a dimmer switch that is on notches, with every few reductions, I sense a shift into a newer "normal"... it's definitely happening for me now.

 

The problem here is knowing what to do from here... be brave and taper boldly or go slow and use good holds... it's a very personal thing.

 

Rightly or wrongly, I have (so far) opted to taper really slow and I am almost at the equivalent of 2.8 mg Valium... it's too slow but in some ways I don't think there is any such thing as too slow in this, yet I could well be wasting time here, I just don't know but I am trying to taper really slow until 2 mgs as that is the dose where many have said that symptoms have started to really drop off and/or fade out... I am hopeful that my super slow taper will have the good stuff happening for me at 2 mg as I really only want an improvement in the derealization and anxiety, if both those dialled down even a little I would be quite happy to taper the last of this a little faster.

 

I think, in my case, I prefer to errr on the side of caution in as much as I have been on many years also, I tend to agree with Birdman on here, no healing, no cutting...

 

I am currently trying to get stable right now and of course I desperately want to get lower but I know I do not have the green light yet, once we put ourselves in a hole it can be hard to get out again...

 

I think we have a natural tendency to want to get this done and understandably so, we want to get to the real healing after all, like you, I am concerned about the syndrome also but I would imagine that after a long taper, recovery will probably take a year to get to a much better place overall and maybe another year to fully heal with no symptoms left at all... I think that is the reality of what to expect... I believe we can taper real slow to zero and maybe be mostly healed by 8 months out...

 

It's your decision, personally, I choose to go slow... there is no middle ground for me, I could not taper semi fast, if I wanted off I would have to make bigger cuts and get this done but at 4 mgs, I would not advise this, I know you want off but it may be to your benefit to go slow till at least 3 mgs and then review your plan to lose those last 3 mgs... the taper length can get ridiculous but I also believe there are no short cuts... the way I see it is the more time I put into my taper, the less time I will spend healing post taper, can't say it will work out that way but I can't see a syndrome occurring from tapering real low... most that are protracted either tapered very fast or did a CT.

 

The overall time frame to heal seems to be 3-4 years, how long have you been tapering for? Rarely do I think a years or two year taper cuts it for us long term users but I would go slow and use longer holds, at least to 2 mgs and then if you feel it's not worth going so slow, make a plan to make a series of bolder cuts to finish this... even I am not sure I can taper the last 2 mgs super slow, I may just want this done but of course things will get worse before they get better on doing that but at least we would be free. I know Challis had a hard time towards the end of her taper but she did it, I guess it all depends on what you think you can cope with.

 

Whatever you decide, I wish you the best.

 

I am holding here for 4 weeks... I am not stable yet and although it is very frustrating, I don't want to bury myself in symptoms, as it could get to a point where there is no point in doing slow... as once in it there may come a point where it is best to just get it over with but it's not really advisable... after all our years of use, we may be far better off taking our time.

 

 

[[Ju...]]

Thank you, to all of you.

 

I was asked about my ears and my balance, and if I have tinnitus.  Since I started my taper two years ago, I have developed some mild tinnitus.  But the balance issue came before the tinnitus.  My balance issue came when I got older, about five years ago at age 62 or so.  I searched the web systematically with anything that I was taking to see what was causing the problem.  And I finally honed in on the Valium, after much deep searching through pages of Google.  I had to hold my husband's hand when walking on sidewalks in the early days of balance problems, when I was still taking 15 mg. per day of Valium.  Now my balance is much better, and I just hold his hand when I feel like it!!  I don't notice any difference in my two ears, and I didn't associate the early balance issues with my ears, though that may have been the problem.  It makes sense that it would be the problem.

 

My current status:  I am at 4 mg., and I have held for three weeks.  Tomorrow morning I am going to go down .25 mg. Valium.  That is about a 5 percent cut.  I have reduced by .25 mg. twice now, and with minimal problems except for my distended abdomen, muscle weakness, and the like.  I have not felt any anxiety in the cuts.  I think that the secret is smaller cuts, more frequently.  At least for me.

 

Thank you again for being so supportive.  This forum really makes a difference in people's lives.

[[Bi...]]

Thank you, to all of you.

 

I was asked about my ears and my balance, and if I have tinnitus.  Since I started my taper two years ago, I have developed some mild tinnitus.  But the balance issue came before the tinnitus.  My balance issue came when I got older, about five years ago at age 62 or so.  I searched the web systematically with anything that I was taking to see what was causing the problem.  And I finally honed in on the Valium, after much deep searching through pages of Google.  I had to hold my husband's hand when walking on sidewalks in the early days of balance problems, when I was still taking 15 mg. per day of Valium.  Now my balance is much better, and I just hold his hand when I feel like it!!  I don't notice any difference in my two ears, and I didn't associate the early balance issues with my ears, though that may have been the problem.  It makes sense that it would be the problem.

 

My current status:  I am at 4 mg., and I have held for three weeks.  Tomorrow morning I am going to go down .25 mg. Valium.  That is about a 5 percent cut.  I have reduced by .25 mg. twice now, and with minimal problems except for my distended abdomen, muscle weakness, and the like.  I have not felt any anxiety in the cuts.  I think that the secret is smaller cuts, more frequently.  At least for me.

 

Thank you again for being so supportive.  This forum really makes a difference in people's lives.

 

Thanks for the answer.  Your 100% right valium effects the vestibular system in the ears.  It's like being on Dramamine for 40 years. It's bound to make worse what ever it helps in the beginning. Lot's of people use valium for sea sick pills so there you go   It back fired and made you "sea-sick" or more like it "land-sick"

 

Slow cutting works, never rush the process 

 

Happy healing