Can someone define "stabilized" for me, please?

[[sp...]]

Hello,

I have finally found an addiction psychiatrist who is willing to help me cross-over to valium and taper. I have been reading learning a great deal on these boards, but I suppose I am still confused about when you know you are "stable" or have "stabilized" at a certain dose. I have slowly weaned myself this summer down from 1.5 to .75 but have not been sleeping well for about the last three weeks. Does that mean I am not stable--or does/can insomnia happen at any time? Please help give me a general idea of what defines "stabilized," so as I progress I know where I am at...

Thank you!

[[Be...]]

I think there are nearly as many ideas of what it means to stabilize as there are Buddies so I'll just give you the explanation that made sense to me: when my symptoms stopped increasing in variety, duration or intensity, I considered myself stable.  As an aside, I was in tolerance withdrawal from the start so was symptomatic the whole way down.  However, most of the time I could tell the difference between the baseline symptoms - like difficulty sleeping and social anxiety - and those that were the result of making a dose reduction.  Hope this makes sense and is some help. 

[[Bi...]]

Some people think it's holding until the point you feel "NORMAL"

 

Some people can hold for a long time and only feel like they are in tolerance again (not great but tolerable state)

 

Some people can't get stable until they get off and heal.

 

The only way to find out is to do at least one very long hold in the middle of a taper.

 

Some people get better with every passing month and others don't.

 

It's a very individual process but without a little bit of dose experimentation you may end up off track at some point. 

 

Treat time as your best friend and not an enemy.

[[sp...]]

Thank you. So, Beeper, I think I have also been in "tolerance" for some time now, so sleeplessness and a bit of daytime anxiety are normal baseline?

[[Ch...]]

Sleeplessness and anxiety are pretty much par for the course in benzodiazepine withdrawal.  It's a chemical reaction to the drug reduction (which has been calming your central nervous system for as long as you've been taking it...so your body needs to begin taking up the job again which takes some time).

 

Stable for me was when the revved up symptoms from a cut settled back down again.  I wasn't symptom-free.

[[Be...]]

Thank you. So, Beeper, I think I have also been in "tolerance" for some time now, so sleeplessness and a bit of daytime anxiety are normal baseline?

 

Sounds like it to me, spiritus christi.  .  For me, some of the anxiety became less pronounced after I'd tapered for about 6-8 weeks.  I think I had gotten to the point that Ativan was causing what it was meant to treat so I actually started to improve a bit as I took less of it.  Hope that happens to you, too.

 

Btw, there are some really helpful threads at the top of the Anxiety and Insomnia Boards.