About Me.

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Hi. I have been on Diazapam 24mgs daily for 20 years. Prior to this I was given Lorazapam 1mg daily which due to their short half life led me to needing 4mgs daily. I asked to come off them and followed a substitution plan exchanging 1mg lorazapam for 10mg diazepam and managed to get down to 24mgs diazepam. Due to the death of my dad followed by the death of my mum 14 months later I needed to call a halt to the reduction. I'm now ready to reduce but at a dose to suit me not my gp.

[[Ch...]]

Hi MsF and welcome.

 

First let me say I'm sorry for your losses.  These are indeed difficult or impossible times to taper, and I'm glad you're ready to continue.

 

Here's a link to General Taper Plans where you might want to start posting for tapering help.

 

Please include your benzodiazepine information in your posts.  To make that easier by adding it to each post automatically, you can go up to Profile, choose Forum Profile, write the information in the text box and click Change Profile.

 

Take care,

Challis

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Hi Challis Thanks for your warm welcome. I want to taper off the diazepam using a slow and low dosage method but the gp's at my new surgery say I have to reduce by 2mgs a week. I divorced my ex hubby 2 years ago as he became aggressive and violent towards me and was he prescribed an antipsycotic himself by a psychiatrist. I also found out he was seeing young girls which shocked me hence the divorce and the house move 1 month ago. Even though my new gp knows about these things they still insist on me cutting by 2mg a week and also want me to begin reducing the horrible seroxat I was prescribed. I didn't really want to take the seroxat but needed it The past 4 years have been hell and my former gp's were understanding but the new ones are just not taking any notice. I'm waiting to start counselling but it's a 4 month wait. I just couldn't cope with the 2mg reduction Challis. Sorry to go on but I wanted to give you a clear picture. Kind regards. MsF.  :'(

[[De...]]

Hello MsF,

 

Welcome to the forum from me too 

 

I'm also so very sorry to hear of your losses, I can only imagine how hard that was for you. I'm sorry also to hear of the marriage breakdown, you've had a tough time all in all.

 

I can understand you wanting to be in control of your taper rate, it is important that you taper at a rate that you feel comfortable with. General tapering guidelines for somebody who has been taking benzos long term are to reduce the daily dosage by between 5% and 10% every 10 to 14 days according to how you are feeling. Some members taper quicker than this and some slower but certainly slow is the way to go to ensure that the withdrawal effects are kept to a minimum.

 

I wonder if it might help if you copy the relevant pages from The Ashton Manual to show to your doctor, many members have done this very thing as a lot of doctors dont appear to be benzo wise. There is a withdrawal schedule for diazepam within the manual, chapter 2 and Dr Ashton suggests 2mg cuts every 2 weeks until one reaches 14 mg where 1mg cuts every 2 weeks are advised. However "Ashton's" taper rate is a bit fast for most members here particularly when they reach the lower doses so basically we listen to how our bodies react to the cuts and taper accordingly. Here is a link to The Ashton Manual, it's a very informative read re benzodiazepines and how to withdraw from them :

 

http://www.benzo.org.uk/manual/

 

It is normally recommended to taper from one drug at a time beginning with the benzodiazepine which in your case is the diazepam. Most members tend to wait a few months after they finish their benzo taper before beginning a taper from their antidepressant. I dont have personal experience with seroxat but I know that other members here have some knowledge of this particular drug. I will give you a link to The Other Medications board where you can post questions relating to the seroxat if need be :

 

 

http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?board=60.0

 

Here also is a link to a list of Benzo wise doctors which may be helpful if your doctor isn't cooperative. I dont know whether there are any in the area where you live but it might help :

 

http://benzodocs.com/

 

 

Finally here is a link to The Withdrawal Support board here where members discuss symptoms relating to their benzo taper :

 

http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?board=145.0

 

I'm glad you found us and I wish you success with the taper.

 

Debbie

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Hi Debbie. Thanks so much for info and the links. Although I know it's better and much safer to reduce by low doses and slowly I was thrilled to learn about Professor Ashton so I have printed off about her method to show the new GP who's telling me I MUST reduce by 2mgs diaz a week. Although I take 24mg daily 12mg daytime and 12mg at night I was given just 2 weeks supply yesterday evening at surgery and was told to take the 12mg during the day and just 10mg at night  I also have to see the doc for a review in 2 weeks time instead of the twice yearly review. I am going to go armed with Prof Ashtons programme and tell the gp this is the right way to reduce and that I want to be guided by Prof Ashtons programme. May I also tell her I found BenzoBuddies online? as I want to print off some comments from fellow members.Thank God I found you!  I've been in pieces the past few days.  :'(    MsF x

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Welcome MsF,,I to am so sorry for your loses,,i Haven't started tapering yet but am gathering all the info I can get,,my psychiarist sees no problem in staying on benzos because people are on them forever,,,,you will find some great support and information on here,,good luck in getting your doc to get on board with you

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Thanks Scaredofbenzo's. I haven't been on here for 3 weeks. My gp is not being very helpful at all. I can see myself changing my gp. This withdrawing is scary! 

[[be...]]

Hi. I have been on Diazapam 24mgs daily for 20 years. Prior to this I was given Lorazapam 1mg daily which due to their short half life led me to needing 4mgs daily. I asked to come off them and followed a substitution plan exchanging 1mg lorazapam for 10mg diazepam and managed to get down to 24mgs diazepam. Due to the death of my dad followed by the death of my mum 14 months later I needed to call a halt to the reduction. I'm now ready to reduce but at a dose to suit me not my gp.

 

 

Welcome    I am so sorry for the loss of both of your parents, and in time so close to one another. You have been them for a very long time. I personally would not try anything quicker than 5 t0 10 percent reduction every two weeks. You can always adjust quicker or slower from there. At what rate did you reduce prior?

[[Ma...]]

Welcome MsF 

 

I am new here myself. I read that you lost both of your parents a number of years apart. I cannot tell you how sorry I am to see this. I can very much relate to the pain and suffering you've dealt with. I feel that this is one of the harder things us humans will have to go through, next to losing a child or something along these lines. Sometimes it feels like things won't be the same or better, but most everyone will experience this especially with due time. I know that other people have had this same issue but the thing is everyone takes things/handles stuff differently in their own way. Unfortunately I don't have much experience or knowledge on long term use of benzos, but I can assure you many people here do, and will be more than happy to share/help you out any way they possibly can. I truly hope the best for you, and that you find what you are after here.

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Hi maggels, I'm not doing very well with the dose my gp told me I must reduce by which amounts to 5mgs a week. She said a cut of 1mg daily shouldn't affect me but it is so I've only reduced twice this past week by 2mg a day...1mg in the day and 1mg at night. I've started having panic attacks again after months of being panic free. My son age 29 is special needs and relies on me for most things and I wouldn't have it any other way. I just want to reduce at a dose I can manage on.  I need all the information I can get to show her that we,the patients should be in charge of our reduction. I wanted to e mail her a clip of Professor Ashton saying exactly this..each patient should be in charge of their reduction and slowly but the surgery doesn't have an e mail address. I hope you're managing okay?  Why won't gp's listen?    xx

[[be...]]

Hi maggels, I'm not doing very well with the dose my gp told me I must reduce by which amounts to 5mgs a week. She said a cut of 1mg daily shouldn't affect me but it is so I've only reduced twice this past week by 2mg a day...1mg in the day and 1mg at night. I've started having panic attacks again after months of being panic free. My son age 29 is special needs and relies on me for most things and I wouldn't have it any other way. I just want to reduce at a dose I can manage on.  I need all the information I can get to show her that we,the patients should be in charge of our reduction. I wanted to e mail her a clip of Professor Ashton saying exactly this..each patient should be in charge of their reduction and slowly but the surgery doesn't have an e mail address. I hope you're managing okay?  Why won't gp's listen?    xx

 

Because GP's aren't educated about benzo withdrawal. They tend to know very little about a lot. I only see mine if I need an antibiotic or a flu shot. My insurance pays for a doctor to come to my home to give me my annual. So I maybe see my GP once a year or so. If a have a particular problem, like low thyroid, I go to a specialist like my endocrinologist.  I actually think NPs and PAs know more about medicine than my GP. I need to drop kick her. Bets