Thoughts about Valium taper.

[[mi...]]

Everybody says that the taper gets tougher as the percentage of the drop gets higher. I have read that this is not always the case. Dropping from 10 to 9 can be the same as 20 to 19 as the body gets used to the 1mg drop and not the percentage. Any thoughts?

[[be...]]

I don't know what other experiences people have once they get to the 10 mg mark, but dropping 1 mg makes for greater % cuts all the way down. Say, if you drop from 5 mg to 4 mg, that would mean a much larger drop. For me and some of the others here, your drops should be even smaller once you get down to the wire. You body just doesn't automatically adjust to an all of a sudden increase in drops. Also, some people hold for a longer period of time because valium has such a long half life. Once I get down to the 10 mg mark, I plan to switch over to titrating, which seem to be the best route to go from what I have read here. Bets

[[mi...]]

I think you misunderstood. My English is not perfect. What I mean to say is that the body gets used to 1mg drops even if the percentage is higher. 1mg is 1mg all the way down. Some even find it easier at the end of the taper as the body slowly adjusts. I bet 10 different people experience 10 different tapers.

[[be...]]

I think you misunderstood. My English is not perfect. What I mean to say is that the body gets used to 1mg drops even if the percentage is higher. 1mg is 1mg all the way down. Some even find it easier at the end of the taper as the body slowly adjusts. I bet 10 different people experience 10 different tapers.

 

No, your English is fine and I understood. The body doesn't care about 1 mg drops, but cares about how high the cut is in terms of %s. So if you dropped from 2 mg to 1 mg, that would mean a 50% cut, which is way too high.

[Guest [Bi...]]

Over the course of 2&1/2 years I dropped 1mg at a time from 40mgs Valium down to 10 with very little problems. No schedule, I just cut when I felt like it and held when I felt like it.

At 10 it became a little tougher (higher percentage cut) so I started dropping 1/2mg at a time. Now down to 6 and a 1/2mg cut is too much. I know we all have different experiences but there seems to be a common thread where we get to lower doses and dry cutting is too much.

I wish I could dry cut .10mg at a time but they don't make the pills that small so I'm switching to daily titration with a liquid compound. Just sharing my experience.

Peace, Billly

[[th...]]

I think you misunderstood. My English is not perfect. What I mean to say is that the body gets used to 1mg drops even if the percentage is higher. 1mg is 1mg all the way down. Some even find it easier at the end of the taper as the body slowly adjusts. I bet 10 different people experience 10 different tapers.

 

No, your English is fine and I understood. The body doesn't care about 1 mg drops, but cares about how high the cut is in terms of %s. So if you dropped from 2 mg to 1 mg, that would mean a 50% cut, which is way too high.

 

Agree with benzogirl. But that doesn't automatically mean everyone will experience difficulty at lower doses. Some do just fine. All you can do is see what works and doesn't work for you and adjust accordingly.

 

G

[[mi...]]

I see the Ashton manual recommends a drop of 1mg every two weeks down to zero. Is she wrong?

[[th...]]

I see the Ashton manual recommends a drop of 1mg every two weeks down to zero. Is she wrong?

 

I think that is pretty common taper dose for Valium tapers but some people find at is too much so they change it when and if they get to a point where they feel the cut is too big. Many people have dropped 1mg all the way to zero. I can see it on their sigs. You can always try it. Some have had to switch to .5 mg and .25 mg and also micro tapers due to increased wd syx they couldn't handle. But they tried the 1mg cuts first usually it seems. Ashton is just a guide, people have to adjust from it if it doesn't work for them.

 

G

[[Di...]]

I see the Ashton manual recommends a drop of 1mg every two weeks down to zero. Is she wrong?

 

It's not that she's wrong, it's just that a lot of people simply can't follow her method. Everyone needs to make the choices about tapering that suits them, and no one should try to stick to any set method (including the Ashton Method) if it's not right for them. I have great respect for Dr Ashton, but I've been on BB for over 2 years now and I see time and time again the number of people who start to struggle once they get below about 10mg valium. It's almost predictable.

 

Of course there are many people who can handle doing the cuts that Dr Ashton recommends, and probably a lot of those people never bother to come to BB. A lot of the people who are here though are the ones who seem to be especially sensitive to benzos, and we need to take things a lot slower. It's just the way it is, and no one should feel they have to stick to the Ashton Method if it's not right for them.

 

If you are cutting 1mg from 20mg that is only a 5% cut, which for a lot of people would be perfectly fine. However, if you cut 1mg from 5mg that is a 20% cut which for most people on BB would be far too much. Your body doesn't get used to the 1mg cuts. It basically doesn't care about the actual size of the cut. All it cares about is how much of the dose it is used to getting is suddenly being taken away from it.

 

I prefer to not talk about percentages because they can be very confusing, the reason being that percentages change as your taper changes. They have to, otherwise you would never finish your taper. For most of my taper I was hovering somewhere around 7-9% cuts, but as my dose got really low my percentages had to increase because if I kept cutting 7% from my current dose I would never have finished. Even if your current dose is just 0.001mg, when you jump your final cut is always going to be 100%, so there always comes a point where your percentage cuts have to increase as your dose gets lower.

 

I always prefer to say cut small and often. Even if you are doing a cut and hold taper, try cutting the smallest amount you can. Most people on valium have 2mg tablets, and they can cut 0.5mg, so why not cut 0.5mg and just do it more often? Why do people think they HAVE to cut 1mg at a time? It just doesn't make sense to me, but that's just my opinion.

[[Di...]]

I see the Ashton manual recommends a drop of 1mg every two weeks down to zero. Is she wrong?

 

I think that is pretty common taper dose for Valium tapers but some people find at is too much so they change it when and if they get to a point where they feel the cut is too big. Many people have dropped 1mg all the way to zero. I can see it on their sigs. You can always try it. Some have had to switch to .5 mg and .25 mg and also micro tapers due to increased wd syx they couldn't handle. But they tried the 1mg cuts first usually it seems. Ashton is just a guide, people have to adjust from it if it doesn't work for them.

 

G

 

Actually, you can't always judge how people have tapered just by looking at their signature. My signature looks like I did 0.5mg cuts, but there is no way I could have cut 0.5mg in one go. Most people just post "milestones". My whole taper was done as a daily taper, cutting very small amounts every day. The majority of people I know who are tapering, or have tapered, valium have done a daily taper, but they may only post their 1mg or 0.5mg milestones.

[[mi...]]

Well written and interesting Diaz pam.

[[th...]]

I see the Ashton manual recommends a drop of 1mg every two weeks down to zero. Is she wrong?

 

I think that is pretty common taper dose for Valium tapers but some people find at is too much so they change it when and if they get to a point where they feel the cut is too big. Many people have dropped 1mg all the way to zero. I can see it on their sigs. You can always try it. Some have had to switch to .5 mg and .25 mg and also micro tapers due to increased wd syx they couldn't handle. But they tried the 1mg cuts first usually it seems. Ashton is just a guide, people have to adjust from it if it doesn't work for them.

 

G

 

Actually, you can't always judge how people have tapered just by looking at their signature. My signature looks like I did 0.5mg cuts, but there is no way I could have cut 0.5mg in one go. Most people just post "milestones". My whole taper was done as a daily taper, cutting very small amounts every day. The majority of people I know who are tapering, or have tapered, valium have done a daily taper, but they may only post their 1mg or 0.5mg milestones.

 

That's true, I never thought of that. Thanks for mentioning it! And what don't know about V taper?? Nada!! Zero! I am one of those crazy Xanax taperers who refused to switch over!   

 

Grinch

[[Di...]]

lol - I wouldn't say I know everything about doing a valium taper, but you do learn a lot when you've had to actually live something. I just hope I can be useful in passing on some of that information.

[[sc...]]

Diazapam-Pam was your taper smooth and how was your acute?

[[Di...]]

My taper was up and down like everyone's. When I would get impatient (which was often) and I tried to increase my daily cuts more than I should I would pay for it. Looking back I would say things were okay, but then my memories always become very faint after a while. I do know there were many nights where I would be laying in bed, not being able to sleep, wondering what was wrong me or how the hell I was ever going to get through it, but I did.

 

Mostly things were okay. Sleep was my major issue, but using aids like doxylamine or a low dose AD I was able to get a reasonable amount of sleep, enough to allow me to function on a relatively normal basis. Throughout my taper I had no problems working or even socialising with friends. I was able to still live a normal life, nowhere near as good as my life is now though - now that I'm benzo free!!!!