Everone is different! Help from Moderators please??

[[my...]]

Hi,

 

I would so appreciate some help from one of the moderators who is familiar with Clonazepam to Valium taper. By looking at my signature, you can see that I have been dry cutting at a fairly fast clip (??) and had successfully tapered from 2 mg Clon a day to 1.563.  When I tapered again to 1.5 I thought I would be there for a week, then continue with the balance of an approximate 10% cut - that is another 6%.  But NOOOOO, and many have already suggested I hold at 1.5 for the next month especially because we are going away.  The problem is that some pretty severe w/d symptoms have set in the last couple of days -- day 9 and10 of this cut.  Crushing chest pain that wakes me in the night and continues to hurt the next day, general shortness of breath and head and neck tension.  It must be cumulative as I only experienced these sxs from say day 2 or 3 to day 5-7 of the last two cuts.  So on day 9 and 10, at the suggestion of my doctor (and my husband who begged me to take the 5 mg of Valium before it got too bad as he already knew about my experience with Valium and also was a little familiar with the Ashton Taper).  so I did...but I still have symptoms. 

 

Here is what I would like your help with:  the Ashton manual has examples of a 1.5 taper schedule and a 3 mg schedule.  We tried to do the math, using the .5 clon = 10 mg Val but the two schedules differ as they are not linear but rather are exponential (my husband's take)...it seems that maybe I should substitute the equivalent amount of valium that was cut when I did my taper from 2mg to 1.5 -- that would be 5 mg val in the a.m.and 5 mg in the p.m. and go from there...after Dec, possibly cut .25 clon and add 5 mg Val and on for another cut then maybe begin tapering more...hard to know.  the 3 mg taper schedule has one staying at the 60 mg equivalent for only 3 cuts while the 1.5 schedule has one staying at the 30 mg val level (while cutting clon and adding val) for 6 cuts.  I am somewhere in between.

 

I think this is going to be a long road but I would rather have it longer and gentler and then be done rather than shorter and harsher with w/d sxs for months after taking my last dose.  No guarantees i understand but I think this could work.

 

You (BB statement in withdrawal support section) indicated that you might be able to help with taper schedules so I am asking you for help!   I have contacted several pharmacies, even compounding pharmacies and together with my doctor - a psychiatrist and neurologist who suggested we may have tapered to quickly and to go up a bit on clon !!!!! -- IMO they are all rather clueless about it.  One pharmacist admitted he was clueless and would have to do some research, which he offered to do but said I probably knew more about it than he did.  NONE of them had heard of the Ashton manual.

 

If you could work with me on this, I would be so appreciative...I know there are many of us asking for advice and will understand if you cannot customize for each member but whatever you can do would be great.  Thanks and best to you,

mana

[[...]]

Hi, I got your message on the other thread.  My taper was not good.  I did not learn about proper tapering until near the end and I'm still recovering.

 

But what I would do if I was you is stay on K and liquify it.  K tapers just fine and there is no need to switch to another benzo unless K is giving you a problem.  There are several ways to liquify.

 

And, if it were me, I wouldn't do step cuts as Ashton suggests.  Instead I would do a daily taper cutting a tiny amount each day.  It will be much smoother and you will be able to keep yourself feeling good through the process.  It is not hard to find the daily cut that is right for you.

[[Di...]]

I agree with SG. I always feel it's best to try to taper from your existing benzo first before doing a c/o to valium, especially if you are already on one of the longer acting benzos such as Clonazepam/Klonopin.

 

However, if you feel you do need to c/o to valium, you could post on either the Valium or the Klonopin Support threads because there are probably a number of people who have done or are doing cross overs. I personally never did because I started out on valium. Should you then need help with a tapering plan using valium I am happy to help you work out something.

 

Valium Support Thread .. http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?topic=96753.0

 

Klonopin Support Thread .. http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?topic=57791.0

[[my...]]

SG57 and Diaz-Pam,

Thank you both SO much....  I will learn about the liquid taper -- and at this point I am going to hold here at 1.5 until we return from our trip in less than two weeks and supplement with small bits of Valium as needed - (2.5 mg) today so far and probably 2.5 tonight - (just don't want to wake with that chest pain which induces nightmares until I wake up and realize the pain is real) rather than do an actual crossover. That should give me plenty of time to figure out the daily liquid taper method.  It really does make a lot of sense not to cut larger amounts and have to go through a week (or more as with this cut) of discomfort to agony depending...

It's at least worth a try.  If I cannot seem to taper off K then I will spend more time researching the K to V C/O.  I guess I just figured the Ashton taper was a kind of Benzo Bible

 

It is really very kind and generous of you to give us/me your thoughts, experience, POV and time.

 

Be well,

mana 

[[...]]

Sounds good, although I think you would be better off finding a steady dose that is right for you and maintaining it.  I don't think adding V as needed is a good thing.  The up and down is not a good thing. If you add it I'd keep it steady.