Daily Micro-Tapering Support Group

[[So...]]

Sorry no one answered Hope. I've never done a liquid taper but if it was making things worse then it's probably best you went back to tablets. Hope you are feeling better.

[[ga...]]

Hi Thread. To newer people, sorry this thread is not as active as it used to be when Sharkey was here. If no one answers it's because they didn't see the question or because they don't know the answer.

 

I see Hope addressed a question to builder. He is not here as much as he used to be. I see him on the titration board. I would add that builder has repeatedly said that he doesn't believe switching to liquid causes problems. Others disagree.

 

Sober, I think your strips cut 50% in the first month and 100% in the next month, right? That speed would be too fast for me. I think you should have a backup plan (make sure you can hold if you need to) if it's too fast you.

 

Best wishes to everyone.

 

Gardie

[[So...]]

Thanks Gardie,

 

I am so confused by the math to be honest. I want to go slow. I am at 2.5mg now and my taper has not been too bad. I will speak to the Tapering Strips people about going slower. I thought that going from 2mg to 1mg in a month was following Ashton as she says to cut 1mg of Valium every 2 weeks or so.

 

I wish I could figure out a liquid method but I am really scared I will mess it up.

[[ga...]]

Thanks Gardie,

 

I am so confused by the math to be honest. I want to go slow. I am at 2.5mg now and my taper has not been too bad. I will speak to the Tapering Strips people about going slower. I thought that going from 2mg to 1mg in a month was following Ashton as she says to cut 1mg of Valium every 2 weeks or so.

 

I wish I could figure out a liquid method but I am really scared I will mess it up.

 

Sober, In the States, Valium comes as a liquid that you only have to dilute to do a liquid taper. It's not that hard. There are people on the titration board who will help you figure out a schedule once you have it as a liquid.

 

Are you also in the States? I have ordered medications from the Netherlands. I think it takes about a week to arrive. Once I had a package stopped by customs and held until my doctor wrote a letter to get it released. And then I got an extra charge added by customs because they decided to open my package.  UPS was very helpful in telling me how to sort it out or I don't know if I ever would have gotten my package. I would be concerned about the strips being your only source of the drug.

 

Personally, I am more worried about a stranger making a mistake with the strips than I am doing my own measuring. I care a whole lot more about getting it right than they do. Just my paranoia!

 

Yes, Ashton cuts pretty fast toward the end. She is simply splitting pills, which makes small reductions very difficult toward the end. Some people can do that pace, but some can't. I think most people on the boards cut 10% per month to near the end. I have seen people jump from .5mg or 1mg of Valium, also. The 1mg jumps didn't go so well. My feeling would be start slower. If it goes OK, you can speed up. That's how I do it now. I tried the other way, start fast and then try to slow down. HORRIBLE idea. I was non-functional for months.

 

Hope it all goes well for you.

 

Gardie

[[So...]]

Thanks Gardie. I am in the states - NYC. Right now I have 2mg pills of Valium. To get liquid Valium, what would I ask my doctor for? I don't know why but I feel overwhelmed by the whole titration thing and syringes. The Tapering Strips from the Netherlands seemed like an easier way to do a daily micro taper to 0. Is that what you ordered from the Netherlands too?

 

I am 2.5mg now and my taper hasn't been too rough and I have held when needed. It's just hard to be accurate when splitting pills - even with a razor blade.

 

Sorry I sound like such an idiot with this math and tapering - it really overwhelms me and I want to keep it simple.

[[Ho...]]

Yes, Sober at only 4 milliters which is NOTHING, I should not have had that kind of severe reaction......so you are correct.  Thanks for answering me dear friend.

[[mo...]]

Thanks but it's too late now.  I went on Liquid Taper and was having severe sxs.  No one answered so after 7 days I went back to the tablets.

 

I would have answered Hope, but didn’t know the answer. I know it’s frustrsting when no one answers. Personally I can be a squeaky wheel so I’ll ask multiple sources sometimes. 

[[Ho...]]

Mountain,

 

  I appreciate you guys reaching out to me.  Not blaming anyone.  Apparently my CNS is still in overdrive, obviously why I reacted.  I came off 20 mg in less than 4 months.  So now I'm stuck here on HOLD till I stabilize.  I just did not think or believe it would take this long to stabilize.  Appreciate you all reaching out to me though.  Bless you all.

[[ga...]]

Thanks Gardie. I am in the states - NYC. Right now I have 2mg pills of Valium. To get liquid Valium, what would I ask my doctor for? I don't know why but I feel overwhelmed by the whole titration thing and syringes. The Tapering Strips from the Netherlands seemed like an easier way to do a daily micro taper to 0. Is that what you ordered from the Netherlands too?

 

I am 2.5mg now and my taper hasn't been too rough and I have held when needed. It's just hard to be accurate when splitting pills - even with a razor blade.

 

Sorry I sound like such an idiot with this math and tapering - it really overwhelms me and I want to keep it simple.

 

I was ordering a supplement called PeaPure which is for nerve pain. (I have an autoimmune disorder.) It was only a supplement but customs still wanted a doctor's order. Mostly the packages got through. The checking was random. Seems the smaller the package the less likely it gets stopped, so I started ordering smaller packages.

 

I think there are currently two kind of liquid Valium. I've seen builder write about them. One is diazepam oral solution and one is diazepam intensol oral solution. The intensol is more concentrated. Your pharmacist would know how to make the change from tablets to liquid. I did it when I was on Xanax, which also has an intensol liquid. The drug is already in solution so all you have to do is dilute it with water, and I think it stays stable like that for over a week. My Xanax did. There are titration gurus on the titration board who will help if you ask. You just tell them what your bottle says so they know the strength and then they tell you what to do. Used to be if you messaged sharkey (guy who started this thread), he would give you personal help, too. Not sure if he's still doing that, but it might be worth a try.

 

I'm a math idiot, too. But once I learned the system, I found it's not that complicated. Now I can do my own math. I don't do other people's, though! Too dangerous!

 

Gardie

[[Ma...]]

Thanks Gardie,

 

I am so confused by the math to be honest. I want to go slow. I am at 2.5mg now and my taper has not been too bad. I will speak to the Tapering Strips people about going slower. I thought that going from 2mg to 1mg in a month was following Ashton as she says to cut 1mg of Valium every 2 weeks or so.

 

I wish I could figure out a liquid method but I am really scared I will mess it up.

 

If I were you, I would post builder about it, or Bob7, they can make it very simple for you if you want to learn.  I agree with Gardie, those strips sound way to fast fo me.  It might be different for you, since you, until now, have had a pretty easy taper.  But I would ask the strip taper people  if you could go slower.  No reason to chance things now.  Good luck!! 

[[ga...]]

Thanks Gardie,

 

I am so confused by the math to be honest. I want to go slow. I am at 2.5mg now and my taper has not been too bad. I will speak to the Tapering Strips people about going slower. I thought that going from 2mg to 1mg in a month was following Ashton as she says to cut 1mg of Valium every 2 weeks or so.

 

I wish I could figure out a liquid method but I am really scared I will mess it up.

 

If I were you, I would post builder about it, or Bob7, they can make it very simple for you if you want to learn.  I agree with Gardie, those strips sound way to fast fo me.  It might be different for you, since you, until now, have had a pretty easy taper.  But I would ask the strip taper people  if you could go slower.  No reason to chance things now.  Good luck!!

 

Yup. builder. Bob7.  Bella Amis is very good, too. Explains well. Uses charts and pictures. I see them on the titration board. Is JimHawk still around? Not sure. Lots of gurus on the titration board. Just title your thread something like Need Detailed Help for Valium Liquid Titration .

[[So...]]

Thanks Gardie and Mary - I am going to post what Gardie said: "Need Detailed Help for Valium Liquid Titration" right now on the titration board. I don't know why the math and syringes and solutions seem to frighten me - my benzo brain I guess.

 

Mary, I don't want to go too fast in my taper - thank you for the advice. I probably have gone fast having gone from 10mg to 2.5 from mid-October to now. Thankfully my s/x have been manageable though I do have bad days like everyone else.

 

One thing that has worked for me re: sleep and lessening the morning anxiety is that instead of taking my whole dose of Valium right before bed (which is what I was doing), I now take little bits throughout the day and none before bed. I now fall asleep "normallY' and get about 5-6 hours of sleep. When I took the whole dose before bed, I would be jolted awake at 4am, sometimes only getting 2-3 hours of sleep (and one night zero sleep). This has definitely helped me and kind of happened by accident when I forgot to take a nightly dose.

 

Thanks everyone - hope all of you are having a great MLK day!

[[Ma...]]

Thanks Gardie and Mary - I am going to post what Gardie said: "Need Detailed Help for Valium Liquid Titration" right now on the titration board. I don't know why the math and syringes and solutions seem to frighten me - my benzo brain I guess.

 

Mary, I don't want to go too fast in my taper - thank you for the advice. I probably have gone fast having gone from 10mg to 2.5 from mid-October to now. Thankfully my s/x have been manageable though I do have bad days like everyone else.

 

One thing that has worked for me re: sleep and lessening the morning anxiety is that instead of taking my whole dose of Valium right before bed (which is what I was doing), I now take little bits throughout the day and none before bed. I now fall asleep "normallY' and get about 5-6 hours of sleep. When I took the whole dose before bed, I would be jolted awake at 4am, sometimes only getting 2-3 hours of sleep (and one night zero sleep). This has definitely helped me and kind of happened by accident when I forgot to take a nightly dose.

 

Thanks everyone - hope all of you are having a great MLK day!

 

Great idea and you keep us informed on how you are doing, you are one of us now 

[[Ja...]]

Mountain,

 

  I appreciate you guys reaching out to me.  Not blaming anyone.  Apparently my CNS is still in overdrive, obviously why I reacted.  I came off 20 mg in less than 4 months.  So now I'm stuck here on HOLD till I stabilize.  I just did not think or believe it would take this long to stabilize.  Appreciate you all reaching out to me though.  Bless you all.

 

Were you working full time while you tapered that fast?

[[So...]]

Hi Jared -

 

I am also tapering off Valium. What cuts are you making? I did 1mg every 10 days per Ashton.

 

Hope you are feeling good

[[Ma...]]

Guess I'm invisible.  Sorry I bothered you all.

 

I am so sorry HfR, that we missed your question.  If you ask again and no one answers, try several threads, just don't give up.  People can be doing all kind of things and just miss it.  Some are too sick, some won't know, they are working, or sleeping, so you just keep asking.  Love Mary ❤️💘

[[Ja...]]

Hi Jared -

 

I am also tapering off Valium. What cuts are you making? I did 1mg every 10 days per Ashton.

 

Hope you are feeling good

 

I was planning to do a microtaper starting at cutting .02mg per day. At that rate I would take over two years to finish. I’m trying to hold down a job as a professor which is why I chose this method. Could always speed up the rate of the daily cuts if I’m doing ok.

 

So far I’m massively depressed and stuck in a lot of fear based thinking. I’m afraid I’ll lose my career that I worked so hard for. I already lost my love for my work which is sad. If I can’t work it’ll be bad; probably bankruptcy. My wife is a student so we only have my income and I have student debt from getting a doctorate. So terrified of losing my beautiful happy life I worked so hard for.

[[Ho...]]

Thank you Mary.  It was just a bad time for me at that time.  I had insomnia for three weeks and extreme sxs, so didn't know what to do.  So I made the decision to hold longer that is all.  Thanks for the good advice, but I know ppl in here are suffering, I don't like to bug them.

[[So...]]

Jared - those thoughts are normal but do not let fear overtake you. You will not lose your job and you will heal. A daily micro taper will be more manageable and enable you to work without as many symptoms. When you feel fear, try and get outside and go for a walk and breathe deeply - sounds so simple and silly but it always helps me.

 

You will do this - believe in yourself.

[[Ma...]]

Hi Jared -

 

I am also tapering off Valium. What cuts are you making? I did 1mg every 10 days per Ashton.

 

Hope you are feeling good

 

I was planning to do a microtaper starting at cutting .02mg per day. At that rate I would take over two years to finish. I’m trying to hold down a job as a professor which is why I chose this method. Could always speed up the rate of the daily cuts if I’m doing ok.

 

So far I’m massively depressed and stuck in a lot of fear based thinking. I’m afraid I’ll lose my career that I worked so hard for. I already lost my love for my work which is sad. If I can’t work it’ll be bad; probably bankruptcy. My wife is a student so we only have my income and I have student debt from getting a doctorate. So terrified of losing my beautiful happy life I worked so hard for.

 

 

We really do understand Jared.  Most of us have gone through a lot of the same fears.  There is a thread on here for people that need to work and taper.  There is a guy on begood's blog, his name is Benzo3, He might be a person you could talk too.  He is going slowly, still having rough patches , raising children, working and making it one day at a time.  Super guy, we all love him.  BB is about support, helping ways we can.  I still like your taper plan.  Love Mary ❤️

[[Ja...]]

Thanks you, beautiful people!!!

[[ga...]]

FYI: I posted links to my supplies on my p-log in case anyone doesn't know where to get stuff.

 

http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?topic=137858.msg2787647#msg2787647

[[ga...]]

Hi Jared -

 

I am also tapering off Valium. What cuts are you making? I did 1mg every 10 days per Ashton.

 

Hope you are feeling good

 

I was planning to do a microtaper starting at cutting .02mg per day. At that rate I would take over two years to finish. I’m trying to hold down a job as a professor which is why I chose this method. Could always speed up the rate of the daily cuts if I’m doing ok.

 

So far I’m massively depressed and stuck in a lot of fear based thinking. I’m afraid I’ll lose my career that I worked so hard for. I already lost my love for my work which is sad. If I can’t work it’ll be bad; probably bankruptcy. My wife is a student so we only have my income and I have student debt from getting a doctorate. So terrified of losing my beautiful happy life I worked so hard for.

 

You will do fine if you microtaper and take it slow. There was a member on this thread named Anne. (You'll see her posts closer to the beginning of the thread.) She is a chemistry professor. She worked all through her taper at a very challenging school!

 

If you look at my signature, you'll see I've been at this forever. When I accepted that this was going to take much longer than I thought, it got easier.

 

I was disabled from an autoimmune disorder and PTSD before I ever took a benzo. They are what keep me from working, not my taper. Since my long hold and slow down, I've been able to function pretty well given my otherwise poor health.

 

I would suggest trying to cut out unnecessary stress not related to your work, getting your wife on board so she understands what you're going through and can be supportive, and learning to change the channel every time you start to ruminate. Stick notes up around the house to remind yourself. I have notes that say, "Is it helpful? Is it necessary?" If the thought is not helpful or necessary, I change the channel. Practice until it's a habit. It will get easier with practice. Really!

 

Gardie 

 

P.S. Change the channel just means replacing the unhelpful thought with something pleasant. Whatever is positive and pleasant to you. Doing three entries into a thankfulness journal every day is helpful, too.

[[So...]]

Thanks for posting the link Gardie and for all your advice and help - you are awesome!

[[ga...]]

Thanks for posting the link Gardie and for all your advice and help - you are awesome!

 

Aw, thanks. I'm just building of what awesome people who went before me on this thread taught me. Unfortunately, I am not a titration guru, but I see you found one on the titration board!