Daily Micro-Tapering Support Group

[[He...]]

Hi everyone,

May I join you?

I’m heathcliff....new here on this forum. I’d like you advice/opinion  on this please...

I was on7.5 mg valium for about 6 mos and. started tapering off back in January 2016.

After 3+ years I am now down to 0.245 mg

Is it crazy to try to just reduce by .001 every day. Then in 245 days I could be off this poison!

I may have to hold for a while if I start getting wdsx but is it worth trying? Or is nuts!?

Is it going to fast?

 

What the consensus here?

 

Thanks!

Heathcliff

[[...]]

Mary . I had cataract surgery 2 years ago, and it was absolutely fine. I have mono lenses as that is all the NHS will provide in the UK. but it's ok. I chose distance, but can still manage to read without glasses for the computer. Need them for reading. However I would say my sight is about the best bit of me now. Crystal clear. Oh and I did have to wear sunglasses for a while in the  day light as my eyes were super sensitive, but not needed now. Was first on the list and back home again by taxi and in the house by 10.30am. Well worth doing.  When I  took off the goggle eye covers the next day,  everything was so clear, I kept saying wow!!! like I had been given the vision of a child again, Good luck and enjoy the clarity. I wish getting off Valium was as easy.

 

One eye down, next on 3/5,  here's hoping I see as well as you, thanks for the support, 💜❤️☮️

Mary

Good to hear you got through the first one.  So how was it? Do they put you to sleep during it?

No, you aren't asleep, you can talk barely, feel alittle something, but never had any pain, from procedure to healed , and it's quick, thank goodness  . So don't worry about it if you are planning it How are you Bob, the nicest guy on bb

You are so sweet to me Mary. I’m doing pretty good - about six months since I went to zero Klonopin. So much better than I was a year ago. I’m 56 years old so I’m figuring cataract surgery will be sometime in the future.

Bob

[[...]]

Hi everyone,

May I join you?

I’m heathcliff....new here on this forum. I’d like you advice/opinion  on this please...

I was on7.5 mg valium for about 6 mos and. started tapering off back in January 2016.

After 3+ years I am now down to 0.245 mg

Is it crazy to try to just reduce by .001 every day. Then in 245 days I could be off this poison!

I may have to hold for a while if I start getting wdsx but is it worth trying? Or is nuts!?

Is it going to fast?

 

What the consensus here?

 

Thanks!

Heathcliff

I reduced .001 mg per day for 125 days to reach zero. I’m wondering if on your benzo you could go a little faster.  Valium is diffferent from Klonopin.  I used the method describe in the link in my signature.

[[Ma...]]

Mary . I had cataract surgery 2 years ago, and it was absolutely fine. I have mono lenses as that is all the NHS will provide in the UK. but it's ok. I chose distance, but can still manage to read without glasses for the computer. Need them for reading. However I would say my sight is about the best bit of me now. Crystal clear. Oh and I did have to wear sunglasses for a while in the  day light as my eyes were super sensitive, but not needed now. Was first on the list and back home again by taxi and in the house by 10.30am. Well worth doing.  When I  took off the goggle eye covers the next day,  everything was so clear, I kept saying wow!!! like I had been given the vision of a child again, Good luck and enjoy the clarity. I wish getting off Valium was as easy.

 

One eye down, next on 3/5,  here's hoping I see as well as you, thanks for the support, 💜❤️☮️

Mary

Good to hear you got through the first one.  So how was it? Do they put you to sleep during it?

No, you aren't asleep, you can talk barely, feel alittle something, but never had any pain, from procedure to healed , and it's quick, thank goodness  . So don't worry about it if you are planning it How are you Bob, the nicest guy on bb

You are so sweet to me Mary. I’m doing pretty good - about six months since I went to zero Klonopin. So much better than I was a year ago. I’m 56 years old so I’m figuring cataract surgery will be sometime in the future.

Bob

 

It's always wonderful to hear how people are healing, gives us all hope.  We are all lucky to have you here . Love, Mary 😘😘😘😘😘😘

[[bu...]]

Hi everyone,

May I join you?

I’m heathcliff....new here on this forum. I’d like you advice/opinion  on this please...

I was on7.5 mg valium for about 6 mos and. started tapering off back in January 2016.

After 3+ years I am now down to 0.245 mg

Is it crazy to try to just reduce by .001 every day. Then in 245 days I could be off this poison!

I may have to hold for a while if I start getting wdsx but is it worth trying? Or is nuts!?

Is it going to fast?

 

What the consensus here?

 

Thanks!

Heathcliff

 

From the Ashton Manual:

 

"...1mg or 0.5mg diazepam per day which you are taking at the end of your schedule is having little effect apart from keeping the dependence going. Do not be tempted to spin out the withdrawal to a ridiculously slow rate towards the end (such as 0.25mg each month). Take the plunge when you reach 0.5mg daily."

 

(emphasis added)

[[ka...]]

Hi everyone,

May I join you?

I’m heathcliff....new here on this forum. I’d like you advice/opinion  on this please...

I was on7.5 mg valium for about 6 mos and. started tapering off back in January 2016.

After 3+ years I am now down to 0.245 mg

Is it crazy to try to just reduce by .001 every day. Then in 245 days I could be off this poison!

I may have to hold for a while if I start getting wdsx but is it worth trying? Or is nuts!?

Is it going to fast?

 

What the consensus here?

 

Thanks!

Heathcliff

hey Heathcliff,  that is an excellent plan to begin with. You will know how to tweak it as you journey down the road of recovery and tapering.

[[Ca...]]

Hi everyone,

May I join you?

I’m heathcliff....new here on this forum. I’d like you advice/opinion  on this please...

I was on7.5 mg valium for about 6 mos and. started tapering off back in January 2016.

After 3+ years I am now down to 0.245 mg

Is it crazy to try to just reduce by .001 every day. Then in 245 days I could be off this poison!

I may have to hold for a while if I start getting wdsx but is it worth trying? Or is nuts!?

Is it going to fast?

 

What the consensus here?

 

Thanks!

Heathcliff

 

From the Ashton Manual:

 

"...1mg or 0.5mg diazepam per day which you are taking at the end of your schedule is having little effect apart from keeping the dependence going. Do not be tempted to spin out the withdrawal to a ridiculously slow rate towards the end (such as 0.25mg each month). Take the plunge when you reach 0.5mg daily."

 

(emphasis added)

 

I cringe thinking that Ashton considers .25 mg per month a "ridiculously slow rate" to taper.... I am reducing by that amount now, and I am at 3.99 mg... if I try to speed it up, my symptoms ramp up to the point that I cannot function well.

[[mo...]]

Had to share I started back today on Bob’s dry taper. I mixed it last night and started with my usual dose to see if there would be any affect similar to a cut  and to make sure I mixed it ok. I was so glad to wake today feeling ok so now I know I mixed it well, that part stresses me out. I think I’ll start reducing by .001 per day but if I feel symptoms I’ll only reduce the amount every other day which would be equivalent to .0005mg per day.  At worst I should be done in 5-6 months not ideal but I need to prove myself again at work and I have some travel planned that I need to be well for. So I cannot have intense symptoms.  Feeling hopeful and glad to continue my journey.

[[...]]

Had to share I started back today on Bob’s dry taper. I mixed it last night and started with my usual dose to see if there would be any affect similar to a cut  and to make sure I mixed it ok. I was so glad to wake today feeling ok so now I know I mixed it well, that part stresses me out. I think I’ll start reducing by .001 per day but if I feel symptoms I’ll only reduce the amount every other day which would be equivalent to .0005mg per day.  At worst I should be done in 5-6 months not ideal but I need to prove myself again at work and I have some travel planned that I need to be well for. So I cannot have intense symptoms.  Feeling hopeful and glad to continue my journey.

GOOD FOR YOU MOUNTAINTOP1,

Getting off benzos is so randomly hard.  Some things work one day and then stop working.  You just got to keep trying ways to reduce until you hit zero.

 

[[mo...]]

Had to share I started back today on Bob’s dry taper. I mixed it last night and started with my usual dose to see if there would be any affect similar to a cut  and to make sure I mixed it ok. I was so glad to wake today feeling ok so now I know I mixed it well, that part stresses me out. I think I’ll start reducing by .001 per day but if I feel symptoms I’ll only reduce the amount every other day which would be equivalent to .0005mg per day.  At worst I should be done in 5-6 months not ideal but I need to prove myself again at work and I have some travel planned that I need to be well for. So I cannot have intense symptoms.  Feeling hopeful and glad to continue my journey.

GOOD FOR YOU MOUNTAINTOP1,

Getting off benzos is so randomly hard.  Some things work one day and then stop working.  You just got to keep trying ways to reduce until you hit zero.

 

Thank you so much Bob. Thank you for coming up with this method. I think this is the way to go now that I’m at such a low dose. Continuing to push forward...

[[So...]]

Bob7 - did you find speeding up your taper at the end was helpful?

 

I have been doing a DLMT from Valium and have decided to speed it up as my s/x remain the same no matter what speed I go and I think that slowly feeding my body more V is probably not helping me.

 

By mistake, 15 days ago, I went from 3mg to 2.3mg in a week, but I never suffered any worse for doing that and my s/x were the same doing that as they are reducing .01 a day with the DLMT so kind of at a crossroads because i don't want to spend months and months tapering from 2.2mg to 0...

[[...]]

Bob7 - did you find speeding up your taper at the end was helpful?

 

I have been doing a DLMT from Valium and have decided to speed it up as my s/x remain the same no matter what speed I go and I think that slowly feeding my body more V is probably not helping me.

 

By mistake, 15 days ago, I went from 3mg to 2.3mg in a week, but I never suffered any worse for doing that and my s/x were the same doing that as they are reducing .01 a day with the DLMT so kind of at a crossroads because i don't want to spend months and months tapering from 2.2mg to 0...

Well I stayed at .001 mg per day reduction for the last four months of my taper so I can’t really comment  about speeding up near the end. I do know that sometimes reductions made one two or even three weeks ago can catch up with you all at once.  I hope it doesn’t happen to you

[[So...]]

Thanks Bob - I agree - I have to wait and see and hope they don't catch up.

A buddie on here is reducing .25mg of Valium every 2 weeks and just jumped and is fine. It's all individual.

 

 

[[Ho...]]

I am tapering 1/4th a month.  Guess that's really slow.  But I jumped from 18 mils today to 19mils.  So we will see how that works out.  If good, I'll continue hopefully.

[[ga...]]

Bob7 - did you find speeding up your taper at the end was helpful?

 

I have been doing a DLMT from Valium and have decided to speed it up as my s/x remain the same no matter what speed I go and I think that slowly feeding my body more V is probably not helping me.

 

By mistake, 15 days ago, I went from 3mg to 2.3mg in a week, but I never suffered any worse for doing that and my s/x were the same doing that as they are reducing .01 a day with the DLMT so kind of at a crossroads because i don't want to spend months and months tapering from 2.2mg to 0...

Well I stayed at .001 mg per day reduction for the last four months of my taper so I can’t really comment  about speeding up near the end. I do know that sometimes reductions made one two or even three weeks ago can catch up with you all at once.  I hope it doesn’t happen to you

 

So, Bob, you kept your cut amount the same rather than go by percentages? On my last capsule. The percentage-based cuts are getting ridiculously small, and my doctor is losing his patience.

[[ka...]]

Oh my Gard - I can appreciate what you are saying. my doctor told me today that I need to just stop. HUMMMM, I really want to, but each .01ml I take away is really tough and takes 2 weeks to bounce back. Hard to know what to do. I feel for ya hun! 

[[ga...]]

Oh my Gard - I can appreciate what you are saying. my doctor told me today that I need to just stop. HUMMMM, I really want to, but each .01ml I take away is really tough and takes 2 weeks to bounce back. Hard to know what to do. I feel for ya hun! 

 

Oh dear. He's not cutting you off, is he?

[[ka...]]

Well, I do not know, I do have a bit left of my liquid roxie. So I imagine that I will cross that bridge as I get lower & find i need more. Perhaps if he sees how low i am, then he might give me more to stretch this out to close to hitting the zero. I did not address needing more meds today, i had a few other things that have popped up and need addressing. i probably would have fallen into a heap of tears if i asked and he said NO....................oh well..................... 

[[...]]

Bob7 - did you find speeding up your taper at the end was helpful?

 

I have been doing a DLMT from Valium and have decided to speed it up as my s/x remain the same no matter what speed I go and I think that slowly feeding my body more V is probably not helping me.

 

By mistake, 15 days ago, I went from 3mg to 2.3mg in a week, but I never suffered any worse for doing that and my s/x were the same doing that as they are reducing .01 a day with the DLMT so kind of at a crossroads because i don't want to spend months and months tapering from 2.2mg to 0...

Well I stayed at .001 mg per day reduction for the last four months of my taper so I can’t really comment  about speeding up near the end. I do know that sometimes reductions made one two or even three weeks ago can catch up with you all at once.  I hope it doesn’t happen to you

 

So, Bob, you kept your cut amount the same rather than go by percentages? On my last capsule. The percentage-based cuts are getting ridiculously small, and my doctor is losing his patience.

Yes I did keep my cuts the same instead of playing in the percentage world. Honestly when you get really low in dose, percentages don’t make much sense. For example, on your last day everybody cuts 100%. I hope your doctor is patient with you.

[[bo...]]

anyone switched to pill form  from liquid,  and what were the reasons

 

thank you...

[[ga...]]

Well, I do not know, I do have a bit left of my liquid roxie. So I imagine that I will cross that bridge as I get lower & find i need more. Perhaps if he sees how low i am, then he might give me more to stretch this out to close to hitting the zero. I did not address needing more meds today, i had a few other things that have popped up and need addressing. i probably would have fallen into a heap of tears if i asked and he said NO....................oh well..................... 

 

Well, at least you're very low and he's not pushing it.

[[ga...]]

Bob7 - did you find speeding up your taper at the end was helpful?

 

I have been doing a DLMT from Valium and have decided to speed it up as my s/x remain the same no matter what speed I go and I think that slowly feeding my body more V is probably not helping me.

 

By mistake, 15 days ago, I went from 3mg to 2.3mg in a week, but I never suffered any worse for doing that and my s/x were the same doing that as they are reducing .01 a day with the DLMT so kind of at a crossroads because i don't want to spend months and months tapering from 2.2mg to 0...

Well I stayed at .001 mg per day reduction for the last four months of my taper so I can’t really comment  about speeding up near the end. I do know that sometimes reductions made one two or even three weeks ago can catch up with you all at once.  I hope it doesn’t happen to you

 

So, Bob, you kept your cut amount the same rather than go by percentages? On my last capsule. The percentage-based cuts are getting ridiculously small, and my doctor is losing his patience.

Yes I did keep my cuts the same instead of playing in the percentage world. Honestly when you get really low in dose, percentages don’t make much sense. For example, on your last day everybody cuts 100%. I hope your doctor is patient with you.

 

I'm down to 4mg L (about 2mg V, I think) and am going to try keeping the same cut this month as the percentage goes up. I need off this drug. I think my doctor will give me to the end of the year. I should be able to do it if I keep up this pace. I'm perplexed by his change of attitude. When I started these he said benzos were a perfectly safe long-term sleep solution.

[[ga...]]

By the way, Bob, this is a super helpful website you've created!

 

https://benzodrytapermath.com

[Guest [Ai...]]

I'm perplexed by his change of attitude. When I started these he said benzos were a perfectly safe long-term sleep solution.

Apparently, this change of attitude is spreading discreetly in the medical community. It seems many doctors are just now recognizing that benzos are harder to come off of than alcohol, opioids, and even heroin. And the doctors may well be concerned that they are responsible for our predicament.

 

A few years ago, my doctor told me that "some people like you just need benzos all their life - it's like insulin to a diabetic". But now, he has shocked me by knowing all about and fully supporting me with the Ashton method, until I had to discontinue with that due to increasingly bad reactions to diazepam - he has never suggested I quit xanax before. Now he actually e-mails me regularly to check on how I'm coming along with my taper and if there's ANYTHING he can do to help the process! "I KNOW how hard it is and I want to help in any way I can," he wrote me recently.

 

An awareness seems to be growing in the medical world - I think it's becoming all too clear that for many people benzo dependence is as serious as, if not more serious than, the opioid crisis - though this truth has been suppressed for a very long time.

[[ci...]]

Gardie , Ailuron -

 

Just curious where you live? In the US?  Hope my doc gets “real” soon!