3,2,1: Under 3 mg Valium people

[[Jo...]]

Thanks Joy,

 

Wow, I could never go that quickly.

Last night I made a cut of just 0,1 mgs. Today is an awful day: a morning of severe muscle pain,  followed by an afternoon of deep exhaustion and head pressure. I always react to a cut this quickly. Hard to believe,  I know, but had this with every cut.

I'm anxious all the time, except for the evenings,  when I feel more at ease and my muscle tension gets less.

Been trying to get on Seroxat for three weeks just now, but I just cannot do that. This was my fifth try in just over a year, still the outcome is the same. It only made things much worse.

Dreaming of the day I 'll be off all this poison.

 

You are on a great path. You understand the way your body reacts and are doing your taper the best way for you. You are going to make it through and one day in the future this will be a dim memory.

[[Tr...]]

Thanks, I really needed to hear that! 

[[Ta...]]

All right friends - I could really use some words of wisdom (and maybe a little pep talk)! I finally connected the dots today that I was going too fast tapering. I just so wanted to be done! For the past week I had been having all these symptoms that I never would have thought about - headache, TMJ, bad muscle pain. Finally today the anxiety, irritability and insomnia really kicked in.... and I put it all together. 

 

I'm at .5 mg right now. My last cut was 1 week ago, and I'm gonna hold for a week or two until my body adjusts. Should I expect increasing symptoms the next few days from your experience? I've had a pretty easy taper so far so just want to mentally prepare.

 

thank you!!

[[Ma...]]

Tak, if your symptoms are really bad right now, it is imo, going to take a hold longer than a couple of weeks.  Non one can say definitely your symptoms will get worse, but I think they will.  You have gone faster than your brain and body can keep up with and that's why you are so symptomatic.  Valium has a long half life and it can be tricky.  You cut and feel okay and then the half life sneaks up on you.  Hold for as long as you need to feel tolerable and when you start cutting again, spread your cuts out longer.  You are in that spot a lot of people run into trouble.  Hold tight.  I hope the symptoms ease quickly.  Let us know how you are.  Mary 💜

 

[[Ta...]]

Thanks Mary! Sorry if that wasn't clear -- I meant I've already been at .5 for a week and I'll hold for a couple more until symptoms have receded. Fingers crossed that's enough.

 

Didn't sleep much last night but at least no nightmares like previous night! Gonna decrease caffeine today and I imagine that will help. I'm just happy to know what the heck is going on because my body was falling apart the past week and couldn't for the life of me figure out why.

 

Tak, if your symptoms are really bad right now, it is imo, going to take a hold longer than a couple of weeks.  Non one can say definitely your symptoms will get worse, but I think they will.  You have gone faster than your brain and body can keep up with and that's why you are so symptomatic.  Valium has a long half life and it can be tricky.  You cut and feel okay and then the half life sneaks up on you.  Hold for as long as you need to feel tolerable and when you start cutting again, spread your cuts out longer.  You are in that spot a lot of people run into trouble.  Hold tight.  I hope the symptoms ease quickly.  Let us know how you are.  Mary 💜

[[Ji...]]

Thanks Mary! Sorry if that wasn't clear -- I meant I've already been at .5 for a week and I'll hold for a couple more until symptoms have receded. Fingers crossed that's enough.

 

Didn't sleep much last night but at least no nightmares like previous night! Gonna decrease caffeine today and I imagine that will help. I'm just happy to know what the heck is going on because my body was falling apart the past week and couldn't for the life of me figure out why.

 

Tak, if your symptoms are really bad right now, it is imo, going to take a hold longer than a couple of weeks.  Non one can say definitely your symptoms will get worse, but I think they will.  You have gone faster than your brain and body can keep up with and that's why you are so symptomatic.  Valium has a long half life and it can be tricky.  You cut and feel okay and then the half life sneaks up on you.  Hold for as long as you need to feel tolerable and when you start cutting again, spread your cuts out longer.  You are in that spot a lot of people run into trouble.  Hold tight.  I hope the symptoms ease quickly.  Let us know how you are.  Mary 💜

 

I suggest strongly to quit coffee.

 

Interesting that a cut of 0.05 mg gives you withdrawals. Do you think these are physical or mental?

[[Ji...]]

What a difference a few days makes. Holding my own, cutting pills into 6 pieces now. And,considering we are in the middle of a global medical meltdown, I would say we are a pretty tenacious band of brothers.

 

There already was a certain level of anxiety that accompanies a taper, but this monkey wrench of COVID has probably set us all a bit back on our heels. Remember there is still good news around us. We will heal. We are trying our best. And, of course, "This, too Shall Pass." Hang in there. Make a good moment, when you have one, last and make a mental memory of how it feels in that good moment. You can return to that memory when you feel hopeless, or at the mercy of symptoms. We are a tough bunch, and together, we will make it to the end of the tunnel. Sunshine awaits. 

 

Good advice, thanks.

 

This Covid lockdown has helped me taper faster than I would have done. I don't have to go out and socialize, but still have to work online. If I didn't have to work, I'd be off by now.

[[Ta...]]

Ya I can't do coffee. I have a cup of matcha green tea each day that i've cut in half the past 2 days and has helped.

 

As for .05 and the impact, I have no idea. It had never occurred to me that I would have withdrawals right now because I've had such an easy taper process. So it took a solid week before I realized. But I finally recognized the anxiety/insomnia from when I tried to stop using a different taper plan last fall.

 

 

Thanks Mary! Sorry if that wasn't clear -- I meant I've already been at .5 for a week and I'll hold for a couple more until symptoms have receded. Fingers crossed that's enough.

 

Didn't sleep much last night but at least no nightmares like previous night! Gonna decrease caffeine today and I imagine that will help. I'm just happy to know what the heck is going on because my body was falling apart the past week and couldn't for the life of me figure out why.

 

Tak, if your symptoms are really bad right now, it is imo, going to take a hold longer than a couple of weeks.  Non one can say definitely your symptoms will get worse, but I think they will.  You have gone faster than your brain and body can keep up with and that's why you are so symptomatic.  Valium has a long half life and it can be tricky.  You cut and feel okay and then the half life sneaks up on you.  Hold for as long as you need to feel tolerable and when you start cutting again, spread your cuts out longer.  You are in that spot a lot of people run into trouble.  Hold tight.  I hope the symptoms ease quickly.  Let us know how you are.  Mary 💜

 

I suggest strongly to quit coffee.

 

Interesting that a cut of 0.05 mg gives you withdrawals. Do you think these are physical or mental?

[[Im...]]

Im 7 weeks 5 days off and doing much better.....

 

I've posted to the Post w/d boards in detail if anyone wants to hear a wild story.

 

Best to you all!

[[Ca...]]

Hey ya’ll.  I haven’t posted in a long time, because I was feeling really well. Like many of you, the pandemic has been a time of improvement for me- because I didn’t have to wake up early and get the kids off to school, be obligated to go anywhere, lots of resting, and also MORE connectivity online with groups and people I wouldn’t otherwise see. I sped my tape up a bit, and after 5 weeks, it hit me. Like a brick wall. It’s amazing how it creeps up on ya. I’ve been holding for about two weeks, my benzo-wise doctor advised holding another 2 weeks and gently reintroducing my microtaper at a speed even slower than where I was before I sped it up.

 

I started therapy (online!), with a really awesome trauma therapist and she is teaching me coping tools to get through this, and we are also going to begin some trauma work with what is happening right now (no work on past trauma for now because of how fragile my nervous system is).  She’s also becoming benzo-wise, and I’m her first client in a lengthy, sensitive withdrawal.

 

I just wanted to pop in and say these lower doses are SO hard to get through. It’s leaving me feeling sad and like this is never going to end. It’s been over 5 years of trying to get off this medication. I anticipate another 2 more years until I’m healed. I know there’s no such thing as an agenda- especially at these lower doses. But if I can’t go any faster than a 10% reduction per month... it’s going to be a long time. . I’m so sad and feel like life is just not what I ever imagined it would be in my worst nightmares. It’s easy to feel this way on a bad day, after effortlessly flying through so much of my taper with almost no symptoms last month.

 

I know I’ve come so far, but the struggle is enormous and unrelenting at this point. That light that I saw at the end of my tunnel- has disappeared.  :'(

[[ki...]]

Hey ya’ll.  I haven’t posted in a long time, because I was feeling really well. Like many of you, the pandemic has been a time of improvement for me- because I didn’t have to wake up early and get the kids off to school, be obligated to go anywhere, lots of resting, and also MORE connectivity online with groups and people I wouldn’t otherwise see. I sped my tape up a bit, and after 5 weeks, it hit me. Like a brick wall. It’s amazing how it creeps up on ya. I’ve been holding for about two weeks, my benzo-wise doctor advised holding another 2 weeks and gently reintroducing my microtaper at a speed even slower than where I was before I sped it up.

 

I started therapy (online!), with a really awesome trauma therapist and she is teaching me coping tools to get through this, and we are also going to begin some trauma work with what is happening right now (no work on past trauma for now because of how fragile my nervous system is).  She’s also becoming benzo-wise, and I’m her first client in a lengthy, sensitive withdrawal.

 

I just wanted to pop in and say these lower doses are SO hard to get through. It’s leaving me feeling sad and like this is never going to end. It’s been over 5 years of trying to get off this medication. I anticipate another 2 more years until I’m healed. I know there’s no such thing as an agenda- especially at these lower doses. But if I can’t go any faster than a 10% reduction per month... it’s going to be a long time. . I’m so sad and feel like life is just not what I ever imagined it would be in my worst nightmares. It’s easy to feel this way on a bad day, after effortlessly flying through so much of my taper with almost no symptoms last month.

 

I know I’ve come so far, but the struggle is enormous and unrelenting at this point. That light that I saw at the end of my tunnel- has disappeared.  :'(

 

I’m so sorry to hear you’ve hit a snag in your taper, but I think you are doing all the right things to get to a better place. Valium can be so sneaky with its long half-life it can take a long time for symptoms to  show up. I have had this happen several times and I empathize. I hope you start feeling better soon. In the meantime be gentle with yourself, that light at the end of the tunnel is still there even if it’s been temporarily clouded. ❤️

[[To...]]

Down to 0.5 milligrams now and didn't think I'd make it to this point. The difficult part now will be to resist the temptation to jump rather than taper down lower. It would be nice to just be done with the taper but my instinct and my body say to jump from a lower dose.

 

I am definitely doing better now that I was in the darkest parts of my taper. That being said, I am still in rough shape and cannot return to work yet.  I can't wait to get to that point. At times during this fight I've been bed bound and could not even read or listen to audiobooks, and could barely walk at times. Everything was so overstimulating. In the last month or so I've been able to have just a taste of life again and it has felt amazing. Just simple things like listening to a book, watching a little bit of very mild television with the sound down low, and being able to go in a store without feeling uncomfortable out of my mind. I did some light hiking and some fishing this week. It feels like little bits of my soul are coming back very slowly.

 

I have to remember waves happen however. Sometimes I have felt fairly good, and then a few days later will get hit with a nasty wave and think "I can't do this anymore". It's amazing how up and down this process is. Today I feel more like "me" than I have in a long time, hopefully I haven't jinxed that.

 

I still struggle a great deal with social anxiety, sensory sensitivity, depression and some other symptoms. I am just very glad that some symptoms are lightening up. I suppose the next step is tapering the rest the way off and seeing what type of acute experience awaits.

 

Tom

[[He...]]

I’m tapering clonazepam.  I’m down to .055 mgs.  That’s a fairly low dose, equivalent to approximately 1 mg Valium.  It’s taken 9 months from .5 to this.  I hit a wall at .25 then .125 and .0625.  Long holds.  I had a good taper, though.  Now I’m going painfully slow.  I reduce about 2% each 5 days.  It has stopped sxs, and I’m still making progress.  I wish I could stop now.  I’m so mentally ready.  But ugh to sxs if I stop suddenly.  I hope I can stop at .025.  Equivalent about .5 mg Valium.  Clonazepam has a shorter half life than Valium, 12 to 50 hours.  Yes, the bottom doses are more challenging, but I’m getting there. 

[[ki...]]

I’m tapering clonazepam.  I’m down to .055 mgs.  That’s a fairly low dose, equivalent to approximately 1 mg Valium.  It’s taken 9 months from .5 to this.  I hit a wall at .25 then .125 and .0625.  Long holds.  I had a good taper, though.  Now I’m going painfully slow.  I reduce about 2% each 5 days.  It has stopped sxs, and I’m still making progress.  I wish I could stop now.  I’m so mentally ready.  But ugh to sxs if I stop suddenly.  I hope I can stop at .025.  Equivalent about .5 mg Valium.  Clonazepam has a shorter half life than Valium, 12 to 50 hours.  Yes, the bottom doses are more challenging, but I’m getting there.

 

You are doing great! Part of the tricky thing as lower doses is that you start really wanting to be done and jumping sounds appealing. I encourage you to take it much lower, possibly to zero. I jumped at .48 mg last year and as you can tell by my signature that didn’t turn out how I’d hoped.

[[Ca...]]

I'm starting to realize that for me, and many of us- SLOW is the name of the game with these lower doses.  I went too fast in April and paid the price in May.  I learned that I'd rather feel like crap for longer than I'd like, than feel like I'm literally dying for even a single day.  This truly is a marathon, not a race.  The brain will heal in its own time, whether we rush a taper or not.  We decide the degree to which we wish to suffer, not the duration.   

[[va...]]

Hi everybody, hope you are all well,

 

I am so glad I found this thread, as you can see from my sig, I thought I had cracked it but to no avail, I would like to micro taper but cannot split my pils into smaller than .25, I got down to 1mg I thought I was symptom free & was feeling great inside, then I jumped!

For a few days felt kinda of ok and then whoosh a tsunami of panic & fear came over me, I thought I was going to have a breakdown there & then at work it was unbearable, I was lucky I had some diazepam on me, I took some & felt better instantly, this is just a roller coaster of a ride emotionally & me like you guys want to get off, hopefully not too much of a ramble, take care everyone ✌️👍

[[di...]]

Hi everybody, hope you are all well,

 

I am so glad I found this thread, as you can see from my sig, I thought I had cracked it but to no avail, I would like to micro taper but cannot split my pils into smaller than .25, I got down to 1mg I thought I was symptom free & was feeling great inside, then I jumped!

For a few days felt kinda of ok and then whoosh a tsunami of panic & fear came over me, I thought I was going to have a breakdown there & then at work it was unbearable, I was lucky I had some diazepam on me, I took some & felt better instantly, this is just a roller coaster of a ride emotionally & me like you guys want to get off, hopefully not too much of a ramble, take care everyone ✌️👍

Hi there. Coincidentally, I'm on 1mg diazepam right now. Actually, just moved to 0.75mg after taking 1mg for the last 6 weeks getting as stable as possible.

 

From your signature, it appears that you updosed to 4mg? How long have you been doing that? FWIW, it's totally expected that you would struggle jumping off at 1mg. People tend to jump from 0.5mg or less... it's a bigger difference than you might think. It's not surprising if you needed to take 4mg to feel better either, because you're making up for the days when you missed. May I suggest to you that you don't need to updose like that going forward. If you took the 4mg just once or twice, consider going back to 1mg which you said you were stable on. When you feel ready, try cutting to 0.75mg which is what I am doing now, or start a microtaper. There's no need to undo your tapering progress just because you miscalculated on your jump. I know how horrific it is to cold turkey and fail. You described it very poetically as a tsunami of panic and fear but don't let it cloud your judgement. You were stable on 1mg and you can be again in not a lot of time. Just give yourself a couple of weeks up to a month before trying a smaller reduction.

[[ki...]]

I’m at currently at 1.94 mg as of today, I dose twice a day (.97 mg x2), I’m wondering if anyone has started just cutting the morning dose at this point and left the night dose for tapering later? I’d like to not have to deal with dosing twice a day, but if it’s more likely that I’ll see an increase of symptoms by only reducing the morning dose then I’ll just stick with what I’m doing.

[[Ca...]]

I’m at currently at 1.94 mg as of today, I dose twice a day (.97 mg x2), I’m wondering if anyone has started just cutting the morning dose at this point and left the night dose for tapering later? I’d like to not have to deal with dosing twice a day, but if it’s more likely that I’ll see an increase of symptoms by only reducing the morning dose then I’ll just stick with what I’m doing.

 

I’m super sensitive, so I’ve chosen to reduce my doses evenly. I completely understand your desire to get rid of one dose!  I just know my body wouldn’t do well with it.

[[no...]]

Hi all  I am  now going to try Daily micro tapering dry pill cut off my Diazepam, rather then cut and hold as its brutal and I spend a LOT of time having to hold between each cut while collecting more and worsening symptoms regardless of whether I cut 0.5 or 0.25, it feels like I cut 75% or more of my dose  ( Which is now at 12mg from 15mg ) I tried the vodka/milk/ pharmacy Diazepam  liquid but it was hell.

 

In 19 months I was only able to cut .25 of my dose (1/8) on the Vodka water mix alone   But in 15 months doing cut and hold I cut 3mg but I'm getting to many severe symptoms now and  really struggling to survive minute to minute and the milk and the Pharma liquid was so bad after one dose of each I went right back to cut and hold the next day that's how bad it was. 

 

My question is how many of you went from cut and hold to  Daily micro tapering dry pill cut, and did you find it better in the long run? Also another question I'd like to ask is was there an adjustment period where it was a bit rough until your body got used to the change or was sit a case of once you got into the swing of the daily cut you eventually felt improvements and it was easier to cope with symptoms? How much was your cut and hold cuts? ( Mine were 0.5 and 0.25 I did try 1mg twice but it was way too much for me)  and how much are your Daily micro taper dry pill cuts ?

 

 

I'm starting off at 0.002 per day , if I'm OK at that rate after a while I will then adjust my dose slightly higher and see how that works out, if it doesn't work out then I will drop it back down but am going to be sticking at this cut rate for at least 2 to 3 months before trying bigger cuts, an d also incorporating holds here and there or as needed. If not needed then I will cut continuously as long as I have bearable or minimal symptoms by which I mean functional so I can look after myself as I live alone with no help . Thanks in advance for any sharing or advise that may be posted

 

 

                                      Nova xxx  :smitten:

[[di...]]

Sounds like a good plan, nova. My backup plan is to switch to a micro taper but fortunately, I've been able to manage 0.25mg cuts. Even cutting from 1mg to 0.75mg has been alright.

 

I hope that by making such small reductions, there will be some healing that happens as you go. If you're sticking to this for 2-3 months, it sounds like you are giving this a chance to happen. If you do feel like you're coping better and that your body is catching up, then you might decide at that point to increase the pace a little and see if you can deal with that.

 

In the low doses, it seems to be that people need to change their strategies and try different things to make progress. In my case, I held at 1mg for 6 weeks even though I could have carried on after 3 or 4 weeks because I felt alright. I held on because I knew with my next cut I wanted to reduce 25% to 0.75mg, and I knew I needed to be as stable as possible. I reduced 5 days ago and now I have exactly the same mindset where I'm feeling a little impatient to make progress. I'm gonna leave it a couple of weeks before trying to get to 0.5mg. I believe that I will be able to manage that, then I am going to move again to 0.25mg and hold there for a couple of weeks when all I'll want to do is jump off. Even as I have my plan, I also have it at about 50/50 that I'm gonna switch to a micro taper.

 

Every decision I make his most heavily influenced by me wanting to not fall at the last hurdle. When I jump, it's gonna be for the last time. I don't want to go through agony and I'm doing what I can to stop that happening, although I don't assume it won't happen anyway.

 

You will get there, slowly but surely.

[[no...]]

Sounds like a good plan, nova. My backup plan is to switch to a micro taper but fortunately, I've been able to manage 0.25mg cuts. Even cutting from 1mg to 0.75mg has been alright.

 

I hope that by making such small reductions, there will be some healing that happens as you go. If you're sticking to this for 2-3 months, it sounds like you are giving this a chance to happen. If you do feel like you're coping better and that your body is catching up, then you might decide at that point to increase the pace a little and see if you can deal with that.

 

In the low doses, it seems to be that people need to change their strategies and try different things to make progress. In my case, I held at 1mg for 6 weeks even though I could have carried on after 3 or 4 weeks because I felt alright. I held on because I knew with my next cut I wanted to reduce 25% to 0.75mg, and I knew I needed to be as stable as possible. I reduced 5 days ago and now I have exactly the same mindset where I'm feeling a little impatient to make progress. I'm gonna leave it a couple of weeks before trying to get to 0.5mg. I believe that I will be able to manage that, then I am going to move again to 0.25mg and hold there for a couple of weeks when all I'll want to do is jump off. Even as I have my plan, I also have it at about 50/50 that I'm gonna switch to a micro taper.

 

Every decision I make his most heavily influenced by me wanting to not fall at the last hurdle. When I jump, it's gonna be for the last time. I don't want to go through agony and I'm doing what I can to stop that happening, although I don't assume it won't happen anyway.

 

You will get there, slowly but surely.

Thanks very much D-Bam I'm very grateful to you for your help and advice ....... 

 

 

                                      Nova xxx  :smitten:

[[Lo...]]

Hi everyone, I'm at 4 MG for the last 14 days. My next cut Is possibly tonight If I choose.  My next cut will be down to 3 MG.

[[Ma...]]

Hi everyone, I'm at 4 MG for the last 14 days. My next cut Is possibly tonight If I choose.  My next cut will be down to 3 MG.

 

Lonely that is a very big cut, it's 25%.  Are you sure you want to do that large?  You are getting very low and now would really be a big disappointment to set yourself back.  Please give it a good thought before cutting that much.  Mary  :smitten:

 

[[Lo...]]

Hi everyone, I'm at 4 MG for the last 14 days. My next cut Is possibly tonight If I choose.  My next cut will be down to 3 MG.

 

Lonely that is a very big cut, it's 25%.  Are you sure you want to do that large?  You are getting very low and now would really be a big disappointment to set yourself back.  Please give it a good thought before cutting that much.  Mary  :smitten:

  Hi,  Good point.. I'll cut 0.5 like I did last time Instead.  Be down to 3.5,  I might wait another week. I'll decide tonight. Hope all Is well Mary.