3,2,1: Under 3 mg Valium people

[[Be...]]

Lottie - I was curious to know how things were going?  I do think maybe my face is burning a little more after I eat, and I just didn’t pay attention to it before.  I wonder why that is?

 

Hope everyone had a Happy Easter.

 

Marie

 

My theory? Vagus nerve is stimulated by eating, nerves are already misfiring everywhere, eating sets off a chain of more nerve misfiring. I started a separate thread about NAD+ iontophoresis, I've had one going on about the NAD+ nasal spray (which has worked very well for me). In the new thread I'm updating on the process.

[[ho...]]

Lottie - I was curious to know how things were going?  I do think maybe my face is burning a little more after I eat, and I just didn’t pay attention to it before.  I wonder why that is?

 

Hope everyone had a Happy Easter.

 

Marie

 

My theory? Vagus nerve is stimulated by eating, nerves are already misfiring everywhere, eating sets off a chain of more nerve misfiring. I started a separate thread about NAD+ iontophoresis, I've had one going on about the NAD+ nasal spray (which has worked very well for me). In the new thread I'm updating on the process.

 

Awww.. good theory!  I will check out your thread.  Thank you.

 

Marie

[[Su...]]

Hi-

 

Welcome SufferingSixty - YAY! Congratulations.  It is such a milestone to make it to 3 mg. 

 

Guitar - Thank you for the nice words of encouragement.  Yes a loonngggggggggg time I have been doing this. LOL  I thought I was going to be done in like 9 months    I realized at when I hit 10mg and did my first 1 month hold ( I had just really hit a wall) that this was going to be a much longer process.  At 7mg, I felt very defeated and was holding again.  At 5 mg, I was thinking about quitting for a while and revisiting it maybe in a year ( just briefly thinking this)…..it has definitely consumed my life for far too long, however I will eventually get off.  I can only go so fast or otherwise I just end up so so sick, with terrible sx and benzo flu and bedridden :'(.  I do believe we heal as we go down, but in order to heal, we have to give our CNS time to recover and not stress it out too much.  A tricky balance. 

 

Lottie- My face just burn’s like I have a sunburn and it can get really severe….I haven’t really paid attention to when I eat or not.  I will, and let you know.  If I am having more severe sx, I can get tooth pain and ear pain as well.  So I try really hard to watch for my sx and start holding obviously so I don’t get into trouble.  Good for you on powering up on the supplements and your upcoming treatment.  I definitely think my supplements are helping me.

 

I hope everyone else is plugging along and those who are lurking and close to 3mg…..you are almost there….keep up the good work 

 

Marie

 

Thanks HMT!

Yes this feels like such a huge milestone.

And we keep going, keep going, keep going....

SS

[[ho...]]

Hi BB’s.  I hope everyone is having a good week and minimal sx.

 

I did a bad bad thing….I looked ahead at my calendar, to figure out when I would get down to 1mg going at about 8% ( I have done just over 8% the last 2 months).  I thought I would get down to 1mg at around July…NOPE…It is more like October.  That is assuming I don’t run into any problems, and that I can even keep an 8% taper rate…ugh. 

 

So it looks like I will be tapering for another year before I am off……That will be almost a 4 year taper.  WOW.  I honestly thought when I started that I was going to be done in about 6-7 months, 8 at the most.  :laugh:  

 

Oh well, I have to remain functioning and I don’t want to jump early just to run into major problems and have to reinstate and start over.  I have read a couple of horror stories of people doing this, and it scares me.  The thought of being so close, and healing to just cause a bunch of problems and then have to reinstate, “hold” and try and stabilize and then start over…..yikes.  I only bring this up, because sometimes I think about jumping at .50, I even talked about jumping at 1 with my doctor for a little while.  I changed my mind.    I don’t think I wan’t to chance jumping at .50, even though many have successfully done this.  Although, it does seem like they have quite a bit of healing to do afterwards, so I don’t know if it is worth it or not….I can see just wanting to be done, and dealing with the healing afterwards, and getting on with life too.  It’s hard to say, and we are all different.

 

Okay….I am done rambling 

 

Marie

[[no...]]

Hi BB’s.  I hope everyone is having a good week and minimal sx.

 

I did a bad bad thing….I looked ahead at my calendar, to figure out when I would get down to 1mg going at about 8% ( I have done just over 8% the last 2 months).  I thought I would get down to 1mg at around July…NOPE…It is more like October.  That is assuming I don’t run into any problems, and that I can even keep an 8% taper rate…ugh. 

 

So it looks like I will be tapering for another year before I am off……That will be almost a 4 year taper.  WOW.  I honestly thought when I started that I was going to be done in about 6-7 months, 8 at the most.  :laugh:  

 

Oh well, I have to remain functioning and I don’t want to jump early just to run into major problems and have to reinstate and start over.  I have read a couple of horror stories of people doing this, and it scares me.  The thought of being so close, and healing to just cause a bunch of problems and then have to reinstate, “hold” and try and stabilize and then start over…..yikes.  I only bring this up, because sometimes I think about jumping at .50, I even talked about jumping at 1 with my doctor for a little while.  I changed my mind.    I don’t think I wan’t to chance jumping at .50, even though many have successfully done this.  Although, it does seem like they have quite a bit of healing to do afterwards, so I don’t know if it is worth it or not….I can see just wanting to be done, and dealing with the healing afterwards, and getting on with life too.  It’s hard to say, and we are all different.

 

Okay….I am done rambling 

 

Marie

H iMarie  are you using pharma liquid or home brew?

 

Nova  :smitten:

[[ho...]]

Hi BB’s.  I hope everyone is having a good week and minimal sx.

 

I did a bad bad thing….I looked ahead at my calendar, to figure out when I would get down to 1mg going at about 8% ( I have done just over 8% the last 2 months).  I thought I would get down to 1mg at around July…NOPE…It is more like October.  That is assuming I don’t run into any problems, and that I can even keep an 8% taper rate…ugh. 

 

So it looks like I will be tapering for another year before I am off……That will be almost a 4 year taper.  WOW.  I honestly thought when I started that I was going to be done in about 6-7 months, 8 at the most.  :laugh:  

 

Oh well, I have to remain functioning and I don’t want to jump early just to run into major problems and have to reinstate and start over.  I have read a couple of horror stories of people doing this, and it scares me.  The thought of being so close, and healing to just cause a bunch of problems and then have to reinstate, “hold” and try and stabilize and then start over…..yikes.  I only bring this up, because sometimes I think about jumping at .50, I even talked about jumping at 1 with my doctor for a little while.  I changed my mind.    I don’t think I wan’t to chance jumping at .50, even though many have successfully done this.  Although, it does seem like they have quite a bit of healing to do afterwards, so I don’t know if it is worth it or not….I can see just wanting to be done, and dealing with the healing afterwards, and getting on with life too.  It’s hard to say, and we are all different.

 

Okay….I am done rambling 

 

Marie

H iMarie  are you using pharma liquid or home brew?

 

Nova  :smitten:

 

Hi Nova-

 

I use a compound pharmacy brew.  It is a tincture that I hold for two minutes under my tongue then swallow.  I tried a couple of other formulas before this one.  It works well for me. 

 

Marie 

[[Be...]]

I haven't seen StrongLikeThis recently, hope all is okay. Strong was tempted to get a credit card to afford NAD+ infusions at a drip center. Strong, if you read this, I'm doing the iontophoresis patches, and they are comparable to the IV drips. It's costing me around $1000 for supplements and the NAD+ and ion patch systems.

 

Annnnd... I jumped. Time will tell if this will work, but it sure appears to be. I'm looking forward to switching my debt clock to 0. Many who had IV drips, waited to post about it, because they were uncertain whether it worked or not. It's going to be at least 5 to 6 weeks before I know if I made the right decision. I'm just the lab rat in my own experiment. I feel pretty confident. I'd rather be a lab rat with a successful outcome, from a research project, than running a compounding pharmacy setting up pills I've filed and weighed, in my kitchen.

 

I also notice WinnieDog has been absent too. Hope you ladies are both doing okay.

[[ho...]]

I haven't seen StrongLikeThis recently, hope all is okay. Strong was tempted to get a credit card to afford NAD+ infusions at a drip center. Strong, if you read this, I'm doing the iontophoresis patches, and they are comparable to the IV drips. It's costing me around $1000 for supplements and the NAD+ and ion patch systems.

 

Annnnd... I jumped. Time will tell if this will work, but it sure appears to be. I'm looking forward to switching my debt clock to 0. Many who had IV drips, waited to post about it, because they were uncertain whether it worked or not. It's going to be at least 5 to 6 weeks before I know if I made the right decision. I'm just the lab rat in my own experiment. I feel pretty confident. I'd rather be a lab rat with a successful outcome, from a research project, than running a compounding pharmacy setting up pills I've filed and weighed, in my kitchen.

 

I also notice WinnieDog has been absent too. Hope you ladies are both doing okay.

 

OMG…Congratulations.  This is so exciting. I will be very curious as to how this worked out for you as well.  What dose were you at when you jumped?

 

Where is your thread on the NAD+?

 

Marie

[[no...]]

I haven't seen StrongLikeThis recently, hope all is okay. Strong was tempted to get a credit card to afford NAD+ infusions at a drip center. Strong, if you read this, I'm doing the iontophoresis patches, and they are comparable to the IV drips. It's costing me around $1000 for supplements and the NAD+ and ion patch systems.

 

Annnnd... I jumped. Time will tell if this will work, but it sure appears to be. I'm looking forward to switching my debt clock to 0. Many who had IV drips, waited to post about it, because they were uncertain whether it worked or not. It's going to be at least 5 to 6 weeks before I know if I made the right decision. I'm just the lab rat in my own experiment. I feel pretty confident. I'd rather be a lab rat with a successful outcome, from a research project, than running a compounding pharmacy setting up pills I've filed and weighed, in my kitchen.

 

I also notice WinnieDog has been absent too. Hope you ladies are both doing okay.

Big congrats Lottie 🙌🏽 🌈 I hope all goes well for you 👍 how much did you jump from?

 

Nova 💕

[[Co...]]

Wow Lottie, congrats! I thought this would just help ease the taper. Never expected to have a jump like that.

[[Be...]]

I jumped from the 2.75 mg I was holding at. It was scary making that step. I wanted what all those who did IV drips got, to use NAD+ to get off the benzo taper merry-go-round. No one that I know of has done this with iontophoresis NAD+, those who did used IV drips. The two companies I got the ion patch systems from have had people use their patches for this purpose.

 

Cocodot, the nasal spray or NAD+ injections have eased the taper for many. Nasal spray knocked down my headaches and hyperacusis. 10 - 14 consecutive days of high doses of NAD+ (anywhere from 500 to 1.5 mg) by IV is used to jump. What I did was substitute iontophoresis patches for the IV's, I was giving myself the equivalent of what others received by IV, using the patches. I was researching, gathering information, testing out the nasal spray NAD+ since December of 2022, and decided to be my own lab rat. I surmised that theoretically this should work, but I did not know for certain that it would.

 

It is not a quick fix, you still have acute and post-acute, but others report them to be much milder, and recovery is faster. I am in acute; as the last of the diazepam exits, I expected to feel worse, but so far, that hasn't been the case. I prayed and hoped this would work, as this would open the possibility for others to have this much more affordable option. I want others like me, who can't afford the IV drips, to know this could be an alternative. So, I did this not just for me, but for others as well. I can't promise it will work for everybody either, I wish it would. This should be standard medical treatment for benzos, and covered by insurance in the US. $1000 is a lot of money for me, with my low, fixed, income. But it was worth every penny.

 

Here is the link to the thread, if you want to follow my journal of my experience. http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?topic=277207.0;topicseen

[[Su...]]

I jumped from the 2.75 mg I was holding at. It was scary making that step. I wanted what all those who did IV drips got, to use NAD+ to get off the benzo taper merry-go-round. No one that I know of has done this with iontophoresis NAD+, those who did used IV drips. The two companies I got the ion patch systems from have had people use their patches for this purpose.

 

Cocodot, the nasal spray or NAD+ injections have eased the taper for many. Nasal spray knocked down my headaches and hyperacusis. 10 - 14 consecutive days of high doses of NAD+ (anywhere from 500 to 1.5 mg) by IV is used to jump. What I did was substitute iontophoresis patches for the IV's, I was giving myself the equivalent of what others received by IV, using the patches. I was researching, gathering information, testing out the nasal spray NAD+ since December of 2022, and decided to be my own lab rat. I surmised that theoretically this should work, but I did not know for certain that it would.

 

It is not a quick fix, you still have acute and post-acute, but others report them to be much milder, and recovery is faster. I am in acute; as the last of the diazepam exits, I expected to feel worse, but so far, that hasn't been the case. I prayed and hoped this would work, as this would open the possibility for others to have this much more affordable option. I want others like me, who can't afford the IV drips, to know this could be an alternative. So, I did this not just for me, but for others as well. I can't promise it will work for everybody either, I wish it would. This should be standard medical treatment for benzos, and covered by insurance in the US. $1000 is a lot of money for me, with my low, fixed, income. But it was worth every penny.

 

Here is the link to the thread, if you want to follow my journal of my experience. http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?topic=277207.0;topicseen

 

Thank you Thank you BL for being so willing to share this brave journey as a lab rat!

I'm speaking to an ND next week (his office is closed today) to get some patches myself.  I've been using the Gorilla Spray today with little or no noticeable ....anything

I say it again -- a Warrior for us all.

may the acute go quickly and be mild

 

[Guest [...]]

Congrats BL!!

 

Yeah, so excited for you! I hope it works out!

 

When did you jump? Has it been more than 5 days?

 

Sounds so promising!

 

Hugs

Winnie

[[Be...]]

Congrats BL!!

 

Yeah, so excited for you! I hope it works out!

 

When did you jump? Has it been more than 5 days?

 

Sounds so promising!

 

Hugs

Winnie

 

I was cutting back before I jumped completely, I took a 1 mg dose on Tuesday night. Dr Ken Starr has people stop with Day 4, diazepam can be stopped Day 2, but I didn't want to jump completely then, as I'm in the age range (50 - 65) where NAD+ levels in the body are 50% less than in your 20's. I wanted to get 4 of what are referred to as "loading doses" in. Sunday will be Day 5, and I am still doing NAD+. I will be doing it until Tuesday (last initial treatment day). I will be doing follow-up treatments a few wakes later, and after a month. Basically all through acute. With 2.75 mg, I would be having screaming paresthesia and massive GI problems by now, like I did tapering too fast. I am not symptomless, they cycle on and off. This seemed to be common with others who did IV drips.  JLeDi jumped from diazepam the day before, his treatments were lower amounts than mine, and he did less days. He waited for the worst, it didn't come. Many jumped the day before, or the day of, but agree that Dr Ken Starr is probably right about waiting several days before jumping.

 

So, yeah, it's still a bit too soon to say this absolutely works. No one who had it done didn't know for sure until at least a month after, but they felt it did as soon as a week after.

 

How are you doing? 

[[Vi...]]

First off, congrats to BenzoLottie. I hope all goes well and this treatment is proven to be a huge success. There's hope for future generations of people who are poisoned by these awful medications.

 

My question is about the speed of tapering off my last 3 mgs. I know the questions "Am I going too fast?" and "Am I going too slow?" have been posted and addressed 1,000 times. Usually, the answer is "Listen to your body".

 

I've tapered down from 40 mgs beginning around February of 2022 to 3 mgs as of this upcoming Saturday. From 15 mgs to 6 mgs I've been dry micro tapering at a rate of 2 mgs every 28 days. I held for a few days a couple of times, but never felt any better. Now that I am hitting 3 mgs per day (1 morning dose), I plan on tapering 1 mg every 28 days.

 

Since I've never felt any better or worse no matter what my tapering speed has been so far (most of my "really bad" days are related to stress from previous days), is there any input from anyone here that would lead to a reasonable conclusion that I might be tapering too fast or too slow at the end?

 

I have had a rough taper and spend a few hours a day in bed watching comedies, though I still manage to take care of myself (sponge baths, though, not showers haha) and have gleaned enough from what I've read here to know that I will recover.

 

The bottom line is, would a few days difference in the last stage of my tapering and jumping off really matter when it comes to post-benzo healing once I'm free? I know a lot of people might say "You should take 6 months to taper off that last 3 mgs", but I can't believe I am really doing myself any good by continuing to ingest more diazepam, as long as I taper at a reasonable rate.

 

Thoughts? Thanks in advance. I hope that everyone got through the day without too much pain. This is a brutal process.

[[sp...]]

idk as far as im concerned .5 valium cut every 14 days (same as 1MG every 28 days) since you seem to be handling things well is my plan too when i start going below 5 MG but who knows....best laid plans right. You can try it and see what happens and adjust from there.

[[Vi...]]

idk as far as im concerned .5 valium cut every 14 days (same as 1MG every 28 days) since you seem to be handling things well is my plan too when i start going below 5 MG but who knows....best laid plans right. You can try it and see what happens and adjust from there.

 

Hey, thanks. Yeah, that's what I'm hoping for. Apprehensive, but confident and ready for this. Just 3 to go! Cheers, Dan

[[sp...]]

idk as far as im concerned .5 valium cut every 14 days (same as 1MG every 28 days) since you seem to be handling things well is my plan too when i start going below 5 MG but who knows....best laid plans right. You can try it and see what happens and adjust from there.

 

Hey, thanks. Yeah, that's what I'm hoping for. Apprehensive, but confident and ready for this. Just 3 to go! Cheers, Dan

 

thats my motto though, and always has been. I go for it til i hit splat! against a wall then suffer greatly for it then adjust (or not and try it again) everyone says to do a gradual transition from Xanax over to Valium, i gave myself 2 days crossover then threw my xanax away and just put up with the pain so i could be crossed over and start coming down but thats just me. I dont like to stretch stuff out if i can help it. Do i pay for it? Yes greatly with suffering thats probably not necessary but im kinda more of a rip the bandaid off person then slowly peeling it back. Its all up to the individual and how much pain they can tolerate at that time of thier life.

[[Vi...]]

thats my motto though, and always has been. I go for it til i hit splat! against a wall then suffer greatly for it then adjust (or not and try it again) everyone says to do a gradual transition from Xanax over to Valium, i gave myself 2 days crossover then threw my xanax away and just put up with the pain so i could be crossed over and start coming down but thats just me. I dont like to stretch stuff out if i can help it. Do i pay for it? Yes greatly with suffering thats probably not necessary but im kinda more of a rip the bandaid off person then slowly peeling it back. Its all up to the individual and how much pain they can tolerate at that time of thier life.

 

Sounds pretty familiar! My doc wouldn't prescribe more than 20 mgs of diazepam for me to switch over from 2 mgs of alprazolam, so I had to taper off some of the alprazolam directly and then switch over to diazepam. Once I tapered down the alprazolam (awful), I quickly switched the remaining dose to diazepam. At 16 mgs I started daily dry micro tapering 2 mgs per month. When I hit 5 mgs, I started daily dry micro tapering 1 mg per month. It doesn't seem to matter how slow or fast I go, or if I stop and hold for a few days; I always feel pretty much the same level of "lousy". I'm so ready to be off the last 3 mgs, but will maintain my tapering speed as reasonable as possible.

 

You are spot on about the pain. I do believe there is danger in tapering too slow as well as too fast. I don't think diazepam ever really did anything for my symptoms, even on the higher doses. alprazolam is so damn potent, and even when I started to taper it was still calming when I took it.

 

Suffering seems to be a given for many of us.

Full recovery is a given for all of us who stop using this stuff.

We just need to keep moving forward.

 

Thanks again for your input and best of luck to all of us.

[[sp...]]

thats my motto though, and always has been. I go for it til i hit splat! against a wall then suffer greatly for it then adjust (or not and try it again) everyone says to do a gradual transition from Xanax over to Valium, i gave myself 2 days crossover then threw my xanax away and just put up with the pain so i could be crossed over and start coming down but thats just me. I dont like to stretch stuff out if i can help it. Do i pay for it? Yes greatly with suffering thats probably not necessary but im kinda more of a rip the bandaid off person then slowly peeling it back. Its all up to the individual and how much pain they can tolerate at that time of thier life.

 

Sounds pretty familiar! My doc wouldn't prescribe more than 20 mgs of diazepam for me to switch over from 2 mgs of alprazolam, so I had to taper off some of the alprazolam directly and then switch over to diazepam. Once I tapered down the alprazolam (awful), I quickly switched the remaining dose to diazepam. At 16 mgs I started daily dry micro tapering 2 mgs per month. When I hit 5 mgs, I started daily dry micro tapering 1 mg per month. It doesn't seem to matter how slow or fast I go, or if I stop and hold for a few days; I always feel pretty much the same level of "lousy". I'm so ready to be off the last 3 mgs, but will maintain my tapering speed as reasonable as possible.

 

You are spot on about the pain. I do believe there is danger in tapering too slow as well as too fast. I don't think diazepam ever really did anything for my symptoms, even on the higher doses. alprazolam is so damn potent, and even when I started to taper it was still calming when I took it.

 

Suffering seems to be a given for many of us.

Full recovery is a given for all of us who stop using this stuff.

We just need to keep moving forward.

 

Thanks again for your input and best of luck to all of us.

 

How is the dry daily micro taper? Ive always wondered about liquid or dry daily tapering, i dont care how i get off this stuff...i would be willing to deal with daily micro taper as long as i got off 1MG a month...i mean my plan is to taper .5 every two weeks anyways. If a daily taper is better then id be willing...just dont know how it is.

[[Be...]]

 

Lottie- My face just burn’s like I have a sunburn and it can get really severe….I haven’t really paid attention to when I eat or not.  I will, and let you know.  If I am having more severe sx, I can get tooth pain and ear pain as well.  So I try really hard to watch for my sx and start holding obviously so I don’t get into trouble.  Good for you on powering up on the supplements and your upcoming treatment.  I definitely think my supplements are helping me.

 

Marie

 

 

Mine would start with 20 minutes of eating, no matter what I eat.    Have had the tooth pain and ear pain as well.  I finished my prep and started the treatment. Too early to tell, only on Day 2.

 

 

Just an additional comment. When I was reading about Shamo's acute period following NAD+, he mentioned that almost all his symptoms during tapering and withdrawal, were triggered by food. This recent paper I found online bolsters mine and Shamo's experience. I recall WinnieDog telling another BB member that even water bothered her.  https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/20451253221145561 Scroll down about a 3rd down the page, you'll see a chart. This is results from an internet survey, 70.8% of respondents reported that food or drink triggered their symptoms.

 

Diazepam is pretty much out of my system by now. I know what WinnieDog was hinting at when she wondered how many days. The paresthesia is back, and so are headaches that come and go. However, neither are yet as bad as they were while tapering. I'm told the headaches are a sign of rapid healing going on, as is the feeling hot and minor sweating going on. Dr Ken Starr says feeling hot and sweaty is good. Whew! I feel like I'm in menopause again! Bring on them hot flashes!    Everything, everything, gets worse after eating.    I'm going to update my journal now. Any of you 3 and under peeps thinking about this (you can do it if you are under 5), get yourself some NAD+ nasal spray, and see how you feel after a month on that.

[[Su...]]

 

Lottie- My face just burn’s like I have a sunburn and it can get really severe….I haven’t really paid attention to when I eat or not.  I will, and let you know.  If I am having more severe sx, I can get tooth pain and ear pain as well.  So I try really hard to watch for my sx and start holding obviously so I don’t get into trouble.  Good for you on powering up on the supplements and your upcoming treatment.  I definitely think my supplements are helping me.

 

Marie

 

 

Mine would start with 20 minutes of eating, no matter what I eat.    Have had the tooth pain and ear pain as well.  I finished my prep and started the treatment. Too early to tell, only on Day 2.

 

 

Just an additional comment. When I was reading about Shamo's acute period following NAD+, he mentioned that almost all his symptoms during tapering and withdrawal, were triggered by food. This recent paper I found online bolsters mine and Shamo's experience. I recall WinnieDog telling another BB member that even water bothered her.  https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/20451253221145561 Scroll down about a 3rd down the page, you'll see a chart. This is results from an internet survey, 70.8% of respondents reported that food or drink triggered their symptoms.

 

Diazepam is pretty much out of my system by now. I know what WinnieDog was hinting at when she wondered how many days. The paresthesia is back, and so are headaches that come and go. However, neither are yet as bad as they were while tapering. I'm told the headaches are a sign of rapid healing going on, as is the feeling hot and minor sweating going on. Dr Ken Starr says feeling hot and sweaty is good. Whew! I feel like I'm in menopause again! Bring on them hot flashes!    Everything, everything, gets worse after eating.    I'm going to update my journal now. Any of you 3 and under peeps thinking about this (you can do it if you are under 5), get yourself some NAD+ nasal spray, and see how you feel after a month on that.

 

Got some NAD spray from Ken Starr on the way.  Thanks for being the scout on this adventure.  I'm glad that things re getting a bit easier ?!?  And that eating triggers things an interesting fact to tuck away.

 

for me This dry cutting is tricky!  I need to dry cut as I don't want to be dragging liquid around with me and I still need to dose 3X a day, but the pills are all so variable in weight - by a bunch.  I tried moving my doses so that i could take the liquid at bedtime -- splat!!

 

So as a result really hoping that the NAD spray will allow me to get off more quickly.....

 

Thanks for the update BL!

[[ho...]]

 

Lottie- My face just burn’s like I have a sunburn and it can get really severe….I haven’t really paid attention to when I eat or not.  I will, and let you know.  If I am having more severe sx, I can get tooth pain and ear pain as well.  So I try really hard to watch for my sx and start holding obviously so I don’t get into trouble.  Good for you on powering up on the supplements and your upcoming treatment.  I definitely think my supplements are helping me.

 

Marie

 

 

Mine would start with 20 minutes of eating, no matter what I eat.    Have had the tooth pain and ear pain as well.  I finished my prep and started the treatment. Too early to tell, only on Day 2.

 

 

Just an additional comment. When I was reading about Shamo's acute period following NAD+, he mentioned that almost all his symptoms during tapering and withdrawal, were triggered by food. This recent paper I found online bolsters mine and Shamo's experience. I recall WinnieDog telling another BB member that even water bothered her.  https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/20451253221145561 Scroll down about a 3rd down the page, you'll see a chart. This is results from an internet survey, 70.8% of respondents reported that food or drink triggered their symptoms.

 

Diazepam is pretty much out of my system by now. I know what WinnieDog was hinting at when she wondered how many days. The paresthesia is back, and so are headaches that come and go. However, neither are yet as bad as they were while tapering. I'm told the headaches are a sign of rapid healing going on, as is the feeling hot and minor sweating going on. Dr Ken Starr says feeling hot and sweaty is good. Whew! I feel like I'm in menopause again! Bring on them hot flashes!    Everything, everything, gets worse after eating.    I'm going to update my journal now. Any of you 3 and under peeps thinking about this (you can do it if you are under 5), get yourself some NAD+ nasal spray, and see how you feel after a month on that.

 

BL-

 

Thank you for this link…I will read it.  Super interesting stuff.

 

I read your sx update on your NAD+ thread and responded over there.  I’m so glad your sx aren’t as brutal and I am definitely getting the NAD+ spray and will be going forward from there.

 

Marie

[[ho...]]

First off, congrats to BenzoLottie. I hope all goes well and this treatment is proven to be a huge success. There's hope for future generations of people who are poisoned by these awful medications.

 

My question is about the speed of tapering off my last 3 mgs. I know the questions "Am I going too fast?" and "Am I going too slow?" have been posted and addressed 1,000 times. Usually, the answer is "Listen to your body".

 

I've tapered down from 40 mgs beginning around February of 2022 to 3 mgs as of this upcoming Saturday. From 15 mgs to 6 mgs I've been dry micro tapering at a rate of 2 mgs every 28 days. I held for a few days a couple of times, but never felt any better. Now that I am hitting 3 mgs per day (1 morning dose), I plan on tapering 1 mg every 28 days.

 

Since I've never felt any better or worse no matter what my tapering speed has been so far (most of my "really bad" days are related to stress from previous days), is there any input from anyone here that would lead to a reasonable conclusion that I might be tapering too fast or too slow at the end?

 

I have had a rough taper and spend a few hours a day in bed watching comedies, though I still manage to take care of myself (sponge baths, though, not showers haha) and have gleaned enough from what I've read here to know that I will recover.

 

The bottom line is, would a few days difference in the last stage of my tapering and jumping off really matter when it comes to post-benzo healing once I'm free? I know a lot of people might say "You should take 6 months to taper off that last 3 mgs", but I can't believe I am really doing myself any good by continuing to ingest more diazepam, as long as I taper at a reasonable rate.

 

Thoughts? Thanks in advance. I hope that everyone got through the day without too much pain. This is a brutal process.

 

Hi- I read through the exchanges too…not just this.  This is so complicated.

 

You mentioned that you have only held for a couple of days here and there and haven’t really seen any improvement.  Most people don’t see improvements with holds until a month or more.  I just thought I would put this out there.

 

Also, the lower you go, the much greater the % of you decrease is going to become.  I am not sure what your actual suffering is with sx, or how well you function day in and day out.  The goal is to be “functioning”.  I believe this is also with “reasonable” % cuts with in the guidelines.  If one is going too fast and not functioning, than that would definitely be expected, and could be mitigated by slowing way down and even holding.

 

We can heal in the process of tapering off of benzo’s and for many who have gently walked off or done slower taper w/d’s they haven’t always been left in long (sometimes years) of protracted w/d, like those who have gone too fast or c/t.  It can be dangerous to go too fast.  So please be careful.

 

You certainly know your body, and know what you can handle, but PLEASE….listen to your body.  I have been here long enough to see people have to reinstate because they went too fast. 

 

 

Marie

[[Vi...]]

Hi- I read through the exchanges too…not just this.  This is so complicated.

 

You mentioned that you have only held for a couple of days here and there and haven’t really seen any improvement.  Most people don’t see improvements with holds until a month or more.  I just thought I would put this out there.

 

Also, the lower you go, the much greater the % of you decrease is going to become.  I am not sure what your actual suffering is with sx, or how well you function day in and day out.  The goal is to be “functioning”.  I believe this is also with “reasonable” % cuts with in the guidelines.  If one is going too fast and not functioning, than that would definitely be expected, and could be mitigated by slowing way down and even holding.

 

We can heal in the process of tapering off of benzo’s and for many who have gently walked off or done slower taper w/d’s they haven’t always been left in long (sometimes years) of protracted w/d, like those who have gone too fast or c/t.  It can be dangerous to go too fast.  So please be careful.

 

You certainly know your body, and know what you can handle, but PLEASE….listen to your body.  I have been here long enough to see people have to reinstate because they went too fast. 

 

 

Marie

 

Hi Maria. Thank you for this. It's a reminder that healing is a slow process, whether we cold turkey or taper slowly. I think I've felt so poorly because I never had good days even l before I began my taper. I don't believe I was in tolerance withdrawal, because I was suffering from hyperthyroidism, which actually presented with symptoms very similar to benzo withdrawal. I got my thyroid hormone levels settled when I was about 2-3 months into my taper, even though I couldn't expect to see improvements for several weeks.

 

I was on Xanax for less than 3 months, but was taking 2 mgs per day. From 60 mgs of diazepam down to about 15 mgs, I felt poorly, but no different than how I felt from my hyperthyroid symptoms, so I never paused my taper. It has taken me over 14 months to get where I am now, and I don't want to screw up at the finish line. I have been experiencing more windows, but my anxiety is worse when I'm in withdrawal.

 

My doctor said I must taper at 1 mg per month and he won't prescribe for anything slower. Fortunately I have enough in reserve in case I need to slow down or hold. I've suffered enough and don't feel the need to set myself for a long recovery and/or a nasty ending to my taper.

 

I hope you are doing as well as possible under the circumstances. Thanks again for your input. I will pay attention!