Been trying to withdrawal and having a hard time

[[ho...]]

Hello All,

 

I have been trying to withdrawal for about 2 year now. I am very proud of myself because when I switched from Klonopin 2 years ago (.5 - 1.5 for about four years) to Diazepam (30 mg daily). Since 2014, I got down to 2 mg of diazepam daily. Great right! Now for 5 months, I have tried everything going to 1.5, couldn't last more than 1.5 weeks, then I tried every other day tapers 2.0, 1.5, 2.0, 1.5, etc. Now, I am having so much trouble and last week I decided to go back up to 3mg because I could not stablalize back on 2 mg for the life of me, even though I was fine on it for a couple of months. My main symptoms have been my tongue feeling weird, more sensitive to sight, taset, and smell, and this weird feeling of ticklish pressure, if that makes sense, in my head. It scares me. I am now on 3 mg, Day 7. What do you think is happening to me? am I ok? What should I do> I am thinking Micro tapering, but I want to stabilize first, and I can't.

 

The three mgs, feel just like the 2 did, or the 1.5.

 

Help!

 

HondaSport16

[Guest [ba...]]

2.0 -> 1.5 is a 25% cut. That's a big cut.  Most folks around here cut by 10% of less. 

 

You may also have simply hit a 'wall'.  A lot of people do (even some of those who taper very slowly).  Sometimes, you just have to push through despite the symptoms.

 

So I guess I'd first try to do a smaller cut.  Maybe you can try cutting by half of a 0.5 mg pill (still a big cut, but not quite so big).  Or you could try quartering the pills.  I know the cuts will be a bit approximate, but you can probably divide a pill into reasonable quarters if you work at it a bit.  Or you could find a scale and finish your taper by weighing out your cuts.

 

fwiw - the symptoms you shared are all very typical benzo withdrawal symptoms.  Unpleasant as they are, they will resolve in time.

[[ho...]]

Thank you so much for your response. I was thinking of switching to liquid titration for the accurate cuts. What are your thoughts on that?  Also should I keep trying to stabilize on the the three mgs? My thing is, I need to function and still go to work, etc.

 

Hondasport 16

[[Va...]]

Thank you so much for your response. I was thinking of switching to liquid titration for the accurate cuts. What are your thoughts on that?  Also should I keep trying to stabilize on the the three mgs? My thing is, I need to function and still go to work, etc.

 

Hondasport 16

A liquid micro taper would be a great idea. It's important to stabilize as much as you can before trying to cut. Let your CNS settle down and the ride down will be a lot smoother. You can also try micro cuts like cutting .1mg every 2-4 weeks. Best of luck to you! --V

[Guest [ba...]]

Liquid is a great way to taper.  A fair number of people find that they have to up-dose 10-20% when they switch from solid to liquid.  There's no logical reason for this, but it seems to be true for many.

 

As Valley said, you want to get stable after switching to the liquid formulation for a few weeks.

[[ho...]]

Thank you so much! So do you all think I should continue on dry 3 mg, since I upped my doe, stabilize and then witch to liquid titration 3 mg and see how I feel? Also, should I go up if I do not stabilize in another week on 3mg? or wait it out? I have been fluctuating for 2 - 2.5 for 3 months.

 

You guys have been such a great help.

[[ho...]]

Also, I plan on making the liquid formulation myself, I heard milk is the best, any thoughts?

 

 

[Guest [ba...]]

Personally, I'm not a big fan of up-dosing unless the alternative is job loss (or something similar).  I've seen people ping-pong between two doses for months (up-dose, cut, up-dose, cut...).  No progress there.  Sometimes one just needs to grind through their taper, get to zero, then recover. 

 

Up-dosing due to changing from solid to liquid is different, however.  It's a one-time thing, and simply an adjustment for the availability of the formulation.