The Easier Taper Support Group

[[Ro...]]

Hello all,

I think it is time to get this group back on the top of the board!

I sometimes feel a bit bad when I post about how well my taper has gone so far when others are suffering so greatly, however, I also think it is really important for others to know that not everyone has such a horrible time trying to taper off benzos.

I know I have been very very fortunate with my taper since October, I have made considerable drops, 14% and 17% at a time and am fully aware that it may catch up to me and slam me at some point, but for now I just remain thankful.

I attribute my continued lack of suffering to long holds, exercise, meditation as well as the belief that I will get through this and will continue to succeed!

Each time I have cut, it was a bit of a rocky day the day before and of, with the fear of what might happen almost keeping me from doing it. However, once I take the plunge, that fear dissipates as well as the anticipation, simply because of the fact that I can accept that I have zero control over how my body/mind will react. I think this letting go of the fear and control has been key in my lack of symptoms, I am not waiting for them, nor do I fear them, so they don't appear, if that makes any sense.

I wish each and every one of you who has to walk this path in front of you has the easiest journey possible.

[[Su...]]

Ho Rosabell,

It's so great that your taper is going so well.  And thanks for getting this thread into the New Year. 

I've posted on here a bit and have had a fairly easy taper.  I've been on this stuff for a long time so it hasn't all been a cakewalk but compared to what others have gone through I feel extremely lucky.  Between holds and LMT I've been chipping away at the Xanax with a chaser of Valium.

Feeling fairly optimistic about the taper, although a bit down at the snail's pace of it all.  But better a snail who is functioning than a snail who is not!

So I keep on going.....

Cheers to the New Year and to you all!

SS

[[tw...]]

THANK YOU so much for posting this thread. I just started withdrawing about a month ago. (I just thought I was stopping taking them, even though I knew there'd have to be a little weaning involved, didn't realized it would turn into a major production.) So of course I went to the internet, and everything I've read has scared me sh--less.

[[tw...]]

Well, I read all 61 pages!!! It was quite encouraging after being scared to bits. I would warn though, that every once in a while someone slips in an episode of "it was great BUT THEN" so I'd be careful of those. What works wonders here is the posts that are Yes, you can have a life and keep your job and it's really not a horror show.

 

Thank you again for posting it!

[[Va...]]

Well, I read all 61 pages!!! It was quite encouraging after being scared to bits. I would warn though, that every once in a while someone slips in an episode of "it was great BUT THEN" so I'd be careful of those. What works wonders here is the posts that are Yes, you can have a life and keep your job and it's really not a horror show.

 

Thank you again for posting it!

I will slip in that it was terrible at first, but I righted the ship and it’s been very manageable ever since. Hope all goes well for you! —V

[[Ro...]]

My thoughts exactly sufferingsixty! I don't care how long it takes to get off, as long as I can live a normal life without pain and suffering I will go as slow as needed!

[[be...]]

Well, I read all 61 pages!!! It was quite encouraging after being scared to bits. I would warn though, that every once in a while someone slips in an episode of "it was great BUT THEN" so I'd be careful of those. What works wonders here is the posts that are Yes, you can have a life and keep your job and it's really not a horror show.

 

Thank you again for posting it!

Good for you for reading all those pages, I guess what one can gleen from this great group, is that there is always two sides of a coin. Having had two failed horrific tapers, I knew I had to do things differently. So before I ever came to BB I had a plan for me, slow, slow and holds and so far it has went well, some blips, but nothing like before. I am functional and I am not going faster than my Brain will allow, I am so thankful that I have not been guided by anything but my own band. If one listens to thier Brain it will speak to you and all we have to do is listen. Best to You and Stay Strong. 🕊 Peace.

[[Ja...]]

Twitch, thank you for posting here!  If you hadn't, I wouldn't have known that this group even existed!

 

I am having a very easy time with my taper, thanks to BB's.

Third time's the charm!  But only because I didn't do it right the first & second times...

 

For the first time in all these years, I really think that I can live without benzos - and - get off of them without a major disruption in my life.

[[Su...]]

I love this thread.....

Yes let's do it the easy way..... the long drawn out easy way  :laugh:

SS

[[tw...]]

THANK YOU so much for this thread.

[[ga...]]

Just found this. Great to see many familiar Buddies on here. Let's keep bumping this!

 

Backstory: I started out on my original doctor's taper schedule and went through hell. I ended up on the Long Hold thread to get stabilized. It was worth every day of the hold to get stable.

 

Better story: Now I am proceeding slowly using a daily micro taper and as many holds as my new doctor will allow. It is so much better this way. I am doing things I never dreamed I could do during a taper including going back to school and working part time.

 

Slow and steady wins the race!

 

Gard

[[be...]]

Hi Gard good to see you here and so happy you are doing better. Onward and Upward as one special buddie would always say.

 

Just checking in and leaving my new dosage amt. I am now at 0.55mg of Valium, and so far the taper is going well, and I am doing well, other than a cold virus. I remember long before coming to BB I decided after two failed tapers I would just take the Valium forever...but...my fear of the FDA to discontinue this drug, gave me the incentive to try one more time. I already knew before coming here that I would do this taper slow and cut small and it has worked well for me. Of course I had sx's but really just tiny blips of things and they came and went fast. My Brain is happy and is healing at its own pace, I am not the leader of this Parade it is. Stay Strong and find what works for you, being miserable and sick is not an option for me anymore, been there twice and done it and never want to return to that hell. Stay Strong. 🕊 Peace and Wellness.

"When the world says, "Give up," Hope whispers, "Try it one more time."~AU.

[[Su...]]

BeGood

Congratulations on your latest taper!  You are the queen for doing a slow sustainable taper, an "easy" taper as tapers go.  I love the tone of this thread and the wisdom being it.

Let's do an easy taper, and there are ways to do so.  It just takes time and patience...

:smitten:

SS

 

Hi everyone on this thread!    Hi Gard! 

 

 

[[ga...]]

Hi Gard good to see you here and so happy you are doing better. Onward and Upward as one special buddie would always say.

 

Just checking in and leaving my new dosage amt. I am now at 0.55mg of Valium, and so far the taper is going well, and I am doing well, other than a cold virus. I remember long before coming to BB I decided after two failed tapers I would just take the Valium forever...but...my fear of the FDA to discontinue this drug, gave me the incentive to try one more time. I already knew before coming here that I would do this taper slow and cut small and it has worked well for me. Of course I had sx's but really just tiny blips of things and they came and went fast. My Brain is happy and is healing at its own pace, I am not the leader of this Parade it is. Stay Strong and find what works for you, being miserable and sick is not an option for me anymore, been there twice and done it and never want to return to that hell. Stay Strong. 🕊 Peace and Wellness.

"When the world says, "Give up," Hope whispers, "Try it one more time."~AU.

 

Wow .55mg! Congratulations!

 

Yes, slow is the only way to go for me. I decided this after reading many stories on BB and realizing that generally it was the people who tapered the fastest who had the worst results. So I gave up the idea of hurrying off and adopted the "turtle taper." And that turned out to be a very good thing because life has thrown some curveballs at me that I could not have handled during my hurry-up taper.

 

Shout out to the Long Hold support group for getting me back on my feet. And to the Daily Micro-taper thread for the endless questions they answered and for teaching me how to do a micro-taper.

 

Onward and Upward!

 

Gard

 

 

[[ga...]]

Hi, SS!

[[ga...]]

I thought I should add that "easy" is not exactly the word I would use for this journey, but compared to so many others, my journey has been easier. Life keeps happening and can derail us (has derailed me many times), but the benzos don't have to keep us down.

[[Li...]]

GARDENER...love that the "turtle taper". 

 

BEGood,  that's what I fear about the FDA plus my neuro doc is retiring in about 4 years.  I always thought I'd be on this for life but it's getting harder to get it.  Has been a lifesaver for me for 19 years on it...5 mgs of Librium.  I tried a very slow taper down and was an Epic Fail.  I may brave it again one day but it's good for me to read posts on here in case I do ever decide to taper down again.  It took me 2 weeks to stabilize.  I'm now on BioIdentical Hormone Replacement therapy...low and slow and then maybe once I get some hormones in me I can have the strength to get off my benzo.  Having hormone levels of a dead woman was making things difficult.  Good to hear your taper is going so well.  Love this thread. 

 

 

[[Ro...]]

it makes me so happy to see that others are having success at tapering without being bedridden!

it took me a long time to accept that it was even a possibility, and like gardener says, turtle taper! it has been months and i have only dropped .25mg, but i'll take it as slow as i have to so i can still function day to day.

 

[[ga...]]

Hi,Lib! It sounds like doing your HRT first is a good idea. I'm glad you are listening to what your body is telling you and doing this the best way for YOU!

[[ga...]]

it makes me so happy to see that others are having success at tapering without being bedridden!

it took me a long time to accept that it was even a possibility, and like gardener says, turtle taper! it has been months and i have only dropped .25mg, but i'll take it as slow as i have to so i can still function day to day.

 

Hi, Rosabell. I'm glad you are doing well. I have to give credit to the Long Hold group for the phrase "turtle taper." Can't recall who coined it. Valley? BG? Not me. I was calling mine a chicken taper for the longest time!

 

Gard

 

[[be...]]

BeGood

Congratulations on your latest taper!  You are the queen for doing a slow sustainable taper, an "easy" taper as tapers go.  I love the tone of this thread and the wisdom being it.

Let's do an easy taper, and there are ways to do so.  It just takes time and patience...

:smitten:

SS

 

Hi everyone on this thread!    Hi Gard! 

Thanks SS, I agree we need this thread, yes time and patience for sure. 🕊 Peace.

[[be...]]

Hi Gard good to see you here and so happy you are doing better. Onward and Upward as one special buddie would always say.

 

Just checking in and leaving my new dosage amt. I am now at 0.55mg of Valium, and so far the taper is going well, and I am doing well, other than a cold virus. I remember long before coming to BB I decided after two failed tapers I would just take the Valium forever...but...my fear of the FDA to discontinue this drug, gave me the incentive to try one more time. I already knew before coming here that I would do this taper slow and cut small and it has worked well for me. Of course I had sx's but really just tiny blips of things and they came and went fast. My Brain is happy and is healing at its own pace, I am not the leader of this Parade it is. Stay Strong and find what works for you, being miserable and sick is not an option for me anymore, been there twice and done it and never want to return to that hell. Stay Strong. 🕊 Peace and Wellness.

"When the world says, "Give up," Hope whispers, "Try it one more time."~AU.

 

Wow .55mg! Congratulations!

 

Yes, slow is the only way to go for me. I decided this after reading many stories on BB and realizing that generally it was the people who tapered the fastest who had the worst results. So I gave up the idea of hurrying off and adopted the "turtle taper." And that turned out to be a very good thing because life has thrown some curveballs at me that I could not have handled during my hurry-up taper.

 

Shout out to the Long Hold support group for getting me back on my feet. And to the Daily Micro-taper thread for the endless questions they answered and for teaching me how to do a micro-taper.

 

Onward and Upward!

 

Gard

I think I started the turtle thing, and Valley added the chicken on the turtles back...I think or was it you that added the chicken?? I could not do a snail as I do not like things that slither on the ground, so a 🐢 was the best for me.Gard I agree that this has not been easy, but it has been doable, really better than my first two failed tapers. 🕊 Peace.

[[be...]]

GARDENER...love that the "turtle taper". 

 

BEGood,  that's what I fear about the FDA plus my neuro doc is retiring in about 4 years.  I always thought I'd be on this for life but it's getting harder to get it.  Has been a lifesaver for me for 19 years on it...5 mgs of Librium.  I tried a very slow taper down and was an Epic Fail.  I may brave it again one day but it's good for me to read posts on here in case I do ever decide to taper down again.  It took me 2 weeks to stabilize.  I'm now on BioIdentical Hormone Replacement therapy...low and slow and then maybe once I get some hormones in me I can have the strength to get off my benzo.  Having hormone levels of a dead woman was making things difficult.  Good to hear your taper is going so well.  Love this thread.

Yes I can understand fully that you had issues with the hormones. I had decided that I would not do it again....but that old fear kept popping up, and now I am so glad that I tried one more time. The big plus was I knew what not to do and I know that whatever I have now is nothing like when I was going too fast and cutting too much. You will decide what is best for you. 🕊 Peace.

[[ga...]]

 

I think I started the turtle thing, and Valley added the chicken on the turtles back...I think or was it you that added the chicken?? I could not do a snail as I do not like things that slither on the ground, so a 🐢 was the best for me. Gard I agree that this has not been easy, but it has been doable, really better than my first two failed tapers. 🕊 Peace.

 

Ah ha! I thought you were our "turtle champion." And I confess, I added the chicken. Then Valley copied it onto his slow taper "propaganda list" and the rest is history!

 

 

 

 

...Now cover your eyes, BG. Slimy thing in my next post!

 

 

[[ga...]]

I have this on my refrigerator for when I get impatient.