The Easier Taper Support Group

[[be...]]

Thanks everyone!

 

Yes, I did go too quickly back in July and had to hold for a bit.  I'm at a good pace now (.07 mg per week), but fighting off the kid germ and stress from life ramped things up a bit last week. 

 

I went away with my husband this past weekend after my tough week- he had a business incentive trip that he won, and getting out of my routine as mom and out of the house and into fun was the best thing for me.  I felt so much better and still feel a lot better today. 

 

By the way, I thought I'd share: I'm replacing the word 'wave' with "healing reaction".  It's the truth, what we are experiencing is a healing reaction to this withdrawal, and it's way more loving and kind to tell yourself and to speak of your experience saying that it is healing rather than getting rolled by a wave.  The body is listening <3.

 

Love to you all,

 

Candice

Love that..."Healing Reaction". I will not use jump when I finish...it sounds awful to me...so I use "When I walk off." Great you had a good weekend. Stay Strong. 💖 Peace and Healing.

[[Fi...]]

It’s great to find this group! I’m holding at 1.5mg of K right now (the last year or so has been a lot of tapering) but definitely plan to microtaper once I feel a little more stable. I recently returned to work so I don’t want to rock the boat too much.

 

And I love the idea of “walking off.”

 

- Fiskadoro

[[of...]]

Follow. Need all the positive stories I can read.

[[ga...]]

It’s great to find this group! I’m holding at 1.5mg of K right now (the last year or so has been a lot of tapering) but definitely plan to microtaper once I feel a little more stable. I recently returned to work so I don’t want to rock the boat too much.

 

And I love the idea of “walking off.”

 

- Fiskadoro

 

Sounds like you've got this, Fiskadoro!

[[ga...]]

Follow. Need all the positive stories I can read.

 

:thumbsup: As Candice said, the body is listening. Give it lots of good stuff to listen to!  :thumbsup:

[[be...]]

Follow. Need all the positive stories I can read.

Yes indeed, read all the threads that lift you. And do not give up, you can do this. Patience and Time. 💖Peace and Healing.

[[be...]]

It’s great to find this group! I’m holding at 1.5mg of K right now (the last year or so has been a lot of tapering) but definitely plan to microtaper once I feel a little more stable. I recently returned to work so I don’t want to rock the boat too much.

 

And I love the idea of “walking off.”

 

- Fiskadoro

Yes take your time and you can guide your taper, and not let it take you into the rabbit hole. Work is important, and with Time and Patience, you can one day be benzo free, and yes "Walk Off." 💖 Peace and Healing.

[[Fi...]]

Thanks for the encouragement Gardener99 and begood. I appreciate it. I’m negotiating a lot of stress related to returning to work right now. It feels good to find some support for focusing on how I feel now rather than just worrying about tapering.

 

I’m glad I found this group! I wish you all strength as we go through this.

 

- Fiskadoro

[[Ho...]]

If you want positive stories....

 

I realized today that I've been tapering for 6 weeks. In that time I've reduced from 1 mg per day to today, where I'm at 0.71 mg.  I've had a few holds as my sig says. But really the symptoms have been minimal. That's the hindsight so far.

 

Of course when you quit a psychotropic drug you become very aware of how you feel physically and mentally every minute of the day. Which can drive you crazy. 

 

I hope I can keep this same pace.

 

Good luck to everybody else.

[[Gw...]]

If you want positive stories....

 

I realized today that I've been tapering for 6 weeks. In that time I've reduced from 1 mg per day to today, where I'm at 0.71 mg.  I've had a few holds as my sig says. But really the symptoms have been minimal. That's the hindsight so far.

 

Of course when you quit a psychotropic drug you become very aware of how you feel physically and mentally every minute of the day. Which can drive you crazy. 

 

I hope I can keep this same pace.

 

Good luck to everybody else.

 

That's awesome, HopeToDoThis, congratulations on making it this far! 

[[be...]]

If you want positive stories....

 

I realized today that I've been tapering for 6 weeks. In that time I've reduced from 1 mg per day to today, where I'm at 0.71 mg.  I've had a few holds as my sig says. But really the symptoms have been minimal. That's the hindsight so far.

 

Of course when you quit a psychotropic drug you become very aware of how you feel physically and mentally every minute of the day. Which can drive you crazy. 

 

I hope I can keep this same pace.

 

Good luck to everybody else.

Great Job, just do one day at time, you will prevail. 💖 Peace and Healing.

[[jm...]]

Hopetodothis,

That is awesome. I'm right behind you same starting dose and all.  This makes me feel good.  Keep up the good work and you're right with tapering I think we can tend to get hyper focused.

[[Fi...]]

Congratulations Hopetodothis! So glad to hear you’re making such great progress!

[[jm...]]

I'm four days into another cut (I need to update my signature) I feel ok, I have had a few anxious moments but ad I said before that's not unusual for me.  I keep repeating the advice on here "don't hurry don't worry" Hope everyone is doing ok

[[Ha...]]

HopeToDoThis, fabulous! Thanks for the positive post  Yup, being vigilant of the physical and emotional can drive a person crazy, lol.

 

jms12 great attitude, goes a long way  I love the advice "Don't hurry, don't worry" that's it in a nutshell  It is so easy to put every tiny thing down to sxs. Lol, it's like I'm on "high alert" as I get lower. But done a deal with self....DON'T OBSESS 

 

Hope all are doing well  Harmonee

 

 

[[be...]]

I'm four days into another cut (I need to update my signature) I feel ok, I have had a few anxious moments but ad I said before that's not unusual for me.  I keep repeating the advice on here "don't hurry don't worry" Hope everyone is doing ok

Hi, so glad you checked in and let us know how you are doing. I think feeling "OK" is a good thing, each time we are able to get through a cut and realize that it could be worse, it makes us stronger. I think we all feel some anxiety at times, but the key, is not to let it overwhelm you, feel it, then leave it behind. With a slow steady taper things can turn out well, sure we will feel something, but so be it, as long as we are not struggling. At one time I never thought I could go through a third taper...and call it Easy...in the sense I am functional and moving forward. Today my dose is 0.29mg of Valium, low and slow, and going to walk off on fumes. 💖 Peace and Healing.

[[Ho...]]

Wow begood you're almost there!

 

Yes, feeling "OK" is kind of the goal. I have to admit, I was feeling extra stupid at work this morning, wondering how I am ever going to do this taper and keep my job. I felt better this afternoon, and realized, hey, I'm still at work semi-functional, so it can't be so bad. And I know if I were sitting at home (I live alone) throughout this whole thing I would probably drive myself crazy.

[[be...]]

Wow begood you're almost there!

 

Yes, feeling "OK" is kind of the goal. I have to admit, I was feeling extra stupid at work this morning, wondering how I am ever going to do this taper and keep my job. I felt better this afternoon, and realized, hey, I'm still at work semi-functional, so it can't be so bad. And I know if I were sitting at home (I live alone) throughout this whole thing I would probably drive myself crazy.

Yes almost, but I hold for thirty days between 10 day tapers, so I have a way to go, but this is working for me and I am standing my ground..

 

I remember my second taper...working and in the pit of hell, I had to quit, you pat yourself on the back, it is hard to work and taper. But I totally agree, it is the best distraction, things seem to pass throughout the day, and it did for you. Onward and Upward, you can and will reach your Goal of Wellness. One thing that has helped me a lot..to be Grateful for even the smallest things, it just builds and makes one feel better, and we all need that. 💖 Peace and Healing.

 

[[jm...]]

Yes I will settle for feeling ok. Work helps I usually don't notice much at work because i'm so busy.  My first cut was just about 0.0625 off of my xanax dose and I felt the same as always this cut I just did 0.0325. I'm just chipping away at that third dose and hope to have it eliminated by the mid October but nothing set in stone. Right now my goal is to get to 0.75mg daily then figure out where and how to go from there. Looking too far out gets me frazzled.  so I cut and move forward.  I don't log my symptoms I just try to keep going.  My first attempt was a nightmare but I think I was too focused on what could happen.

[[be...]]

Yes I will settle for feeling ok. Work helps I usually don't notice much at work because i'm so busy.  My first cut was just about 0.0625 off of my xanax dose and I felt the same as always this cut I just did 0.0325. I'm just chipping away at that third dose and hope to have it eliminated by the mid October but nothing set in stone. Right now my goal is to get to 0.75mg daily then figure out where and how to go from there. Looking too far out gets me frazzled.  so I cut and move forward.  I don't log my symptoms I just try to keep going.  My first attempt was a nightmare but I think I was too focused on what could happen.

Good not to write anything in stone, things can change on a dime, sounds like you are doing well with your plan. I had two nightmare tapers too, and it sure made me do this one differently. Stay Strong. 💖 Peace and Healing.

[[Ba...]]

Hello I want to be part of this group, had my eye on it for a while    I have to say atm my taper is very bumpy. That is because I have been very foolish to think I can rush this process and I had to learn the hard way. As you can see in my sig I have been tapering rather aggressive and I am paying for it now with lots of waves but still having windows. My plan is to hold until stabile and have more windows and continue VERY slowly. Through my taper I have been able to go to the gym few times a week and have some sort of a life but there also have been some very rough patches were I was pretty desperate. It really is bizarre how things can switch like a light switch. One day you think you got this, the next day you are begging god for mercy. 95% of my symptoms are mental (anxiety,depression,intrusive thoughts) I am grateful I have very little physical symptoms but the mental side is very tough sometimes.

 

I want to glide off as I have learned from this group because I have read many pages. I wish I was smarter in the beginning and accepted the fact that this is a long process and coming of faster doesn't mean healing faster. I believe now that you could be mostly healed coming off. I thought healing only starts once your off.

 

Do you guys believe a long hold will be sufficient to stabilise? Or would you consider a small updose to continue my taper in more comfort... I know the choice is mine but maybe someone who made the same mistakes I made can help me on this.

 

Nice to meet you all...

 

 

[[ga...]]

Welcome, Battle. You are on the right track to get stable. I just started a hold myself today as things were getting rocky. I don't think I need to updose at this time because I think I caught myself fast enough. Those who do updose generally say to go back to a dose you felt OK at. Like, when you could have a life and the waves did not disable you. Maybe someone who has updosed will chime in. Or you could try asking on the Long Hold support group. Even if you just hold without updosing, I believe it will help. Even when you are holding, you are still healing and you are still one step closer to freedom every day.

 

Gardie

[[be...]]

Hello I want to be part of this group, had my eye on it for a while    I have to say atm my taper is very bumpy. That is because I have been very foolish to think I can rush this process and I had to learn the hard way. As you can see in my sig I have been tapering rather aggressive and I am paying for it now with lots of waves but still having windows. My plan is to hold until stabile and have more windows and continue VERY slowly. Through my taper I have been able to go to the gym few times a week and have some sort of a life but there also have been some very rough patches were I was pretty desperate. It really is bizarre how things can switch like a light switch. One day you think you got this, the next day you are begging god for mercy. 95% of my symptoms are mental (anxiety,depression,intrusive thoughts) I am grateful I have very little physical symptoms but the mental side is very tough sometimes.

 

I want to glide off as I have learned from this group because I have read many pages. I wish I was smarter in the beginning and accepted the fact that this is a long process and coming of faster doesn't mean healing faster. I believe now that you could be mostly healed coming off. I thought healing only starts once your off.

 

Do you guys believe a long hold will be sufficient to stabilise? Or would you consider a small updose to continue my taper in more comfort... I know the choice is mine but maybe someone who made the same mistakes I made can help me on this.

 

Nice to meet you all...

Welcome Battle, yep you have been going really fast, hopefully a long hold will help. You do not have to up dose, unless it is really bad, I have and it has helped me before. I am going really slow this third taper and it is working well, sure I have some wd, but just blips honestly, nothing like what many are going through. I do think having two prior tapers that I was too aggressive taught me something finally. You have not allowed your Brain to catch up with your cuts, and they tend to accumulate and then hit you. I am not sure how long it will take you to stabilize, it takes time, and if you are already feeling real bad, you may have to consider a up dose, but give it some time holding first. No one should be miserable, going slow and not cutting large makes a difference. Our Brain is healing and it takes time...lots of time and much patience. Best to you. 💖 Peace and Healing.

[[Ba...]]

Hi Gardie thanks for the friendly message, for now I am just holding. Tomorrow ill try some exercise and see some family see if that helps me get out of this.

 

Begood, thank you I was hoping you would respond. Can you tell me a little more about the failed tapers and what you have learned. (if you want to talk about it)

 

Maybe I could learn something more. I already learned a lot from reading in this group. No rush, don't punish yourself, don't obsess over your taper. This has been my main mistake. I was so focussed to get off asap. But now I get it, In what kind of state will I get off when I continue this way. Probably not a good one 

 

Anyway thanks for having me. Again for now just holding...

[[be...]]

Hi Gardie thanks for the friendly message, for now I am just holding. Tomorrow ill try some exercise and see some family see if that helps me get out of this.

 

Begood, thank you I was hoping you would respond. Can you tell me a little more about the failed tapers and what you have learned. (if you want to talk about it)

 

Maybe I could learn something more. I already learned a lot from reading in this group. No rush, don't punish yourself, don't obsess over your taper. This has been my main mistake. I was so focussed to get off asap. But now I get it, In what kind of state will I get off when I continue this way. Probably not a good one 

 

Anyway thanks for having me. Again for now just holding...

I learned that tapering is not a race to get off, I know that if I go fast I am going to suffer needlessly and I am not going down that road again. The first two times I went too fast and cut too much, was sick the whole time and when I got off I could not function at all, it was beyond hell. Yes please hold, and not for a short while, it may take some time...think month or more, try not to overthink anything involving tapering and time. Believe in the process of time and patience. I have a plog where I have been writing for ages my story of my taper, it is in the Progress Log area. You could read it if you have time, it pretty much is a log of how I have been doing and what I have learned along the way. Stay Strong, and believe me, it does not have to be horrible, but we have to accept and Love our Brain and treat it with the respect it deserves. I have a great friendship with my Brain.