What is an acceptable "rescue" dose?

[[Ry...]]

The situation: my current dose has me fairly non-functional during the day. Tomorrow I have to, have to do some things that can't not be done. I take .625 before bed. If I pop .25 in the morning, one time, will it mess me up or is just once okay?

 

Thanks in advance. Heading to bed and I'll see if there are any responses when I wake and make my call from there. 

[[er...]]

I don't believe there is any acceptable rescue dose if you're serious about getting free of benzos- you should never go backwards.  I don't even get how that term originated..

[[lo...]]

Take it tonight might not work tomorrow.

[[To...]]

Don't take the "rescue dose". It's how all reinstatement's or relapses start and I've been there many times. I mean think about it, is it really going to help you to get those things done better ... I don't think so. Or you would have to take a massive amount because I bet you have reached tolerance with what you're currently tapering off of. Also the "rescue dose" will be a step stone to the second one. This circle is going to repeat itself each time you need to "get some things done" I am afraid. I get tempted too to take it just once, but I don't want to go there anymore, the second "rescue dose" might be later on the week and just around the corner and then you got a testimony and another post in here of "I took 2 rescue doses this week, please help !!!!"   

[[Ch...]]

'Rescue doses' can be a slippery slope.  Though no one else can tell you what to do with this, I think we are all cheering you on to not take an extra dose.  Ashton writes about one-off doses pre-surgery but I'm not really on board with that, either. 

 

You may surprise yourself with how able you are when you must be.  I'd give it a go and see ... you may do just fine while you're out.  I always could do what I absolutely had to do, even though I felt like I couldn't.

 

Best of luck tomorrow. 

[[Ce...]]

I guess I don't understand something...how do you know you are going to need a rescue dose? A rescue dose is something you really don't take until the moment you need to. It's nothing you can foresee.

 

Are you stable in your doses at this time? If not, you need to stabilize, before you can continue tapering successfully.

 

I would  figure this out before taking rescue doses and it's really not a good idea to 'plan' a rescue dose.

 

Best of luck to you!  ~CeCe   

[[To...]]

I don't believe there is any acceptable rescue dose if you're serious about getting free of benzos- you should never go backwards.  I don't even get how that term originated..

 

 

Doctors invented the term. It's in the same category as "take as needed" which actually means "take as much as you want during the day or whatever". Then we get hooked. It's all commercial. It's a business, lets get real here, they don't want us to be sane. They just want to sell as much pills as possible. But don't ask for Valium to taper off though ...   

[[so...]]

Ashton writes about one-off doses pre-surgery but I'm not really on board with that, either. 

 

I'm living proof that the pre-surgery dose (see signature) can derail you. To be fair though, they up dosed me AND gave me 5 mg valium pre-surgery, so it wasn't quite a one-off dose. I'd do that one-off dose again ONLY for surgery and ONLY if I was absolutely freaking out uncontrollably (which I was).

 

So I'm in the "no rescue dose" camp too. If I were you (and I've got an event coming up on October 7th so I will be soon), I'd take an extra dose of mindfulness and maybe drink some relaxing tea if you allow yourself that. I like Yogi stress relief or Celestial Seasonings tension tamer. Some don't like to mix the herbal ingredients with their taper, but I find it helps me when I need a little calm.

 

Meditate, ground yourself, find your center. Better than any rescue dose you could ever take.

[[Ry...]]

Eric: very serious. Not sure where the term originated either; I just happened to read a few posts of people discounting the severity of a one-off dose and was curious as to whether or not it was really applicable.

 

locutus: Haha, thanks but I decided to pass. Even if I had decided to take it, taking it at night would negate the goal of eliminating interdose withdrawal for one day.

 

Totalrelapse: I did consider that. I'm only at .625 and if I started cheating now, where would it end? I've not once considered reinstating fully but you're 100% correct on an extra dose being the first step on the path to throwing in the towel. Nothing comparible, but a similar thing happened to me after I quit smoking. "Just one" rolled over into me now being a smoker again 3 months later.

 

Challis: Sage advice. I do now plan to just push through the day and do what needs to be done. I'm pretty stubborn and refuse to accept defeat.

 

Cece: it's a matter of not feeling well for most of the day then feeling 100% when I take my nightly dose. Perhaps I misused the term, "rescue dose" as it doesn't apply to rescue from a state of freaking out for me. I tend to stay calm even when everything feels terrible. It's more along the lines of having no energy and being in a low, depressive state unlike anything I've ever experienced. When I take it at night, all of that fades.

 

Hence, it would be a "rescue" from feeling those things. I'm not really sure how I would define "stable." Am I an anxious wreck with unbearable physical symptoms? No. Have I generally felt like crap through this whole thing? Absolutely.

 

I have good days and bad days. I wait for the good days to become consistent before I make a cut.

 

Solace: I love meditation. It helps me with everything from general spikes in anxiety to intrusive thoughts to insomnia. It really is a life saver.

 

 

Thanks, everyone. If I had any uncertainty regarding the path I need to take in order to really kick this thing's ass, it's gone. This board is pretty awesome as far as support groups go.

[[er...]]

I don't believe there is any acceptable rescue dose if you're serious about getting free of benzos- you should never go backwards.  I don't even get how that term originated..

 

 

Doctors invented the term. It's in the same category as "take as needed" which actually means "take as much as you want during the day or whatever". Then we get hooked. It's all commercial. It's a business, lets get real here, they don't want us to be sane. They just want to sell as much pills as possible. But don't ask for Valium to taper off though ...   

 

I completely agree with you, this medical system in the USA is totally sick.. If I didn't experience it, I'd have a hard time believing it.. It's like an Orwellian nightmare!

[[so...]]

Thanks, everyone. If I had any uncertainty regarding the path I need to take in order to really kick this thing's ass, it's gone. This board is pretty awesome as far as support groups go.

 

Love this! You made the right choice.

[[Ry...]]

I'm glad I did lol. I think I'll be just fine.

[[To...]]

Also I'm pretty convinced and sure of that you would actually have felt worse when taking that "rescue dose". There's the disappointment and all afterwards and there would have been guilt and shame, I've been there many times and I don't want to go there anymore. You're letting yourself down by taking "rescue doses". 

[Guest [su...]]

None never ever take a rescue dose that is my experience.

.If i take a rescue dose I am back to basic again. And all my work is gone..

I took a rescue pill of only 2,5 mg to get my terror w/d to disappear but it didn't I had to up dose and that destroyed 3 months of hard taper.

I was so stupid. But the w/d was a terror. Down to 2,5 mg Valium from 20 mg way to quick taper...

Now I have 14 mg. My rescue pill started a w/d with such abstinence's that I thought I was going to die

and have seizures. So I had no choice 

 

I had throw all my rescue pills in the bin. I have a box with my dose for the day and my PHD  give me my medicine with

30 days between my new prescribtion of Valium.

[[Ce...]]

I think it's a good thing it happened the way it did for me; I would be so bad at this. I feel for all of you struggling with this. It's so unfair   

[[Be...]]

I had to take a rescue dose when I got a cat scan of my kidneys or i would have had a massive panic attack.....but it didnt set me back 

[[Ry...]]

I survived the whole day and am so glad that I chose not to take it.

[[Ce...]]

I survived the whole day and am so glad that I chose not to take it.

 

 

YAY!!!   Way to go  Ryuuka! 

[[Ry...]]

The hilarious part is that I never attributed being "okay" to my klono till I started tapering it. Ah, this winding and terrible road.

 

Cece, how are you feeling? You went off soooo fast. I sometimes wonder what would have happened had I just c/Ted from 1mg

[[so...]]

I survived the whole day and am so glad that I chose not to take it.

 

Best news of the day! Happy to hear it!

[[Ce...]]

The hilarious part is that I never attributed being "okay" to my klono till I started tapering it. Ah, this winding and terrible road.

 

Cece, how are you feeling? You went off soooo fast. I sometimes wonder what would have happened had I just c/Ted from 1mg

 

I know what you mean Ryuuka, I remember referring to K as my 'normal' pill, because during interdose w/d all I had to do was take another one to feel normal again! How crazy is that??

 

RT/Ct from 3 was extremely rough. I will never put myself in that position again. I remember praying to God to die! That's pretty crazy, too. The days were so long. It was a nightmare.  But I've got my spirits back and feel like living again. That's what I intend to do! 

[[To...]]

The hilarious part is that I never attributed being "okay" to my klono till I started tapering it. Ah, this winding and terrible road.

 

Cece, how are you feeling? You went off soooo fast. I sometimes wonder what would have happened had I just c/Ted from 1mg

 

I know what you mean Ryuuka, I remember referring to K as my 'normal' pill, because during interdose w/d all I had to do was take another one to feel normal again! How crazy is that??

 

RT/Ct from 3 was extremely rough. I will never put myself in that position again. I remember praying to God to die! That's pretty crazy, too. The days were so long. It was a nightmare.  But I've got my spirits back and feel like living again. That's what I intend to do! 

 

 

  No, it's not. I've been doing that on a regular basis lately but He never listens to any of my prayers anyway ....     

[[Ce...]]

The hilarious part is that I never attributed being "okay" to my klono till I started tapering it. Ah, this winding and terrible road.

 

Cece, how are you feeling? You went off soooo fast. I sometimes wonder what would have happened had I just c/Ted from 1mg

 

I know what you mean Ryuuka, I remember referring to K as my 'normal' pill, because during interdose w/d all I had to do was take another one to feel normal again! How crazy is that??

 

RT/Ct from 3 was extremely rough. I will never put myself in that position again. I remember praying to God to die! That's pretty crazy, too. The days were so long. It was a nightmare.  But I've got my spirits back and feel like living again. That's what I intend to do! 

 

 

  No, it's not. I've been doing that on a regular basis lately but he never listens to any of my prayers anyway ....     

 

 

I can relate only too well!!!