Good day followed by a bad day the next. Normal?

[[he...]]

Hi all,

 

I am on day 16 of cutting from 1mg valium to 0.5mg. Hasn't been easy but yesterday I had a good day pretty much the entire day. Today however, much different. Anxiety since I woke up, cog fog, headache, etc. I know I heard about "windows and waves" but just need some reassurance that this is normal. After feeling good yesterday, was hoping I was through the worst of the cut.

[[To...]]

Hi all,

 

I am on day 16 of cutting from 1mg valium to 0.5mg. Hasn't been easy but yesterday I had a good day pretty much the entire day. Today however, much different. Anxiety since I woke up, cog fog, headache, etc. I know I heard about "windows and waves" but just need some reassurance that this is normal. After feeling good yesterday, was hoping I was through the worst of the cut.

 

 

This has been my life for the last 20 years.   

[[he...]]

Hi all,

 

I am on day 16 of cutting from 1mg valium to 0.5mg. Hasn't been easy but yesterday I had a good day pretty much the entire day. Today however, much different. Anxiety since I woke up, cog fog, headache, etc. I know I heard about "windows and waves" but just need some reassurance that this is normal. After feeling good yesterday, was hoping I was through the worst of the cut.

 

 

This has been my life for the last 20 years.   

 

Sigh, sorry to hear that. I've had enough of this in just a few months I can't imagine 20 years.

[[To...]]

Hi all,

 

I am on day 16 of cutting from 1mg valium to 0.5mg. Hasn't been easy but yesterday I had a good day pretty much the entire day. Today however, much different. Anxiety since I woke up, cog fog, headache, etc. I know I heard about "windows and waves" but just need some reassurance that this is normal. After feeling good yesterday, was hoping I was through the worst of the cut.

 

 

This has been my life for the last 20 years.   

 

Sigh, sorry to hear that. I've had enough of this in just a few months I can't imagine 20 years.

 

 

 

Yes my life has been one good day and one bad day for over 20 years now. I would strongly recommend to jump whenever you are ready. It has been day 16 you say on 0,5 mg ? It won't get much better by waiting 16 more I am afraid. You did a very fast taper I have to say. You can hold as long as needed but then jump and get this over with and never ever take benzo's again !!! I've been on opiates like Oxynorm and Oxycontin (Oxycodone) high dosages for a long time. I did a cold turkey off of them and was back to my old self in 3 weeks !! This is the difference between opiates and benzo's. It was like a walk in the park. Benzo's are the drugs to stay away from !!!! By God I wish I was on Oxycodone instead of these. It would be a cake walk to get rid of them compared to benzo's.

[[he...]]

Hi all,

 

I am on day 16 of cutting from 1mg valium to 0.5mg. Hasn't been easy but yesterday I had a good day pretty much the entire day. Today however, much different. Anxiety since I woke up, cog fog, headache, etc. I know I heard about "windows and waves" but just need some reassurance that this is normal. After feeling good yesterday, was hoping I was through the worst of the cut.

 

 

This has been my life for the last 20 years.   

 

Sigh, sorry to hear that. I've had enough of this in just a few months I can't imagine 20 years.

 

 

 

Yes my life has been one good day and one bad day for over 20 years now. I would strongly recommend to jump whenever you are ready. It has been day 16 you say on 0,5 mg ? It won't get much better by waiting 16 more I am afraid. You did a very fast taper I have to say. You can hold as long as needed but then jump and get this over with and never ever take benzo's again !!! I've been on opiates like Oxynorm and Oxycontin (Oxycodone) high dosages for a long time. I did a cold turkey off of them and was back to my old self in 3 weeks !! This is the difference between opiates and benzo's. It was like a walk in the park. Benzo's are the drugs to stay away from !!!! By God I wish I was on Oxycodone instead of these. It would be a cake walk to get rid of them compared to benzo's.

 

I have been through opiate w/d more times than I can count including an awful one off of OC 10 years ago. It was brutal. That being said, I completely agree with you; I'd much rather deal with that again than benzo withdrawal. So much quicker.

 

I didn't realize I was going too quickly with my taper until I joined BB, but I guess it's too late at this point. I was considering going to .25mg and holding there for 2 weeks before jumping or you think I should just jump from the 0.5mg?

[[so...]]

I'd recommend holding where you are until you feel more stable. V has a long half life, so more w/d symptoms may show up. Once you feel ready, make a small cut, and hold again. Give your brain the time it needs to adjust before reducing again.

 

Totally normal to feel OK one day and crappy the next. This is the non-linear nature of benzo w/d. Very frustrating.

[[To...]]

I'd recommend holding where you are until you feel more stable. V has a long half life, so more w/d symptoms may show up. Once you feel ready, make a small cut, and hold again. Give your brain the time it needs to adjust before reducing again.

 

Totally normal to feel OK one day and crappy the next. This is the non-linear nature of benzo w/d. Very frustrating.

 

 

Yes do what she says !

 

Going from 5 mg to 3 mg and hold for 10 days cut again is a bit fast even in my book ...   

 

You can't do this stuff below 5 mg because it's considered brutally fast but anyways now that you did it anyways and you made it just hold for now...   

 

Nice tapering by the way ...  Just forget about the 4 mg ...   

 

Did straight crossover, was pretty straightforward.   

 

Man, these doctors ... Auschwitz related ...   

 

Do you think they hold seminars for coming up with this stuff ??   

[[Er...]]

I would probably hold too.  You can see my below schedule and I actually jumped from .2mg just to make it as easy as possible.  I was in no rush at the end like I was in the beginning. It took me basically a month to go from .5mg to .2mg

[[he...]]

Thank you for the replies. I will hold on 0.5 for about 3 weeks total, go to .25 for two weeks then jump. Time to get off this stuff.

 

My primary doctor set up my taper this way. She set it up when I switched to valium. She said 5mg to 4 to 3 to 2 to 1 then jump, holding cuts for 10 days. I didn't realize how fast that was until joining this site which is why I am cutting the last 1mg slowly even though she said jump from there.

[[he...]]

I would probably hold too.  You can see my below schedule and I actually jumped from .2mg just to make it as easy as possible.  I was in no rush at the end like I was in the beginning. It took me basically a month to go from .5mg to .2mg

 

Thank you.. I will jump around .25. Doing dry cutting so that's the best I can do. I like how you were able to jump on New Years Day, kind of like a resolution. The timing worked out well. It's been 9 months, may I ask how those months have gone with w/d symptoms etc. since jumping?

[[Er...]]

I would probably hold too.  You can see my below schedule and I actually jumped from .2mg just to make it as easy as possible.  I was in no rush at the end like I was in the beginning. It took me basically a month to go from .5mg to .2mg

 

Thank you.. I will jump around .25. Doing dry cutting so that's the best I can do. I like how you were able to jump on New Years Day, kind of like a resolution. The timing worked out well. It's been 9 months, may I ask how those months have gone with w/d symptoms etc. since jumping?

 

Yes the timing just happened to be perfect for me.  I was dry cutting too and using a gram scale to weigh out my doses. It was time consuming but worth it for me because I would obsess over making sure the weights were right.

 

Since jumping it has been up and down.  Month 1 wasn't terrible but I didn't feel great.  Month 2 was pretty rough because of the long 1/2 life of V.  Since then I've had windows and waves come and go. Some have been almost as bad as acute.  Sxs come and go as well and some will pop up months later that I never had during my taper.  I still have body twitches all over all the time which I've had since my taper started and the 4am rushes come and go (I currently have them though not nearly as intense).  The anxiety (mostly health anxiety) which was my worst sx has been pretty good for the past few weeks after being pretty bad months 7-8.  It's been no cake walk and I had hoped to be farther along but I'm definitely healing and my timeline is no guarantee of yours.  Good luck!!

[[he...]]

I would probably hold too.  You can see my below schedule and I actually jumped from .2mg just to make it as easy as possible.  I was in no rush at the end like I was in the beginning. It took me basically a month to go from .5mg to .2mg

 

Thank you.. I will jump around .25. Doing dry cutting so that's the best I can do. I like how you were able to jump on New Years Day, kind of like a resolution. The timing worked out well. It's been 9 months, may I ask how those months have gone with w/d symptoms etc. since jumping?

 

Yes the timing just happened to be perfect for me.  I was dry cutting too and using a gram scale to weigh out my doses. It was time consuming but worth it for me because I would obsess over making sure the weights were right.

 

Since jumping it has been up and down.  Month 1 wasn't terrible but I didn't feel great.  Month 2 was pretty rough because of the long 1/2 life of V.  Since then I've had windows and waves come and go. Some have been almost as bad as acute.  Sxs come and go as well and some will pop up months later that I never had during my taper.  I still have body twitches all over all the time which I've had since my taper started and the 4am rushes come and go (I currently have them though not nearly as intense).  The anxiety (mostly health anxiety) which was my worst sx has been pretty good for the past few weeks after being pretty bad months 7-8.  It's been no cake walk and I had hoped to be farther along but I'm definitely healing and my timeline is no guarantee of yours.  Good luck!!

 

Thanks for the detailed recap. I can relate to the health anxiety. Probably my worst symptom as well. Always fearing that something else is wrong with me and considering rushing to the ER. I hate that feeling.

 

I'm glad to see you are staying positive and healing. It amazes me that you have had such a time after being on it for so little time. I was only initially on ativan and klonopin for maybe 6-8 weeks. People told me it was addicting etc. but I didn't think anything of it, thought it was for long term users. Boy was I wrong.