30 year Prescribed Diazepam User

[[ro...]]

I have joined the forum because I'm seeking support as I taper off Diazepam. I was prescribed 5 mg as needed about 30 years ago, but never used more than 2.5 mg and not every day. I started having very strange symptoms a few months ago and never considered the possibility that they were caused by the Diazepam. Though it seems like a low amount, I am surprised by the intensity of the symptoms sometimes.

 

My doctor told me to cut the 2.5 in half and take every other day, then after a while try to spread the number of days out between doses. I couldn't handle that and started 2 weeks ago with a little more than half. Now I am doing half... 1.25 mg. I also take A beta blocker for high BP.

 

I can't go out much, just walks in the neighborhood. Tried to go to church last week, barely made it through...wanted to get home. Symptoms I experience most are nausea, fatigue, excessive anxiety at the littlest things, sweating, negative thought, and feeling wierd in general. A few weeks ago they were so intense I ended up in the emergency room.

 

Looking forward to learning from you all.

[Guest [Le...]]

Hello, roughride - welcome to BenzoBuddies, and congratulations on beginning to taper from the diazepam! 

 

You have cut back quite a lot, and rather quickly, which would certainly account for the symptoms you've been having. But you've come to the right place to figure out how to stabilize and adjust your taper so that you can have a smoother ride going forward.

 

I'm so glad you decided to join the forum - you'll find plenty of information and support here. Our members have gone through all aspects of benzodiazepine use and withdrawal, so you'll be able to connect with others who understand what you're going through and can tell you what has worked for them.

 

Please feel free to post to any of the specialized boards, which can all be accessed from the BenzoBuddies Community Forum homepage. Based on the information provided in your introduction, the following links may be a good starting place for you.

 

  General Taper Plans

 

  Withdrawal Support During Your Taper

 

When you have a chance, we highly recommend that you take a look at The Ashton Manual, which is an authoritative source on what to expect during withdrawal and recovery, authored by Dr. C. Heather Ashton, who is an expert in the field. It provides a great deal of information that can be very reassuring during any stage of this process, including a list of common symptoms with helpful explanations on the reasons for their existence.

 

For those who are currently tapering, we suggest reducing no faster than 5-10% every 10-14 days, and some taper even slower than that. One exception: very short-term users of a few weeks or less may be able to taper faster than that. 

 

Please take the time to Create a Signature. This will allow members to see where you are in the process, so that they can better support you.

 

Again, welcome!

Leslie 

[[ro...]]

Thank you for the welcome, I will be back soon to fill out the signature and look at the links provided. I did find the Ashton information early on, it is very helpful...I am trying to decide whether I should change from taking every other day to every, and how to adjust the amount down to do that. I'll be back to look around later 

[[on...]]

Welcome! Like you I was prescribed a benzo for thirty years- mine was xanax. Just wanted to let you know even with all those years it is possible to get off the benzos with a gradual taper.  I took my last xanax in May. It is difficult- not going to deny  that- but so worth it in the end to be free of that pill. You were already not feeling well from the valium- as was I on the xanax- so you will be so glad to be free. Benzo Buddies is a great place for moral support and advice. It was a godsend to me during my taper.

[[ro...]]

Thank you, ontheroadme, it is encouraging to hear your positive words. I know so many who freely talk about taking Xanax for anxiety like it's nothing at all, and my response was always I take something too...never thinking that anything like this would happen. Especially since I didn't take it daily. I wish I could warn all of those people, but it will have to wait until I can handle being out and about. I wish more was written on the circular that is given to you when you get your med, I found a little something about withdrawal when stopping, but it didn't emphasize the danger of becoming tolerant. At least this answers a lot of questions as to what has been going on with me for too long. Thanks again!

[[Bu...]]

Hi Rough,

 

Welcome to the forum; this place saved me and helped me immensely. I agree with what was said above, you tapered pretty fast. That would explain ALL of what you are going through. It may be hard to believe right now but all of this will pass and you will feel 1000 times better in time... Time is the one factor that we can not predict... 

 

I will be brief and specific, but do confirm or deny everything with your physician.

 

First of all get some Suntheanine! This was by far the best supplement for me during my taper and jump. It will take away many of the symptoms, Big Time! Take 200mg 2 or 3 times a day as needed.

 

Get to a stable dose where your symptoms are the mildest as you can get them. Even if you have to up-dose slightly.

 

Stay at that stable dose for a few days or a week.

 

Then start a liquid daily taper of about .03mg per day. This can be done by taking a 5mg tablet and mixing it with 500ml of water. You can then easily reduce your daily dose by 3 ml per day (same as .03mg)

 

If along the way you feel the need stay at the current dose for a few days and then continue the taper, that is fine.

 

As you get lower you might want to taper only 2ml per day. I tapered all the way to 25ml at which point I jumped.

 

Don't obsess over this. Stay away from Benzobuddies if necessary and especially the negative horror stories, They are rare.

 

Learn to deep belly breathe and even meditate, do this throughout the day and if symptoms flare up.

 

Eat well, drink lots of water. Take vitamins, NO Alcohol! Limit caffeine. Do some exercise everyday.

 

Pray all day long, feel the spirit imbue your body and mind... Ask Jesus to help you heal. remind him of what he said in John 14:13 when he said "You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father." He will help so that you will be stronger and more humble and so that you will serve God and help others in need as well. 

 

If I can help explain the liquid daily taper to you as well as what supplies you will need, just ask. 

 

Good Luck to you my friend, you CAN do this!

 

 

Wilson

 

 

[[ro...]]

Hi Buhbye,

 

Thanks for your info filled message. I think I have some ?l-theanine? Which is in Suntheanine but was concerned it might stimulate the GABA receptors so was looking into that more.

 

I am having trouble getting a stable dose as I never took daily. I reached tolerance while at 2.5 mg diazepam not taking it daily. When testing myself w/d symptoms would start two days after taking in no stress environment. So doctor has me doing 1.25 every other day, not going well. If you were me would you change to an every day routine and how much would you take taking into consideration amounts I have shared, which are relatively low, I know. Suggestions appreciated. From that, if you could suggest how to do your taper I'd appreciate it. I have some 2 mg pills and some 5 mg pills.

 

Thanks for the verse and reminder to pray...God is faithful.

[[Bu...]]

Hi Buhbye,

 

Thanks for your info filled message. I think I have some ?l-theanine? Which is in Suntheanine but was concerned it might stimulate the GABA receptors so was looking into that more.

 

I am having trouble getting a stable dose as I never took daily. I reached tolerance while at 2.5 mg diazepam not taking it daily. When testing myself w/d symptoms would start two days after taking in no stress environment. So doctor has me doing 1.25 every other day, not going well. If you were me would you change to an every day routine and how much would you take taking into consideration amounts I have shared, which are relatively low, I know. Suggestions appreciated. From that, if you could suggest how to do your taper I'd appreciate it. I have some 2 mg pills and some 5 mg pills.

 

Thanks for the verse and reminder to pray...God is faithful.

 

Hi Rough Ride,

 

First of all you are very welcome, I only hope that my advice makes this easier for you. Again I am not a physician and I do not know all of your particulars; but most doctors are woefully ill-informed as to what this drug can do, especially over so many years.

 

Let your doctor know what your plan is. Maybe print some of the Ashton manual to get him up to speed. I agree with Dr. Ashton that slow and steady is the best way to go. Give your receptors time to readjust this can take many months.

 

Theanine will not affect your GABA receptors or slow down the healing. Here is a good link explaining how it works on our CNS.

http://www.calmclinic.com/supplements-for-anxiety/l-theanine

 

Having said all of that. My answers to your questions.

 

Yes I would and did dose daily. Much less stressful on your body and brain. Based upon what you have posted, I would think that a dose of around 2mg per day should get you stable, maybe 2.5mg. You will know as you titrate up when you feel stable as the wd symptoms are lessened.

 

Once you get stable stay there for a week or so, then begin the liquid daily taper. Here is how it's done.

 

You will want to mix up one 5mg tablet with 500ml of water.

You can dissolve it in a little vodka if you want. But the total liquid is 500ml.

(I will link below to the items I bought on Amazon for about $10...)

 

Store this liquid in a separate mason jar after mixing.

The liquid now converts to milliliters, so 5mg tablet made 500ml of liquid. 100ml equals 1mg.

 

You will use a measuring syringe to draw off the amount that you need each dose.

 

Assuming that you stabilize at a dose of 2.5mg... The first day you could take 1-2mg tablets plus 50ml of liquid which would equal a 2.5mg dose.

 

At a 1ml (.01mg) taper each day, your liquid amount would go down 49ml, 48ml, 47ml, 46ml, etc.

 

At that rate you would be at .25mg dose in 175 days.

 

By mixing up 500ml at a time you can get several days worth of liquid at a time.

 

Perhaps it was just me but I wanted to get this over with so I tapered quicker at 5ml a day and then 3ml as I got lower. You could probably taper 2ml per day and slow down if wd effects occur. Then move to 1ml per day as you get below 1mg. I never really had any bad wd sx's at all.

 

Let me know if you need any clarification, okay? This is not that difficult once you figure it out, in fact it was kind of fun... 

 

Wilson

 

Here are the 3 things that you will need:

 

500ml glass beaker

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006VYXZ88/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

10ml syringe

https://www.amazon.com/Pack-10ML-10CC-Syringes-needle/dp/B00EXY3P2E/ref=sr_1_2_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1477254067&sr=8-2&keywords=plastic%2Bsyringe%2B10ml&th=1

Mason Jar

https://www.amazon.com/Ball-Mason-Jar-Lid-Regular/dp/B00LB69GK2/ref=sr_1_6?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1477254146&sr=1-6&keywords=mason+jars+with+lids

[[ro...]]

Thank you again Buhbye,

 

Did you take all once a day, or split the amount to 2 or 3 doses a day and if so when? And the potency of the diazepam doesn't dissipate when in the water?

 

You are very helpful, thanks for the suggestions.

[[Bu...]]

Thank you again Buhbye,

 

Did you take all once a day, or split the amount to 2 or 3 doses a day and if so when? And the potency of the diazepam doesn't dissipate when in the water?

 

You are very helpful, thanks for the suggestions.

 

Hi Rough,

 

I took all of my dose at night as sleep has been my issue all along. That's the nice thing about valium, if there is anything at all, it has a long half life so once a day worked well for me.

 

No the valium does not dissipate. But do keep the mixture in a sealed jar away from light.

 

 

Wilson 

[[ro...]]

Thank you Buhbye, you have been very helpful. I will take all the onfo into account as I decide on the course I will take. God bless!

[[on...]]

rough ride- just checking in to see how you are doing....are you still taking the diazepam every other day? Is that working for you? Or  did you decide on a liquid taper?  I wanted to mention that another option is what I did- tapering by dry cutting the pills- reducing the amount I took every two weeks or so.  My taper took 5 months. With that approach there is less equipment needed and it seemed simpler to me. Hope you are doing well.

[[ro...]]

ontheroad I am stabilizing again, see sig lines, still every other day. I am getting what is needed for liquid, but open to anything that works. I do think that dry does sound easier, but am not sure how I will be at making the tiny cuts :-) Still deciding...I cut some off a 2.5 (half of a 5) but am not sure what I'm taking...maybe a little over 2...and will be going over to 2 mg pills every other day next week. Thanks for checking in.

[[ro...]]

BuhbyeBenzos Or anyone else,

 

I am at 1 mg Diaz per day, and want to switch over to liquid. I have what is needed to make 5 mg diazepam into 500 ml liquid. I have 10 ml syringe marked at 1/2 ml points.

 

Do 10 syringes equal a 1 mg? Would taking 10 syringes full of the liquid equal 1 mg? Is that what I would take?

 

And how often do I reduce by a ml?

 

Thank you.

[[so...]]

Roughride,

 

I'm going to chime in here and recommend you take NO supplements.  Your CNS is fragile and supplements give your nervous system something else to have to deal with.  For most people, even if supplements seem to help initially, they stop working and eventually turn on you.

 

Everyone has to find out what works and what doesn't work, so I just wanted to offer up my experience.

 

Good luck,

 

Sofa

[[ro...]]

Thank you for your thoughts Sofa, I will consider what you have shared. I am taking the supplements that I've always taken, have not added anything, so not sure it would be good to stop suddenly.

[Guest [Le...]]

Thank you for your thoughts Sofa, I will consider what you have shared. I am taking the supplements that I've always taken, have not added anything, so not sure it would be good to stop suddenly.

 

Don't worry, roughride, no need to stop something that is working - and not every supplement will turn on you. I've used certain supplements throughout withdrawal and into recovery, but had to stop others that revved me up. Your body will let you know right away when something isn't right for you.

 

As Sofa said, 'everyone has to find out what works and what doesn't work.'

 

 

Roughride,

 

I'm going to chime in here and recommend you take NO supplements.  Your CNS is fragile and supplements give your nervous system something else to have to deal with.  For most people, even if supplements seem to help initially, they stop working and eventually turn on you.

 

Everyone has to find out what works and what doesn't work, so I just wanted to offer up my experience.

 

Good luck,

 

Sofa

[[ro...]]

Thank you Leslie, I appreciate you and Sofa for looking out for me. I take a natural multi, fish oil, lecithin, vitamin d3, biotin for hair loss, vitamin c, have taken those daily for a few years. Avoiding extra B's, and read up on things that stimulate the GABA receptors...love herbal remedies but avoiding valerian, chamomile, Passion flower etc, the things that would help with sleep. Magnesium doesn't agree with me either.