Learning the hard way to not rush the taper

[[Jo...]]

Hi. I started a daily micro taper by weighing on a gram scale via the Jim Hawk application program here on B.B. starting on March 4. My starting dose, which I was taking for many years was 1.5 mg of Kolonopin. As we know, the recommended rate of titration is between 5% and 10% of your total daily dose over a two week period. I started with the most conservative approach and chose 5%. I started while in tolerance withdrawal so I had symptoms right from the beginning. Anyway, once I started my taper on March 4 I had the usual waves and windows. It wasn’t horrible but it wasn’t great either for many weeks. Then about ten days ago I started to get big windows and felt pretty good. So, I naively bumped myself up to a 10% cut rate. I got slammed with symptoms. So then I slowed it down to 7% but still had heavy symptoms. Starting this morning I am going back to my 5% cut rate and I will never rush it again. If it takes longer, so be it.

 

I would really appreciate it if anyone can tell me that they had similar experiences when trying to rush but then stabilized when went back slower. I am very scared and could use some hope here. Thank you very much.

[[te...]]

John 123

I did the same in the beginning of my taper . I was just sitting here this morning and thinking to myself, these pills are so small

and maybe I could just cut out more of them faster, then I read your post and it so reminded me of what I did about 11 months  ago.

I know it is hard we just want to be done and feel better , feel like a regular person does, but I guess we have to go the slow and steady pace and take it one day at a time.

I feel for you but just stay strong . wishing you better days to come.

Lisa

[[Jo...]]

Thank you very much Lisa for responding. You mentioned how you felt when the pills got so small. I am curious because I am just getting to the point where my first pill has become so small I can’t shave it anymore. I am thus going to crush a pill with a pedal and mortar. I am told to then weigh the correct powder and eat it with apple sauce. Is that what most people do? It seems odd to me but I can’t think of any other way to ingest the powder. Thank you for your help.

[[te...]]

I am not sure , I file and weigh my pills and I dose three times a day because ativan is short acting.

My pills are so tiny at this point , I am going to go to liquid . I really dont want to change anything but I have no choice at this point.

I am sure someone who know about crushing will respond to your question .

 

[[Jo...]]

Thank you Tech21. I would like to go to liquid too at this point but I simply don’t understand how to do that. It seems so confusing to me in terms of solvent, measuring, etc. is there anything that you can please direct me to that would explain it clearly how to do a liquid daily micro taper? I would really appreciate it.

[[Fo...]]

Thanks John for the timely reminder. 

I should have “slow”  tattooed on my fore head

The discomfort I am in due to fast drops is enough to actually lose the plot and end in hospital

Learnt the hard way.

 

Tech good luck with your liquid taper and congrats for getting so low in benzos!

Dick

[[Pe...]]

Hi John,

Liquid is a very smooth way to reduce - I did cut and hold and even micro reductions but it was always bumpy.  Liquid is simple and I think you'll find it easier to do than shaving pills.  Strat with a smallish reduction of maybe %5 over 10-14 days once you've adjusted to utilizing liquid and feel confident.  You can change the reduction easily to suit your needs.  Early on I went very slowly - over time I was able to increase according to my threshold for symptoms.  Head over to the titration board and ask for help getting started. One of the gurus of titration will be happy to assist.

 

-PH 🌷

 

 

[[Fo...]]

John

You need to go to titration plans on the site to work out how to reduce by liquid method.

Klon is strong size for size so I sympathise.

You could do a switch to diazepam which is about 22 mg and the switch is also on the site.

With Diaz you have the choice of pill strengths and even the two mg can be cut to 0.5 without too much trouble.  Diaz can be taken mainly at night if you have sleep issues.

Just my thoughts NOT a must do at all.

Best wishes

Dick

[[te...]]

Dick.  I hope you are feeling better soon . It is not easy .

John go to the support group forum and then go under daily micro taper support group

Ask for help there and builder or bob will come up with help for you on how to do it .

[[Li...]]

Hi John,

 

I totally knocked the wind out of my sails with a too rapid taper. I didn't have a plan other than getting off the benzo and was cutting .5 Xanax pills. Got some .25 pills but still ended up with a 25% drop with reducing by half a pill.

 

Titration scared the crap out of me, but it made a world of difference. It turned out to be much easier than I thought it would be. I pictured it being like a chemistry lab class when it's been more like making Nestle chocolate milk from powder.

 

Different things work for different people, but I don't see how trying DLMT could hurt. If it doesn't work smoother, you could go back to dry cutting.

 

 

[[mo...]]

John, I understand the need to be done. I have done the same thing moving too rapidly but you know what, we kind of have to try different things  to know what speed works for us. If you experience intense symptoms, the  good thing is you can always hold at the same dose and in my experience it has given my brain a chance to “reset” and makes the taper easier moving forward. It’s tough to hold especially if you’re goal oriented because it feels like you’re delaying things. But it really can help to make a smoother process. Our brains heal at the speed they want to heal. I will say when I first started my taper it was very tough then after a very long hold I was cutting at large amounts, almost a whole .5 pill in a few months with low symptoms. So sometimes our brains are tolerant of large cuts and sometimes not. Now I’m moving at a snails pace at .001 a day, hopefully no less until I finish in 35 days. So my point is listen to your body and you’ll know how much to taper. It can be so frustrating and requires so much patience it’s unreal. I know you’ll receive the help you need on the micro taper boards. Bob has been so helpful to me. All the best in your taper.

[[Ta...]]

Cutting too fast can definitely cause waves.i also learned that the hard way.

 

But even when you are going slow, you can get slammed with waves, I think, if something stressful activates your CNS. But when you get hit really hard, you understand the need to slow back down and trust the process. Thousands of people have gotten off of these successfully by moving slowly and being kind to their brains and their bodies, in the process.

 

it's easy when you're doing ok to try to rush things. I struggle with that as well. But I think I'm going to try to begin focusing on being thankful for the days that I do have... because once I jump, there is so much that is unknown. So, even though I'm not making progress today, I'm choosing to be grateful that I'm not experiencing my worst day yet, I think I may be coming out of a brutal wave, because I slept better last night, and because I won't always be on this medicine, and, in fact, am so so close to jumping for good. I am going to focus on loving my daughter today and my husband outwardly and obviously, because I need to fill up their tanks when I'm able, so that we all can cross the finish line together. I don't just want to heal, I want to have my family and life intact when I do, so that means that I care about reducing... sure... but that I also care for the other most important aspects of  my life at the same time. I think changing my focus to that will surely help. I'm also a go getter so I need a goal to strive towards every day. Maybe we should make ourselves a sticker chart like kids do when they've completed all their chores for the day 😂

[[Fo...]]

Exactly Mountaintop!

And good luck with however long it takes.

Dick

[[mo...]]

Exactly Mountaintop!

And good luck with however long it takes.

Dick

 

Thank you Forty! I think I’ve finally learned patience maybe? Ha

 

I was going to add John, things have gone well for me the past week so I was thinking last night that I would speed up a bit this weekend, but that’s what lead to my last wave. Hard to leave well enough alone lol. Hopefully all will go gracefully the next 35 days and no more waves taking it slow.