The Long Hold Support Group

[[be...]]

Heathcliff, IMO if you are very symptomatic, your body hasn't adjusted to the decrease. If you give it time, it will return to homeostasis. It just depends on how fast you want to get off. I believe it takes the body just as long to heal if you go fast or slow. Going slow and holding make it less painful by minimizing the sensitization of the CNS. The goal is to feel good on the way down and jump with minimal sxs. Listen to your body and you'll be fine.  --V

Heath I totally agree with V, and everyone has to do what is best for them, but you know my hx, and I have not suffered, only with blips, and there is just no taper that is the best for all, it is individual to each of us and being The Long Support Group, we all have the pretty much the same mindset, but I do realize some are having problems, and sometimes things need to change, that is OK, but I will tell you this, I will probably be on fumes going to the very end, being in hell twice, I can do it this time, but again my way, little decreases and long longs. Focus on something good and before you know it you will be off. Best to you.

[[be...]]

v....can you hold a bit on a crossover too?  I am on the last dose before being done with crossing over and very strong sxs around dosing time that I just cut out....I have replaced with valium but still having the sxs.  I have been cutting every seven days, could I wait a bit longer do you think?  I am crossing around 7 mg of a to 9 mg of v which is plenty of v.  just wondering if you have an opinion on that..thanks! stella

Hi Stella, I am thinking of you. Glad you are here with us. Only the best to you.

[[He...]]

Valley, and BeGood,

 

Yes, you are 100% right, and I surely will listen to my body and I will not make any decisions without taking everything into consideration, and waiting to see how I feel. I definitely don't want to crash again like I did after my last too aggressive taper!

And I am not even finished with my hold after my micro cut yet.  I just want to hear more about Kgirls experience.

 

But I am still confused about The degree of  my symptoms.

 

You see, I have no way of knowing whether the side effects I have been getting all along are actually what is the regular side effects that everyone gets when they are tapering off of Valium, after all these symptoms are what everyone says makes it so difficult to get off of Benzos in the first place. Maybe my sfx are not so terrible and they are really just to be expected, and I am just being a baby? I have no way of telling. I read about so many people who are having a much tougher time than I am.

 

I CAN be a big baby you know!

 

I am crying one minute and complaining  non stop, and feeling sorry for myself, and then two hours later when I'm feeling better, or when I'm in a window, I say, "oh that wasn't so bad, I was just being a baby. I better get used to this because this is what tapering off of Valium is supposed to be....hell!"

 

It's true, I did  feel much better after the two month hold, and I will always keep that in my mind. But if I feel ok after two or three weeks past my .05 micro cut, doesn't it make sense to JUST TRY to make a cut of another .1 or at least  .07 ?  Is that too big? It's less  than 10%. Or maybe I should try another similar  .05 cut and see how that goes before making a bigger cut.

 

It's confusing because I dont want to proceed ahead too fast, but I also dont want to let that bad experience of tapering too fast at the beginning of my taper and getting ramped up side effects keep me from cutting reasonably if I can do it. Isn't it worth a try if my  body "gives me permission" to go a little bit faster than a micro cut.?

 

Thank you for always reminding me of the dangers of going too fast and the possibilities of protracted side fx. ..

 

I will definitely listen to my body first and foremost!

 

I really appreciate your concern and your support. You are wonderful!

 

Heathcliff 

 

[[He...]]

Can. Someone tell me what a fortnight is? I live in the USA and we don't use that term often.

Thanks

[[Ho...]]

Can. Someone tell me what a fortnight is? I live in the USA and we don't use that term often.

Thanks

 

A fortnight is 2 weeks. I live in the US but I've read way too much Jane Austen lol.

[[Kg...]]

Heathcliff:

 

I did not cut .5 mg a month  doing cut and hold though I can see why it looks like that in my signature.  I did a micro taper and my taper rate for the entire month was .5mg.  I used a scale and I cut .002 grams using the following schedule c/c/c/h and so on.  My body got into this rhythm and I stayed at this rate the entire taper. If you go to the 3, 2, 1 and under support groups see Shamo's signature - and he posts here as well - he did cut and hold all the way down. You can ask him how this works.  For some people on Valium small cuts and holds work best vs. micro tapers but again this is up to how you feel. 

 

You cannot go by %'s at the end of your taper because otherwise you will be tapering forever. Once you get below 2mg  of Valium IMHO you need to just continue at a rate that is comfortable for you.  What this rate is only you can know - listen to your body but again IMHO if you are looking for a s/x free taper most of us on this site don't have them. 

 

Re my s/x on the way down.  I had them - every single day and I just pushed on and I never held at all. The one time I tried it didn't help and so I just gritted my teeth to be off.  I never tried to hold for 2 months - to me that would have been torture.  With that being said I feel better now then I did at the beginning of the Valium taper and way better than I felt tapering my Klonopin.  I did heal on the way down and I believe I am healing now that I am off the drug totally.  There are some who truly believe that getting off the drug vs holding is the only way for us to heal.  I am one of them. Benzos acted like a poison to me and though I could not go faster on my taper because I didn't want to become non functional I never felt great either.  The more time w/o the drug in my body the better I feel. I am sure I will got socked again - I have no illusions about this since healing is not linear but we cannot fully heal unless we are off of the drugs. 

 

I was never totally non functional throughout my taper. Though there was many a day I wanted to crawl under a blanket and not get up I did get up and out on almost every day of my long taper.  I had to fly on trips to visit my family multiple times. I had to be present at major life events for my family.  I managed for the most part to do this - by dragging myself out the door. I lost so much weight I looked awful, I lost much of my hair (thank heavens my hair is very thick), I had nausea every single day for years, I had awful GI issues,  I had terrible agoraphobia, I had severe skin burning,and my level of chemical anxiety felt as if it was through the roof -  as Baylissa says I could go on and on and on.  So yes it was very hard but what I did was to exercise every single day even if it was just a 5 minute walk and do some yoga stretches, I traveled with my barf bag, I know every bathroom in the local stores and malls.  But again as Baylissa says if you use radical acceptance and don't fight your s/x but accept them for what they are - just s/x - you can do this. Her you tubes helped me immensely and I listen to them over and over again. I know my KK buddies have joined her facebook support group - thank heavens I don't need it now.

 

Just google 4, 7, 8 breathing a you tube will pop up and follow the directions. I have done this for years now and it always works!!!  But you must do it the 2 x's per day at the beginning so your body knows to get into relaxation mode. 

 

I hope this helps you - and yes I have been where you are now - and so jealous of the people who were off and getting on with their lives but as everyone of those buddies told me if they could do this so could I - and you know what - they were RIGHT!!!

 

 

[[Sh...]]

Yeah...our dopamine is defintely low after using oxy. At least it doesnt hit the same receptors as you guys have said though. I guess I do feel slightly worse the following day but its not that bad. Not a bad trade off to escape this drama for a day or 2 IMO. But yeah the main thing I worry about is weather it slows my healing down.

[[He...]]

KGIRL,

 

Thanks  for  taking the time to explain your taper to me. I didn't know you were doing a micro taper. That's what I am doing but found that I had to hold after getting down to -.05 cut (.01 x 5 days)

  I now feel more informed about your point of view and how you did your taper.

I'm going to wait and see how I am at the end of my current cut and hold, see how my body feels, listen to what it is telling me, and start another micro cut when I feel i am ready to proceed.

 

 

Thanks again!

 

Heathcliff

[[Va...]]

v....can you hold a bit on a crossover too?  I am on the last dose before being done with crossing over and very strong sxs around dosing time that I just cut out....I have replaced with valium but still having the sxs.  I have been cutting every seven days, could I wait a bit longer do you think?  I am crossing around 7 mg of a to 9 mg of v which is plenty of v.  just wondering if you have an opinion on that..thanks! stella

Hi Stella. I would definitely hold after the crossover to get stable. Also with the V I would definitely hold longer in between cuts. V has a lag time of around 8-10 days so it's better to be safe than sorry. I wait 10 days to 2 weeks and I'm making small cuts. No problems so far. I'm sure you'll find the raze that works best. You just have to experiment a little. Start with small cuts and hold for the sxs pattern. If you respond well, you can always increase the size of the cut or the length of the hold.  --V

[[He...]]

v....can you hold a bit on a crossover too?  I am on the last dose before being done with crossing over and very strong sxs around dosing time that I just cut out....I have replaced with valium but still having the sxs.  I have been cutting every seven days, could I wait a bit longer do you think?  I am crossing around 7 mg of a to 9 mg of v which is plenty of v.  just wondering if you have an opinion on that..thanks! stella

Hi Stella. I would definitely hold after the crossover to get stable. Also with the V I would definitely hold longer in between cuts. V has a lag time of around 8-10 days so it's better to be safe than sorry. I wait 10 days to 2 weeks and I'm making small cuts. No problems so far. I'm sure you'll find the raze that works best. You just have to experiment a little. Start with small cuts and hold for the sxs pattern. If you respond well, you can always increase the size of the cut or the length of the hold.  --V

 

ValleyUm,

I guess that's exactly what I should do. See how I feel, cut when my body tells me I should, adjust the size of the cuts and the length of the hold as needed. And remember that Valium has a lag time of 8 to10 days for side effects to appear.

 

Thanks Valley, you always bring me back to what I should know by now is the right thing to do instead of always questioning everything and over thinking things.

Why oh why do I keep doubting myself?

 

Heathcliff

 

[[no...]]

Hi everyone  I've started cutting again also so I'm reporting in so we can keep updated with each other and for those who read this thread but don't posts as all our experiences are helpful not just to us but to others, no matter how big or small all information is useful

 

I have cut 00.03 since last Friday, that's from 1 to 3  on a 1ml syringe , for those of you like me that  can't fathom out how much it is people are saying they cut when you see  0.125.5   It may as well be written in Russian as far as I'm concerned I got no idea what it amounts to  I didn't cut it all at once, I cut 00.01 Friday then same again Saturday, and held there until last night and cut another 00.01

 

. I am Micro tapering Diazepam using 1ml of Vodka to dissolve a 2ml pill then when its dissolved I add  200mls of water in case anyone was wondering what taper and what drug I'm using   I am now down to 190mls from200mls, its taken me over a year to do this 15 months in fact talk about turtle taper, and before this long hold of nearly 6 months. Well its exactly 5 months and three weeks actually, I had to hold for weeks at a time lots of times previously and I mean lots. So hopefully if nothing else this long hold had given my brain the rest it needed and I can continue in a better place it did get me back out walking after being house bound for 9 months.

 

And I had a few good partial windows and a brilliant one in may so it did help a lot but since June things began getting tougher to the point I was laying down far too much and suffering a lot again. I also went out for my first walk since July 26th which only lasted 2 or 3 minutes as it was hell, today I did a 20 minute slow walk .

 

I began cutting again July 30th because for the first time since I began this taper I spent the day telling myself I can't do this any more repeatedly I usually walk around my home saying  'FK THIS SHIT!! Constantly  but plough on anyway. I was in a terrible place by last Friday So I had two choices to cut or updose but I chose to cut and if thing got too much then I would updose, did 2 small cuts then held it for a week to see if it played catch up with any lag time felt okay yesterday so cut again. I will catch up a bit more later as typing gets painful  on times, and other times the brain don't want to go there if you know what I mean

 

 

Love Nova xxx :smitten:

[[ly...]]

 

Hi all,

 

If I had any idea or assurance that I wouldn't end up in protracted hell, I would cut 10% of present dose every 2 wks and be done with this nightmare.  I would cut .025 and not reduce this as I continued off.  But pharma and our pdocs have abandoned us here with no research and no tested method - other than Ashton.  Will a rapid taper cause protracted?  Will getting off quicker mean healing rapidly/quicker?  Will one method or the other ultimately affect anything?  Will I actually do better going rapidly?  I have no clue.

 

I will continue with my personal method because I have no guidance otherwise - only what has worked for me.  Worked?  Who knows.  Maybe I could have been off a year ago and would be done with it and feeling great.  What has kept me at my current pace and method is the fact that I am fully functional and wd sxs drop off - a reassuring fact when reading of the protracted horror that some experience.  All any of us can do is attempt to figure out what is acceptable for our circumstance, what we can live with.  I can live with a very long taper.  I can't live with nightmarish wd.  I cant live with fear of causing great damage to my brain that could possibly take years to recover from.  If I had a crystal ball and knew that I'd be fine after 6 months, I'd probably get off quickly.  Perhaps I'm just a chicken and dragging this out to a ridiculous point.  Again, maybe true.

 

So, here I am.  When I wake up with wd sxs and think that this ridiculous nonsense has been going on for 18 months I just can't believe it.  But if things were meant to be easy for me in this taper - I wouldn't be having these problems, would I?  I'm not a short-term user.  Not hardly.  25yrs here.  So I'm not worried about any damage caused by having xanax in my brain during a lengthy taper.  I'd say that the damage is long done.  I can't know and can't guess if a more rapid will absolutely cause intractable problems - but I can say and do know that a turtle taper with holds is not causing a nightmare.  So, I'm going to stick with what I know.  We are all different here and will have an individual path.  I just wanted to express my own personal thoughts/reasoning.  I'm sure all of us have been thru a similar exercise in reaching this point in our tapers.

[[no...]]

 

Hi all,

 

If I had any idea or assurance that I wouldn't end up in protracted hell, I would cut 10% of present dose every 2 wks and be done with this nightmare.  I would cut .025 and not reduce this as I continued off.  But pharma and our pdocs have abandoned us here with no research and no tested method - other than Ashton.  Will a rapid taper cause protracted?  Will getting off quicker mean healing rapidly/quicker?  Will one method or the other ultimately affect anything?  Will I actually do better going rapidly?  I have no clue.

 

I will continue with my personal method because I have no guidance otherwise - only what has worked for me.  Worked?  Who knows.  Maybe I could have been off a year ago and would be done with it and feeling great.  What has kept me at my current pace and method is the fact that I am fully functional and wd sxs drop off - a reassuring fact when reading of the protracted horror that some experience.  All any of us can do is attempt to figure out what is acceptable for our circumstance, what we can live with.  I can live with a very long taper.  I can't live with nightmarish wd.  I cant live with fear of causing great damage to my brain that could possibly take years to recover from.  If I had a crystal ball and knew that I'd be fine after 6 months, I'd probably get off quickly.  Perhaps I'm just a chicken and dragging this out to a ridiculous point.  Again, maybe true.

 

So, here I am.  When I wake up with wd sxs and think that this ridiculous nonsense has been going on for 18 months I just can't believe it.  But if things were meant to be easy for me in this taper - I wouldn't be having these problems, would I?  I'm not a short-term user.  Not hardly.  25yrs here. So I'm not worried about any damage caused by having xanax in my brain during a lengthy taper. I'd say that the damage is long done.  I can't know and can't guess if a more rapid will absolutely cause intractable problems - but I can say and do know that a turtle taper with holds is not causing a nightmare.  So, I'm going to stick with what I know.  We are all different here and will have an individual path.  I just wanted to express my own personal thoughts/reasoning.  I'm sure all of us have been thru a similar exercise in reaching this point in our tapers.

Hi Lynn  I so agree with everything you say I saw a  2 good point's made on here about the above line in your post I've marked out, and it was this...

 

''Once you begin a taper the drug is no longer the problem but the catalyst to help you escape from the problem''

 

For those who wonder what a catalyst is its  a person or thing that precipitates an event or change. And the other is...

''Don't fear how long the taper wil take and don't fear the Benzo, fear the glutamate''

 

I also agree with these statements

 

 

 

Love Nova xxx :smitten:

[[ca...]]

 

Hi all,

 

If I had any idea or assurance that I wouldn't end up in protracted hell, I would cut 10% of present dose every 2 wks and be done with this nightmare.  I would cut .025 and not reduce this as I continued off.  But pharma and our pdocs have abandoned us here with no research and no tested method - other than Ashton.  Will a rapid taper cause protracted?  Will getting off quicker mean healing rapidly/quicker?  Will one method or the other ultimately affect anything?  Will I actually do better going rapidly?  I have no clue.

 

I will continue with my personal method because I have no guidance otherwise - only what has worked for me.  Worked?  Who knows.  Maybe I could have been off a year ago and would be done with it and feeling great.  What has kept me at my current pace and method is the fact that I am fully functional and wd sxs drop off - a reassuring fact when reading of the protracted horror that some experience.  All any of us can do is attempt to figure out what is acceptable for our circumstance, what we can live with.  I can live with a very long taper.  I can't live with nightmarish wd.  I cant live with fear of causing great damage to my brain that could possibly take years to recover from.  If I had a crystal ball and knew that I'd be fine after 6 months, I'd probably get off quickly.  Perhaps I'm just a chicken and dragging this out to a ridiculous point.  Again, maybe true.

 

So, here I am.  When I wake up with wd sxs and think that this ridiculous nonsense has been going on for 18 months I just can't believe it.  But if things were meant to be easy for me in this taper - I wouldn't be having these problems, would I?  I'm not a short-term user.  Not hardly.  25yrs here.  So I'm not worried about any damage caused by having xanax in my brain during a lengthy taper.  I'd say that the damage is long done.  I can't know and can't guess if a more rapid will absolutely cause intractable problems - but I can say and do know that a turtle taper with holds is not causing a nightmare.  So, I'm going to stick with what I know.  We are all different here and will have an individual path.  I just wanted to express my own personal thoughts/reasoning.  I'm sure all of us have been thru a similar exercise in reaching this point in our tapers.

Lynn, I am right there with you in this cluster - ( blank )  so so confusing and I have basically come to the same conclusion as You have ! Thank You for posting this as we all have a tendency to believe there is only a couple of ways to get thru this but IMO it`s so individual ! Be well ~CD

[[Bl...]]

Well I went to get a pap smear and I have no infections and I'm fine.  I remember when I got so many infections before. I was constantly on antibiotics and I hated it. They ended up mailing me the card, if something was serious they usually would call.

 

I noticed right before my period: my depression and mood swings go crazy. It seems to affect me so much. It's probably one of those things that affect me the most, depression and PMDD. The symptoms even get worse too as I'm healing. Everything goes haywire. I even have to pee a lot more too before my period.

 

Usually during this time I have to lay in bed and take in easy on myself and watch a lot of TV. This is where I don't like being around people because the symptoms. My entirely family thinks I'm crazy sometimes and I even try not to talk to them a lot as much during this time. Taking long showers are my relief and I always eat small meals for myself with healthy snacks in between meals and I drink plenty of water.

 

I often wonder if anyone else experiences this too. Before Benzo it was typically hard on my body, it was never this extreme though. Sometimes quietly when nobody is around I tell myself to go easy on myself that it's all apart of healing and that one day I'll get better. I have to keep holding onto hope and keep praying that one day I'll get better. If I never reminded myself of this, I think I would have lost my mind by now.

[[Va...]]

 

Hi all,

 

If I had any idea or assurance that I wouldn't end up in protracted hell, I would cut 10% of present dose every 2 wks and be done with this nightmare.  I would cut .025 and not reduce this as I continued off.  But pharma and our pdocs have abandoned us here with no research and no tested method - other than Ashton.  Will a rapid taper cause protracted?  Will getting off quicker mean healing rapidly/quicker?  Will one method or the other ultimately affect anything?  Will I actually do better going rapidly?  I have no clue.

 

I will continue with my personal method because I have no guidance otherwise - only what has worked for me.  Worked?  Who knows.  Maybe I could have been off a year ago and would be done with it and feeling great.  What has kept me at my current pace and method is the fact that I am fully functional and wd sxs drop off - a reassuring fact when reading of the protracted horror that some experience.  All any of us can do is attempt to figure out what is acceptable for our circumstance, what we can live with.  I can live with a very long taper.  I can't live with nightmarish wd.  I cant live with fear of causing great damage to my brain that could possibly take years to recover from.  If I had a crystal ball and knew that I'd be fine after 6 months, I'd probably get off quickly.  Perhaps I'm just a chicken and dragging this out to a ridiculous point.  Again, maybe true.

 

So, here I am.  When I wake up with wd sxs and think that this ridiculous nonsense has been going on for 18 months I just can't believe it.  But if things were meant to be easy for me in this taper - I wouldn't be having these problems, would I?  I'm not a short-term user.  Not hardly.  25yrs here.  So I'm not worried about any damage caused by having xanax in my brain during a lengthy taper.  I'd say that the damage is long done.  I can't know and can't guess if a more rapid will absolutely cause intractable problems - but I can say and do know that a turtle taper with holds is not causing a nightmare.  So, I'm going to stick with what I know.  We are all different here and will have an individual path.  I just wanted to express my own personal thoughts/reasoning.  I'm sure all of us have been thru a similar exercise in reaching this point in our tapers.

Those are exactly my thoughts lynn. I would rather take longer and be functional with minor sxs than get off quickly and risk an extended withdrawal. I still believe in the theory that it takes our brains x amount of time to recover so whether we go fast or slow, the time frame for healing takes the same amount of time. Might as well control sxs through a slow taper, holding when necessary to allow the brain time to heal on the way down and feel good at the jump. I just cut again after having very little withdrawal from my last cut. Keeping the cuts small and just going by how I feel in deciding when to cut again. I certainly know my symptom pattern and how it plays out after the long hold. I'm never putting myself through that horror show again lol. I calculate about 2 and half years to go but I've been setting up my doses for years so it really isn't that different. Hope all have a great day! --V

[[be...]]

[glow=red,2,300]DITTO TO ALL YOU HAVE SAID, I KNOW WHAT I CAN TAKE AND WHAT I AM NOT WILLING TO GO THROUGH AGAIN, AND I WILL JUST HAVE TO WALK AS SLOW AS I SEE FIT, SO FAR I AM FUNCTIONAL AND THAT IS ENOUGH, AS I KNOW THE STARK REALITY OF  HORRIFIC TAPERS. BEST TO ALL, I AM NOT SHOUTING JUST LIKE THE PRETTY COLOR AND THE LARGENESS OF ALL WHAT I FEEL SO DEEPLY IN MY HEART. BEST TO ALL HERE AND HERE AT BB. [/glow]

[[Be...]]

Happy Me,

Are you taking the pill now, or progesterone in Luteal phase, or neither?

Bennie

[[Va...]]

Yeah...our dopamine is defintely low after using oxy. At least it doesnt hit the same receptors as you guys have said though. I guess I do feel slightly worse the following day but its not that bad. Not a bad trade off to escape this drama for a day or 2 IMO. But yeah the main thing I worry about is weather it slows my healing down.

I don't think it will slow healing down but you may get side effects that feel like benzo withdrawal. the increase in dopamine brings a euphoria and seems to control benzo withdrawal sxs to a certain degree. The problem is when the oxy is removed and the dopamine falls again, it can lead to feeling worse. You can mitigate this through high dose vitamin C but I'd stick with the maximum of 2 days if you're going to use it and hit the vitamin C hard for a couple of days after. Hope you're doing well! --V

[[Gr...]]

I keep getting spotting from the time I ovulate (around day 14) till I get my period (around day 26).  This is very annoying.  Sometimes I even get like what seems like a full fledged period.  I am very frustrated with it, not just cause of the physicalities of needing to wear a pad and swimming becomes annoying but also cause it is effecting my mood and chocolate cravings and I am so sick of it.  It is also messing with my sex life. 

 

I have some progesterone left over from fertility treatments.  I used some a few months ago and it did make me feel better for the few days I used it.  I might use some again this month.  I am trying to let my body heal on its own and not use so much medicine.  So I feel torn with this idea to use the progesterone.  I don't even understand how withdrawal is able to effect my cycle so much, especially considering I was pregnant during my last withdrawal.  That doesn't even make sense at all. 

[[He...]]

LYNN

I agree with everything you said. I am also having the same thoughts as you. I am terrified of having protracted side effects once I finally get off this Valium. That's one reason for holding, hoping it helps my brain heal. And of course to ease up on sfx as I do my taper.

 

And I too would just taper down and suffer and be done with it if I knew I would be done with side effects when I was ready to jump..  I am constantly fighting with myself to keep holding. Holding  is so hard, but worsened sfx are no fun either. ( when ever I read that someone is just  pushing ahead and going right down, I start to question myself. But then I read on other forums, that many of these same people are having some pretty bad sfx after they jump. That's another thing that keeps me holding after each of my cuts. I'd rather let my brain heal and jump with little or no sfx. But it is SOOO damn hard!

 

I hope your sfx ease up so you can work and drive and do everything you need to do with very little or no pain

 

NOVA

I just started tapering a similar way you are.  I was at 1.25.  I cut .01 every day for five days until my cut became -.05 

Now  I am at 1.20 and holding to see what happens. I am in day 16 since I began the cut but since it took 5 days to get to .05, I am only in day 11 since I reached the -.05    I'm having sfx that are tolerable, but even tolerable is no fun. Seems like my mornings are the worst! Sometimes better during the day. Windows in the evenings. And of course aside from constant parathesia, my sfx are always changing.

 

I will probably have to hold longer than I want to since I am still having sfx.

In the opinion of ValleyUm, I should hold longer to really heal. Since I am still getting moderate to occasionally bad sfx, I could heal more if I hold longer. I know it's only his opinion. But I think he knows an awful lot. Others on this forum have said the same thing.

 

I hope your taper goes easy with very few sfx through out.

 

I wish everyone relief as soon as possible! This is really tough!

 

My best to everyone.

 

A very impatient Heath

 

Here's a question for anybody and a big concern of mine

 

The only drug I've been on is Valium and only for about 8 months. Is it normal that it is taking me so long to get off this drug? I have been tapering for over 6 months.. I thought it was supposed to be easier to get off if a person has only been on the drug for a short time. Is that a short time?  By holding and increasing the time I am tapering, I am also increasing the amount of time I have this drug in my body! Isn't that bad for my brain?

 

Anyone?

 

 

 

[[Va...]]

LYNN

I agree with everything you said. I am also having the same thoughts as you. I am terrified of having protracted side effects once I finally get off this Valium. That's one reason for holding, hoping it helps my brain heal. And of course to ease up on sfx as I do my taper.

 

And I too would just taper down and suffer and be done with it if I knew I would be done with side effects.  I am constantly fighting with myself to keep holding. Holding  is so hard, but worsened sfx are no fun either. ( when ever I read that someone is just  pushing ahead and going right down, I start to question myself. But then I read on other forums, that many of these same people are having some pretty bad sfx after they jump. That's another thing that keeps me holding after each of my cuts. I'd rather let my brain heal and jump with little or no sfx. But it is SOOO damn hard!

 

I hope your sfx ease up so you can work and drive and do everything you need to do with very little or no pain

 

NOVA

I just started tapering a similar way you are.  I was at 1.25.  I cut .01 every day for five days until my cut became -.05 

Now  I am at 1.20 and holding to see what happens. I am in day 16 since I began the cut but since it took 5 days to get to .05, I am only in day 11 since I reached the -.05    I'm having sfx that are tolerable, but even tolerable is no fun. Seems like my mornings are the worst! Sometimes better during the day. Windows in the evenings. And of course aside from constant parathesia, my sfx are always changing.

 

I will probably have to hold longer than I want to since I am still having sfx.

In the opinion of ValleyUm, I should hold longer to really heal. Since I am still getting moderate to occasionally bad sfx, I could heal more if I hold longer. I know it's only his opinion. But I think he knows an awful lot. Others on this forum have said the same thing.

 

I hope your taper goes easy with very few sfx through out.

 

I wish everyone relief as soon as possible! This is really tough!

 

My best to everyone.

 

A very impatient Heath

 

heres a question for anybody and a big concern of mine

 

I had been only on Valium and only for about 8 months. Is it normal that it is taking me so long to get off this drug? I have been tapering for over 6 months.. I thought it was supposed to be easier to get off if a person has only been on the drug for a short time.

 

Anyone?

It's absolutely normal to take longer to get off Heathcliff. You can become dependent on benzos very quickly and that is why they are only recommended for a couple of weeks use. 8 months is plenty of time to become dependent enough to warrant a slow taper.  Many are able to cut fairly rapidly in the beginning but need to slow way down towards the end. Look at your taper as more symptom based rather than how long it will take to get off.  When I cut now I cut small and don't even have a specific time frame in mind for the next cut. I make the cut and if I do have any minimal sxs I cut when they are completely gone. So far very minimal sxs doing it this way. Just my opinion.  --V

[[Va...]]

Hope all are doing well!  Some Sunday propaganda.  --V

 

"You may need to hold your dosage still for a long time if you want to be stable and work and parent your beautiful daughter.

 

Please resist the urge to make a bunch of changes.  It is destabilizing (and there is that speeding train headed for a sharp curve!), and you need to be stable, and well."

[[ba...]]

Question: I updosed to stabilize on 7/27. I wasnt sure of the correct dose, so it took a few hit ans misses. Anyway, have had some rough patches, butoverall, not as intense. I have even been able to engage in some old things-went to the gym  2 days ago after not going for at least a month. Rode my bike 3 days in a row.

 

Today, well fuck. I am in a wave. It feels like never ending xsx and withdraw since my first dose.

 

Normal?

 

I committed to sticking with the stabilization for at least 2 weeks, and not tweaking the dosage again during that time. It's been 9 days. the first few days I dosed a bit higher, trying to find the right weight (dry taper, gram scale) Finally nailed it down on August 3.

 

I don't want to be thrown back into never ending intense wd, need input. Really hoping this is typical, and will pass.

 

No matter what i have done over the past year to try and taper, I seem to always end up here. I am so discouraged.

 

A few other changes. My doc pulled me off the CBD cannibinoids at the end of last month. I actually felt a better without them. Additionally, he had me taking 200 mg of seroquel, I dropped it to 150, the morning hangover was just too much. Now I no longer have the sero hangover. I expected these changes to give me some issues, but  what I'm feeling feels like benzo wd, not anything else,

[[He...]]

I am currently taking 3 doses of  liquid  Valium.

.4 at 7 am,  .2 at 3:00 pm,    .6 at bed time.  I try to keep it as close to every 8 hours as possible.

 

I would like to change to twice a day dosing.

.6 in am    and    .6 at bed time

 

Since Valium has a long half life, do you think this will be ok? Or do you think it will mess me up?

 

I do not get interdose side effects. I do not get any effect at all when I take the Valium. I dont think it does anything therapeutically for me at all anymorel. I am only taking it as a means to taper off with little or no side effects.( that's a laugh, no side effects, I am never without side effects)

 

What do you think about the twice a day dosing?  Should I move the middle dose closer and closer to the morning dose little by little or just go to two doses all in one move?

 

Thanks Heathcliff