Starting my Taper and Suggestions

[[Aw...]]

Hi all,

I have tried to taper since December and I just find excused to continue the dose that I’m at. I take 1 mg TID and I want to be off of it. Can anyone give any insight of what pushed them to start? And what did you do when wanting to take Ativan? Any and all information is welcomed.

[[Et...]]

I was in tolerance withdrawal and just totally miserable. I was having to drink to actually cope with my anxiety because the Valium just wasn't doing it anymore and I didn't want to increase the amount of Valium that I had to take beyond 20mg a day because I knew it would just be that much harder to come off of later. I was having mood swings all the time between the drinking, the mania triggered by the drinking, and the depression caused by the combo plus the way I had to live my life. For me it was either get off the meds or suicide by drinking so I buckled down and did it. I stopped drinking 7/1/2017, started tapering 2/14/2018, stopped nicotine 12/1/2018, and I got done with my taper 2/17/2022. I won't say that everything is roses but my agoraphobia is starting to go into remission, I am starting to be able to pull myself back from even having a panic attack in the first place, I'm making progress in therapy after years of just being stuck in a rut. For me, the key was getting out of the benzo fog. Now I am hopeful I will even be able to work in the next year or two.

 

If you aren't ready, it's near impossible to be successful because like any other dependence, you have to push yourself to make progress. That said, a daily liquid micro taper even managed to get someone as dependent as myself off and if I had started with a DLMT instead of dry cutting, I doubt it would have taken me 4 years to get off. The end result is worth the pain. I am already doing better off the meds than I was when I was on them and while I'm not back to where I was BEFORE I started the meds, the changes are already well beyond worth it.

 

As for what I did when I had a craving, I played video games. Even just those little mobile games (careful not to spend too much on them though) were a sufficient distraction for me when I was having anxiety.