Valium taper help - how to tell if I'm stable or ready for a further cut?

[[jo...]]

Hi all. New here and happy to know you all. The short version, is that last week I moved from Xanex to Valium after 6 months of low dose usage. The final weeks usage got a bit higher ( . 8 ) and had 2 days that spiked hard which is what prompted me to quit. Definitely felt the effects the next day, and asked for the Valium.

 

I'm currently taking 1.25 mg of Valium which seems to be a very sharp taper by all accounts on here. However, I'm feeling pretty decent, so I will probably just ride out the minor symptoms at this dosage for a bit. I'm really just curious to hear from anyone else with a similar experience. My psych didn't really seem concerned about the symptoms, but then , she was the one who gave me Xanex for 6 months without any real heads-up about what I was getting into.  Obviously, I'd like to get away from these things as quickly as possible, but I don't want to do more harm than good. I'd love to hear from you all.  Peace , love , and success to everyone

[[jo...]]

I told the psych that I wanted "as little of the crap as possible" as a way to get off of xanex. At the time, I didn't have a lot of info on tapering (and neither did she apparently) which is how I ended up on half of 2.5 mg Valium as a way to get off . (She said I could start at a quarter, but I balked at that)

 

Anyway, now I'm left trying to figure out where to go from here. I've been on Valium for about a week at 1.25 and feel pretty solid. I'm sleeping 6 or 7 hours a night and my mood and anxiety levels are not ideal, but they are hardly worrisome. The use that got me here in the first place was pretty low, only 6 months long, and had occasionally brief stoppages. However,  when I unwisely tried to quit cold turkey recently, I definitely noticed, so I'm familiar with the symptoms ( I took an assessment when I cold turkey'd  and scored somewhere around the high end of "mild withdraw" and the low end of "moderate withdraw".  During the brief stoppages during my original run, I probably had mild symptoms but didn't know to attribute them to not taking xanex. Just thought I was having a 'rough day')

 

Given the size and nature of the pills, the only realistic reduction from here is to a quarter of a pill (  .625 mg ) without learning how to titrate. Does anyone have any advice, thoughts, experience on tapering at such low starting doses and with only mild symptoms?

 

Love to all and thanks

[[Pa...]]

Do you still need help, how are you feeling?  I merged your taper threads together so we can talk in one place.  Its great you've been sleeping, have you started to reduce your dose yet?

[[jo...]]

Do you still need help, how are you feeling?  I merged your taper threads together so we can talk in one place.  Its great you've been sleeping, have you started to reduce your dose yet?

 

Hi. Thanks for checking in. I'd say my path is pretty much set at this point. I spent the last week at .625 Valium (probably started a bit higher than that and finished a bit lower than that because of the way I quartered the 2.5 pills). Yesterday was my last one. I feel very functional. My head is a bit foggy at times and my stomach has periods of serious upset, but manageable. Just riding it out now I guess

[[Pa...]]

How many days after your reduction do your symptoms typically show up, and congratulations on being benzo free by the way! 

[[Ke...]]

Johnny:  not sure how to directly reply to your message, so I am using the REPLY button at the bottom of the thread. 

 

From my 20 years of experiences in dealing with doctors (blood pressure-pills in 2001, followed by malignant cancer in 2002), you need to pick and select your medical practitioner with care, but also staying within the insurance guidelines. 

 

If you do not like what they say - begin their replacement process and state you desire a second opinion. Get away - run away from medical incompetents.  Read online reviews - with a grain of salt.

 

I always look for the words BOARD VERIFIED in their credentials as the first criteria.  Age:  not out of medical school, not 85 years old.

 

I like the adage of being armed with online materials before meeting with the doc.  Medical journals, JAMA, PDR, etc. Quality medical references, then forward to the doc for a weekend to review on their pace.  Then go in and make your case.

 

As an example: if you hear the words 'Go to a detox facility', leave the office, and cancel all other visits and look for a replacement doctor before they have a chance to make medical errors and omissions. 

 

Each person has different biochemistry and live in different environmental factors. I am in the process of my first week from a 20mg valium taper at 2mg (18mg).  Next week I will "try" a 10% (no more than that) cut from the 18mg which is 16.2mg. Using a pill cutter and 5mg tablets, my 16mg will be an approximation. 

 

Next week if feeling well, I'll try a 10% cut from the 16mg, all the way down to about 5mg.

 

When I get to 5mg I am seriously looking at switching over to a liquid dose regimen.  My insurance covers 5mg/5ml oral suspensions.  I just need to figure out how to dilute the mix by 5% or 10% per week, and not have the liquid go stale in the fridge.

But that is about 1 year from now.