help need some advice on my taper

[[my...]]

I always have some withdrawal after every cut, but I wait to cut again until I feel stablized but not necessarily totally withdrawal free - I seem to be able to tolerate this the symtoms are almost always at night and early morning.  During the day I am pretty functional but have some better days and a bad day once in a while too.

 

I read what you said about the gabas catching up, can I finish this last taper and quit even if I some residual withdrawal symtoms?

 

mylo

[[el...]]

I read what you said about the gabas catching up, can I finish this last taper and quit even if I some residual withdrawal symtoms?

 

mylo

 

Oh sure, this is really to be expected. 

[[my...]]

had a fairly bad night, withdrawal started at about 3am and is still going on, skin burning and heart beating too fast with some tingling in my legs.  I am needing advice on to whether or not to drop again or maintain current dose?

[[el...]]

  I am needing advice on to whether or not to drop again or maintain current dose?

 

It's ok to hold your dose if you need to. In most cases it's better to listen to your body.

I don't know exactly when you last cut, but usually it is recommended to hold a cut for 1 to 2 weeks. A little longer is ok too. I held my last couple of cuts to 3 weeks!

[[my...]]

I was a short term user (39 days) I came off of almost everything with the exception of a very small dose of temazepam.  Colin gave me a drop .25 of this small amount every 4 to five days and finish in about 10 to 15 days. 

 

The first cut I made was Saturday, have withdrawal off and on but was making it.  Last night had withdrawal from about 2am and have evened out some now at about 2pm. 

 

It is time to make another cut tonight and would really like to push ahead, at this point I really am tempted to just drop off the .5 and be done with it but I know that is not good.

 

I am really not interested in cutting every 3 weeks, that leaves me on these drugs far too long

I guess I need to suffer through this

 

 

[[el...]]

If you cut Sat. and are cutting again today, I think that's only 4 days. You could just hold a couple more days  Especially if you are feeling a little rough.

[[my...]]

eljay:

 

At your 10% rate were you able to lead a normal life? or were withdrawals too much?

[[my...]]

I am struggling with the .25 cut right now, I will stay at that until i Normalize a little, can you recommend a smaller cut or maybe tritation, I know these are small cuts but I came off of the ativan and bigger doses of restoril very fast and maybe it is time for me slow down and get off with a smoother finish -

 

Please advise

[[el...]]

http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?board=62.0

 

Hi My,

Sure, we can set you up with a titration taper. Go to the above link and start a new post for help. Colin will fix you up.

 

eljay:

 

At your 10% rate were you able to lead a normal life? or were withdrawals too much?

 

I cut by much more than %10. Since i did the stepdown method, my cuts started out at 12.5% and grew progressivly larger with each cut. By the time I got to , and below .5mg, my cuts were 25%, 37.5%, 50%, 62.5%, etc.

Honestly, my taper was mostly uneventful. Had some insomnia, some wd stuff, but I am fine now 2 months off. I know this is unusual though, from what I hear. 

 

Even with titration, your cut sizes will eventually have to get bigger if you want to get off! Either that, or you will end up on .000025mg. And then if you reduce that by 10%, you will be at .0000025mg, and so on.

Get my point?

[[my...]]

how stable do I need to be before I drop again?  I don't want protracted withdrawal

[[Co...]]

how stable do I need to be before I drop again?  I don't want protracted withdrawal

 

It is purely a judgement call by you. It is probably unrealistic for you to feel fine before you cut again, but you should not still be suffering the worst of the effects from the previous cut. You don't want to be in the situation where withdrawal effects are mounting on top of each other because you are tapering too quickly.

[[my...]]

I cut the second .25 and had extreme withdrawals - just added it back in

So, I need to stablize and then maybe try a less agressive cutting program.

 

If i go to 10% every 2 weeks, are people able to work and get on with their lives at this rate?

 

I really hate to do that but I have lost a month of my life now and I really need to have some days to function in between drops

 

 

[[my...]]

ELjay were you able to function fairly normally at your reduction rate?

[[pa...]]

Before I started my taper I was housebound. Couldnt drive, couldnt leave the house without my husband. Panicked when I was in a different aisle of a grocery store then my hubby etc. When I started cutting down I started driving again, am able to go shopping, enjoy certain things again. So for me cutting down at a sensible pace I've come a far way. I still have plenty of bad days wheere I dont think I can go on but I do for I have no choice. So for me I;ve done better since tapering.

Hope your ok.

Amanda

[[my...]]

If I am still experiencing withdrawals from previous cuts, if I hold for a couple of weeks that will help to get rid of those - am I right?

[[pa...]]

Sometimes wd from a cut doesnt get much better. When that happens you can hold for a while and see if that helps or you can cut again and see if that helps. Sometimes the next cut wd symptoms get better, or that;s sometimes the case with me. I guess it depends on the person.

Amanda

[[Th...]]

Hi Myolsmiles,

 

What size pills are you cutting? Can you make smaller cuts? If you make smaller cuts and hold for 7 to 14 days between cuts, you should be able to function normally.

 

 

T2 

[[my...]]

mine are capsules - so have to open and try to divide  15mg cut to 7.5, right now have cut .25 of the 7.5, tried to add second cut but crashed.

 

I did a quick taper like you as I was on the pills (ativan-now gone) and temazepam for 39 days.

I think that I need to stablise for a while before I cut again.

 

So at the 1 to 2 week between cuts you are able to function?  I have a hard time functioning between the fast cuts.

[[Th...]]

Myolsmiles,

 

The lower I got, the more time I needed between cuts. My aggressive cuts did catch up to me and had to hold. My last .125 (20%) cut was a little rough for 3-4 days with neck and shoulder tension along with headaches, but manageable and was better after that. The first 3 days of this week I had some GI distress and it has eased up some. This next cut at .125 would be 25% so I am considering trying to half this cut to .0625 by crushing my .125 and eating half of that in an attempt to keep w/d s/x at a minimum.

 

 

T2

[[my...]]

I am holding on day 3 now, still having pretty tough withdrawal symtoms.  In my case almost 2 weeks ago I took my last Ativan, am wondering if this could be affecting me?  Usually how long due you hold until the symptoms are relieved?  If they don't relieve in 10 days or so should I go ahead and drop?

[[my...]]

My withdrawal includes, heart palipations, burning skin and dry mouth - sometimes it is like my brain is in a fog - 

 

I do have times when I feel pretty good, but this all comes in waves ---

 

Need some advice, does the body normalize after so many days?

[[Th...]]

Hi Myolsmiles,

 

I apologize but I cannot figure out what you have done here. You say you have gone off the Ativan 2 weeks ago and are still tapering the Temazepem? Have you been tapering both at the same time? You may be suffering w/d s/x from both drugs since it's only been three days since your last cut on Temazepem and you may have not been stable yet from tapering the Ativan. After you quit the Ativan, did you wait until you felt stable before reducing the Temazepem?

 

 

T2 

[[my...]]

I was on 1mg of ativan and 30mg of temazapam.  I started to taper off of both because I did know any better.  I finished the ativan 2 weeks ago Sunday I don't know how stable I was when I went off but the only drop since then was .25 of the 7.5 temazapam.  I had been on 7.5 for about 12 days.  Don't know what to do?  I was only on these drugs for 39 days, if what you say is that I could be having w/d from both how long does the ativan go on? it has now been 16 days off.  Should I just hold at the temazapam until these symptom subside -? 

[[pa...]]

I've seen most people say that it's best to wait 6 months after finishing a benzo taper to start tapering other meds. I would personally hold atleast until I started feeling stable again. I think that's the best bet. Some people have symptoms for a little while after their taper is done so dont be alarmed, it could be the ativan or the other med you cut down on.

Amanda

[[Th...]]

It's only been 3 days since you cut the Temazapem, I would wait at least another week until you are stable enough to continue.