Long Hold

[[Jt...]]

I've been on .75 klonopin since 2015 every day and finally discovered the sandpaper and jewelry scale taper method and that finally allowed me to taper off at a speed that was manageable. I tried before with the water taper and just find it wasn't accurate enough or the cuts were too large.

 

I started getting off 5% every month (about 1% a week and hold) in August of 2022. I kept the same withdrawal schedule even though my starting dose became lower and lower so in April I was decreasing about 10-11% per month. The whole time withdrawing I thought this was a walk in the park a didn't feel barely any withdrawal symptoms. Then all of a sudden in late April all the symptoms exploded. Racing thoughts, sweating, feeling out of realty, loss of balance, loss of appetite. I got all the way down to .375 and decide to go back up to .4 so I would be ok, and I felt better at the higher dose. So then i started taper down again at 5% and it was much tougher than before and when I finally got back down to .375 again it was too much as I went jogging and was looking at my dog and it felt like I was just absolutely on the moon, and I couldn't continue because I have to be able to go to work.

 

I've been holding .375 since June 1st and today is June 15th, I'd say I feel a little bit better but haven't noticed any big changes of healing or adapting to .375. I'm going to hold here until the bad symptoms subside and I can continue my taper again.

 

Has anyone else been able to microtaper for a very long time and then all of a sudden hit the wall? If so how long did your hold last and what were your experiences? Will continue to hold and listen to my body until it's right again to taper. Any advice helps thank you!

[[Bo...]]

Hi…. Yes I hit a wall doing micro taper dry shave and weigh method at .18mg. Yes a bit lower but still hit the wall some talk about. I switched over to a compounded liquid and micro taper that and it likely saved me. Are you in the States? If you’d be up for considering liquid compound, my pharmacist is always willing to talk to any other one in different states to explain how he made my formulation ( I am super sensitive so he even took out flavoring for mine), uses pure Klonopin powder from manufacturer (he doesn’t crush pills bc of the filler and binders and most PCCA members use the pure powder). His name is Nick and number is 817-274-0050 if you would want to discuss anything.

 

You might already be doing this but if you can use .5mg scored tablets (line across middle), this helps with shave and weigh method bc the drug is more evenly spread throughout the tablet where other non-scores tablets cutting those can be problematic bc don’t know where exactly the med is.

 

Hopeful you can get out of this wave a bit and make your way down. I had to slow down after I hit the wall to 5% and then I was able to speed up some once I changed to liquid compound. It’s always an adjust as you go and be flexible kind of road with this, hopeful you find what works for you for the remaining journey! Great job getting to where you have!!

 

Sending hugs your way!

[[Re...]]

Thank you for this information, Boges. I wish I could understand liquid micro tapering i cannot wrap my head around it. Did Nick make it easier for you?

[[Sn...]]

Yeah, right here.

 

I hit a wall at 1.7 mg Valium, after microtapering with 0.002 mg for a long time.

 

I hold for a year, and then jumped off that 1.7 without many issues.

 

When you hold, the healing continues.

[[Jt...]]

Thanks for all the good advice, everyone! Will continue to take things slow and do as much as I can do every day(going to work, light exercise, eating well) while maintaining my dose and then continue tapering. Thank you!

[[Jt...]]

Yeah, right here.

 

I hit a wall at 1.7 mg Valium, after microtapering with 0.002 mg for a long time.

 

I hold for a year, and then jumped off that 1.7 without many issues.

 

When you hold, the healing continues.

 

Just wondering why did you hold for a year at 1.7 valium and not do a slow taper off and then jump?

[[Sn...]]

Yeah, right here.

 

I hit a wall at 1.7 mg Valium, after microtapering with 0.002 mg for a long time.

 

I hold for a year, and then jumped off that 1.7 without many issues.

 

When you hold, the healing continues.

 

Just wondering why did you hold for a year at 1.7 valium and not do a slow taper off and then jump?

 

I hit a brick wall at 1.7, and I just couldn't get any further. Also, I had a lot of stress from my sports injuries that needed attention. I had to go to the hospital and to physiotherapy lots of times, so there was no other way. When holding all that time, I noticed that I healed and healed and healed. With a lot of suffering ofcourse. Suffering=healing. After a year I thought to myself: 'what the hell, let's do this, let's jump.' And it wasn't that bad. I had healed enough to make the jump.

 

Milligrams don't say that much. The 1.7V when started holding is a whole other 1.7V after a year of holding. The brain has made significant progress changing back to it's natural balance after one year, at the same dose.

[[da...]]

I  started reducing in March 2020. I've done holds as long as 4 months at 3mg and again around 2mg for a little more than 6 months. The symptoms were unbearable. I then went from 3mgs down to 1.44 mgs (today) much easier and faster than I ever thought possible. For me long holds help alot. Others are not the same.

 

My body still heals I have to go at a pace that keeps me from losing my mind and everything else. Its been 3+ years now. This is the lowest i have ever been in 20 years. Good days are great - better than ever. Bad days are bad. but not worse than ever

[[ji...]]

Hi Jtesmer91!

I found, like many others, that the quicker taper rate catches up with you and you get slammed.    I encourage you to hold not just until most symptoms resolve but until you’re feeling pretty good.  Then continue on a slow taper.  Sounds like the 10-11% cuts are a bit too much for your system.  I’m going slowly now, about 3% or so the past few months and am starting to feel pretty good again.  The holds really do make a difference for most of us.  I plan on holding whenever I feel any symptoms and then stay there until I’m doing ok.  The taper will take longer but the process will be much less painful.

 

You got this!