How many doses? Consolidate to 1 a day , or try 3x a day to reduce awful IDW symptoms?

[[Ni...]]

For several years I’ve been tapering with 2 doses a day. I have alternated between reducing my evening and morning dose to keep them relatively equal. Like I reduced am to .250 g  while pm was constant .300 g.  Currently at .250g am, .275 pm.  (Due to extreme joint hypermobility and cranial cervical instability it’s scary to push myself faster. I’ve had 2 spine surgeries and really hope not to get the rest of my neck fused). 
A few weeks ago read a post where someone said she started taking both doses at once, and found it eliminated or reduced IDW symptoms. I want to know more about this , anyone have experience? 
Yesterday my doctor suggested I try splitting into 3 doses a day as I do get a window of functionality after my am. dose , then go back to intense pain, joint twisting, boatiness , difficulty walking etc by later afternoon and especially in few hours before evening dose. 
SINGLE DOSE? 3 DOSES? Anyone have experience/ wisdom?  

[[je...]]

6 hours ago, [[N...] said:

For several years I’ve been tapering with 2 doses a day. I have alternated between reducing my evening and morning dose to keep them relatively equal. Like I reduced am to .250 g  while pm was constant .300 g.  Currently at .250g am, .275 pm.  (Due to extreme joint hypermobility and cranial cervical instability it’s scary to push myself faster. I’ve had 2 spine surgeries and really hope not to get the rest of my neck fused). 
A few weeks ago read a post where someone said she started taking both doses at once, and found it eliminated or reduced IDW symptoms. I want to know more about this , anyone have experience? 
Yesterday my doctor suggested I try splitting into 3 doses a day as I do get a window of functionality after my am. dose , then go back to intense pain, joint twisting, boatiness , difficulty walking etc by later afternoon and especially in few hours before evening dose. 
SINGLE DOSE? 3 DOSES? Anyone have experience/ wisdom?  

Hi @[Ni...]

I'm really sorry you are struggling with so many issues. I just want to clarify you are on 0.25mg and 0.275 mg and not grams? If so, I doubt you'll get relief from interdose withdrawal by combining your doses at this stage. It's just a guess though. I am only aware of one person who combined doses at a very low dose because they believed they were losing therapeutic value in their individual doses and it worked. But you are not at a point to lose therapeutic value soon, if you're tapering within our recommended guidelines. Otherwise if you could link me to that post to see if there's another reason for combining higher doses that would be great. 

In my opinion, I think it would be better to either have 3 doses or cross to Valium if you're struggling with interdose withdrawal. 

[[Ni...]]

7 hours ago, [[[...] said:

No I’m not at that low a dose ( if only I was! ). My doses are both close to 3 mg.  I’m so used to weighing each dose that I think of them as the weights. It’s .250 g  and .275 g. 
Valium is what I’m taking. 

[[je...]]

19 minutes ago, [[N...] said:

No I’m not at that low a dose ( if only I was! ). My doses are both close to 3 mg.  I’m so used to weighing each dose that I think of them as the weights. It’s .250 g  and .275 g. 
Valium is what I’m taking. 

So the weight you're referring to is the weight of the pill on the scale, not your dose weight (active pharmaceutical ingredient)? Do you know what each individual dose equals in mg?

[[Ni...]]

Yes the weights in g. are from my scale. 
As mentioned, both are close to 3 mg. 
morning just under 3, evening about 3.2 mg

 

 

[[je...]]

It does sound to me as if your IDW is really bad. I know of people on Valium who dose five times a day - it's rare, but it does happen. I do think splitting your dose will probably help you more than combining, especially where you are at currently in your doses. With Valium's long half-life the overlapping three doses should theoretically give you more relief. I don't have experience with this though, this is just based on what I've seen around the tapering forums.

[[Ni...]]

Thanks for your reply on this question.  I was encouraged to hear that someone else is dosing on a different schedule than the Ashton protocols. I would have replied sooner but have trouble getting on the new website to comment using my phone. Probably foggy brain. Works fine on this device  

 Anyway I decided to try it yesterday after thinking about how to divide doses so I wasn’t dealing with crumbs in the afternoon. The whole point is to give me more functional time. Well, I was able to divide it so each dose is a full tab, with heavier weight at night. Yesterday was horrible.  Without the morning dose I’m used to I never felt as able to do basic things as usual, and I had 2 crashes instead of one in the evening. I adjusted it slightly so the am dose is more today, but if it’s as bad as yesterday I’m not sure I’ll continue. At least I had figured out how to predict and cope with the daily pattern of 2 doses. 
 

 

[[je...]]

I'm glad you're trialling it. At least this way you'll know and like you said if it doesn't work then you can go back to regular dosing. This whole process is so frustrating. Theoretically it should work but then it doesn't and there's no reason why. I was hoping you would get some relief. 

[[Ni...]]

Me too! 
I do get a burst of energy after the afternoon dose but at least an hour of brutal muscle contractions before that point- right in the middle of the day. 
I have a new doctor who is at least interested in trying to help ( though not very experienced in the process). I wanted to try his suggestion bc I’m grateful he’s listening to me and believing my account. 

[[je...]]

It's great to have an understanding doctor. It sucks that we have to be the guinea pigs.