Need Advice on Valium Taper

[[...]]

@[Wi...] I tapered down to .75 mg 6 days ago after hold 1 mg for 2 weeks. I have been pretty miserable with tapering and it's keeping me from family and other obligations at times. With important events coming up mid December and into January, I'm wondering what your thoughts are on jumping after 2 weeks on .75 mg instead of tapering down to .5 mg and possibly even .25 mg. Jumping in 2 weeks would give me two weeks off of Valium before my first big event. 

What are the risks of not tapering down any further? Will the withdrawal symptoms be worse than if I had tapered lower? Will the withdrawal symptoms last longer than if I had tapered lower?

[Guest [...]]

Hi Cam

The risks of not tapering down any further (and jumping) would be that your symptoms will intensify and potentially make you even less functional. You would enter acute withdrawal after jumping, but you wouldn’t feel the brunt of it until the drug had completely cleared from your system. There’s absolutely no guarantee symptoms would ease within 2 weeks, and could potentially only increase around that time once the drug has cleared your system. Therefore, you would most likely find yourself less functional for your upcoming events. I know you feel miserable, but that’s normal, and the last thing you want to do is jump right before these important events. Remember, things can always get worse (more intense suffering) if we jump the gun and rush things. It’s the thought that you can get most of the withdrawal out of the way before  the events that concerns me. Sometimes there is no other choice than to stick to the plan (timeline) and just function the best we can through such events. I wouldn’t want to see you feeling worse for these events.