Expensive Scale for Dry Microtapering

[[Co...]]

8 minutes ago, [[c...] said:

Would a updose be as bad as downdose? With updose you're on safer ground, not correct?

I don't really follow. Reversing an over-hasty, too-large cut is sometimes the better thing to do. But if it has been a while since the cut, or the symptoms are tolerable, it is generally better to stay on the new dose (for than than you originally anticipated if necessary). Yo-yoing your dose is to be avoided.

[[Ma...]]

Ive been staying away from this site recently because I was coming here too much and I think it was triggering for me.  I did want to comment on liquid microtapering though:

My micro taper worked great until it didn't, and I was going pretty slow.  I had to go back up from .38K to .5 mg and stabilize the last 3 weeks (which I have) I am now going back to a dry taper because that was working well before.  Not sure if I was getting inconsistent doses day to day or the insolubility changed how much I was taking or what.  The appeal of the micro taper to me was a psychological one (daily progress/reductions) but I shouldn’t have stopped what was working.  It’s also very tedious with the syringes and measuring etc.  It can add another level of anxiety about getting your dose correct and it is easy to make errors.  I can pretty accurately measure dry weight down to about .125 mg (Clonazepam, not pill weight) on my scale.  Once I get below that I’ll need to figure something else out but I’ll be near the end then as I plan on jumping around .06 or so.  I think the lesson to be learned here is not to mess with a method (or brand of benzo for that matter) if it’s working reasonably well for you. 

Edited December 7, 2023 by [Ma...]

[[Co...]]

Hi @[Ma...]

Thank you for adding your experiences and sensible note of caution. I agree with you - if it ain't broke, don't fix it has to be the general sensible approach.

In case you are unaware, some similar discussion has taken place in another thread:

I am sorry to learn that you have found some content at BB 'triggering'. Some find being here regularly helpful to them. For others, like you, it is better to drop in from time to time. Just as with utilising different approaches to tapering, use BB in the way which works best for you.

If you have any ideas for improving user-experiences of the platform, we'd like to hear from you: you can post to the Feedback forum, or if you would prefer to do it privately, use the Contact the Team forum.

[[Ma...]]

@[mi...] how are you? I tried splitting my Ativan and went into a huge wave since thanksgiving. Sucks so bad. I never was “stabilized per say” but was way better than I have been doing 

[[Ma...]]

On 30/10/2023 at 08:37, [[C...] said:

Additionally, at lower doses, our GABA system has retuned more to normal functioning, so our benzodiazepine (or z-drug) intake forms a smaller part of the picture, making variations in dose less critical.

Further, longer half-life benzodiazepines tend to protect against all the factors I mentioned above which cause variation in blood levels.

Hi, @[Co...], I thought that at lower doses you are more prone to feel cuts as I have read that the most difficult part of tapering, in terms of withdrawal symptoms, comes when you approach the end of your taper. 
I am tapering off 5mg of Clorazepate( Tranzene) at a rate of 10% reduction. In Spain we only have a brand, called Tranxilium which only comes in capsules. What I have been doing is getting the average weight of a capsule, then open it and extract the amount of powder that needs to be extracted so  that the amount I have to take (after having done all the calculations) remains into the capsule, I weigh it in a precision scales and close the capsule again. I have been getting better at the process with time and I find it quite entertaining by now. As the quantities I have to take are getting smaller it has become impossible to make realiable cuts with my scales, though it gives you 0.001 g theoretically. In the practice it is impossible for me to make a reduction from, let’s say from 0.057 g to 0.051 g. ( which,to give you some perspective, is a reduction from 1.74 mg to 1.57mg of the drug). What I have been starting to do now is making cuts of 0.010 aproximately (all the time everything has been really approximate, you can guess) but I am a bit worried that i might be speeding up my taper too much. What do you think? Thanks
 

[[Co...]]

20 hours ago, [[M...] said:

Hi, @[Co...], I thought that at lower doses you are more prone to feel cuts as I have read that the most difficult part of tapering, in terms of withdrawal symptoms, comes when you approach the end of your taper. 

Hi @[Ma...]

Obviously, it is a complicated picture at the level of the individual. And we might be talking at cross-purposes anyway.

At higher doses, we can usually make larger discrete cuts to our dose, which are relatively small cuts to dose in terms of percentage. So, for example, cutting 2mg from a dose of 20mg Valium (a cut of 10%) is mostly quite manageable. But that same cut (2mg) from a dose of 6mg (a cut of 33%) is often not manageable. For this reason, we tend to make smaller discrete cuts as the taper progresses so that the percentage cut remains reasonable.

However, at very low doses - as I explained before - the benzodiazepine forms only a relatively small part of the total GABA picture. So we might cut, for example, 0.5mg of Valium with each cut, and this same 0.5mg reduction in dose accounts for a larger and larger percentage each time we make it (0.5mg cut from 2.5mg is 20%; 0.5mg cut from 2mg is 25%; 0.5mg cut from 1.5mg is 33%; and so on). But at low doses, this rise in percentage is usually quite tolerable. And if we think about it, if we instead only ever made ever smaller reductions, we would never actually reach zero. Or another way to think about it, we could be down to a dose which equates to a single benzodiazepine molecule - we cannot subdivide that, and quitting that single molecule would equate to (in terms of percentage) a cut of 100%. Clearly, it would be nonsense to think of it in those terms - it is fine that the percentage cut goes up at low doses.

So this brings us to my original point: small variations matter less and less at lower doses, for the very same reasons that a linear taper of discrete cuts to dose (but where the amount cut inevitably rises as a percentage) matters less at low doses. At this stage, the total dose of benzodiazepine we take is having a smaller effect upon our GABA system, so small variations to dose or small cuts to dose have less of an effect upon the overall GABA picture. If it were not like this, we could not taper off benzodiazepines or any adictive medicine or drug.

Somewhere at around at a dose of 1-2 pills of the lowest dose pill available in your particular benzodiazepine (this is my personal, very rough rule of thumb*) a linear taper (vis pill-splitting) is fine. And, practically, this is sometimes this is the only available route to us anyway. (Some, though, need to subdivide further, which is why they utilise various methods of titrating their dose to much smaller fractions of a pill than is possible by ordinary pill-splitting.)

* It will depend upon the individual; for how long they have been of benzodiazepines; the relative potency of and lowest dose pill available for their particular benzodiazepine; and any outside factors which might influence the pace of the taper (for example, the supply of medicine is restricted, or the patient is suffering paradoxical effects, etc.).

[[Co...]]

20 hours ago, [[M...] said:

I am tapering off 5mg of Clorazepate( Tranzene) at a rate of 10% reduction. In Spain we only have a brand, called Tranxilium which only comes in capsules. What I have been doing is getting the average weight of a capsule, then open it and extract the amount of powder that needs to be extracted so  that the amount I have to take (after having done all the calculations) remains into the capsule, I weigh it in a precision scales and close the capsule again. I have been getting better at the process with time and I find it quite entertaining by now. As the quantities I have to take are getting smaller it has become impossible to make realiable cuts with my scales, though it gives you 0.001 g theoretically. In the practice it is impossible for me to make a reduction from, let’s say from 0.057 g to 0.051 g. ( which,to give you some perspective, is a reduction from 1.74 mg to 1.57mg of the drug). What I have been starting to do now is making cuts of 0.010 aproximately (all the time everything has been really approximate, you can guess) but I am a bit worried that i might be speeding up my taper too much. What do you think? Thanks

I thought I'd deal with your specific point separately.

Sometimes, as in your case, it is not straightforward to split the pill (if it is a capsule, for example). What you describe is a sensible and workable approach. But if it were me, I would not worry about the precision at low doses. As I explained before, the benzodiazepine is having a much smaller effect upon your GABA system. This does not mean that you are not suffering real withdrawal symptoms of course. But perhaps this is more to do with you being in general withdrawal - you've been tapering and your GABA system is attempting to catch up. To a reasonable degree, this is good, as being in withdrawal is what causes our GABA system to readjust to the absence of the medication. So I am not suggesting that we attempt to taper off at a (very slow) rate where we might experience no noticeable withdrawal effects. This is unrealistic for a community of individuals who tend - on the whole - to be tougher cases.

I have discussed this matter in some other posts of late - I'll try to dig out some links in a follow-up post in case they are helpful to you. Well, see what you make of them anyway. You should stick with what works for you, and try not to worry unduly. I tend to caution against becoming too hung up on impossible-to-achieve exactitudes, that's all. There are larger variations outside of our control with which we generally cope even when we are not tapering our dose.

[[Co...]]

@[Ma...] Oh. I see that this is the 'microtapering' thread - I somehow missed that. 

But there is also the thread I link below where I detail many of the things which affect blood levels of benzodiazepines. I mention these things in an attempt to bring some perspective to the discussion. I am not attempting to dissuade you from a path which is working for you. Aiming for exact doses will do you no harm; but needlessly obsessing about it might.

Unfortunately, some years ago, there was a benzo withdrawal site which pushed the idea of producing exact doses of benzodiazepine-milk liquids (there was even a ridiculous patent application). The goal was totally unrealistic, and it made false, unfulfillable promises. It caused a lot of problems for members of the associated website's message board, and some of that spilled over into BB (some would turn up here, banned from the other group for daring to report problems when following their patented withdrawal protocols). The effects of that (now defunct) website somewhat persists.

You'll be OK. Small variations to dose will cause you no harm. And yours seems like a reliable setup to me.

[[Ma...]]

1 hour ago, [[C...] said:

At higher doses, we can usually make larger discrete cuts to our dose, which are relatively small cuts to dose in terms of percentage. So, for example, cutting 2mg from a dose of 20mg Valium (a cut of 10%) is mostly quite manageable. But that same cut (2mg) from a dose of 6mg (a cut of 33%) is often not manageable. For this reason,

 

1 hour ago, [[C...] said:

And if we think about it, if we instead only ever made ever smaller reductions, we would never actually reach zero. Or another way to think about, we could be down to a dose which equates to a single benzodiazepine molecule - we cannot subdivide that, and quitting that single molecule would equate to (in terms of percentage) a cut of 100%. Clearly, it is nonsense - it is fine that the percentage cut goes up at low doses.

Hi @[Co...], this is very clarifying! I had really never understood all this stuff about percentages. Very bad at maths.There is something else which I can’t decipher no matter how hard I try. The thing is that I am not really tapering off 5 mg of Clorazepate but 15 mg. No, I am not a liar, the case is that when I was planning my tapering I thought that I could focus on 5mg first, the lowest dose capsule, to do the calculations, and then when I finished tapering these 5 mg I would deal with the rest. I thought it would be the same as devising a taper of 15 mg from the start. But … I sm affaid it is not the same 🙄 because when I started doing all my calculations to taper the 10 mg (even though I haven’t resumed the 5mg tapering yet) I realised something is really wrong. If I tapered at the same rate, 10 % each time, I would be super speeding my tapering in a really strange way, wouldn’t I? I am not even sure if it is so, so could you please tell me? There must be a way to fix this, I had thought of starting a taper of a 3% or something like this. I’m sure you can help me. If it is of some help, My tapering so far has been very very slow as I have travelled twice and wanted to be on the safe side, and so things have been quite smooth and fine. Thank you very much for your help and sorry about my English.

[[Co...]]

Hi @[Ma...]

If you post the dose you take (details matter), and the rate you wish to taper, I will try to help you tomorrow. (It is getting late here).

In short, if I understand you correctly, yes, it is the reduction to your dose relative to your total dose which is important (not the reduction to a single pill from a total of three pills).

[[Ma...]]

1 hour ago, [[C...] said:

Hi @[Ma...]

If you post the dose you take (details matter), and the rate you wish to taper, I will try to help you tomorrow. (It is getting late here).

In short, if I understand you correctly, yes, it is the reduction to your dose relative to your total dose which is important (not the reduction to a single pill from a total of three pills).

Hi @[Co...] I really appreciate your offering to help me fix my mess of a taper.

I Have been on 15 mg Clorazepate for 20 years.

Summary of my taper so far: instead of reducing my dose relative to my total dose, I have been tapering off a single pill of 5 mg at a 10% rate every 20 days or a bit more with a long hold in the middle of about 50 days. It was planned to reduce every 15 days, but some withdrawal symptoms have changed schedule. I started tapering in June and have only reduced a bit less than 3 mg up to now.

Now taking a 10mg capsule + approx. 2,2 mg      
I would like to go on with a slow tapering (as, although I can put up with physical symptoms like GI issues, I am really afraid of panic related ones) 
I read in one of your posts that you believe frequent small cuts are better than bigger ones more separatedin time, but l am unable to devise a plan from the point I am now (you know, having taken 5 mg as the amount to reduce instead of the total 15 mg I am on).

 

 

 

[[Co...]]

Hi @[Ma...]

It would be better if you copy your last post to a new thread on the Taper Strategies forum - I will assist you there.

[[Ma...]]

@[mi...] how’s tapering going? I think I went too fast did a 2.5% drop and within 24 hours went into a wave and it’s been 8 days and every symptom I had since the beginning of this resurfaced. Im so miserable. Now I’m worried I won’t stabilize. I wasn’t stabilized to begin with, but was relatively ok enough to keep tapering. An updose would be really bad right? Everytime I take my Ativan now I get awful restless legs. Im at .192 mg 

[[Pa...]]

I know the scale mentioned here is $1500. Does anyone know about the quality of US Solid Scale? 

[[Pa...]]

Forgot to add to my question is there any other less expensive brands that measure to .0001? 

[[Co...]]

On 23/02/2024 at 15:46, [[P...] said:

I know the scale mentioned here is $1500. Does anyone know about the quality of US Solid Scale? 

On 23/02/2024 at 15:49, [[P...] said:

Forgot to add to my question is there any other less expensive brands that measure to .0001? 

I would argue that there is no need to buy a balance (scales) which measure increments of 0.0001g (0.1mg). It is worth stating that (in case this point is missed) we are measuring whole pills, with all their incipient ingredients. A whole typically weight several hundred milligrams. In all usual circumstances, an inexpensive jewellers' scales which will measure increments of 0.001grams (1mg) is sufficient. Jewellers' scales can be purchased for $25 USD and many members make these work for them. Obviously, some work better than others - check out the feedback/ratings at Amazon, etc.  And it seems that good quality scales (which measure to 0.001g (1mg)) are in the $100-200 USD range.

If a pill weights over 100mg (as is usual), and we can measure decrements to 1mg, this is surely good enough for our purposes. Please consider that many factors affect the dose delivered which will swamp the greater accuracy of 0.1mg scales. We should expect, for example, that the true weight of benzodiazepine contained with an individual pill to vary by at least a few percent. For a pill weighing 200mg, and 3% variability (and it might be much more than this), this equates to +/- 6mg. I have to question the utility of being able to measure to an accuracy of 0.1g in these circumstances.

[[Cy...]]

For those on this thread that tried a liquid taper and experienced bad reactions, did anyone try a professionally compounded solution, and if so, why do you think it created problems?  Was it the change in brand of K used to make it, or that the liquid is absorbed at a different rate than the tablets? Has using a a scale that measures to the .0001 accurately enabled you to safely make the cuts at the very low levels?

[[CK...]]

On 19/10/2023 at 13:54, [[E...] said:

I am much further behind in my taper than you.  But, I have always been very sensitive to cuts and thus I have been very symptomatic throughout my taper.  So, I also was looking for answers to try to stabilize.

My biggest symptoms were extreme deep muscle, nerve, and bone pain in my back, legs, feet and shoulders along with numbness and tingling in my lower legs and feet.  I really could barely walk.  On a scale of 1-10, it was off the charts.  Within less than a week of purchasing the scale, these had reduced to about a 0-1.  I also had, and have, tittitus, teeth and jaw pain, insomnia, terrible penetrating headaches, and emotional bouts of weeping.  If I keep my daily taper to no more than 0.5% per day (which I am now able to do successfully with the scale), I can keep those symptoms to about 0-2 on my scale of 1-10 instead of 5-8.  If they start ramping up, I hold for a day or 2 and they settle down again.  I really do believe, although I am sure there are those that would respectfully disagree, that it is due to the rather rigid control I now have of my dose amount.  Furthermore, it has been suggested, and I now agree, that I need to systematically schedule regular holds to allow my CNT to "catch up" to my cuts rather than keep cutting until my symptoms ramp up.

I do hope that your scale works as well for you as it has, thus far, for me!

Hi! 
I’m wondering if you can share the name and model of your scale. I was using Gemini for first 0.52 mg of Clonazepam (from 1mg), but my house is an antique and completely unlevel. Switch to Solco brand in Dec seemed ok, but pills are crap bad crumble. I have the same symptoms as you. Ugh. They’re all horrendous.
 

I tried switching to water taper and holding for 7 weeks and my symptoms are through the roof and worsening. Panicked as I am allergic to the compounding solutions (yes, all of them) and I don’t think the water taper is reliable. I’ve been on for too long. Any advice would be appreciated.

christine

[[El...]]

@[CK...] I am sorry you are experiencing such difficult symptoms.  Here is a link to the scale I purchased from eBay. https://www.ebay.com/itm/404451023985

Let me just add an aside here based on past comments: I know there are many who would consider this "overkill".  And I know that many would get very frustrated with the weighing and the math.  My education and 30+ years work experience are in chemistry/physics.  So, for me, using a precision scale is not difficult, tedious or frustrating.  I just say this because I don't want anyone to think I am "plugging" a more expensive scale, or that it will promise magical results, or that it going to be easier.  

In September I did experience a marked decline in my symptoms after starting with this scale.  My tinnitus is still terrible!  But overall, I have been very functional, moving at a steady overall ~8% reduction every four weeks.  But, it could be, maybe, I just turned a corner at that point in my taper in September when I first purchased my scale.  

Anyway, I do hope it hope it might help to reduce your symptoms.  I will also add, that you will really need to level this scale.  I live in an old farmhouse built in 1861, so I know about old homes.  I used a level that carpenters use to adjust the legs on the balance so it is level.  That worked well for me.

Beware, the assembly instructions are in chinese.  But it is pretty straight-forward.  I would be glad to assist if you need.  Let me know how it goes if you decide to purchase.

 

[[CK...]]

6 minutes ago, [[E...] said:

@[CK...] I am sorry you are experiencing such difficult symptoms.  Here is a link to the scale I purchased from eBay. https://www.ebay.com/itm/404451023985

Let me just add an aside here based on past comments: I know there are many who would consider this "overkill".  And I know that many would get very frustrated with the weighing and the math.  My education and 30+ years work experience are in chemistry/physics.  So, for me, using a precision scale is not difficult, tedious or frustrating.  I just say this because I don't want anyone to think I am "plugging" a more expensive scale, or that it will promise magical results, or that it going to be easier.  

In September I did experience a marked decline in my symptoms after starting with this scale.  My tinnitus is still terrible!  But overall, I have been very functional, moving at a steady overall ~8% reduction every four weeks.  But, it could be, maybe, I just turned a corner at that point in my taper in September when I first purchased my scale.  

Anyway, I do hope it hope it might help to reduce your symptoms.  I will also add, that you will really need to level this scale.  I live in an old farmhouse built in 1861, so I know about old homes.  I used a level that carpenters use to adjust the legs on the balance so it is level.  That worked well for me.

Beware, the assembly instructions are in chinese.  But it is pretty straight-forward.  I would be glad to assist if you need.  Let me know how it goes if you decide to purchase.

Thank you for your quick reply! Yes, sympathy are brutal. This scale is much cheaper than what I’ve seen others using. Possibly because I’m tapering clonazepam, which does not come in small doses. Ugh. I may need to get the 4 digits to right of decimal for clon. My house is 1709, so you can imagine. It’s awful. I was using a surface level app, but need to get a real one. Maybe I could try this scale as an entry level. If I waste a few hundred it’s better than a couple of thousand. Sartorius is what some others had suggested.

I’m so glad your symptoms have improved. Small victories!

 

[[Pa...]]

9 hours ago, [[C...] said:

Hi! 
I’m wondering if you can share the name and model of your scale. I was using Gemini for first 0.52 mg of Clonazepam (from 1mg), but my house is an antique and completely unlevel. Switch to Solco brand in Dec seemed ok, but pills are crap bad crumble. I have the same symptoms as you. Ugh. They’re all horrendous.
 

I tried switching to water taper and holding for 7 weeks and my symptoms are through the roof and worsening. Panicked as I am allergic to the compounding solutions (yes, all of them) and I don’t think the water taper is reliable. I’ve been on for too long. Any advice would be appreciated.

christine

I’ve had issues with Gemini as well. Are you d

 

5 hours ago, [[E...] said:

@[CK...] I am sorry you are experiencing such difficult symptoms.  Here is a link to the scale I purchased from eBay. https://www.ebay.com/itm/404451023985

Let me just add an aside here based on past comments: I know there are many who would consider this "overkill".  And I know that many would get very frustrated with the weighing and the math.  My education and 30+ years work experience are in chemistry/physics.  So, for me, using a precision scale is not difficult, tedious or frustrating.  I just say this because I don't want anyone to think I am "plugging" a more expensive scale, or that it will promise magical results, or that it going to be easier.  

In September I did experience a marked decline in my symptoms after starting with this scale.  My tinnitus is still terrible!  But overall, I have been very functional, moving at a steady overall ~8% reduction every four weeks.  But, it could be, maybe, I just turned a corner at that point in my taper in September when I first purchased my scale.  

Anyway, I do hope it hope it might help to reduce your symptoms.  I will also add, that you will really need to level this scale.  I live in an old farmhouse built in 1861, so I know about old homes.  I used a level that carpenters use to adjust the legs on the balance so it is level.  That worked well for me.

Beware, the assembly instructions are in chinese.  But it is pretty straight-forward.  I would be glad to assist if you need.  Let me know how it goes if you decide to purchase.

@[El...]Thank you for sharing this as I have also been looking to replace the Gemini with something that is more precise. Can I ask if you dry cut, or crush your pills? 

[[cc...]]

5 hours ago, [[E...] said:

@[CK...] I am sorry you are experiencing such difficult symptoms.  Here is a link to the scale I purchased from eBay. https://www.ebay.com/itm/404451023985

Let me just add an aside here based on past comments: I know there are many who would consider this "overkill".  And I know that many would get very frustrated with the weighing and the math.  My education and 30+ years work experience are in chemistry/physics.  So, for me, using a precision scale is not difficult, tedious or frustrating.  I just say this because I don't want anyone to think I am "plugging" a more expensive scale, or that it will promise magical results, or that it going to be easier.  

In September I did experience a marked decline in my symptoms after starting with this scale.  My tinnitus is still terrible!  But overall, I have been very functional, moving at a steady overall ~8% reduction every four weeks.  But, it could be, maybe, I just turned a corner at that point in my taper in September when I first purchased my scale.  

Anyway, I do hope it hope it might help to reduce your symptoms.  I will also add, that you will really need to level this scale.  I live in an old farmhouse built in 1861, so I know about old homes.  I used a level that carpenters use to adjust the legs on the balance so it is level.  That worked well for me.

Beware, the assembly instructions are in chinese.  But it is pretty straight-forward.  I would be glad to assist if you need.  Let me know how it goes if you decide to purchase.

@[El...] Its very interesting what you say about more expensive scales. I'm wondering if it is indeed an overkill. For example:

When I weight a klonopin pill, I find a Teva .5 brand weighs just about 175mg weight  (+- 1 or 2 mg). So tapering 5% (assuming, atpering from a dose of just .5mg klonopin), would be 8.75mg weight. So after scraping off that amount, you get somehwere between 166.25 (optimal; +- 1 or 2mg variation). Evne with a 3mg variation, we're talking about .009mg of active medicine reduction.

When it can get important is when the pill gets extremly small. BTW, it you leave the 10 or 20 gram weight on the scale, the small tablets will have a more accurate weight shown. In any case, you can get .125mg tables, which weigh about 100mg. now, lets say you're at .125 in your taper, a quarter would be .0325mg of active medicine. If I can get an eight (not too hard), I'm at .015625mg, which for me is jumping point. I understand that if you need to go even lower you'd get this expensive scale, but for me, the $5- works just fine.

From Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, Inc.:

"Clonazepam, USP, a benzodiazepine is available as an orally disintegrating tablet containing 0.125 mg, 0.25 mg, 0.5 mg, 1 mg or 2 mg clonazepam, USP. In addition each orally disintegrating tablet also contains the following inactive ingredients: mannitol, crospovidone, pregelatinized maize starch, aspartame, talc, and magnesium stearate."

[[cc...]]

4 minutes ago, [[P...] said:

I’ve had issues with Gemini as well. Are you d

@[El...]Thank you for sharing this as I have also been looking to replace the Gemini with something that is more precise. Can I ask if you dry cut, or crush your pills? 

@[Pa...] I never cut because it's extremely uneven and it crumbles. I but sand paper of different courseness and scrape and weigh. It worked wonderfull for me. I do have benzo taper wd sensitivity now so I'm suffering anyway. When I went from 2.5 to 1.5, this is how I did it.

[[Pa...]]

7 minutes ago, [[c...] said:

@[Pa...] I never cut because it's extremely uneven and it crumbles. I but sand paper of different courseness and scrape and weigh. It worked wonderfull for me. I do have benzo taper wd sensitivity now so I'm suffering anyway. When I went from 2.5 to 1.5, this is how I did it.

This is how I’ve been doing it as well. I am using a .5 mg pill and the brand name. I’m down to about .27 or .28 mg. Which is slightly more than half of  a scored .5 pill. After I cut the pill on the score, I take one full half, then have to cut a very small piece from the second half. I’m starting to wonder if the small pieces I am cutting contain any of the active ingredient. It’s not spread evenly throughout the individual half. so I was considering starting to crush the pills and stir them. I don’t know at this point what’s best.

Edited March 10 by [Pa...]

[[cc...]]

1 minute ago, [[P...] said:

This is how I’ve been doing it as well. I am using a .5 mg pill and the brand name. I’m down to about .27 or .28 mg. Which is slightly more than a Which is slightly more than a scored pill. After I cut the pill on the score, I take one full half but then have to cut a very small piece from the second half. I’m starting to wonder if the small pieces I am cutting contain any of the active ingredient. It’s not spread evenly throughout the individual half. so I was considering starting to crush the pills and stir them. I don’t know at this point what’s best.

@[Pa...] I must say that after lot's of investigation and asking of pharmacies, i've concluded that this uneven distribution is not an issue and just an obsession. If it's not coated or made to be Sustained release, it's no problem whatsoever. I've had way more issues with liquid taper; on DIY of course. 

I've never had a problem with scrapping but I respect those that have. MUCH more important, is the brand change. For instance, when I try scrapping a 1mg from Solco and then when I get to .5, I get Teva. that's a big issues for many; a real concern. Even when not tapering, it is not advisable to switch brands. This makes sense; it's logical that since pharma is allowed to show +- a minsicule pecentage between brands, AND the method of the medicine release - not discounting the fillers, can be a big issue.

I feel that this issue made it hard in my tapering. The scrapping, in my humble understanding of what I've rerad and heard from pharmaies (multiple), regarding the issue of universal distribution, isn't a concern. Best of Luck