Microtapering vs. Cut and Hold

[[mi...]]

People who switch to microtapering mention that it often saves them on the way down and makes life so much easier. Whether it be liquid or a high quality scale, is it just smoothing out reductions, or is it also the more precise measuring (in the case of liquid) that makes daily dosing even when holding more accurate and smooth. 

[[Je...]]

On 20/10/2023 at 15:01, [[m...] said:

People who switch to microtapering mention that it often saves them on the way down and makes life so much easier. Whether it be liquid or a high quality scale, is it just smoothing out reductions, or is it also the more precise measuring (in the case of liquid) that makes daily dosing even when holding more accurate and smooth. 

I think it depends on what you're tapering and your own tolerance. I've been tapering klonopin, which has a long half-life, and I've been just dry cutting. At the end I switched to a 0.125 mg orally disintegrating tablet (ODT) and cut that into quarters (0.03125 mg per quarter, which was my final dose). It's less accurate, but I think because of the long half-life that for me, in the long run, the discrepancies day-to-day weren't noticeable. So, I'm not sure, if it would have been smoother or not. The ODTs are pretty easy to cut - they are softer than the regular tablet and don't make a pile of crumbs. I'm hoping maybe there is someone who has experience with both methods and can better speak to them.

Jess

[[Th...]]

I’ve done both. The cut and hold method was good at the beginning. Withdrawal would be intense from days 3-12 and then ease off again. But as the dose got lower the symptoms got more intense and I had to stop tapering. Now I’m doing a daily micro taper using water. I’m getting symptoms and have some bad days but also some ok days. Even the bad days I can get through even though it’s pretty horrible. And every day I’m making progress on my taper.

[[Ma...]]

I’m switching to one.  I think it makes for a smoother transition for your brain.  Cut and hold just doesn’t work as well at the lower doses for a lot of us . It’s too erratic.  I think psychologically knowing that you’re making progress is a big part of it too.  Being able to see your dose come down every day, even by the smallest amount.  It makes sense that the dosing is more precise too.