Tapered too fast/ How to stabilize again?

[[in...]]

After holding at 6.0mgs Valium for 4.5 months and not getting more stable I restarted my taper 38 days ago.  For the first 22 days I reduced by 0.01mgs Valium per day and did ok down to 5.78mgs.   So I decided to increase my taper rate daily reduction to 0.02mgs per day for the next 16 days.  My sleep deteriorated greatly and now I feel so much worse.  Yesterday I was at 5.46mgs Valium.  Should I just hold here until I feel better or should I Updose a little and hold until I get better?  I would love advise from someone else who has had that happen!

Thanks!

Edited March 11 by [in...]

[[Fa...]]

Hi, @[in...].  If it were me in your shoes, I would just hold my dose for awhile as you did not reduce your dose overly reckless (based on numbers you reduced your dose by 9% over the past 38 days).  

Once stable, you may consider adding periods of holding into your schedule of daily cuts to help ensure the daily reductions do not build up on you again (i.e., actively reduce for 2-4 weeks and then hold for 1-2 weeks).

Once stable, you may also consider actively reducing your dose by a number closer to .01mg per day and also track your exponential reductions over the course of any 30 day stretch.  For example, once stable, if you reduce by .01mg per day, for a month - you would reduce your dose by 5.5%.  You could then hold for a week or two and see how you are doing.  If doing well, you could repeat the same process in which you would reduce your dose by 5.8% over the next month of reductions (at .01mg per day).

[[or...]]

Hi @[in...],  I agree with tapering then holding that dose until I feel I am stable.  I am 1 year into my taper of Clonazepam, and I am tapering .001g (weight of dose) of my 1 mg tablet, about every 9 days.  This is working very well, in limiting my wd sxs so that I have a lot of quality of life. I can carry on my daily routine. 

I fully understand Valium is different than Clonazepam, half-life, etc. but I wanted to encourage you and glad you have done so well already.

I go more by how I feel (listening to my body) than I do by the numbers.  But numbers are equally important as I use a scale and careful to weigh my cuts accordingly   It's going much better now for me, since stumbling around, tapering too much, and one Cold Turkey, then finding BB.

I've also found nutrition and exercise have a huge hand in my success so far, oregonlady,  My Taper History

[[in...]]

Dear Faith and OregonL,

Thank you so much for your advice!  I really needed your suggestions and the comfort knowing I have not been too overly aggressive in my taper!  I will hold for a while and restart tapering just 0.01mg for 2-4 weeks and hold for a week or two to see how that does.

Oregon,  it looks like your taper of the equivalent of will 20mgs of Valium may end up taking you a little over 2 years at the rate you are going.  I guess I can be more patient.  One disappointment for me is that after holding at 6.0mgs for 3 months I began feeling better but at 3.5 months I began feeling worse and my windows became less until at 4.5 months of holding I gave up holding for more stability and started tapering again.  I was doing better at reducing 0.01 mgs per day and upped to 0.02 mgs per day after 3 weeks.  I should have kept my taper at the slower rate or done a test hold for a week or two. For reference I added my daily Valium graph since about April 2023 to present day.  I tapered too fast from 8.0mgs to 6.0mgs in 54 days and crashed. Hence my 4.5 month hold!

 

[[Mi...]]

Hi @[in...]

Im currently doing a daily Valium microtaper also! Wow, less than 6mgs. Good for you!! I’m currently almost at 10.5 and feeling slightly more symptomatic than I did earlier on (obviously). If I were you I would try to not up dose, just hold. I’m currently working with a coach who is kind of guiding me through and she always lets me know to hold if things seem to get worse (even though I despise holding). I will probably have to do so myself in the near future. However, I’ve made great progress.

Let me know if you have any other questions!

You will prevail no doubt!!!

[[in...]]

Hello MM,

Thanks for your advise and encouragement!  I agree that I will not Updose but will be patient and hold for a while!!!  

👨🏻‍🦳👍