Tapering Oxazepam with Diazepam or Lorazepam, how?

[[qa...]]

Hey, I never had much experience with Benzos.

I had a few Oxazepam lying around for years in case I need them and maybe used them 1-2 per year.

Someone in the family recently died and I helped cleaning up his flat. He had a whole package of Oxazepam (4-5 Blisters of 12x50mg tabs) and a few blisters of Diazepam, Lorazepam, Nitrazepam and Midazolam. I've thought that he won't be needing them anymore, so I took them with me.

The death for some reason caught me in a weird way and I took the Oxazepam irregularly for the first month. Usually 4-6 times per week (varying 25-38-50mg) at night.

After 30 days I did not take anything for 3 days and did not feel any side effects / withdrawals.

After the 3 days have passed, I sadly didn't get the message and continued using every night since then. So I'm a bit less than 3 months on Oxazepam with here and there breaks in the first month.

 

I tapered the Oxazepam down to 6-12mg. It really depends on the day. Sometimes it feels like I can go without the whole day and night, sometimes I get an elevated heart rate lying calmly on the bed and feeling weird tingling effects in my legs during the day almost as they are about to cramp but aren't really..

I assume I finally reached my goal of getting dependent on benzos, yay.

 

Now, I know this is a mild dose and a short time compared to many here. I'm mostly concerned about seizures and similar dangerous effects.

I can handle a fast heart beat and weird feelings in my legs but I don't want to scare my partner randomly getting unconscious.

The other benzos remained untouched but the Oxazepam is empty now.

I have (4x10mg)40mg of Diazepam, around (10x2.5mg)25mg Lorazepam, (4x7.5mg)30mg Midazolam left.

 

I know my little story doesn't really support it, but I am able to just not take the pills if I would have the feeling of being safe but uncomfortable. The uncertainty and horror stories prolonged my Oxazepam tapering for sure and most likely made everything worse in the end.

As I currently get the feeling that especially the tingling in my legs could lead to cramps I'm thinking about tapering with the other medications.

 

My plan was to initially try out 2.5mg Diazepam at night and see how it affects me. Primarily because it's easier to cut compared to Lorazepam..

I would continue using 2.5mg for 4 days or readjust, then maybe directly switch to 1.25 for a few days and then stop all together when I feel comfortable.

But I assume it is too quick because of the long half-life?

I just need some kind of instructions to follow and would rather bite through mild wds than to keep on using for a longer time.

I also would prefer to keep doctors or hospitals out of the picture unless it is really important (which I don't think it is, yet).

 

Thanks very much in advance for any kind of help!

 

 

Edited July 13 by [qa...]

[[Re...]]

Hello @[qa...], Welcome to BenzoBuddies,

I am glad you joined the Forum! 

I am really sorry you have to experience these common withdrawal symptoms. I have had them in the past as well and I know how uncomfortable and challenging they can be. 

Benzodiazepine dependence can form even after few weeks of use indeed, and your symptoms, like tingling in the muscles and rapid heartbeat are likely due to your recent rapid reduction of oxazepam,as you pointed out already. 

If you did not have a seizure disorder or seizures in the past you should not be specifically worried about them as they seem to occur rarely in the community. There are, however other challenging and unique properties of benzodiazepine withdrawal (benzoinfo.com).

You will see that 10 mgs of oxazepam equals about 5 mgs of diazepam (equivalence table). Benzodiazepines are very potent drugs, and even at "lower doses" they bind to significant percentage of receptors: your sudden crossover and reduction to 2,5 mg diazepam would result of a disproportionately big drop in serum levels, this might intensify your symptoms and I do not advise you to do so. 

Bringing the other benzodiazepines (midazolam, lorazepam) to the picture would complicate things, these are not always easily interchangeable - ,as have different half lives and potency. (see the equivalence table above). 

I believe you should really consider to find a supportive prescriber, general practitioner /psychiatrist to help you taper off oxazepam. This might happen with or without a crossover to diazepam (see Ashton Manual). The safest reduction rate is 5-10% of your previous dose every two or three weeks, but you might taper a bit faster given your relatively shorter history. 

Yes, you will recover rather sooner than later, most of us do even from very complicated withdrawals and even from decades of use, but the best way to avoid issues is to follow a slow tapering schedule - at least slower than you planned with your available diazepam. 

I am certain others will way in soon, 

We are glad you found us

Take care @[qa...]

 

 

[[qa...]]

Thank you very much for your swift and thorough response!

I never had seizures in my life, neither did I have cramps or something similar. I am also not prone to panic attacks or anxiety, but who knows what the chemical imbalance will do.

I know a trained professional would be the smartest and simplest choice, but it would make things a bit complicated for me in my personal life. I don't really want an addict mark in my doctors papers, and going to a new one just for this seems like odd behavior? Just getting an appointment to a new doc would take weeks here.. - which is why I would prefer to taper alone at home with the rest I have - somehow.

But I do acknowledge that you do not advise to do so, and that you advise to talk to a doctor.

So I need to think about my next steps I guess.

As it's weekend now, I for sure do not get an appointment until next week (if I'm lucky), and as I am out of Oxazepam the only option would be a hospital. This seems pretty overkill, but I also can't as I am having things to do this weekend..

Today I could go without any until the night, but tomorrow without a dose could be problematic I think.

So could I temporarily resort to around 0.25-0.5 Lorazepam until I have a plan in mind?

I do have a milligram scale at hand. I would not trust it with actual minimal milligrams < 5mg, but it should handle a broken up pill just fine.

If I decide on not using Lorazepam and go without completely, I most likely will have cold turkey'd the Oxazepam before I even get an appointment. The current medical situation is pretty dire at the moment.

I hope I don't come off as dismissive, I really appreciate your support and will remember your advice! If it gets too difficult I will consult a professional for sure, even if it means going to a hospital. I just really want to avoid it.

Edited July 13 by [qa...]

[[Re...]]

Stopping benzodiazepines cold turkey is definitely not a good idea, it might cause longer lasting, uncomfortable withdrawal symptoms. There is also a greater chance of protracted withdrawal syndrome. 

In case you encounter worsening withdrawal symptoms, you should talk to the trained professional you know or consider going to the ER. 

Only if these above are not a possibility for various reasons, you may try to substitute your daily oxazepam temporarily (10 mg oxazepam is approximately 5 mg diazepam or 0.5 mg lorazepam). 

[[qa...]]

For whom it may concern, it's now two weeks later and I want to report how life went for me so far. I figured I try to taper on my own and did not want to get someone else involved. Although, I did not rule out the option in case things get ugly.

I'm primarily posting because I found very few posts on Google about "short / 3month"  low dose abuse and detox. So maybe it helps someone. Just want to re-iterate that I have no past benzo experience, so I'm stopping for the first time and this is not tapering advice.

After the Oxazepam went dry, I initially went with .5mg Lorazepam which had a significant effect on me (bit  drunken feeling, more talkative, etc) so I figured that I can split the dose in half. I took .25mg at 7 in the evening for around 8 days without facing any significant withdrawal effects during the day.

I primarily had occasional sweating, mild vertigo, headache - no racing heart beat anymore - , no glimpse of anxiety or restlessness. I guess the longer half-life helps here. These symptoms often faded rather quickly in an hour or two and didn't really bother me during the day. They also got less and less over the days.

Later into the week I almost forgot my dose and took it before bed (12 midnight).

Then I reduced the dose to .2mg and feel pretty much the same.

I will now just listen to my body to figure out when to stop. I guess in few days I will either go down to .15, stop completely, or leave out a dose every 2nd day.

If I feel it was too quickly, I will either stay at .2 for a longer while or bite through the .15 until it sticks.

I still have around 20mg Lorazepam left, so I have enough to get my life together I guess.

For now I feel great and confident. I get the feeling that I am one of the lucky ones who gets out of it with a big red warning. Lets see how it goes in the next week(s).

 

Right now I'm taking 1-2.5mg Melatonin, 1.5g Magnesium and a few puffs of a prescribed 8% 1:1 THC/CBD cannabis strain to sleep if needed which works wonders.

 

Thanks for the advice again!

Edited July 31 by [qa...]