Did I taper too quickly? Will this panic subside ?

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I’ve been trying to taper off of Ativan after 8 months .5 nightly + intermittent 5 daytime dose 

Here’s my recent taper schedule:

7/3 .5 

7/4 .5

7/5 .25

7/6 .25 

7/7  .125

7/8 .125 

7/9 missed 

7/10 .125 

7/11 .125 

7/12 .125

7/13.125

CROSSOVER TO VALIUM 

7/14 1.25 Valium 

7/15 1.25 Valium 

I’m very uncomfortable with interrupted panicky waking all through the night with pounding heart anxiety all day.  My doctor said I went too low on the Valium and should have started at 2.5 but I felt like that would take me forever to taper and now I wonder if I made a mistake and I should just go to 2.5 - Any insight is helpful. I can shower, cook and clean that’s about it.  My husband is telling me he is thinking about a divorce, I need to get through this.  Should I ride it out knowing this will eventually pass or should I go up to 2.5. 
 

Nighttime is so bad I welcome any help, advice thoughts etc.  

 

 

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@[...] Yes, making a 50% cut overnight is a huge decrease. And doing it every couple of days initially was really rapid. I can speak for myself going into this process that I never realized how long of a process this could be and in my head, thought I should be able to taper off over the course of maybe a couple of months. But I’ve come to terms with the fact that if I want to do this in a way that is going to stick, then it’s going to take longer than I originally planned. That’s really disappointing that your husband isn’t supporting you through this. I’m sorry that is being piled on to an already difficult situation. 

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44 minutes ago, [[g...] said:

yes i personally believe you tapered way too quickly, check out the ashton manual, you can follow the schedule for ativan. the ashton manual is the best and safest way to taper. i would say reinstate to a dose you felt comfortable with and then begin the ashton manual. im not a doctor or medical professional but thats what i would suggest  

@[ga...] thank you for he insight I decided to go to 2.5 to help me stabilize then I’ll go from there with the Ashton manual - if I’m reading it right the goal for me wil be to taper: 

2.5 now for 1-2 weeks 

2 1-2 weeks 

1.5 1-2 weeks 

.5 1-2 weeks 

jump 

thank you again I really needed help and advice 

 

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48 minutes ago, [[g...] said:

yes i personally believe you tapered way too quickly, check out the ashton manual, you can follow the schedule for ativan. the ashton manual is the best and safest way to taper. i would say reinstate to a dose you felt comfortable with and then begin the ashton manual. im not a doctor or medical professional but thats what i would suggest  

 

38 minutes ago, [[G...] said:

@[...] Yes, making a 50% cut overnight is a huge decrease. And doing it every couple of days initially was really rapid. I can speak for myself going into this process that I never realized how long of a process this could be and in my head, thought I should be able to taper off over the course of maybe a couple of months. But I’ve come to terms with the fact that if I want to do this in a way that is going to stick, then it’s going to take longer than I originally planned. That’s really disappointing that your husband isn’t supporting you through this. I’m sorry that is being piled on to an already difficult situation. 

 

@[Go...]thank you for he insight I decided to go to 2.5 to help me stabilize then I’ll go from there with the Ashton manual - if I’m reading it right the goal for me wil be to taper: 

2.5 now for 1-2 weeks 

2 1-2 weeks 

1.5 1-2 weeks 

.5 1-2 weeks 

jump 

thank you again I really needed help and advice 

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

I would just say along with that, to listen to your body to determine when to reduce. Don’t feel like it has to be every 1-2 weeks. Some reductions may be doable after 1 week and some you may need to wait longer than 2. I did my first 4 cuts after one week, then my 5th cut I waited 2 weeks and after I reduced I realized my body wasn’t ready and I had to go back up and hold. Just don’t get too attached to a timeline. 

@[Go...]thsnk you so much for the support 🙏🏻

[[An...]]

Yes it will subside maybe hold there till you feel better 

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8 hours ago, [[A...] said:

Yes it will subside maybe hold there till you feel better 

@[An...] thank you I’m praying it does

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21 hours ago, [[G...] said:

I would just say along with that, to listen to your body to determine when to reduce. Don’t feel like it has to be every 1-2 weeks. Some reductions may be doable after 1 week and some you may need to wait longer than 2. I did my first 4 cuts after one week, then my 5th cut I waited 2 weeks and after I reduced I realized my body wasn’t ready and I had to go back up and hold. Just don’t get too attached to a timeline. 

@[Go...] I’m not savy yet to see your taper history on your profile - what did you taper from and how long did it take you ? 

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

I can’t figure that out either 😂 

So I’m tapering off of klonopin, not Ativan/valium. I started my taper at the pace set by my psychiatrist which I found out was incredibly fast. I started at 2mg/day for 5+ years. I started the taper 5/7 and my first cut was 1.75 mg a day. I did that for one week and then cut down to 1.5 mg/day for one week. Then 1.25 mg/day for one week. Then 1 mg/ day for one weeks. So in 4 weeks I had cut my dose in half (very fast). THEN I reduced to .75 for 2 weeks. Then to .5 which I stayed at for 2.5 weeks and couldn’t tolerate it and went back up to .75 and I’ve been at .75 since 7/3.

@[Go...] well done I hear klonopin is so hard - I’m keeping you in my prayers for continued success which I know you will have.  You seem to have a good handle on it all.  How bad have your cuts been in terms of symptoms ? Do you spread your dose out ? It’s very hard to stay at a dose that’s not tolerable for 2.5 weeks, you are very strong!  How much longer do you think (knowing we can’t ever plan) you will have to go ? 

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

Thank you for your prayers! I would not have been able to get even this far without God. My faith has allowed me to stay mentally and emotionally stable even when I’ve felt worse than I ever have, physically. For me, the symptoms seem to get worse with each cut. I have a lot of GI problems, primarily nausea. I get very dizzy doing mild activities. I’ve had horrible insomnia, nightmares, and sleep paralysis with hallucinations. To answer your question, I do spread out my dose throughout the day. I take .25 in the morning, .25 in the afternoon, and .25 before bed. I plan on staying at this dose until my kids go back to school. Right now I’m home with them 24 hours a day while they’re out of school for the summer and I simply wouldn’t be able to operate at the level that I’d like to if I cut again right now. So in a month or so, I plan on going down to .625 mg/day and I will hold there until my body feels ready to reduce again. I am fully allowing my body to let me know when it is ready for the next step. There’s no way of telling how long that will take and I’m not putting too much pressure on myself with a timeline. I know I will get there when I get there. 

@[Go...] oh so so many hard symptoms!! To have a house full of children and all of those symptoms must be next to impossible.  I have an 11 year old and it’s absolutely impossible for me to keep it together during the day after insomnia and panic attacks at night and morning panic with racing heart.  I need to adopt your patience in knowing I will get there.  With your nausea are you able to eat ? That is one big symptoms for me too - I simply cannot eat I have to force myself.  Ps how do you know when you’re ready to cut ? I am assuming you feel no withdrawal symptoms anymore ? How long do you go without symptoms to know you’re going to make the cut? 

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@[...] It is difficult to be a full time mom while going though this but I do sometimes think my kids keep me busy and they motivate me to push through the hard days because I have to be functional for them. As far as eating, there have been times that I try to eat and I can’t keep stuff down. But I do think as time goes on I have been able to eat more. I feel the most sick when I wake up and usually don’t eat until later in the day. By dinner time, I can usually eat a small meal. I do not wait until I feel zero withdrawal symptoms before I cut. I wait until I feel like the symptoms are tolerable and until I feel “functional” more days than not. I think if you waited until you felt NO symptoms, your taper would be never ending. 

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2 minutes ago, [[G...] said:

@[...] It is difficult to be a full time mom while going though this but I do sometimes think my kids keep me busy and they motivate me to push through the hard days because I have to be functional for them. As far as eating, there have been times that I try to eat and I can’t keep stuff down. But I do think as time goes on I have been able to eat more. I feel the most sick when I wake up and usually don’t eat until later in the day. By dinner time, I can usually eat a small meal. I do not wait until I feel zero withdrawal symptoms before I cut. I wait until I feel like the symptoms are tolerable and until I feel “functional” more days than not. I think if you waited until you felt NO symptoms, your taper would be never ending. 

@[Go...] thank you I just cut and didn’t really assess how I was feeling I thought of it more of a calendar to check rather than a symptom led taper.  I am assuming knowing when to cut will be hard but I should start tracking symptoms and my body will tell me. 
Thank you for helping me / you’re doing so great - you give me hope 🙏🏻

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@[...] I say throw the calendar out. All it does is create pressure to meet a deadline and then if you don’t meet it you feel like a failure. I like to keep track of dates just so I can look back and see my progress but I don’t get attached to it. I also want to say not to let your husband discourage you or make you feel guilty. You’re not ruining anything for your daughter. You didn’t do anything wrong. 

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Just now, [[G...] said:

@[...] I say throw the calendar out. All it does is create pressure to meet a deadline and then if you don’t meet it you feel like a failure. I like to keep track of dates just so I can look back and see my progress but I don’t get attached to it. I also want to say not to let your husband discourage you or make you feel guilty. You’re not ruining anything for your daughter. You didn’t do anything wrong. 

@[Go...] thank you for saying that I feel so guilty and so ashamed this is where I am in my life and that I’m ruining theirs by being in such bad shape.  I truly had no idea when I was perscribed this that it was something that was supposed to be Short term my doc kept refilling my script and I kept taking one at night to sleep I had no idea what I was doing to my body until I started having all the withdrawal symptoms in between doses and put it all together.  Thank you for the support it means so much to me and yes I’ll throw out the calendar I hope to stabilize soon on this dose and hold and then let my body tell me when to cut.  🙏🏻 I’ll sleep better tonight because of your encouragement thank you 

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3 minutes ago, [[G...] said:

@[...] would you feel guilty and ashamed and like you were ruining their lives if you were ill by some other means? This is just an illness that was caused by no fault of your own. As a fellow mom and fellow victim of these drugs, I am happy to support you anytime. 

❤️thank you for that it absolutely true