how long to taper off valium 3 mg

[[Ko...]]

Hello,

I have tapered from 10 mg to 3 mg valium. I was cutting .5-.75 per month from 10 down to 5mg and cutting .5 mg per month from 5 mg to 3 mg.

I don't feel good with fatigue and poor motivation as my primary symptoms. I get sleep disruption as a major symptoms as well. I am working a highly cognitive job and a single parent. I need to keep my job or risk losing career, house, children....basically everything.  I have asked on facebook groups about how to proceed from 3 mg to 0 and received so many different answers. Some recommend sticking with cutting and holding as its been working ok. Other recommend switching to liquid microtapering with water and feel you can go faster this way.  I plugged in going 10% per month using hyperbolic tapering and it would take 21 more months...this seems insane to me. I've already been tapering longer than I originally took benzos.

I know everyone is different..but is it reasonable to be able to continue tapering .5 mg per month until I am off? That would be 6 more months. 

Dr Horowitz's chart for slow valium tapering recommends .2 mg cuts every 1-4 weeks so it would be within his guidelines.

Just looking for feedback and advice as I am very scared.

 

[[...]]

Girl I feel for you! I'm right there with you I'm stuck at 2 mg or I become beyond debilitated. If your Dr is not pressuring you listen to your body. It can get way worse than your current symptoms if you go faster than your nervous system can catch up. It's very common for us to get stuck at the end of our taper from my view on it micro tapering seems best but this is not something you can just muscle through and rush as bad as you might want to if you don't have the support to fall back on to miss work, have children to care for ECT .. as long as your not going back up .. it's ok to stabilize until wd symptoms subside and you can better tolerate continuing to taper my advise is don't go any faster than you can tolerate to still function. The problem most of us have is finding a Dr who will give us that opportunity. If you have one just be gentle with yourself however long it takes it takes what your going through is totally normal. Sending hugs your definitely not alone! 

[[Ko...]]

Thanks..

how are you tapering?

what kind of symptoms did you get that were limiting?

My symptoms are always there- fatigue, low motivation.  I used to have burning skin but that went away. I have been tolerating the cuts so far and get a few nights of disrupted sleep but then that improves.  I can't tell what is side effect of valium and what is withdrawal.

[[...]]

I actually just had to switch Dr's again I am staying at 2 mg rn cuz I had a really severe reaction to being forced to break my 1 mg dose into thirds when one 1 mg was already way too low due my provider not believing me about the severity of my symptoms. Found a Dr who put me back up to 2 mg then 3 weeks later barely stablizing wanted me to start breaking the pill. I found the coalition for benzodiapine information and Dr Josef who is associated with them demonstrating how to do a micro taper which is what I want to try because I am not tolerating any cuts from my 2 mg Valium pill at all right now. The Dr I just started with I found on the coalitions website for benzo co-operative providers he is keeping me at 2 mg until I can be a functioning person before I attempt reductions but I am considering starting a dry micro taper with a milligram scale shaving off micro amounts daily to equal a 5% drop over 30 days and just not telling the Dr.. what are you doing ? So your able to go about your daily life and still function as a person even though you still have symptoms after a drop ? Idk if it's because I had a very extreme over rapid taper from the beginning that this is so severe for me ? Or if I should just stay at 2 mg longer and let myself heal/adjust before I start trying to go down more if that might help ? But I havent worked since July 2023 and was bed ridden sicker than I've ever been in my life from Feb - the last 30 days I am scared of making even a 5% cut .. I feel like my brain is scrambled eggs I don't remember who I am almost and I can't even clean my room I lost my mind and most my anxiety is coming from how severe it's been previously when I've reduced I want off but I can't take being this sick this long .. what method from what milligram are you doing rn ? 

[[Os...]]

On 06/09/2024 at 14:22, [[K...] said:

Hello,

I have tapered from 10 mg to 3 mg valium. I was cutting .5-.75 per month from 10 down to 5mg and cutting .5 mg per month from 5 mg to 3 mg.

I don't feel good with fatigue and poor motivation as my primary symptoms. I get sleep disruption as a major symptoms as well. I am working a highly cognitive job and a single parent. I need to keep my job or risk losing career, house, children....basically everything.  I have asked on facebook groups about how to proceed from 3 mg to 0 and received so many different answers. Some recommend sticking with cutting and holding as its been working ok. Other recommend switching to liquid microtapering with water and feel you can go faster this way.  I plugged in going 10% per month using hyperbolic tapering and it would take 21 more months...this seems insane to me. I've already been tapering longer than I originally took benzos.

I know everyone is different..but is it reasonable to be able to continue tapering .5 mg per month until I am off? That would be 6 more months. 

Dr Horowitz's chart for slow valium tapering recommends .2 mg cuts every 1-4 weeks so it would be within his guidelines.

Just looking for feedback and advice as I am very scared.

Kosmo,

Congratulatons on getting to 3mg. That's a huge accomplishment, down from 10mg. It's not without its pain and challenges, I know, but you're on your way. You have a lot at stake in your life, and you have a high need to remain functional. I'm also in that same boat, and have found that I had to learn a big lesson to do so. That lesson is to let go of expectation of any planned timeline. I began a microtaper (dry cut/scale) at 1.4mg. I was "supposed" to be done (to zero) on 9/20. Well, here we are on 9/28, and I've just arrived at 0.5mg. I had to hold a few times because my symptoms were too disruptive on my daily life. And I'm glad I did, because after holding, I stabilized each time (after about 5 days).

If you're at 3mg right now, you might be looking at 6-12 months if you do a moderate taper, especially if you slow down towards the end, which I've had to do. I was originally cutting 0.02 mg a day, and now, apart from the holds, I'm doing 0.01 mg a day. But that small, tiny progress adds up. And, it's still faster than some would suggest.

Please remember, this is not going to last forever. If it lasts a year or more, but you have tolerable symptoms, isn't that better than going too fast and really struggling? Someday, you will be free of this. And, from everything I've read, those that go slow have a much easier time at the end, post-jump. I'm certainly hoping that's true for me too.

Hang in there, you got this. Let your symptoms be your guide, and bless yourself with patience. Your children need you, and you're doing great.

[[Ma...]]

Nice job getting down to 3 mg. I would stick with the method you have been doing and trying to taper what keeps you functional.  You don’t want to rush but as you noted, you have already been tapering longer than you were on the drug.  The lower doses are harder, but you want to keep moving forward.  You could try another 0.5 mg cut and give it a couple weeks.  I’m on the equivalent of 3 mg Valium currently (.14 clonazepam) and the cuts have actually started to be more tolerable, so you may find a dose at which that begins happening for you.  I consider this to be healing.  Eventually though, we all need to prepare psychologically to jump, which is difficult for many.  Once you get below 1mg Valium and are reasonably functional, you should consider jumping to avoid this scenario.  At that point you are very unlikely to get any further benefit from cutting/trying to stabilize and are delaying your healing.  Something to keep in mind with Valium is that unlike the other benzos, it and its metabolites have EXTREMELY long half lives (100-200 hours).  This means it essentially self tapers over the course of 20-30 days, even after you have stopped taking it.  It is for this reason that Ashton tapered her patients off Valium - it’s much smoother to jump from.  

Edited September 28 by [Ma...]

[[Ch...]]

On 06/09/2024 at 14:22, [[K...] said:

is it reasonable to be able to continue tapering .5 mg per month until I am off? That would be 6 more months. 

Yes, this is reasonable and safe. I would continue exactly as you have been.

[[Ko...]]

I appreciate everyone's input.  Since I posted this,  I cut to 2.75 mg 2 1/2 weeks ago and am planning on cutting to 2.5 mg in a few days.  So far with this taper down from 10 mg, I seem to have accumulated a great deal more fatigue, apathy, and worsening motivation overall over time. I was switched from .5 mg klonopin after 3 months usage and the valium has made me so tired, emotionally blunted, and unmotivated from the beginning.  Awful.  It's very difficult for me to get up and go to work in the morning but I have to.

I think after a couple weeks at 2.5 mg I may try microtapering .01-.02 mg per day. That would be between .3-.6 mg per month.

@[Os...] Do you build in holds when microtapering valium?

 

[[Tr...]]

Hello @[Ko...],

I am so sorry that Valium makes you feel this way! I hope and pray that you will feel better soon and that the end of your taper will be easier and smoother!

Maybe you were lucky that you switched to Valium, because you have avoided the sxs accompanying the tapering off of Clonazepam - Anxiety, sore and stiff muscles, inner vibration, agoraphobia, shaking, tachycardia, GI issues, etc.

 

[[Os...]]

@[Ko...] normally, I don’t build in holds. I hold when my symptoms dictate. But, I just got to 0.5mg, and I’m going to hold for 2 weeks to see if my symptoms improve. It turns out I’ve been bad at holding. The moment I feel better, I start cutting again. It’s made for a rather bumpy way down. 

[[Ko...]]

@[Tr...]Thank you for the prayers. I could sure use some as this has been difficult experience so far.  I am sorry that the tapering off of clonazepam is so rough for you. I don't think getting off any of these medications is easy...

@[Os...]you are so low...I am jealous. How low are you going to go? 

[[Os...]]

@[Ko...] It has been a rough ride. I hope you start to have a smoother one. I know that the slower I went, the easier it has been. I haven’t decided yet how low I’m going to go. I have some big work things coming up that I can’t afford to be in intense acute withdrawals, so I may just go down to zero over the next couple of months to just coast off. I have 25 2mg pills left so that will last me until the jump. The thought of avoiding acute with a hyperbolic taper from here on out seems mighty attractive. 

[[Ko...]]

@[Os...] Probably best to go as slow as you can with the amount that you have.

I think that by benzo withdrawal standards I am doing ok but that is not saying much. I am cutting to 2.5 tomorrow night and will hold there for a bit then start the liquid microtaper as I don't think I can handle the .25 mg cuts after I get to 2.5 mg. I just hope I handle the transition to liquid ok. I am going to start with tapering .5 mg in 40-50 days and see how that goes.