Should I continue tapering when in bad withdrawal?

[[...]]

Hi all, 

Looking for advice after being in bad withdrawal at 5mg diazepam. Have been holding for 8 weeks with no improvement in symptoms and wondering if I should be reducing my dosage in spite of not restabilizing? I would reduce very, very slowly from here. I have a lot of symptoms and am not functioning well. 
 

Thank you for your input! 

[[Ca...]]

I have faced this issue throughout my taper down from 40 mgs plus of valium. First I tapered 1.38 a month then 1 mg a month and when i hit 12 i had to updose to 14 and hold. It may have helped slightly but then I had to redo that 14-12 drop again which I did. Recently I dropped the taper to .5 mg a month -- it's a cut and weigh microtaper and I feel worse. So I am not a fan of updosing to try and stabilize. And slowing the taper rate has not helped me. Valium has such a long half life I feel like it's just piling up in my system. Good luck and please keep us posted.

Carol

[[...]]

3 hours ago, [[C...] said:

I have faced this issue throughout my taper down from 40 mgs plus of valium. First I tapered 1.38 a month then 1 mg a month and when i hit 12 i had to updose to 14 and hold. It may have helped slightly but then I had to redo that 14-12 drop again which I did. Recently I dropped the taper to .5 mg a month -- it's a cut and weigh microtaper and I feel worse. So I am not a fan of updosing to try and stabilize. And slowing the taper rate has not helped me. Valium has such a long half life I feel like it's just piling up in my system. Good luck and please keep us posted.

Carol

Hi - sadly, I know now that I was not properly prepared when I began my taper. I was not even aware of “holds” as every doctor I ever spoke to said that these drugs should be eliminated as quickly as possible. As a result of my lack of knowledge, I tapered 1mg bi-weekly from 20mg to 4mg only to have my whole world collapse. I had been functioning extremely well throughout the drop from 20-5 and now I am almost completely non-functional. Currently, as I type, I feel like I am an effigy burning from the inside on a ship rocking at sea. I have extreme anxiety, the shakes and much, much more. As a 57 year old man, it is very difficult to have to go through this again (I had suffered horribly for the previous two years), after being brought out into the light for 6 months only to be slammed right back into hell. For the past two months I have been completely house-bound and bedridden. Knowing now that I have been my own jailer, as the result of ignorance, is a difficult pill to swallow. Sorry, much more info than you probably needed, but perhaps a stern warning for new people to go very, very, very slow could be helpful to even one person. 

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I will not be tapering again anytime soon, btw. 

[[Ca...]]

Dr Joseph Witt Doerring said you could taper about 2.5% per month when still in bad withdrawals from last reductions. I guess Most people tolerate that slow rate even though having more severe withdrawal symptoms. 

[[He...]]

On 29/09/2024 at 02:42, [[C...] said:

Dr Joseph Witt Doerring said you could taper about 2.5% per month when still in bad withdrawals from last reductions. I guess Most people tolerate that slow rate even though having more severe withdrawal symptoms. 

Love dr josef. Now sure he’s a favorite on this site though. Probably the most insightful and passionate in the field. 

[[jo...]]

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

Love dr josef. Now sure he’s a favorite on this site though. Probably the most insightful and passionate in the field. 

He does good things and we need as many people in the medical proffession speaking for us as possible. I find his YouTube channel a bit click baity though and he loves a horror story.

[[Ev...]]

Hi bk im on valium and at the point you are. I’m 67. Down to 6.86 valium simply can’t do it goin to updose. 

[[Fa...]]

[[Mo...]]

Hi @[...],

Just to let you know you are not alone, I am where you are… I am currently ‘stuck’ at 0.79mg of Valium. I deal with terror and fear, dp / dr, intrusive thoughts, burning skin and lurking akathisia… I like you, keep beating myself up, I only I had educated myself, gone slower from the start etc etc But aside from the fact that I don’t know what would have happened, there is absolutely no point in ruminating about this now… And yet it’s what I do most waking hours… I made a 1% cut on Tuesday and have felt better and worse over the past 4 days… I need to build up the courage to keep going but it’s hard… I’m not 57, but 49 and a single mom of 2 teenagers who have seen me in terrible shape for a year now… I think I deserve an Academy Award the days that I am slightly better, because I then cook and try to act ‘interested’ in them. This breaks my heart, because for the past 17 years they were the center of my universe and I think I was a pretty awesome mom, and now I’m not a mom at all… 

We have to keep going, no matter how tough! The only way out is ‘through it’, we have to just do it!

Ps: May I ask, what were your 6 great months? What happened then?

Am thinking of you and rooting for you! 🍀♥️

[[Mo...]]

18 hours ago, [[E...] said:

Hi bk im on valium and at the point you are. I’m 67. Down to 6.86 valium simply can’t do it goin to updose. 

Hi Evelyn,

Will you keep us posted how you feel, I am also ‘stuck’ and don’t know what to do… I am keeping everything crossed for you that it works!! 🍀♥️

[[Mo...]]

On 01/10/2024 at 10:22, [[j...] said:

He does good things and we need as many people in the medical proffession speaking for us as possible. I find his YouTube channel a bit click baity though and he loves a horror story.

Yes, and too many video’s now with such triggering titles / subjects, too much if you’re in a fragile state…

[[jo...]]

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

Yes, and too many video’s now with such triggering titles / subjects, too much if you’re in a fragile state…

Yeah I need to stop watching stuff like that. It really doesn't make you feel any better. It's best just to find who's helpful and focus on that, wether it be on a forum or youtube and just stick with them. Learn who to avoid basically.

[[Mo...]]

20 minutes ago, [[j...] said:

Yeah I need to stop watching stuff like that. It really doesn't make you feel any better. It's best just to find who's helpful and focus on that, wether it be on a forum or youtube and just stick with them. Learn who to avoid basically.

Exactly, but with this brain that is sometimes difficult… The obsessing, ruminating and spending hours on forums… Good luck to you 🍀♥️