Changing Valium dosage to once per day

[[Pr...]]

I would like to change my Valium dosage from twice a day to once per day for

ease of dry cutting in .50 mg at each reduction.  I am at 5.5mg per day and

am finding 1mg cuts every 2 to 3 weeks is too much for me.  I now take 3mg

in the am and 2.5mg in the pm.  I seem to need the am dose to get going in the

morning.  Can I, over a 2 week time frame, simply adjust the time of day with

the same 5.5mg until I am taking it all in the am and then continue my reduction

of .50mg every 2 to 3 weeks as my body dictates.  I was following the Ashton

method except I continued reducing twice a day which isn't what the Ashton

method does.  It slowly tapers off the am dose completely. I would love to

hear if anyone has done this or sees any problem with it.  I know I could get

liquid valium but would prefer to dry cut as long as possible as well as only

having to take meds one time per day. Thanks so much!

[[...]]

If you are going to eliminate a dose it is smart to eliminate the one you feel you need less.

If you feel you need the morning dose more and, are not concerned about insomnia by eliminating the evening dose, and are not concerned about interdose withdrawal due to dosing only once per say I don't see anything wrong with your plan.  I would recommend doing it slowly and listening to your body and do what feels right to you.

 

 

[[Pr...]]

Thanks so much for your imput.  I thought I would go from 3mg in the am to

3.5mg and from 2.5mg at night to 2 for 1 week then 4mg in the am and 1.5mg

at night for 1 week.  Then probably 4.5mg in the am and 1mg at night for

1 week.  Then begin taper again only in the am at 5.25mg and hold for 2 weeks

and continue .25mg reduction every 2 to 3 weeks as my body reacts.  I don't

seem to have insomnia problems and I thought with the longer half life of valium

there wasn't as big a chance of interdose withdrawal.  Does that seem correct?

I experience AM nausea more than anything and the AM dose seems to settle

my nausea somewhat. Thanks again!

[[...]]

Valium does have a long half life and since you're not having issues with insomnia your plan sounds reasonable.  Make sure you give yourself at least a week after each time you adjust your morning and evening dose.  Due to the longer half sometimes withdrawal symptoms can catch up with you.

How are you feeling now?  How have you been feeling throughout your taper so far?

[[Pr...]]

My taper has gone fairly well..........I always had a bad day 4 to 5 days after my

reduction but as I got lower it was 2nd or 3rd day and would last longer.  The last

.50 cuts hit me for about 8 days. Weak, nausea, achy numb fingers, headaches. This time I am holding at 3 weeks between reductions.  Before I was always doing 2 weeks. I have always woken up with nausea.  I have no explanation for it. I had wondered if the evening dose had something to do with the am nausea. But I have no way of knowing.  I work full time and am single so I need to try to ease the end so I am willing to stretch it out. After your last post I did a little math and I think I have figured out how to cut without totally eliminating any dose but I will take more cuts from the evening dose.  Maybe that is best after all.  That is what my body is used to.  I hadn't thought about interdose withdrawal because of my body being used to twice daily doses. You have a very valid point about that.  It really helps to get someone elses opinion. You made me think about it.  Thank you. Your feed back on my remaining at twice daily doses would be great. It does mean sometimes I updose

the am dose and reduce the pm dose and then the oposite the next cut but I would

never updose to total each cut ever.  I will always drop.  What do you think.

[[...]]

I'm not sure that alternately going up and down with your doses is the best way to go.  Once your body is used to a certain dose at a certain time I would think it's best not to increase it again. 

Can you reduce your morning dose on one cut and your evening dose on the next?  If you want to keep your morning dose higher than your evening dose you could consider making the cuts to your morning dose smaller than the cuts to your evening dose.  Or make very small cuts to both doses at the same time.  I'm just thinking a gradual reduction to each dose without updosing makes more sense.

Of course the decision is yours.  You need to complete your taper in a way that works for you.  There is no right or wrong.

Let me know how things go.

[[Pr...]]

Thanks, that makes sense.  I will redo the math.  I am best to not mess with

what seems to be working pretty well.  Sometimes I think we tend to over

analyze.  That's why it does help to throw it out there for others thoughts.

Thank you so very much!  I will keep you informed. 

[[...]]

You're welcome.  I'm glad I was able to help.

 

[[ba...]]

When I got to 10 mg valium I just moved entire dose  to bed time, as I always had trouble sleeping  bando

[[JO...]]

Pam,

I did the same as Bando . i have noticed now that I am down below 5mgs the .5mg cuts hurt more and longer. This makes sense if you think of the percentage of the cut. .25 mg cuts are my next step but i am going to get the liquid and might try somewhere in between the two. i think it is awesome you have come so far so quickly. Just remember the cuts do add up especially when we get lower. Good luck with the rest of your taper

[[Pr...]]

Hi Bando888 and Johanos!  Did either of you experience any interdose withdrawal

when you suddenly switched to once per day dosage or because of Valium's longer

half-life did that take care of it?  I have another week before I cut so am just

thinking ahead.  If and when I switch to liquid valium it would be nice to just have

to take one dose so as not to carry liquid valium every where I go. Also I think

the more accuracy of liquid would be beneficial as I get lower.  Thanks for you

help!

[[ba...]]

I had no interdose withdrawl when I switched valium to bed time because of th long half life bando

[[Fr...]]

I like you take my doses split. Before I started I was taking it all at night, but to stabilize I had to split up my doses ... I was in bad tolerance w/d and was forced to find some sort of median to balance myself out. It was hard getting adjusted to taking it in the morning, but I finally got used to it. I actually ended up taking it at 12pm 5pm and 10pm. But as I got lower and lower I cut out my afternoon dose. I am now on .5 at noon and 1.25 at 10. I wanted to switch it all at night like I used to and so I didnt have to take more than one dose. I sometimes forget about it, but usually remember after an hour or so. Anyways, I stuck with it and said forget it. I didnt want to screw up something that I have gotten used to and possibly chance going back to the place I was before I tapered and that was hell! If you are absolutely set on changing it all at night, then go for it. But if, you are tapering somewhat well and used to the twice daily dosing, I would stick with it. Although valium has a long half life, the duration of action is like 5-6 hours.

 

Also, you mentioned going to .25 cuts... I am all about them. Wish I had started with .25 cuts, but I learned that I was too sensitive to .5 ... they were like 1 and 2 mg cuts for someone who is on a larger dose. But since I was on a low dose and V was my original med, I had to make smaller cuts to begin with. Good luck, you are so close! You will be off in no time. The time goes by fast, even though it seems like forever. - Front

[[Pr...]]

Thanks Front for you thoughts.  Yes I am not going to mess with what my body is

used to.  I am however thinking about micro cuts daily that I have been reading about.

I would still stick with twice per day dosing.  It is so true that 5mg and less is

harder but we all have the strength to do it!  One day at a time!! 

[[Te...]]

I would like to change my Valium dosage from twice a day to once per day for

ease of dry cutting in .50 mg at each reduction.  I am at 5.5mg per day and

am finding 1mg cuts every 2 to 3 weeks is too much for me.  I now take 3mg

in the am and 2.5mg in the pm.  I seem to need the am dose to get going in the

morning.  Can I, over a 2 week time frame, simply adjust the time of day with

the same 5.5mg until I am taking it all in the am and then continue my reduction

of .50mg every 2 to 3 weeks as my body dictates.  I was following the Ashton

method except I continued reducing twice a day which isn't what the Ashton

method does.  It slowly tapers off the am dose completely. I would love to

hear if anyone has done this or sees any problem with it.  I know I could get

liquid valium but would prefer to dry cut as long as possible as well as only

having to take meds one time per day. Thanks so much!

 

ProudPam, as soon as I reduced to 11.25 Valium I moved to taking the entire dose at bedtime.  It's working just fine, for me.  But...my entire reason for taking benzos was to combat insomnia so I'm sure that may have some reason to do with it working so well for me.

 

Taz

 

Taz