smaller cuts?

[[...]]

Since I have been at the same dose since mid January and have not been able to stabilize I'm thinking about different taper options that will allow for smaller cuts.

 

Currently down to 0.75 mg clonazepam from 5 mg.  I dose 4 times per day.

0.25 mg in the morning, 0.125 mg mid-day, 0.125 mg in the afternoon, 0.25 mg in the evening.

 

I've been considering titration as well as a cross over to valium.  Neither of these options appeal to me very much for various reasons; however, I may need to give it a try anyway.

 

One idea I had is to reduce my dosage is to scrape a bit off one of my 4 doses every few weeks.  I wouldn't know exactly what dose I'm taking but still be reducing by small amounts. 

 

Has anyone tapered this way?  Feedback would be appreciated.

 

Thanks.

[[th...]]

hi - i have just  begun to taper off this way - I am currently on one mg of ativan 3 times a day - i really feel dreadful after a year and have been trying to come off for a couple of months now - i literally am using a razor and just shaving 2 scrapes of 2 of my tablets a day - will let you know how i get on - my doctor advised this and also spoke to the woman who runs a support clinic (that i cannot access cos it is not in my borough of london!!!!! and it only takes those resident in the borough!!!!) she was very helpful and said that slow tapering is the way she also advises......will let you know how things go - i surely can't feel much worse than i do now - at least i hope not!!!!!

[[...]]

Hi thoroughbred:

 

I hope this method of tapering will work for you and keep the withdrawal symptoms to a minimum.

 

Would very much appreciate if you could keep me posted.

 

Best of luck to you.

 

mmgc

[[fl...]]

Hi mmgc,

I know our tapers are much different but thought I would throw my 2 cents in.  I did as you mentioned .. shaving a little off and not knowing how much you're actually taking from day to day.  I felt completely dreadful some days and others felt half decent but never okay.  When I got another script and able to better get the daily cuts more precise (before I cut again) has made such a huge difference.  I can now see that I was on a fast track to crashing and burning, kamikaze style lol.  It's up to you how you go about cutting, you know your body ...just my experience with it was hard and I wouldn't recommend it.

Best wishes to you!

[[...]]

crossing over to valium and titrating to a very low dose before jumping made life so much easier for me.

I did have some initial w/d sx. and Beeper mentioned to split the dose to twice a day.  That made a huge difference for me all the way down...

Good luck and hugs, Skyy

 

[[...]]

Thanks for your input, flutter and Skyy.

 

Hope you are both well.

[[fl...]]

Thank you mmgc, hope you are feeling well today as well.  Best wishes to you!

[[th...]]

I am nearly the same dosage i think you take it too often why 4 times a day do it just twice a day K is not very short half life and i take .30 morning .50 bedtime

Also i think you should take more in bed time to have better sleep I really feel anxiety when i take pill as the pill take action in 30 minuts or so than i feel good so if i tak it 4 times a day i would feel more anxiety  so i think you should take only twice .

  this is just mu opinion i am not professional .

  Good Luck

[[an...]]

Skyy.  My c/o to valium is almost complete and will begin to taper April 21st.  At what point did you start titrating.  I still don't know that much about titrating.  At what point did you start.  What was your reduction and how long did you hold?  How do you figure out the math??  Still confused how I am going to go about this.  My psych won't give me liquid valium for reasons I still don't understand? She wants me to follow the Ashton Schedule which seems to fast for me. So I feel I need a back up!

[[...]]

when I got on the valium I did a long hold, over a month just to stabilize, then started a thread on the tapering schedules.

I took everyone's advice in to account so,  I initially did a 10% every 2 weeks, decided that was too slow and did 10% every week.  When I got down to 1 mg of valium, I held longer. 

There is a ton of information on the tapering plans threads, but just remember to listen to what your body is telling you and go at your own pace.  Valium for me was very depressing, but I will tell you it was easier for me to taper from this.  The alertness I felt when I stopped it, was amazing.  Just like the cloud had lifted!

 

I am off for almost 5 months and I do have some anxiety and agoraphobia, but other than blurred vision, the physical symptoms are gone.  I feel better every week.  I know you will too!   

[[...]]

Thanks, Skyy.

 

I'm glad you're benzo free and noticing improvements.

 

Wishing you continued healing.

[Guest [...]]

Hey Skyy

 

Interesting what you said about the V and that you found it depressing.  Im crying often on it and feel like im going crazy did you feel very depressed or just a bit.

 

Lizzy

[[sp...]]

Since I have been at the same dose since mid January and have not been able to stabilize I'm thinking about different taper options that will allow for smaller cuts.

 

Currently down to 0.75 mg clonazepam from 5 mg.  I dose 4 times per day.

0.25 mg in the morning, 0.125 mg mid-day, 0.125 mg in the afternoon, 0.25 mg in the evening.

 

I've been considering titration as well as a cross over to valium.  Neither of these options appeal to me very much for various reasons; however, I may need to give it a try anyway.

 

One idea I had is to reduce my dosage is to scrape a bit off one of my 4 doses every few weeks.  I wouldn't know exactly what dose I'm taking but still be reducing by small amounts. 

 

Has anyone tapered this way?  Feedback would be appreciated.

 

Thanks.

 

Hi mmgc,

 

Congratulations on getting so far, gosh that is a lot of Klonopin.  You have done incredibly well.  And I think you are wise to dose it 4 times a day...this can only help keep you away from trouble as you get lower.

 

We have similar histories as I came from 4mg K in August of 2010.  I crossed to 24 V and am now at 5.1.

 

My two cents is that if I had it to do again, knowing what I know now, I would have titrated all the way down with daily micro cuts...either V or K...I don't know which as tapering options and convenience certainly favor V but some say it is not good to switch.  But regardless, I believe now that I made my symptoms worse AND lengthened my taper by not going to this extra trouble to titrate daily.  As it is, I think this is the best way for me to finish, so I began abt 10 days ago.

 

Have you checked out the liquid valium thread ?  Interesting stuff there.

 

Good luck to you, whatever you decide.

 

spatler 

[[...]]

Hi spatler:

 

Thanks for your input.

 

I hope titration continues to go well for you.

 

Best wishes.

 

mmgc

[[an...]]

Skyy, what was your valium mg when you started your taper?  I will be starting at 25. It sounds like you did it fast!  10% cuts every 2 weeks, then every week?  I am amazed.  Did you dry cut a while then start the titration?  At what point?  Glad you are doing well!

[[...]]

How are you doing today?  Thinking about you!

[[...]]

Hi Skyy:

 

Thanks for asking.  Today is the first day of water titration for me.

We'll see how that goes in the next little while.

 

Hope you're well.

 

Take care.

 

 

mmgc

[[jo...]]

Hi mmgc

 

I was under the impression that daily titration was only applicable when one got down to a small dose like 0.5mg klon.

 

I would either cross over to valium gradualy, or, if you are going to go for titration, first of all write a post asking other members who have titrated from bigger doses what their experiences were.

 

Spatler

Please see above post to mmgc about titration, I think 5.1mg valium is a big dose to titate daily from.

 

[[...]]

Hi mmgc

 

I was under the impression that daily titration was only applicable when one got down to a small dose like 0.5mg klon.

 

I would either cross over to valium gradualy, or, if you are going to go for titration, first of all write a post asking other members who have titrated from bigger doses what their experiences were.

 

Spatler

Please see above post to mmgc about titration, I think 5.1mg valium is a big dose to titate daily from.

 

Hi journey:

 

I'm tapering from 0.75 mg clonazepam.  Not comfortable with a cross over to valium at this point as I'm afraid of other medications including other benzos. 

 

Since I split the 0.75 mg into 4 doses throughout the day, pill splitting does not allow for accurate cuts.  I've been dealing with rough withdrawal symptoms and unable to stabilize so I feel I need to make much smaller cuts than pill splitting would allow.  So, given my situation I think titration is worth a try.

 

Hope you are well.

 

mmgc

[[jo...]]

Hi mmgc

 

I was under the impression that daily titration was only applicable when one got down to a small dose like 0.5mg klon.

 

I would either cross over to valium gradualy, or, if you are going to go for titration, first of all write a post asking other members who have titrated from bigger doses what their experiences were.

 

Spatler

Please see above post to mmgc about titration, I think 5.1mg valium is a big dose to titate daily from.

 

Hi journey:

 

I'm tapering from 0.75 mg clonazepam.  Not comfortable with a cross over to valium at this point as I'm afraid of other medications including other benzos. 

 

Since I split the 0.75 mg into 4 doses throughout the day, pill splitting does not allow for accurate cuts.  I've been dealing with rough withdrawal symptoms and unable to stabilize so I feel I need to make much smaller cuts than pill splitting would allow.  So, given my situation I think titration is worth a try.

 

Hope you are well.

 

mmgc

 

Hi mmgc

 

It's totally up to you what you try.

Are you titrating daily, and if so, by how much?

How are you titrating? Are you making up your own liquid to obtain the micro doses you would need to titrate by.

I hope you don't mind but I did a spot of maths to see what a safe titration amount may be (bear in mind I don't know a lot about titration.)

I divided your 0.75mg klon by 10 to ge the 10% max recuction step and I got 0.075.

I then divided it by 21 (days which a cut would normally be safely held) and got 0.00357143mg.

I took this to mean that daily titration cuts would be 0.00357143mg, a tiny dose to measure.

 

I'm not trying to scare you but if it were me, I would want to know how other members doing daily titration from a similar dose (or valium equivalent 15mg), to see if it was successful or not with them.

 

I'm just a little concerned because daily titration means the blood  level of benzos is decreaseing continually and wonder if the GABA receptors would be affected from continual cutting.

 

I hope you don't mind this post.

 

Blessings x

[[sp...]]

 

I'm not trying to scare you but if it were me, I would want to know how other members doing daily titration from a similar dose (or valium equivalent 15mg), to see if it was successful or not with them.

 

I'm just a little concerned because daily titration means the blood  level of benzos is decreaseing continually and wonder if the GABA receptors would be affected from continual cutting.

 

 

Hi all,

 

Go to the liquid valium thread for great discussion and info from mtmimi.  Tiny daily cuts apply to all benzos.  I've been doing it for 10 days and am already seeing results, esp sleeping better.

 

Journey, mtmimi addresses your concern about continuous cutting and how it may actually be **stimulating** the body to heal.

 

spatler

[[...]]

Hi mmgc

 

I was under the impression that daily titration was only applicable when one got down to a small dose like 0.5mg klon.

 

I would either cross over to valium gradualy, or, if you are going to go for titration, first of all write a post asking other members who have titrated from bigger doses what their experiences were.

 

Spatler

Please see above post to mmgc about titration, I think 5.1mg valium is a big dose to titate daily from.

 

Hi journey:

 

I'm tapering from 0.75 mg clonazepam.  Not comfortable with a cross over to valium at this point as I'm afraid of other medications including other benzos. 

 

Since I split the 0.75 mg into 4 doses throughout the day, pill splitting does not allow for accurate cuts.  I've been dealing with rough withdrawal symptoms and unable to stabilize so I feel I need to make much smaller cuts than pill splitting would allow.  So, given my situation I think titration is worth a try.

 

Hope you are well.

 

mmgc

 

Hi mmgc

 

It's totally up to you what you try.

Are you titrating daily, and if so, by how much?

How are you titrating? Are you making up your own liquid to obtain the micro doses you would need to titrate by.

I hope you don't mind but I did a spot of maths to see what a safe titration amount may be (bear in mind I don't know a lot about titration.)

I divided your 0.75mg klon by 10 to ge the 10% max recuction step and I got 0.075.

I then divided it by 21 (days which a cut would normally be safely held) and got 0.00357143mg.

I took this to mean that daily titration cuts would be 0.00357143mg, a tiny dose to measure.

 

I'm not trying to scare you but if it were me, I would want to know how other members doing daily titration from a similar dose (or valium equivalent 15mg), to see if it was successful or not with them.

 

I'm just a little concerned because daily titration means the blood  level of benzos is decreaseing continually and wonder if the GABA receptors would be affected from continual cutting.

 

I hope you don't mind this post.

 

Blessings x

 

Hi journey:

 

Thank you for your concern.  I appreciate it very much.

 

I'm not planning to reduce my dose daily.  The reason I switched to titration is to allow me to make smaller cuts than dry cutting allows.  I only removed 0.5 ml from 100 ml yesterday, which means a 0.5% reduction or in terms of mg a 0.00375 mg reduction.

 

To answer your question, I'm using water titration.

 

Take care.

 

mmgc

[[jo...]]

Hi mmgc

 

I was under the impression that daily titration was only applicable when one got down to a small dose like 0.5mg klon.

 

I would either cross over to valium gradualy, or, if you are going to go for titration, first of all write a post asking other members who have titrated from bigger doses what their experiences were.

 

Spatler

Please see above post to mmgc about titration, I think 5.1mg valium is a big dose to titate daily from.

 

Hi journey:

 

I'm tapering from 0.75 mg clonazepam.  Not comfortable with a cross over to valium at this point as I'm afraid of other medications including other benzos. 

 

Since I split the 0.75 mg into 4 doses throughout the day, pill splitting does not allow for accurate cuts.  I've been dealing with rough withdrawal symptoms and unable to stabilize so I feel I need to make much smaller cuts than pill splitting would allow.  So, given my situation I think titration is worth a try.

 

Hope you are well.

 

mmgc

 

Hi mmgc

 

It's totally up to you what you try.

Are you titrating daily, and if so, by how much?

How are you titrating? Are you making up your own liquid to obtain the micro doses you would need to titrate by.

I hope you don't mind but I did a spot of maths to see what a safe titration amount may be (bear in mind I don't know a lot about titration.)

I divided your 0.75mg klon by 10 to ge the 10% max recuction step and I got 0.075.

I then divided it by 21 (days which a cut would normally be safely held) and got 0.00357143mg.

I took this to mean that daily titration cuts would be 0.00357143mg, a tiny dose to measure.

 

I'm not trying to scare you but if it were me, I would want to know how other members doing daily titration from a similar dose (or valium equivalent 15mg), to see if it was successful or not with them.

 

I'm just a little concerned because daily titration means the blood  level of benzos is decreaseing continually and wonder if the GABA receptors would be affected from continual cutting.

 

I hope you don't mind this post.

 

Blessings x

 

Hi journey:

 

Thank you for your concern.  I appreciate it very much.

 

I'm not planning to reduce my dose daily.  The reason I switched to titration is to allow me to make smaller cuts than dry cutting allows.  I only removed 0.5 ml from 100 ml yesterday, which means a 0.5% reduction or in terms of mg a 0.00375 mg reduction.

 

To answer your question, I'm using water titration.

 

Take care.

 

mmgc

Hi mmgc

 

My apologies, I mistook titration for daily titration.

Of course its better to  liquefy your pills, pill splitting is a nightmare.

I fully see your reason for making liquid out of your pills.

 

Take care x

 

[[jo...]]

 

I'm not trying to scare you but if it were me, I would want to know how other members doing daily titration from a similar dose (or valium equivalent 15mg), to see if it was successful or not with them.

 

I'm just a little concerned because daily titration means the blood  level of benzos is decreaseing continually and wonder if the GABA receptors would be affected from continual cutting.

 

 

Hi all,

 

Go to the liquid valium thread for great discussion and info from mtmimi.  Tiny daily cuts apply to all benzos.  I've been doing it for 10 days and am already seeing results, esp sleeping better.

 

Journey, mtmimi addresses your concern about continuous cutting and how it may actually be **stimulating** the body to heal.

 

spatler

 

Hi Spatler

 

I did a search for mtmimi's post re continuous cutting but could not find it. I wonder, would you be able to link me to it please?

[[sp...]]

Hi journey,

 

Sorry it took me so long to get back to you...busy day today, just getting on.  I hope this link works.  If not go to "General Taper Plans" an find the thread named Liquid Valium.

 

The discussion i was talking about starts near the end of page 1.

 

http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?topic=34480.0

 

I have been using the method mtmimi describes for 12 days and have already improved even though my overall taper rate is a bit faster!!  Only time will tell for sure, but it makes a lot of sense to me.  Wish I had come across this long ago.

 

Best of luck whatever you decide,

spatler