New topic about valium

[[ja...]]

Im still in I/w hands burn and hurt along with jaw, neck and shoulder pain. my ? is i have 4 more c/o weeks toreach 40 mg valium from 2 mg xanax. The valium is helping but not all the way is it possible i may feel this way throughout? will the next 20 mg make the difference? Looking for hope, not false hope. Thankyou Jackie

[[fi...]]

I haven't crossed over to Valium (I'm doing a direct taper from Klonopin), but perhaps some of our other buddies can chime in here and offer their advice.

 

Wishing you well ...

 

fg

[[ja...]]

Thanks Fishingguy, you are always so thoughtful. Have a great day and i hope you are feeling well. My neck and shoulders are not as bad so far this am, but i will see when i get home from work. If im feeling better then i will know there is a pattern. It seems like i do the substitution from .25 xanax to 5 mg valium on mondays then 3 to 4 days im just not right. So i guess i will know later today. Talk to you soon.  Love Jackie

[[Pr...]]

Hi Jackie!

I crossed over to valium from ativan.  4mg of Ativan was 40mg of valium so

similar to you.  Once I totally crossed over to V I began to feel better.  It took

a little bit of time to adjust the the sedation during the day but it wasn't bad.

I followed the Ashton Method exactly for c/o and taper down to where I am

today at 4.80mg.  Doing daily micro cuts now.  I think you will stabilize after

you c/o.  Of course we are all different but I pray it will work for you.  Keep

the faith!  You can do it!! We are all here to help.  Mimi has been great

for me with micro cuts.  She is great but so is everyone else!!

Blessings,

Pam

[[ja...]]

Hi proudpam, thanks for the reply, did you follow ashtons taper of 2 mg v every week or 2? Was your sx ok ? Please dont be afraid to tell me  we are al different but its nice to see how others did it.  Hope your day is great and thanks again  Jackie

[[Pr...]]

Hi Jackie, yes I followed Ashton to the T until I hit about 6mg.  I had a flair up of symptoms after about 6 days of a cut but

not too bad.  My biggest issue has been severe bloating and neasua.  But I have been able to work full time.  I am so

blessed that I came upon a thread about liquid valium and ran into Mimi on here.  I have started daily micro cuts and

that is going pretty well.  I think I over did it the last couple of days so will stabalize at 4.80mg for a few days than march on.

I do believe the daily micro cuts help the body heal as we withdraw.  I have heard many say the the Ashton Method is

difficult to follow after hitting the 5 to 6 mg dose.  I have had to accept the it isn't about the time it takes to withdraw

it's about getting done while living life and hopefully when we cross the finish line we are relatively healed.

Please don't hesitate ask my anything.  I will be honest.  This is the hardest journey of my life but it is a journey that

I will finish and be stronger for it!!

Stay strong, you are in my thoughts as is everyone here!

Blessings!  Pam

[[ja...]]

Thanks Pam, I will follow it too unless i have to many problems but im sure i will be fine. Thanks a bunch. My gest for you too Jackie

[[an...]]

Hi Jackie, I was just wondering how your cross over was doing.  I finished mine last Monday and my only sx were a big headache one morning when I first started.  My body seems to like the v. much better than the Cl.  On the Cl I was depressed, cried  every day and I woke up every morning with the WORST  BO!  Think it was just poisioning me.  My psych is letting me hold for about 3 weeks before I start my taper as it is the first time since Nov that I have felt good.  My daughter and grandkids are coming for Easter and I want to go visit my folks.  This Sunday I will spend the day with my best friend, she lives far away and is driving all the way here to see me.  These are important things for me to do before I start my taper because , as we all know, don't know what will happen?!?!?!  I am just praying it is not as bad as my WAY TOO fast 3 week taper from Xanex (at that was my doctors advise, before I became "benzo wize"  I believe when you are all crossed over you will feel much better.  Keep in touch.

[[ja...]]

Hi Angel, so glad you have compleated the c/o. I think thats good that you will take 3 weeks before the taper starts, and as you said enjoy your friend and Easter. I have 4 more weeks then i start taper. so far not to bad i can handle it anyway. We will be tapering together. So nice to have others that get it. Have a great time with your best friend. Please keep in touch with our tapers. We can conpare notes. I will be thinking of you.  Jackie

[[an...]]

Pam, you have answered a qquestion of mine since I joined this site about a month ago.  I was very curious if anyone followed the Ashton Method to a T.  My psych doc wants me to but I have recently been reading that it may go to fast.  I am very nervous about starting!  So glad that you had success with it.  Any tips to share?

[[ja...]]

Angel, i was feeling nervous about the ashton taper too, But i have had many tell me it is a good plan. Im trusting that ashton had enough practice in her clinic and i believe she was a wise women who truly understood these benzos.  But im sure since Pam has come along way on this she will be able to ut us both at ease.  Jackie

[[Pr...]]

Hi Angelluv!

I think the biggest tip is to try not to be afraid of the next reduction!  Please know that I did have some tough days getting down to 6mg but all in all it wasn't bad.  One thing I did do is if I knew I had a big Conference coming up or train seminars I would sometimes

hold at my dose so as not to feel bad for these mandatory work things.  I was able to know that by about day 5 or 6 when I was

on the larger doses that I would get a w/d symptoms so I was prepared.  Know at 4.80mg using pills and liquid I have more control

over when I reduce.  I have stayed at 4.80 for 4 days now to stabalize and tomorrow with move to 4.775mg.  Just try to accept that

slow is best!!  I forgot, what is your total dose of V when you start tapering?  I actually felt better once I was completely on V.

I hope this helps!  Blessings, Pam

[[an...]]

Pam, I c/o from Cl (which my body did not tolerate) to Valium in a 5 week period. Been on all V. now since last Monay.  Dr. is going to let me hold here for a few weeks as I feel so much better than I have in 5 months.  I have some tings I want to do before I start my taper on, I believe, April 21st.  My psych doesn't use liquid valium so I came home and praticed pill cutting on some left over Cl. and was able to sucessfully cut it into 8ths.  I think that shuld be small enough to be comfortable towards the end?!?!?!?  God Bless us all in this journey!

[[ja...]]

Just curious angel what did you use to cut 1/8th?

[[an...]]

I have read a lot on here where people use liquid valium as they get into the lower doses.  I spoke with my psych doc about it and she wont let me use the liquid- for reasons I still don't understand.  And it is unusual to need to titrate with valium, so I have been told.  So I want to be able to cut smaller doses at I get low in my taper so I practiced with my new pill  cutter and was able to cut an old Cl into 8ths.  Made one split into halves, then split the halves into 4ths then took the 4th of the tab and the first time I tried to cut it into half it came out mostly powder.  Then I tried it again and it worked.  All I was trying to say is that I was relieved to be able to split up a pill smaller for my needs as I get further down, like you say at about 6 mg or under to be comfortable.  See what I mean?

[[fi...]]

Some people also find that an Xacto knife helps them to cut smaller pieces.

 

fg

[[an...]]

Good to know!

[[em...]]

Angel--

I'm half-way into a c/o to 30 mg V, so will begin taper in a couple of weeks.  I am under a dr's care and I expressed my fear that Ashton may go too fast for me, since I've been on benzos for 25 years.  He said we can adjust the time table when we need to, but that it's always better to move forward than backward.  So, I do intend to follow Ashton as closely as possible, but I will listen to my body and my job demands, like others here.

 

Despite being a little scared, I'm trying to anticipate things going well, rather than things going poorly for me.  Positive images and all that!

 

emkbb

[[an...]]

I couldn't agree more!!  I very much want to go slower also.  I see my doc on the 4th and hopeful she will agree.  I am giving being positive my best shot but at times turn into a big baby (my therapist calls it "your child brain taking over".  I am very nervous about the whole thing and how long it might take.  My 77 yr old mother was put on a benzo (we never knew what it was- she just took it- don't think the doctor told her anything about it) years ago as a sleep aid, then when she wanted to get off them about two years ago, the doctor gave her a quick weaning schedule and told her and my father NOTHING about what she may experience.  She went through the whole weaning and healing process, which lasted between a year and a half to closer than two years without ever knowing what it was.  She is now back to her good old self, happy and can hardly remember the details of the previous agony she went through.  If she can do it, so can I.  (I keep telling myself that!)

[[...]]

I followed Ashton to a T and got down to 2mg Valium without too much trouble, then crashed when I cut to 1.7mg. I sent for Ora-Plus and the Ora-Plus sweetener. My generic Valium seems to dissolve in it pretty well. I put 10mg in a total of 100cc liquid and suck out the appropriate amount with syringes. I just took my first dose a couple hours ago. I'm planning to go down really slow

[[em...]]

Angel--

Your mom is an inspiration!

 

We'll do it, one foot in front of the other. 

 

emkbb

 

PS  Keep us posted, Bart...

[[an...]]

Yes, my mom is amazing-  Bart, don't understand what you are doing- what is Ora Plus and Ora Plus sweetener and what it is used for?  If you are down to 1.75 and crashed, did you go back up tp 2?  Why do you use 10 mil pills and how much and often are you cutting.  I understand this is titration but never understood how to do it.  Or how you figure it out.  Any information would be appreciated.  Thanks, Angelluv

[[...]]

I have a few 2mg tabs but I have mostly just the 10's. I can't accurately dry cut the 10mg pills below 1/4s which is 2.5mg. Ora-Plus is a suspension medium you can get from amazon.com. You can also get the sweetener as Ora-Plus by itself tastes terrible. I dissolve one 10mg valium tablet in a total of 100ml of Ora-Plus and sweetener. That means 10ml of solution contains 1mg of valium. I withdraw this with a syringe. Right now I am at 1.7mg per day which for me is 17ml of my solution. If I can stabilize on this I hope to cut tiny amounts per day, maybe 1 or 2 10ths of a ml. Other people on low dosages use a scale to do their cuts by weight. A Gemini scale is available also at Amazon. I may try dissolving my next pill in whole milk the next time. This is all trial and error without one method being particularly better than another IMHO

[[an...]]

What is in the oral suspention and in the sweetener??  I am highly sensitive to everything?  When you add a 10 mg pill into it and dissolve it how long does it last, and in the refridge?  How do you know what to cut?  See, titratin confuses me!!

[[...]]

You can look it up on line. It looks pretty benign to me. I plan on mixing up just 1 or 2 pills at a time. They seem to dissolve pretty well overnight. I'm not worried about the shelf life. Mine is not refridgerated