Valium/Diazepam Support Group

[Guest [Sa...]]

Jrosk - yes that is what people mean. I am looking at at least 2 years to get off the remaining 9.5mg. But I do work and have a lot of other responsibilities in life so I have no other choice but go slow...plus I hate the symptoms of w/d with a fine passion.

etown

 

I think this is one advantage I have..I'm on a disability pension for a few health reasons. If I had to work every day there's no way I'd be able to do this taper at the suggested rate. Hang in there, I think you're amazing to be doing this while you're working!!! 

 

~ Sarah ☮

[[Co...]]

Hey everyone,

 

Happy New year! I hope everyone had a good holiday. I took a breather to stabilize after my last wave and am in a better spot. I will start micro tapering tomorrow. I had waited for this day for quite awhile after being sent the wrong scale and also having to deal with a big wave after my last cut 1 month ago. I went to a New Year's gathering last night and watched my friends eat, drink and be merry. I took it easy and held up my glass of cider at midnight (that in and of itself was a feat) and toasted to the end of 2013. I actually stayed up until 2 am.Last New year's I was a mess. After 7 months of klonopin  tapering and 6 months of valium tapering I cannot help but think that 2014 will bring good things. I have come to understand that my last leg of this will not be a speedy thing but will be made easier by drawing it out until I breathe fumes and call it a day.  I will keep you posted in regard to my new taper.

Still smiling in Colorado ;)

[[Ca...]]

Hi CC,

  Glad you are doing well. Best to you as you begin the micro taper. Sending support

Carita

[Guest [Sa...]]

Hi all

 

I'm having trouble breathing too

 

I'm not having any other side effects. Kind of the opposite. I slept last night with only melatonin for instance because I dropped the Doxy thinking the breathing problems might be that.

 

Well the breathing problems are still here and the only yoga class they weren't around was the day I missed my morning - before yoga - dose.

 

 

And one of the side effects of Valium is trouble breathing. It suggests asthmatics or people with breathing problems shouldn't go on it. I was slightly asthmatic before this. But I do have an impressive track record for getting every side effect of any drug.

Ventolin etc doesn't seem to help. I'm not sure what to do. I obviously can't just quit valium (which is what Drs may suggest)

Maybe move my dosages away from the pepperine I've been taking?? I'm fairly convinced the pepperine has been amping the Valium because I've been so fine - too fine - and able to increase my cut rate. The writing on it is sparse but suggests pepperine would amp valium. It also says because peppering increases absorbtion etc of many drugs it increases side effects.

Maybe I could move that morning dose- I didn't have it the day I had my morning dose post yoga? arggg.. I'm really hoping I haven't developed this side effect from Valium. I need to be on this stupid stuff right now.

Any suggestions? Previous experiences?

 

Hey Smiff, I have times when my breathing is laboured. I'm a smoker so no, that doesn't help. What does help is simply sitting and breathing in through my nose, out through my mouth. I also meditate for an hour every day, and I do yoga too. Awesome isn't it!? Persoanlly my trick is to put  the tapering oin the back of my mind and just get on with my day to day life. I know that can be easier said than done, but this is my 7th withdrawal, so I'm getting good at just getting on with it. The only time I remember that I'm tapering is obviously on tough days when I've just dropped a dose. I do positive affirmations relating to that big old bright light at the end of this tunnel. It DOES pass!!

If you're interested in finding some great meditations, check out YouTube. I find a new guided meditation there every day. Just type in what you need. Like 'mediation deep breathing" etc. Works for me! Hope it works for you too!

~ Sarah ☮ 

ps, I have macular degeneration so I use bigger font. Hope that doesn't bother ppl too much!! 

[[Wo...]]

Yes Jason I agree with Eliz.

Give Valium a really really good go before going back to xanax. You can take some xanax with your Valium if you feel you need to do a more thorough C/O. There are C/O schedules in Ashton.

 

Everyone with breathing problems on Valium: Well I took my old asthma medication. And it works to a certain point. But it is causing nasty w/d symptoms. Hopefully not too bad if I sit it out for a few days because I've been fine but not an option really for people in acute withdrawal. I'm seeing Dr on Saturday. I get the brilliant choice of breathing or being anxious/shaky/nauseous. I'm hoping since there was phlegm it is an infection that will pass. Valium certainly makes it worse though. It was all cleared yesterday and I took my Valium dose and straight back into bad breathing though it past quicker than before. J: interestingly I'm worse without the anti-histamine/doxy.

It is at times like this when I remember the hold this stuff has on my life.

 

Hope you're all feeling better

love

Smiff

 

Sorry Smiff, that sucks. When I have taken asthma medication in the past (not on benzos at the time), it has made me very shaky and anxious, so I'm not surprised to hear that it revved up your symptoms. Did you say that yoga helps your breathing? I say stick with that. And maybe try some acupuncture?

[[or...]]

When I crossed from Ativan to valium, it took about a week for the sedation to go away. So I think in your case it will pass, too.

 

Okatz

[[Wo...]]

Hi:

 

I am brand new to this thread and am happy to be here. I have a question and I hope someone will chime in.

 

I am currently cross tapering from klonopin to valium. The K never made me sedated, but when I take the valium, I am so sedated I can't get out of bed until noon for the first week. Then I am tired all day long. Does the sedation go away with time? Thanks, Betsy

 

Yes, I felt sedated for the first few weeks and then it passed.

[[dr...]]

I have severe nausea which I haven't had in a long time. I thought this withdrawal left me:(

[[or...]]

Drew I know exactly what you're talking about. Awful nausea was my most debilitating w/x . . . and knock on wood except for a few hours here and there it has left me, too. I will be devastated if it comes back once I start tapering again.

 

Do you think the stress of your night out and your fight with your girlfriend made it return? Stress can bring on or make worse some w/ds. If you can get to a calmer place, it might leave you again. I hope so.

 

Hope it passes. It's no fun at all.

 

I lost 30 pounds because I was too nauseated to eat properly between June and December 2013. Aargh. OK, I could stand to lose the weight but not that fast!

 

Okatz

[[dr...]]

Katz,

 

I had it the last few days and well before the fight.  I can lose a few pounds but I don't want it through nausea.  I just dropped her off at the airport and I told her if we didn't have big plans I would have cxld the night since I didn't feel well. It ruined our relationship last time so I'm trying to spend the bad days by myself as my brain is idiotic in withdrawal mode.  I say something and as soon as it comes out of my mouth I'm like "what the heck did I just say?"It seems like everything will be okay and if it's not, nothing else I can do.  I should have much more clarity by the end February  as she's leaving a miserable job and doing some soul searching. Things will arrange themselves. Thanks for the support. This whole withdrawal/fight episode is very depressing.

[[Di...]]

oh and one more thing valiant valium taperers...

 

I could be getting hit hard today because of the combo - a kinda missed dose and asthma med. Well I didn't miss a dose exactly but I couldn't taste my liquid valium at all. I had that experience last week too. The consistency of the stuff seems to be getting wacky the closer I go to the end of the bottle.

 

Anyone have any knowledge/advice on end of bottle Valium issues?

 

Much love

Smiff

 

I would say if you have any doubts at all about the last bits of your valium bottle, get rid of it and start a new bottle. It's not worth risking the potential problems.

[[Di...]]

Hi everyone,

 

Im now on 10mg and now want c/o to valium microtaper with tablets and liquid.

What daily reductions should I start at?  Better to start higher at say 0.3ml

daily then go down to 0.2ml or start lower and go higher?

 

Thanks,

J-Bird

 

I always think it's better to start out lower than you think you need and work your way up. It's much easier than starting too high, getting hit and then having to hold and slow down. Good Luck!!!

[[Di...]]

Hi SarahHope

 

It's certainly fine to keep to that tapering schedule if you aren't having any problems, but we have all learned that just because a schedule is "recommended", it doesn't mean it is what many of us have been able to keep to. All of us who have steadily reduced our doses have found that we have had to slow our tapers. Even Dr Ashton made allowance for this in her method, despite the common assumption that she didn't.

 

You simply go as fast as your body will allow you, and you don't take any notice of anyone who says you "should" be able to do it any other way.

[[Di...]]

Hi:

 

I am brand new to this thread and am happy to be here. I have a question and I hope someone will chime in.

 

I am currently cross tapering from klonopin to valium. The K never made me sedated, but when I take the valium, I am so sedated I can't get out of bed until noon for the first week. Then I am tired all day long. Does the sedation go away with time? Thanks, Betsy

 

This seems to be a common complaint when people first c/o to valium. I never experienced it because I was always on valium, and I used it for insomnia, so the sedating effect was welcomed...lol..  The effect does wear off fairly quickly though.

[[...]]

Hi benzogirl

I crossed over from Ativan to Valium and the increasing sedation lasted a little short of 1 week for me.

Bart

[[et...]]

About 2 weeks sedation for me and as I remember I needed it

etown

[[be...]]

Drew I know exactly what you're talking about. Awful nausea was my most debilitating w/x . . . and knock on wood except for a few hours here and there it has left me, too. I will be devastated if it comes back once I start tapering again.

 

Do you think the stress of your night out and your fight with your girlfriend made it return? Stress can bring on or make worse some w/ds. If you can get to a calmer place, it might leave you again. I hope so.

 

Hope it passes. It's no fun at all.

 

 

 

I lost 30 pounds because I was too nauseated to eat properly between June and December 2013. Aargh. OK, I could stand to lose the weight but not that fast!

 

Okatz

 

Okatz:

 

 

I too was experiencing terrible nausea that made it hard for me to choke down any food. The pdoc gave me an anti nausea script and by magic it went away. Betsy

[[Sm...]]

Hi everyone,

 

Im now on 10mg and now want c/o to valium microtaper with tablets and liquid.

What daily reductions should I start at?  Better to start higher at say 0.3ml

daily then go down to 0.2ml or start lower and go higher?

 

Thanks,

J-Bird

 

Good on you

Glad you are feeling well enough to give it a go. You may as well start lower. No harm in starting lower. Are you going to do diazepam's method of 1mg/1ml of valium in 100mls (99mls water?).

P.S Ventolin has been giving me bad withdrawals but symbicort isn't toooo bad. It is helping. The other thing is sometimes if there is phlegm it can be bronchitis which can sometimes be helped by anti-biotics. I don't know if you want to risk giving either of those things a go. You could risk it before the microtaper? But it is a risk.. still you never know: you may fix that breathing before you continue??

 

 

DP: Thanks, yes I guess I'll buy a new bottle tomorrow :/

 

 

Drew: My friend it all seems horrible when we are in it. And it is horrible. You know it will pass though. Hold and in probably a week you'll be feeling ok again. I'm certainly hoping you will and I have a feeling you will xx

 

 

Sarah: Yes sometimes we forget that most of us are outliers on benzo withdrawal. We are on the normal spectrum but we find it tougher then many/possibly most. If the Ashton schedule is working for you you wouldn't be the first and you are one lucky lady. The other reason we are cautious and tend to advice slowing first off is when people often come on here they have REALLY hit the wall in a big way and will therefore need to be as cautious as us. It sounds like that isn't the case with you. Congratulaions lucky lady

[[Di...]]

Hey Smiff

 

Something you could try (if you are like me and hate throwing this stuff out ), is that you could keep using the old valium, but only use it every so often, so if there are any issues with it, a one-time dose of it probably won't affect you.

 

I have maybe about 10-15mls in an old bottle, which I was suspicious may have lost a bit of its potency, and I use it for maybe every 4th or 5th batch I make. That way I'm not totally wasting it, and so far (touch wood) it doesn't seem to be bothering me.

[[Sm...]]

DP I was thinking I could mix it with some brand new stuff too. Half half.. or would I be wasting both?

Sometimes it is fine. but there have now been 2 occassions where I haven't tasted it at all. And I can see tiny specs floating in it now which I didn't notice when I originally got it

The Dr is ER one time was particularly interested whether it was the end of a bottle. I wish I'd asked why

[[J-...]]

Thanks Smiff,

 

I'm not using water titration, I'm using liquid Valium with tablets.

So how would you do the ratio between the two?

Say once  I start taper from down 10 mg...how much tablet/liquid do I take

Per dose?  I dose twice a day. Pls give example.

 

Sorry I'm finding it a bit confusing

[[Sm...]]

J

 

So if you did it with it being mostly being even twice per day you'd:

 

10-9mg

Morn:4.5mg V tablets

Evening: 4.5mg V tablets

(your tablets dose equals the mg you are descending to/moving toward. The liquid dose is 1mg so it is the dose you are coming from)

Evening/or across the day: 1mg Liquid Valium with removing a daily reduction.

 

If you use your Liquid Valium like I and DP and a few others do you:

Put 1mg/1ml of Liquid Valium into 99ml of water. This creates a 1:100 solution of Liquid Valium so it is easy to remove small amounts. From there you can remove small amounts daily. It is possible to not dilute your liquid valium but it will make very small reductions very hard and sometimes impossible. In your case you were suggesting 2ml per day which in this mixture is 0.02mg per day. This is a slow start from 10mg but probably a good idea given you're just coming out of the woods. Speeding up is easier than slowing down safely.

 

This is the link to DP's method with more information: http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?topic=97511.msg1248599#msg1248599

 

On the first page of this support thread is some reduction charts using this method with a 1mg/ml Valium in 100 ml mixture: http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?topic=96753.0

 

Need any help just ask

Much love

Smiff

[[Sm...]]

also..

 

anyone else notice Bart is now a moderator 

 

ahem.. I mean.. I think you'll be excellent Bart and good luck with traversing the whole BB-verse.

[[mr...]]

also..

 

anyone else notice Bart is now a moderator 

 

ahem.. I mean.. I think you'll be excellent Bart and good luck with traversing the whole BB-verse.

I noticed and checked the BB Team intro's and his is not there yet.

It will be interesting to read his introduction.

http://www.benzobuddies.org/about-us/meet-the-team/

 

Congrats Bart and you are an excellent addition to the team!

 

[[or...]]

About Bart, yes I sure did notice. I always thought he would be a good moderator, but wondered if he would have the time. His posts are, as they always were, well thought out and incisive. He'll do a great job.

 

Hope you are feeling better, Smiff.

 

Okatz