Valium/Diazepam Support Group

[[al...]]

ONE LOVE! What wonderful news! I realized I had not heard from you in a long time so I checked in on you and read this! . This is certainly the best new years present I got this year, knowing you are well, stable and eating. And that those terrible pains are gone. I am so happy for you my dear.!!!!    It sounds as it the microtapering was they key . For me it was the opposite, it revved my symptoms. It just goes

  to show that everyone is profoundly different and that it is important to  be flexible in your withdrawal and know that seemingly simple things like changing  methods, holding, updosing etc can make a world of difference. I am so proud of you................. All my love Alabama. xoxo 

[[...]]

Hello everybody

 

Well, using my three day in a row uptick in symptoms yard stick, today I find my taper has exceeded my rate of healing somewhat.  So....I will go back to the dose I was at 4 days ago, hold for a couple of days then start down again.  I am fine - not in the weeds or anything - but am noticing my sleep decaying again so there can only be one reason.  Oddly, the symptoms I used to watch as the barometer that I am tapering too fast are no longer effing with me as much.  I guess I have to switch to watching my sleep instead.

 

The plus side is that the afternoon glutamate storms seem to be releasing their death grip on me and that is encouraging, since all along I have had a small niggling fear that this symptom, which by far has been the most painful and unpleasant, would still be lurking ready to bite me even after the taper is finished.  I will take this development as proof, at least to me, that I am actually healing as I get lower in my dosage.

 

The only negative is that I need to start paying closer attention to the less obvious symptoms now to keep things going smoothly.

 

The only tip I can pass along to my fellow taper buddies is that as your dose gets lower, you may need to tune into monitoring more subtle side effects in order to catch yourself before things get into a mess.

 

If I had not been daily tapering - I doubt I would have been able to catch this before I completely derailed my taper. 

 

Take Care Everyone! 

[[or...]]

Bama, thank you.

 

99% of my trouble is gone since I split my dose and have been doing a hold. And I updosed a little too. So I will begin tapering again in a few days. I had to learn a hard lesson, but the buddies helped pull me "out of the weeds".

 

I realize that my taper will not be symptom free as laserjet points out, but I hope that those awful w/d f/x that I was having will not come back. I will be vigilant. And cautious.

 

Okatz

 

 

[[mr...]]

Hello everybody

 

Well, using my three day in a row uptick in symptoms yard stick, today I find my taper has exceeded my rate of healing somewhat.  So....I will go back to the dose I was at 4 days ago, hold for a couple of days then start down again.  I am fine - not in the weeds or anything - but am noticing my sleep decaying again so there can only be one reason.  Oddly, the symptoms I used to watch as the barometer that I am tapering too fast are no longer effing with me as much.  I guess I have to switch to watching my sleep instead.

 

The plus side is that the afternoon glutamate storms seem to be releasing their death grip on me and that is encouraging, since all along I have had a small niggling fear that this symptom, which by far has been the most painful and unpleasant, would still be lurking ready to bite me even after the taper is finished.  I will take this development as proof, at least to me, that I am actually healing as I get lower in my dosage.

 

The only negative is that I need to start paying closer attention to the less obvious symptoms now to keep things going smoothly.

 

The only tip I can pass along to my fellow taper buddies is that as your dose gets lower, you may need to tune into monitoring more subtle side effects in order to catch yourself before things get into a mess.

 

If I had not been daily tapering - I doubt I would have been able to catch this before I completely derailed my taper. 

 

Take Care Everyone! 

Hi Eliz,

I noticed my mom seems to have an increase in symptoms if I keep up the daily taper, so I try to hold for 2 days and then continue tapering.

It is so much easier to catch things daily than weekly.

Thanks for sharing your experiences because u r just ahead of my mom's taper which gives me tips when she gets to where u r at.

 

[[...]]

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

 

Hi Benzogirl,

When I crossed over from K to V, I felt sedated with each dose substitution but by the time I had completely crossed over that stopped.  So, I guess about two weeks total for me

 

 

[[...]]

Hello everybody

 

Well, using my three day in a row uptick in symptoms yard stick, today I find my taper has exceeded my rate of healing somewhat.  So....I will go back to the dose I was at 4 days ago, hold for a couple of days then start down again.  I am fine - not in the weeds or anything - but am noticing my sleep decaying again so there can only be one reason.  Oddly, the symptoms I used to watch as the barometer that I am tapering too fast are no longer effing with me as much.  I guess I have to switch to watching my sleep instead.

 

The plus side is that the afternoon glutamate storms seem to be releasing their death grip on me and that is encouraging, since all along I have had a small niggling fear that this symptom, which by far has been the most painful and unpleasant, would still be lurking ready to bite me even after the taper is finished.  I will take this development as proof, at least to me, that I am actually healing as I get lower in my dosage.

 

The only negative is that I need to start paying closer attention to the less obvious symptoms now to keep things going smoothly.

 

The only tip I can pass along to my fellow taper buddies is that as your dose gets lower, you may need to tune into monitoring more subtle side effects in order to catch yourself before things get into a mess.

 

If I had not been daily tapering - I doubt I would have been able to catch this before I completely derailed my taper. 

 

Take Care Everyone! 

Hi Eliz,

I noticed my mom seems to have an increase in symptoms if I keep up the daily taper, so I try to hold for 2 days and then continue tapering.

It is so much easier to catch things daily than weekly.

Thanks for sharing your experiences because u r just ahead of my mom's taper which gives me tips when she gets to where u r at.

 

Hi M,

Happy to help for what it's worth 

 

I have Diaz-Pam to thank for refocusing my attention.  She gently nudges me in the right direction when my natural stubbornness tries to win  :laugh:

[[mr...]]

Thanks DP for all your tireless research and tapering help.

[[Sm...]]

Made 1st reduction to 13.75 from 15 mill of Valium on the 31st of December 2013.

 

It feel good to have picked up the courage to do it.

[[et...]]

Welcome Red....stick around eh? Large reductions like that are rare on this thread but hope it works out for you. We will be here regardless!

etown

[[Sm...]]

Yep ill stick around,E town

 

Its only 1.25 mill and that's under 10%. so im hoping to get thought this.

 

I intend to reduce of quarter of a 5 mill every 3 weeks or so then see how I am at 10 mill.

 

all of the reductions will be under 10% if I got my maths correct.

 

[[jj...]]

Well I'm going to my pdoc today to present her w/ my proposed c/o and taper plan. If all goes well I will have c/o in mid February and I will be ready to start my slow decent. Thanks for all of the great advice that I have gotten. Hopefully things will go smooth in the doc office, but I think that it will.

[[J-...]]

Hi,

A coupe of questions...

 

Why is it when I take my dose I don't feel any relief? Is because Im still tapering

Too fast?

 

I can never get stable. All last year I was not on a stable dose, always chopping and changing,

Take extra pills here and there or given extra doses in ER, with AD's or psych meds being

Thrown in and out at a whim.

 

Is this why I can't gat stable, because I was never on a steady dose like most people here?

Is it a paradoxil affect because when I increased my dose early last year during my Zoloft taper from  10mg to 15 to 20 mg Valium it had no affect.

 

I just want to get stable to finish this taper, I will start my m/ t after this hold at 10 mg.

How long should I hold until I start? I feel no matter how long I hold I won't stabilize enough.

Is because of my c/t a year ago?

 

Sorry for the rant...just don't know what to do...me anxiety is debilitating.

 

You all seem to be functioning at some level, I can barely walk around my own house

Let alone go out.

 

J-Bird

[[et...]]

jbird yes I think it is from tapering too fast along with the other hiccups along the way. As I said a few weeks back I believe your proper dose may be much higher than where you are presently

etown

[[hu...]]

 

You all seem to be functioning at some level, I can barely walk around my own house

Let alone go out.

 

 

J,

 

I leave my house on average twice a week. Once for massage and once for therapy. Often it feels like a big deal to get from my bedroom to the kitchen or the bathroom. As recently as 2012 I was working 70+ hours a week with stellar results. Relatively speaking, I'm barely functioning. I'd say for at least 4 months of 2013 I was truly non-functional.

 

About 7-10 days ago I had a stretch of three nights where I woke up in pure terror, ice water running through my veins, like someone was pointing a gun at my head. I didn't post about it because I was too fatigued and scared to post, plus I had to believe that it was the last of the Klonopin withdrawal. The anxiety has lessened considerably now, but it is still really uncomfortable.

 

I'm not tapering again until I feel confident I'm stabilized. If it gets that bad again then I'm going to updose to 2.5 mg. When I'm not anxious I am fatigued and depressed.

 

Anyway, you're not alone. There's a reason so many people describe benzo withdrawal as worse than heroin withdrawal. All we can do is make the best, most informed decisions possible and then gut it out.

 

This isn't going to kill me. It's going to make stronger (and humbler and wiser too) then I ever was before.

 

I know it's horrific, but we're all going to get through this!

 

Best, Human

[[et...]]

Human you have come a long way don,t kid yourself. Your understanding of the process is much stronger and your commitments to doing whatever it takes show your resolve.

Good work

etown

[[J-...]]

Thanks etown and human for you replies.

I too can barely make it to the bathroom and kitchen.

And when I do finally calm down in the evening I'm so depressed

Having two kids, well adult kids, at home having to see me like this.

 

Etown, I couldn't stabilize when I updosed from 10 to 20mg last year or is that

Because I was tapering of Zoloft at the time?

 

Just unsure what to do right now until I stabilize, if I can manage that.

 

Thank,

J

[[Sm...]]

Hey J-Bird

 

They are hard questions to answer. Impossible really to answer with any clarity. Experts can't answer these questions with clarity. But I can say what I suspect given what I have come to believe through research and experience on these drugs and our brains.

 

I tend to lean toward believing what e-town does: that there is in general a benzo dose the your brain is potentially happy with/stable on. I do think there are exceptions though with those who have kindled a lot or with paradoxical reactions. It seems once you are on a dose your brain is happy with you can withdraw slow enough for your brain to heal itself along the way.

 

With you I'd be very surprised the zoloft taper is not a big part. SSRI taper is similar to benzo withdrawal in that there is a certain amount of time needed for your brain to upregulate its Serotonin intake. It has often down regulated its own serontonin uptake and creation because there is so much around. From my perspective on these drugs and the brain: taking more valium to treat a lack of serotonin wasn't likely to work properly. Just like taking more SSRIs - more serotonin - to treat a lack of GABA/benzo withdrawal only works a little/not properly.

 

The upshot: these drugs have transformed our brains to require them to be running 'normally'. In your case your brain needed SSRIs for 'normal' serotonin and benzos for 'normal' GABA and glutamate. You can slowly fix the brain to live without what these drugs have given them - whether it is serotonin or GABA - but it takes time. The brain is the slowest healing part of our body if I remember correctly. Probably because it is so complex.

 

What I would do in your instance is not necessarily something I'm willing to advise someone else to do. You have to come to your own choices based on what you believe about where you are at and the brain. What I would do for what it is worth and try to get to where my brain is coping with the neuro transmitters it has and in a state of happily functioning amounts of serotonin, GABA and glutamate. I'd probably pick up trazadone because it works on serotonin plus is useful for benzo withdrawal and then I'd taper up on my benzo till I was feeling ok. I'd then slowly taper the benzo.

 

Much love and take care

Smiff

[[Co...]]

j bird,

 

I have been off for a few weeks and was just catching up and reading new posts. I will say that your taper does seem a bit fast. I have had a real battle with this issue in the past. I had a very tough taper off klonopin and was put on valium to make it more manageable. I was way too aggressive in my taper and wound up really sick. I was tapering every 2 weeks but it was not enough time to stabilize for me. I was still sick when I would cut again. It took me a long time with a lot of help to slow down. I kept feeling like I was spinning my wheels. In reality I was getting no where. I am so close but still have the same issue. I just started micro tapering b/c I don't want to be so sick. I am at a very small dose and found that the smaller I go the sicker I get. I finally realized that I could make this easier on myself and I did. I have only had 1 window in the past year. I am much better but every time I cut I get slammed. I hope you are feeling better. I am hoping to also. Hang in there.

[[hu...]]

Human you have come a long way don,t kid yourself. Your understanding of the process is much stronger and your commitments to doing whatever it takes show your resolve.

Good work

etown

 

Thanks, etown. As they say, "It is what it is." If I had any idea how hard the crossover was going to be, I would have updosed to crossover at 3 mg. But I had no way of knowing that. At this point, it feels good to say that I have every reason to believe that the worst of benzo withdrawal is behind me!

 

Your help along with others on this thread has been invaluable!

[[mi...]]

Is there anyone in the South Florida area, I am looking for a Doc to switch me over to Valium from Xanax.

[[mr...]]

Is there anyone in the South Florida area, I am looking for a Doc to switch me over to Valium from Xanax.

http://benzodocs.com/

[[hu...]]

J-bird,

 

I printed out this article to give to my dad a couple of weeks ago. It's a Q and A with Matt Samet.

 

http://www.alternativemedicine.com/alternative-medicine/features/hidden-epidemic

 

It definitely helped my dad understand what I am going through and specifically that depression is a serious symptom of benzo withdrawal. I don't know how knowledgable/understanding your adult kids are, but I thought of it when you mentioned your family. Everyone needs to know what benzos can do!

 

Best, Human

 

[[J-...]]

Thanks Smiff for your much detailed explanation....it means so much to me.

 

Because I've been so dysfunctional for nearly two years now, my husband is in charge of

My taper and he along with my pdoc said I should never updose. So I have a battle there.

 

Plus I'm on lyrica, supposed to decrease glutamate and increase GABA but who knows what

The hell it's doing. I just took it blindly because I was so sick and didn't even think to

Research it online first.

 

Thanks again,

J-Bird

[[hu...]]

Smiff,

 

I tend to agree with your Trazodone suggestion. I wanted to chime in on that because I did a lot of research on Trazodone about six months ago. I took it as a sleep aid during Lexapro withdrawal. It knocked me out for sure, but it also had a strong paradoxical reaction, giving me awful nightmares and worse depression.

 

My research led me to believe that user's experiences with Trazodone run across a wider spectrum than many drugs. That is to say, a large percentage of users have very positive experiences ... but my paradoxical reaction was also not uncommon.

 

It ticked me off that my idiot pdoc failed to notice that Trazodone was giving me a paradoxical reaction, especially when I figured out that the nightmares are not uncommon and should have been an easy tip-off!

 

All that said, I think it is a drug well worth trying under the circumstances that many here at bb find themselves in! Just the good sleep alone can make a world of difference. I say that despite the fact that I am stridently anti-psychotropic drugs, particularly SSRIs. Trazodone strikes me as one of the few drugs where the risks are relatively low and the potential benefit relatively high under certain circumstances.

 

 

[[J-...]]

j bird,

 

I have been off for a few weeks and was just catching up and reading new posts. I will say that your taper does seem a bit fast. I have had a real battle with this issue in the past. I had a very tough taper off klonopin and was put on valium to make it more manageable. I was way too aggressive in my taper and wound up really sick. I was tapering every 2 weeks but it was not enough time to stabilize for me. I was still sick when I would cut again. It took me a long time with a lot of help to slow down. I kept feeling like I was spinning my wheels. In reality I was getting no where. I am so close but still have the same issue. I just started micro tapering b/c I don't want to be so sick. I am at a very small dose and found that the smaller I go the sicker I get. I finally realized that I could make this easier on myself and I did. I have only had 1 window in the past year. I am much better but every time I cut I get slammed. I hope you are feeling better. I am hoping to also. Hang in there.

 

Hi, thanks for youR reply,

What do you mean 'I am at very small dose and found that the smaller I go the sicker I get'.

Is that with when you cut or the lower in dose you got?

Did micro tapering help you? How much do you cut at?

Is that what you mean by saying you made it easier on yourself?

Sorry my benzo brain...is making understanding bit difficult.

 

J-Bird