Valium/Diazepam Support Group

[[cr...]]

Where is the lig taper in this support group?  Thank you.  Cross

[[Di...]]

Where is the lig taper in this support group?  Thank you.  Cross

 

There's a few different methods of liquid tapers around, but if you have a look at the first two links in my signature below, that is the method I used. The basis of this method is using a 100ml liquid mixture, made of either full fat milk, vodka and water or pharma grade liquid valium and water.

[[mr...]]

Where is the lig taper in this support group?  Thank you.  Cross

Here are the taper support threads

 

General Taper Plans

http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?board=56.0

 

Titration Taper Plans

http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?board=62.0

[[Ba...]]

Diaz-Pam

I still am not daily tapering - I think I will start micro-tapering the next cut.  I am still doing a cut and hold and as I have said have had bad symptoms going into taper even with long holds, proper V crossover and small cuts.  I am down to 12mg and have felt worse than usually.  I have been cutting .5 mg every 2 weeks and have held longer for this cut but do not feel any better - so I have to get on with it.  I decided to cut .25 mg hence using liquid solution (.25mg) along with 11.5 pills and see what happens.  I will likely go to daily tapering on the next go round. 

 

your post as well as builders does make sense to me - just over thinking to get it right. One of the many problems I have is holding does no good at all - it is what it is.  I am so fearful of getting worse and worse - I have been in withdrawal for a year, even when holding for months.

[[mr...]]

Diaz-Pam

I still am not daily tapering - I think I will start micro-tapering the next cut.  I am still doing a cut and hold and as I have said have had bad symptoms going into taper even with long holds, proper V crossover and small cuts.  I am down to 12mg and have felt worse than usually.  I have been cutting .5 mg every 2 weeks and have held longer for this cut but do not feel any better - so I have to get on with it.  I decided to cut .25 mg hence using liquid solution (.25mg) along with 11.5 pills and see what happens.  I will likely go to daily tapering on the next go round. 

 

your post as well as builders does make sense to me - just over thinking to get it right. One of the many problems I have is holding does no good at all - it is what it is.  I am so fearful of getting worse and worse - I have been in withdrawal for a year, even when holding for months.

Basha,

I am sorry you are having such a hard time but tapering is just slightly better than cold turkeying when it comes to the symptom intensities.

It sound like you were trying to updose the valium in order to feel better, but that rarely works.

My mom did a direct cross over from 1.5mg Ativan to 6mg valium because she was only on that high a dose of ativan for a couple days. She had been kindled from a prior ativan taper where she reinstated to around .5mg ativan on and off for 10 months.

It took a couple weeks for her to stabilize to where she could handle waiting 6 hrs for her next dose, but sx's were still there.

I don't believe there is a way to get stabilized where you don't have bad sx's, but tapering provides the only way to minimize sx's so that we are not running to the ER every other day.

Unfortunately, some may have the hardest time all the way down due to inappropriate metabolism, genetics or other issues, but the only way off is down. Hopefully, you get down in dose where your brain repair will match your taper and you get that relief that many achieve.

[[Ba...]]

mrtmeo,

 

thanks for your input and concern - I'm trying to continue to move forward but my symptoms are changing every week - now it feels like I have more anxiety - and sometimes breathing feels difficult - things keep getting worse and I don't know if it's the meds or just anxiety.  It really doesn't make any sense.  Do withdrawals increase anxiety or is this how it will always be?

[[Kg...]]

Basha:  Many of us have been where you are, me included.  The high dose of the drug did not help me and I felt worse vs. better, and like you holds never helped me, in fact I usually felt worse the longer I held.  What did I do - when I was on cut and hold, I just gritted my teeth and cut anyway. I figured if I was going to feel so awful I may as well feel awful and be going down on the drug vs. feeling awful and holding.  After I had used cut and hold for awhile to taper I hit a brick wall and I switched over to a micro taper. At that time I really felt I couldn't even leave my house or my bed and I had to be functional.  I have been doing a micro taper using a scale since then.  I have s/x but for the most part it has been bearable and ironically the lower I have gotten the better I feel even though I have had s/x all the way down.  You have to remember that this is the drug and not you.  I never had anxiety or any of the bizarre symptoms that I have had on this taper.  Your body needs time to remake the chemicals that the benzos bind to and this takes time.  If you read Ashton and also Parker's post here on BB you will understand that these drugs effect all parts of your body so it is no surprise that we feel awful on them and awful as we get off.

 

My suggestion to you is to keep tapering at this point in time  but perhaps you should consider doing a micro taper. SG and others here will help you figure it out. If you still want to do cut and hold that is also fine - it is up to you and what you can tolerate.  Just know that others have been here before you and we have pushed through - some of us are on much lower doses now and many are now off the drug totally. You can do this and you will do this.  Try some meditation, 4, 7, 8 breathing (google it), any exercise you can manage, even if it is walking down the block and back or simple yoga stretches, and distract, distract, distract.  And my last advice is don't look back or forward but do this one minute at a time - when you live through that minute you realize you can live through the next one and the next - and soon the minutes build up into days, weeks, and months and all of this will be like a bad dream. 

[[mr...]]

mrtmeo,

 

thanks for your input and concern - I'm trying to continue to move forward but my symptoms are changing every week - now it feels like I have more anxiety - and sometimes breathing feels difficult - things keep getting worse and I don't know if it's the meds or just anxiety.  It really doesn't make any sense.  Do withdrawals increase anxiety or is this how it will always be?

 

Hi Basha,

My friend that was only on 3 weeks of .5mg klonopin and ct'd, suffered new sx's every other month.

The sx's are crazy, but they come and go usually with breaks inbetween.

The anxiety and the fear are what make the sx's worse.

If you can find ways to distract and help your mind focus on positive things, you can help your sx's.

My friend refused to listen to calming things or meditate and only wanted to complain about how bad he was and that he was worse than everyone else.

He knew that he would one day heal, but always focused on not healing.

I believe this is what made his recovery sooooo much harder than it should have been.

I hope this helps or maybe someone else can give you more detail to help.

Just remember that it is NOT permanent and to keep that focus constantly.

[[Se...]]

Last night after 5 days at 2.0 mg, I stepped down to 1.5 mg as planned. Yesterday and the day before were both considerably better than 3 days ago, when I last posted. Amounts of sleep have been 8.5 hr (3 nights ago with a Unisom sleep tablet), 5.3 hr (2 nights ago with no sleep aid), and 4 hr (last night with 3 mg of melatonin sleep aid). Tonight I’ll take another Unisom sleep tablet and hopefully catch up on sleep. If I stay on schedule, I’m 13 days away from my last valium dose. The perseverance of the participants here that have undergone far, far more severe problems is a great encouragement for me to stay the course.

[[mr...]]

Last night after 5 days at 2.0 mg, I stepped down to 1.5 mg as planned. Yesterday and the day before were both considerably better than 3 days ago, when I last posted. Amounts of sleep have been 8.5 hr (3 nights ago with a Unisom sleep tablet), 5.3 hr (2 nights ago with no sleep aid), and 4 hr (last night with 3 mg of melatonin sleep aid). Tonight I’ll take another Unisom sleep tablet and hopefully catch up on sleep. If I stay on schedule, I’m 13 days away from my last valium dose. The perseverance of the participants here that have undergone far, far more severe problems is a great encouragement for me to stay the course.

 

Hi SFF,

That's good news.

Have you created a plog listing your progress?

The plog is easier to follow than a thread.

http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?board=87.0

[[Mi...]]

Hazelnutt - I'm not saying antidepressants won't help, it's just that figuring out which symptoms are caused by which drug is impossible when you have so many in your system. I wish I could take antidepressants but can't tolerate the side effects. The depression is killing me.

 

I wish you luck with your taper and hope buddies can help you figure it out.

 

MirandaJane

[[st...]]

Last night after 5 days at 2.0 mg, I stepped down to 1.5 mg as planned. Yesterday and the day before were both considerably better than 3 days ago, when I last posted. Amounts of sleep have been 8.5 hr (3 nights ago with a Unisom sleep tablet), 5.3 hr (2 nights ago with no sleep aid), and 4 hr (last night with 3 mg of melatonin sleep aid). Tonight I’ll take another Unisom sleep tablet and hopefully catch up on sleep. If I stay on schedule, I’m 13 days away from my last valium dose. The perseverance of the participants here that have undergone far, far more severe problems is a great encouragement for me to stay the course.

 

Way to go, SFF! Soon you will truly be set free!

 

Steve

[[Ba...]]

Basha:  Many of us have been where you are, me included.  The high dose of the drug did not help me and I felt worse vs. better, and like you holds never helped me, in fact I usually felt worse the longer I held.  What did I do - when I was on cut and hold, I just gritted my teeth and cut anyway. I figured if I was going to feel so awful I may as well feel awful and be going down on the drug vs. feeling awful and holding.  After I had used cut and hold for awhile to taper I hit a brick wall and I switched over to a micro taper. At that time I really felt I couldn't even leave my house or my bed and I had to be functional.  I have been doing a micro taper using a scale since then.  I have s/x but for the most part it has been bearable and ironically the lower I have gotten the better I feel even though I have had s/x all the way down.  You have to remember that this is the drug and not you.  I never had anxiety or any of the bizarre symptoms that I have had on this taper.  Your body needs time to remake the chemicals that the benzos bind to and this takes time.  If you read Ashton and also Parker's post here on BB you will understand that these drugs effect all parts of your body so it is no surprise that we feel awful on them and awful as we get off.

 

My suggestion to you is to keep tapering at this point in time  but perhaps you should consider doing a micro taper. SG and others here will help you figure it out. If you still want to do cut and hold that is also fine - it is up to you and what you can tolerate.  Just know that others have been here before you and we have pushed through - some of us are on much lower doses now and many are now off the drug totally. You can do this and you will do this.  Try some meditation, 4, 7, 8 breathing (google it), any exercise you can manage, even if it is walking down the block and back or simple yoga stretches, and distract, distract, distract.  And my last advice is don't look back or forward but do this one minute at a time - when you live through that minute you realize you can live through the next one and the next - and soon the minutes build up into days, weeks, and months and all of this will be like a bad dream. 

 

Kgirl

thanks for your advice - I am trying to hang in.

[[Ba...]]

I posted this on titration already - hope to get response from posts:

 

I am dissolving a small amount of my daily dose of V in vodka and drawing out the required amount - at this juncture I am drawing out 2.5 ml into a 5ml syringe.  It appears that some of the liquid is going all the way up to the top - which I think makes the accuracy incorrect - I also have some difficulty seeing the liquid.

 

I have tried more than one syringe and it is the same situation.

Please some input.

 

[[mr...]]

I posted this on titration already - hope to get response from posts:

 

I am dissolving a small amount of my daily dose of V in vodka and drawing out the required amount - at this juncture I am drawing out 2.5 ml into a 5ml syringe.  It appears that some of the liquid is going all the way up to the top - which I think makes the accuracy incorrect - I also have some difficulty seeing the liquid.

 

I have tried more than one syringe and it is the same situation.

Please some input.

 

Hi Basha,

I'm not sure what you are saying, but if you are using the syringe and you pull the liquid too far past the mark, just push the plunger forcing the liquid out  and to the mark you want.

It doesn't matter if there is air at the top of the liquid, just read the level of the liquid.

I hope this answers your question.

[[st...]]

I posted this on titration already - hope to get response from posts:

 

I am dissolving a small amount of my daily dose of V in vodka and drawing out the required amount - at this juncture I am drawing out 2.5 ml into a 5ml syringe.  It appears that some of the liquid is going all the way up to the top - which I think makes the accuracy incorrect - I also have some difficulty seeing the liquid.

 

I have tried more than one syringe and it is the same situation.

Please some input.

 

Hiya Basha,

 

I use a 1ml syringe for measuring liquid diazepam. When I have a large-ish air pocket I push the liquid back out, and then, with the syringe still in the liquid, pull it back in. I sometimes do this a few times.

 

I can never get the little bubble(s) out, but I can get the larger air pocket out.

 

Hope this helps!

 

Steve

 

 

[[Mo...]]

I posted this on titration already - hope to get response from posts:

 

I am dissolving a small amount of my daily dose of V in vodka and drawing out the required amount - at this juncture I am drawing out 2.5 ml into a 5ml syringe.  It appears that some of the liquid is going all the way up to the top - which I think makes the accuracy incorrect - I also have some difficulty seeing the liquid.

 

I have tried more than one syringe and it is the same situation.

Please some input.

 

Hiya Basha,

 

I use a 1ml syringe for measuring liquid diazepam. When I have a large-ish air pocket I push the liquid back out, and then, with the syringe still in the liquid, pull it back in. I sometimes do this a few times.

 

I can never get the little bubble(s) out, but I can get the larger air pocket out.

 

Hope this helps!

 

Steve

 

I did the same thing.

Just pull up a few times to get rid of the bubbles.

[[la...]]

I'm BAAAAACK   

 

went to Drs and told her of the dizziness I am experiencing with the lorazepam along with I/D

 

so we decided to go back to the diazepam and wean off tat with possibly adding Gabapentin to the mix

 

anyway I need some suggestions on how to c/o

 

I am at 1.375mg a day taken as follows 6:00am  .375

 

                                                          11:00am  .375

 

                                                          4:00pm  .25

 

                                                          10:00pm  .375

 

what is a good c/o schedule for this and I want it to be more like Pearts way not Ashtons

I'm going conservative to c/o to approx. 7.5mgs diazepam

[[Di...]]

I posted this on titration already - hope to get response from posts:

 

I am dissolving a small amount of my daily dose of V in vodka and drawing out the required amount - at this juncture I am drawing out 2.5 ml into a 5ml syringe.  It appears that some of the liquid is going all the way up to the top - which I think makes the accuracy incorrect - I also have some difficulty seeing the liquid.

 

I have tried more than one syringe and it is the same situation.

Please some input.

 

Hiya Basha,

 

I use a 1ml syringe for measuring liquid diazepam. When I have a large-ish air pocket I push the liquid back out, and then, with the syringe still in the liquid, pull it back in. I sometimes do this a few times.

 

I can never get the little bubble(s) out, but I can get the larger air pocket out.

 

Hope this helps!

 

Steve

 

I did the same thing.

Just pull up a few times to get rid of the bubbles.

 

I just replied to your post in the other section. I'm also not sure I understand your problem, but I agree with what the others have said. I used to also push and pull the plunger a few times to get rid of that tiny air bubble as the very tip of the syringe.

[[mr...]]

I'm BAAAAACK   

 

went to Drs and told her of the dizziness I am experiencing with the lorazepam along with I/D

 

so we decided to go back to the diazepam and wean off tat with possibly adding Gabapentin to the mix

 

anyway I need some suggestions on how to c/o

 

I am at 1.375mg a day taken as follows 6:00am  .375

 

                                                          11:00am  .375

 

                                                          4:00pm  .25

 

                                                          10:00pm  .375

 

what is a good c/o schedule for this and I want it to be more like Pearts way not Ashtons

I'm going conservative to c/o to approx. 7.5mgs diazepam

 

Hi Lainey,

I don't know how you want to do the cross over, but here is the document by reg peart

http://www.drregpeart.org/Dr%20Peart%20Sample%20Schedules%20with%20Notes%2022Sep06.pdf

[[Ba...]]

the problem is the entire tip fills with liquid which to me appears to be liquid filling beyond the 1ml measurement and it is difficult to see if the tip is full or not.

[[Mo...]]

the problem is the entire tip fills with liquid which to me appears to be liquid filling beyond the 1ml measurement and it is difficult to see if the tip is full or not.

 

The tip, the bottom part , is calculated IN the measurement of the syringe.

And even if it wasn't , you'll adjust to your syringe .

 

I'm not sure if that's what you mean.

 

I've used a 3 ml clear syringe though my whole taper.

[[st...]]

the problem is the entire tip fills with liquid which to me appears to be liquid filling beyond the 1ml measurement and it is difficult to see if the tip is full or not.

 

Maybe this image will help. As I'm writing this, and visualizing it, I think I may realize what's going on. The liquid I use is not clear, and I can easily see where it stops. So I'm guessing that you find it hard to see where the clear liquid stops and the air begins. If that is it, maybe someone else will be able to assist!!

 

Steve

 

http://www.medical-world.co.uk/productfiles/product/31cr8GqFf5L__SX300_.jpg?width=620&height=555&scale=both&anchor=topcenter

[[Di...]]

the problem is the entire tip fills with liquid which to me appears to be liquid filling beyond the 1ml measurement and it is difficult to see if the tip is full or not.

 

In all honesty, it really doesn't matter if filling the tip means there is slightly more than 1ml. Provided you measure the same way every time you do it you will have consistancy, and that is the most important thing. If you are really getting say 1.1ml each time you measure it doesn't matter because you will be getting that same 1.1ml every time you do it.

[[Ba...]]

because I am diluting 10:1 and pulling 2.5 ml and using a 5ml syringe, the tip is large and I think it does make a difference in measurement - liquid is clear and hard to see also - sorry everyone, having a very hard time with everything and no one to help at home.  I am a overwhelmed.