Valium/Diazepam Support Group

[Guest [mo...]]

mountainyogi - what teas do you recommend? I'm so scared of supplements and have such nausea, I'm afraid to experiment with any foods. But I might try a recommendation from you.

 

Thanks,

MirandaJane

 

I have heard a few on the forum rave about the use of dehydrated ginger for belly upsset.  Peppermint tea and ginger tea is excellent for nausea.  For relaxation, Chamomile, valerian, passionflower---if you go into a more natural food store ie Whole foods, Natural Grocer, the company Traditional Medicinals, or Yogi Teas makes some nice relaxation formulas.  If you are into aromatherapy and essential oil there is lavender, roman chamomile, marjoram, just to name a few.  I use them neat right on the skin(do a patch test if concerned). Be well and do deep belly breathing for the shakies which I get right about this time of the day.

I hope you feel better Miranda

[[Kg...]]

Miranda thanks to Etown- it is Deglycerized licorice DGL that a lot of people use for stomach issues. 

[[mo...]]

DGL is helpful for many people and can be used by those with high blood pressure. Depending on the stomach problem, various teas, capsules or concoctions of  licorice, ginger, peppermint, spearmint, raw honey (adults with decent immune systems only!), marshmallow root, slippery elm bark, cider vinegar, digestive enzymes and probiotics can all be helpful -- but probably NOT all at the same time! The trick is to figure out what your issue(s) is/are and find the ingredient(s) or concoction that works for your individual situation...and then with Benzos, things can suddenly change.

[[Ju...]]

Hi, I'm new to Benzo Buddies and this thread was recommended to me.

 

I'm struggling quite a bit and have a lot of questions, so thank you for your patience. Any advice would be appreciated. My last taper was ten days ago. Due for another one on Nov 14th. The doctor I'm seeing is really good and lets me decide to a certain extent how often and how much I taper, and I can hold a certain dose for longer if needed as long as I don't increase.

 

I collect my pills once a week. Way better than earlier this year when another doctor gave me a bottle of 150 five milligram diazepam pills and wrote "take as needed"... led to disaster. I got sooo sick. Anyway, focusing on the future. I found a great doctor, also a great cognitive therapist, and they took that giant bottle of pills away and my sleeping pills. They gave me magnesium and chamomile tablets for sleep which are slow to kick in but still really good, and natural. And they let me keep one lorazepam tablet to carry around at first, since I was so terrified at the start of this year of going anywhere without my bottle of lorazepam... and guess what, I honestly can't remember where I put that bottle. Even during the worst panic attacks I forget it's there. It's in my closet somewhere in a box. Okay, now I'm rambling on sorry. Back to my questions.

 

Here's my current tapering schedule:

 

Daily dose at the moment is 7.5mg (using cut up pieces of those two milligram pills of Diazepam), I take 3.5mg morning, and 4mg at night because I find nights scarier.

 

My daily dose gets reduced by 1/4 of a 2mg tablet every 3-4 weeks by the doctor. That was fine when I was on a larger dose (and she would do tapers every 2 weeks if they weren't making me so nauseous and anxious... I really am quite sensitive and need that "breather" in between tapers to feel sane) but now it's probably working out to be more than a 10% reduction each time (I've been told by a benzo buddy today that 10% should be the maximum size taper) and I'm getting hit pretty hard with dark thoughts and inability to work, sleep eat. Muscle cramps, migraines, can't keep food down at night.

 

But worst of all, severe anxiety over the smallest things. Crying because the neighbours had loud fireworks, feeling panic rise while my parents have the tv loud or when my phone rings or I hear a knock at the door. I didn't feel this bad during my other tapers and am wondering if I should do smaller reductions.

 

In New Zealand a bottle of liquid diazepam is $100 but pills are only $5 for 120 two milligram tablets. My current pill cutter only cuts into quarters... when I tried cutting one pill into eight pieces it started to flake into pieces and they were really uneven.

 

Here are the questions I have:

 

Is there a pill cutter I can get that is better at cutting small 2mg pills into eight pieces?

 

Even though everyone is different, do withdrawls generally get harder the lower your dose gets? I'm really scared it's going to get even worse because I already feel I've hit rock bottom. Does anyone feel better the more they taper?

 

How many liquid mils would 7.5mg be equivalent to... ? I'm trying to figure out if a $100 bottle (approx 250ml) would last a week, a month etc as I'm not working at the moment and on a tight budget... (I know that's kind of like asking how long is a piece of string, but any advice would help)

 

Thank you so much for your help. And sorry this first post is so long.

[[Di...]]

Hi JustDo

 

Welcome to BB. I see you are a Kiwi. I'm from across the ditch in Oz. *waves*.

 

Is there a pill cutter I can get that is better at cutting small 2mg pills into eight pieces?

 

No. You will find that splitting 2mg tablet more than into quarters will be impossible unless you start using a jewelers scale, which you can buy on amazon, where you can actually weigh the tablets. I personally don't like the weighing method though. I prefer the liquid method because you will be able to get precise measurements that way.

 

 

Even though everyone is different, do withdrawls generally get harder the lower your dose gets? I'm really scared it's going to get even worse because I already feel I've hit rock bottom. Does anyone feel better the more they taper?

 

No they don't need to. It will really depend on how you taper though. Seeing as you are under 10mg I would strongly recommend you consider doing a liquid daily taper, because most people on BB who get to around the 10mg mark seem to find they can no longer handle those larger one-off dry cuts. I did a liquid daily taper from 5mg. It took 22 months, but most of the time it was manageable. There were ups and downs of course, mostly caused by my own impatience, but I was still able work and carry on a normal day to day life.

 

Doing a daily liquid taper means that instead of making a larger cut and then holding until your body adapts and recovers from that cut, you instead make really tiny cuts every day. This has the advantage of you body being able to accept much smaller cuts done on a more regular basis. The trick is finding the right amount to cut everyday, but even doing that you still need to be on the lookout for any increase in side effects, which could mean you need to hold for a while or you might need to reduce the size of the daily cut you are making. It is a constant juggling act, but it will give you a much smoother taper overall.

 

 

How many liquid mils would 7.5mg be equivalent to... ? I'm trying to figure out if a $100 bottle (approx 250ml) would last a week, a month etc as I'm not working at the moment and on a tight budget... (I know that's kind of like asking how long is a piece of string, but any advice would help)

 

Well, it's not really a straight forward question, because generally you don't take your entire dose in liquid form. What most people do is convert 1mg of their overall dose to liquid and then take the rest as dry tablets. So in your case you would take 1mg in liquid and then take 6.5mg as dry tablets. Most types of liquid valium will be 1ml=1mg (or it might be shown as 5ml=5mg or 10ml=10mg - same thing), so in effect 7.5mg of dry tablets would equal 7.5ml of liquid, but like I said, you won't actually be taking your entire dose as liquid. There are some countries that have a 2mg=5ml type, but I've only heard of that with UK members. I would assume NZ would have the straight 1ml=1mg variety.

 

$100 isn't really that expensive for 250ml because in Australia we pay about $40-$50 for just 100ml. However, because you are only using it for 1mg at a time, a bottle of 250ml would last for ages and ages. What you would need to find out though is how long you can keep an open bottle for. It varies in different countries, because of different manufacturing, but in Australia ours is called "Diazepam Elixir" and you have to discard an open bottle after 3 months. So a large bottle of 250ml might be a bit of false economy if you have to end up throwing out most of the bottle after 3 months. The bottle may not actually tell you too. Mine didn't, and I only found out by doing a bit of digging on the internet.

 

However, there are other ways of doing a liquid taper without using the actual liquid. You can make your own "home brew" as we call it. There are a few different ways to do it, but the two main methods are using full fat milk which will suspend the valium long enough for you to measure out your dose, and you can also dissolve 1mg of valium tablet in 2ml of vodka (40% or 80 proof) and then add water to make a solution that is large enough to taper from.

 

Thank you so much for your help. And sorry this first post is so long.

 

No problem at all. You are bound to have lots more questions which many people will be able to help you with. I know the prospect of doing a liquid taper probably sounds really confusing and daunting to you right now. It does with everyone who is new to it, but it really is very easy. I've never come across anyone who hasn't been able to do it, and I've been doing this for over 3 years now.

 

To help you out with understanding the process, have a read through the first two links in my signature below. The first one is the main one that lays out the procedure for using either liquid valium or milk. The second one is about using vodka. Feel free to ask as many questions as you like, either here or on one of those threads. These procedures will get you started. As you get used to the process you will find different ways to make it work for you. There is no right or wrong with tapering. You just have to find the right method for you.

 

It's great that you've taken this first step. Just stick to a slow and steady taper, keep asking questions and try not to get too impatient (although that will be hard - I know that for a fact ). Before you know it your taper will be finished, and you won't ever have to think about benzos ever again. I finished just over 14 months ago, and it's great!!!!

 

[[be...]]

Welcome freeme, and Justdoit, this is a nice place to land, much support and caring going on this site. 

[[be...]]

Hey, BB, can someone tell me how to make ginger tea, with fresh ginger, I have been queasy off and on since Sun, and very mild chills off and on, since I have diabetes, it is important for me to be able to eat. I am eating, but still have that feeling. 

[Guest [mo...]]

Hey, BB, can someone tell me how to make ginger tea, with fresh ginger, I have been queasy off and on since Sun, and very mild chills off and on, since I have diabetes, it is important for me to be able to eat. I am eating, but still have that feeling. 

 

Hey Begood,

Buy some fresh ginger and slice it up, say and inch or two depending on how strong you want it, bring to a boil  in 8 oz of water then put the lid on and simmer for 10, 15 minutes. Drink plain or add a little honey honey

[Guest [mo...]]

Hi, I'm new to Benzo Buddies and this thread was recommended to me.

 

I'm struggling quite a bit and have a lot of questions, so thank you for your patience. Any advice would be appreciated.

 

Welcome JustDo, this is an excellent thread with nice people--so glad you came over

[[be...]]

Thanks moutainyogi, I am going in right now and make it. 

[[Ju...]]

Thank you for the info on gradual daily tapering, it sounds like it would make tapering much smoother. I'd love to do it that way.

 

One big problem however. And please pardon my frustrated tone. My doctor will not prescribe "spare" pills for this process, I only get given my pills weekly and each time that I taper by 1/4 of a 2mg pill (reducing my daily dose by half a mg) every 3-4 weeks, they only give me enough pills for the new dose.

 

If I had enough pills to be able to dissolve 1mg into 100ml liquid every day I'd need up to 10 spare pills every three weeks and there's no way she'll do that. I've told her that I hate these big jumps and she says it's just part of tapering and I have to handle it. She says reducing gradually wouldn't make any difference.

 

She's not the one having major withdrawl symptoms though. I've had to quit my job and live with my parents because of these horrible up and down symptoms. So frustrating. I guess all I can do is keep trying to cut the pills into eight pieces.

[[be...]]

JustDo, that is so horrible to treat you that way. Maybe something will change the Doctors mind. Best to you.

[[4G...]]

That is bad. Can you change your doctor? Gilly x

[[Ju...]]

No, still can't find a way around it...have to stay with this doctor as it's the best option I've found... just trying to find a way to make my reductions smaller and more gradual than a sudden half a milligram overnight every few weeks.

 

There are scales that let you weigh crushed pills of 1mg or more, but lab scales which measure LOWER amounts than 1mg cost a couple of thousand. Yikes 

 

I have to work with the pills I have, and each week I get given an exact amount. They are all 2mg tablets, very small. As I said, no extra pills to dissolve, just a fixed number per week.

 

This week I was given enough for 7.5mg daily, on Sunday they will give me enough for 7mg daily (or if I negotiate, 7.25mg daily... which requires cutting pills into eight pieces)

 

Either way, it's a sudden drop not a daily gradual reduction. I think I just have to accept it. I'm going to get withdrawl syptoms either way aren't I? Trying not to be frustrated. I'm just scared that's all. Withdrawl symptoms are less nasty with daily gradual tapers from what I've read on here. Was hopeful I could get my life back and work part time instead of having to be chronically sick at home every third week.

[[Di...]]

Thank you for the info on gradual daily tapering, it sounds like it would make tapering much smoother. I'd love to do it that way.

 

One big problem however. And please pardon my frustrated tone. My doctor will not prescribe "spare" pills for this process, I only get given my pills weekly and each time that I taper by 1/4 of a 2mg pill (reducing my daily dose by half a mg) every 3-4 weeks, they only give me enough pills for the new dose.

 

If I had enough pills to be able to dissolve 1mg into 100ml liquid every day I'd need up to 10 spare pills every three weeks and there's no way she'll do that. I've told her that I hate these big jumps and she says it's just part of tapering and I have to handle it. She says reducing gradually wouldn't make any difference.

 

She's not the one having major withdrawl symptoms though. I've had to quit my job and live with my parents because of these horrible up and down symptoms. So frustrating. I guess all I can do is keep trying to cut the pills into eight pieces.

 

I understand what you are saying, but what you also need to understand is that you aren't putting 1mg into liquid every day. As you keep reducing from that 1mg equivalent liquid, the liquid will last you longer and longer, because you only take from the batch what you need for that day's dose and you keep the rest for your next dose/s. So really you won't be using many more tablets than what you would be using if you were dosing normally, and not reducing. I'll try to explain it a bit better by quoting a portion of the liquid tapering process......

 

 

So, using the red highlighted amount as an example, this would be your dosing schedule (+ you would also need to take whatever amount you needed to take in tablet form to make up your full dose).

 

Day 1 – Drink the 100ml solution

Day 2 – Make a new solution and drink 98ml (you can either discard the rest or use it to make up part of your next day’s dose)

Day 3 – Make a new solution and drink 96ml (discard or use remainder the next day)

Day 4 – Make a new solution and drink 94ml (discard or use remainder the next day)

Day 5 – Make a new solution and drink 92ml (discard or use remainder the next day)

Day 6 – Make a new solution and drink 90ml (discard or use remainder the next day)

 

So as you can see each day there is a portion of the mixture left over. Doing a quick calculation, by the time you get to Day 6, you have actually already "saved up" a total of 30ml that you will put towards another dose. You can certainly throw these left over bits out if you want to, and some people do when they start out to avoid confusing themselves, but it's really just throwing "good" benzos down the drain when you could be using it for your doses. I think nearly everyone who does a liquid taper keeps what's left over to use as part or all of their next dose. So you definitely won't need all those spare tablets every few weeks.

 

Unfortunately, like you said, your doctor isn't doing the taper and to be very frank she really has no idea what she's talking about when she says "reducing gradually wouldn't make any difference". All the people on BB who have the experience of slow tapering will definitely disagree with her.

 

Is she forcing you to taper at the moment? Even though you really shouldn't need too many extra tablets anyway, could you tell her that you would like to take a break from tapering for a while, so she's not being so eagle-eyed about how many tablets you've got, but continue to taper anyway. A lot of people do this to give themselves a bit of a safety net of tablets that their doctor doesn't know about.

 

Please don't feel that this is being dishonest though. It's just a case that when it comes to benzos, sometimes doctors just don't need to know everything, because a lot of them can't be trusted to understand what we're going through. A lot of people don't even tell their doctors they're tapering until they're done. It's not lying. It's just omitting some of the information.

[[Di...]]

No, still can't find a way around it...have to stay with this doctor as it's the best option I've found... just trying to find a way to make my reductions smaller and more gradual than a sudden half a milligram overnight every few weeks.

 

There are scales that let you weigh crushed pills of 1mg or more, but lab scales which measure LOWER amounts than 1mg cost a couple of thousand. Yikes 

 

Yes you can get jewelers scales on Amazon. I think the brand that people seem to talk about is Gemini and I know they don't cost very much. Interestingly, if you can see how you can take small pieces of tablets by weighing them, and have bits left over for your next dose (so that you're not using up too many tablets), this is exactly how a liquid taper works, except that it's just liquid instead of dry tablets.

 

Of course jewelers scales won't be nearly as precise as lab scales, and they can sometimes be a bit unreliable in how they weigh. The other thing I don't like about the weighing method is that there has never been any clear cut evidence to establish that the benzo is distributed 100% evenly within the tablet. Every time someone asks the question on BB, there will always be contradicting answers. So my attitude is when in doubt - don't. There may be times where the shaved off pieces will contain more or less benzo and that includes the coating of the tablet too. The only way I would feel comfortable with this process is if you completely crushed and mixed the tablet before weighing.

 

I have to work with the pills I have, and each week I get given an exact amount. They are all 2mg tablets, very small. As I said, no extra pills to dissolve, just a fixed number per week.

 

This week I was given enough for 7.5mg daily, on Sunday they will give me enough for 7mg daily (or if I negotiate, 7.25mg daily... which requires cutting pills into eight pieces)

 

Either way, it's a sudden drop not a daily gradual reduction. I think I just have to accept it. I'm going to get withdrawl syptoms either way aren't I? Trying not to be frustrated. I'm just scared that's all. Withdrawl symptoms are less nasty with daily gradual tapers from what I've read on here. Was hopeful I could get my life back and work part time instead of having to be chronically sick at home every third week.

 

You will be able to do a liquid daily taper working with what you have. You just need to think outside the box and perhaps not allow your doctor to dictate to you so much. You have to take control, and if that means telling a few white lies in the process, so be it. It's your body after all, and you need to be in control of it, not your doctor.

[[Ju...]]

Thank you, I was a little bit stressed yesterday when I wrote that last post. I think you may be right, I might have to do private tapers for the sake of tapering smoothly even though I feel really nervous about the whole thing. I'm so bad at maths.

 

The clinic I'm with won't force me to do tapers, I choose how often we do them but the rule is I can only hold, I can't go back up a dose (unless it's a really serious medical situation obviously)

 

Biggest question is: how long can I store the dissolved tablet/water mixture?

 

Based on your chart I'd be aiming at using daily liquid tapers to be reducing by half a milligram every 3 weeks (and holding if necessary) until I'm down to 5mg daily, and then slowing it down even more as I get to lower daily doses

 

So (let me know if my maths is right, haha) I'd be doing close to what your chart said was 1mg reduced per 40 days so drinking 2.5ml less per day and saving the rest of the dissolved tablet/water towards the next day... if it doesn't have a "use by" date?

 

I read an old BB post from 2012 about someone else who tried to do dry cuts with pills into eighths and uneven pieces causing major withdrawl symptoms.

 

I've learned the hard way not to mention this website or the internet in general to any medical staff because while they're miles ahead of any previous doctors I've been treated by they still are wary of people finding "Google advice" and I get that, there ARE some very misguided tapering schedules online like the one that says Try not to taper more than 5mg Diazepam each week (!!!!) Oh my... that one made me laugh and cringe at the same time!

[Guest [mo...]]

Justdo, I agree, tell your doctor you are holding at 7.5 mg for a month to allow your body to stabilize.  I put either 14mg or 15 mg of tablets in vodka(depending on whether I have 2's or 5's), dissolve them well, add the water to bring it up to 100mL, and it takes 4 days to get through that batch.  Nothing wasted but a tiny bit of liquid and filler floating at the bottom of the jar.  Since I have been doing this, the big crashing plunge into fear, anxiety, insomnia, and symptoms is greatly reduced.  Yes I am a bit fatigued but I have been really pushing it physically lately because I crave the outdoors and exercise right now. Not telling these docs what you are doing right now but stabilizing allows you stockpile a bit so you can have room for error, waste, etc.

I hope the moderators do not get angry at this advice but it was the misconduct and malpractice of my Naturopath(believe it or not) and her M.D. partner that got me in this mess to begin with.  I told them I was doing the Ashton Method, and they said nothing because they know only how to serve up the Pharms, but not how to get anyone off them.  Good Luck.

[[El...]]

Trying to develope the best tape method and which drug to taper first. I was placed on Ativan for chemo nausea, realized I was dependent when I tried to stop Ativan and had severe symptoms. Could not cross over completely to Valium bc of severe tachycardia. So am stuck on two benzos. Just wondering how often most of you dose your Valium?

I have gotten advice on this site to break up dose and plan to do so. Just curious what the average dosing for Valium is 2x daily?

My current schedule

8am .25 Ativan

2pm .25 Ativan

10pm 5mg Valium (was .5 Ativan)

[[Di...]]

Thank you, I was a little bit stressed yesterday when I wrote that last post. I think you may be right, I might have to do private tapers for the sake of tapering smoothly even though I feel really nervous about the whole thing. I'm so bad at maths.

 

The clinic I'm with won't force me to do tapers, I choose how often we do them but the rule is I can only hold, I can't go back up a dose (unless it's a really serious medical situation obviously)

 

Well that's good news that you aren't being forced to taper. So many people get put into that position by their doctors and then end up in all sorts of trouble. So my advice would be to tell them you're not reducing your dose for a while (don't give them a time frame), then you can use that time to either hold your dose for a bit longer if you think you need to, or you can start doing a daily taper to so you can stockpile some tablets in case you need them.

 

You really don't need to be good at maths. Some people will get all technical and make it seem difficult, but it honestly isn't. I'm hopeless at maths, but I can divide 100 by a number, and I can deduct a number from 100. That's all you really need to be able to do.

 

Biggest question is: how long can I store the dissolved tablet/water mixture?

 

That's going to depend on what kind of liquid taper you end up doing. With milk of course spoilage is going to be the biggest problem. So you could only safely keep a batch going for as long as the milk is good. With vodka and water you don't have the spoilage to worry about, but I was always a bit concerned about loss of potency. So my rule was never to keep a batch going for longer than about 5 days in cast it lost some of its strength, but that won't become a problem until you are much further down in the 1mg reduction. However, I know other people keep their batches going for longer than that (maybe up to a couple of weeks). So this is something you would have to experiment with, and this might be where you might end with a bit of tablet wastage, but if you have a stockpile that shouldn't be a problem.

 

One of the advantages with using the prescription liquid valium is that you can measure out a smaller amount of valium than 1ml, which means you can make smaller batches (eg a 50ml batch instead of a 100ml batch - so less wastage).

 

Based on your chart I'd be aiming at using daily liquid tapers to be reducing by half a milligram every 3 weeks (and holding if necessary) until I'm down to 5mg daily, and then slowing it down even more as I get to lower daily doses

 

So (let me know if my maths is right, haha) I'd be doing close to what your chart said was 1mg reduced per 40 days so drinking 2.5ml less per day and saving the rest of the dissolved tablet/water towards the next day... if it doesn't have a "use by" date?

 

I should have pointed out in my previous post that those numbers were strictly an example only. Everyone has to work out what amount they need to reduce each day.

 

So having made that disclaimer..lol.... Yes your maths is spot on. To reduce 1mg over 40 days it would be a daily reduction of 2.5ml from a 100ml mixture. You can play around with this amount. At your dose you might find you can increase that a little, but if you prefer to stay on the safe side just keep with it if things are going okay. Sometimes making cuts smaller than you really need to is a better way to go. I always suffered from impatience, would often cut more than I should have, didn't listen to the warning signs, and then did a face plant and ended up having to hold anyway.

 

I read an old BB post from 2012 about someone else who tried to do dry cuts with pills into eighths and uneven pieces causing major withdrawl symptoms.

 

I've learned the hard way not to mention this website or the internet in general to any medical staff because while they're miles ahead of any previous doctors I've been treated by they still are wary of people finding "Google advice" and I get that, there ARE some very misguided tapering schedules online like the one that says Try not to taper more than 5mg Diazepam each week (!!!!) Oh my... that one made me laugh and cringe at the same time!

 

I guess it's understandable because doctors must be confronted everyday by people who have been diagnosed by Dr Google. I can understand their caution and frustration.

 

Yes some tapering advice is really scary. So many people just don't understand how benzos affect some people.

[[Di...]]

Trying to develope the best tape method and which drug to taper first. I was placed on Ativan for chemo nausea, realized I was dependent when I tried to stop Ativan and had severe symptoms. Could not cross over completely to Valium bc of severe tachycardia. So am stuck on two benzos. Just wondering how often most of you dose your Valium?

I have gotten advice on this site to break up dose and plan to do so. Just curious what the average dosing for Valium is 2x daily?

My current schedule

8am .25 Ativan

2pm .25 Ativan

10pm 5mg Valium (was .5 Ativan)

 

I only dosed once a day, but that was what I was doing before I started tapering because I only took valium for insomnia. It never occurred to me until much later in my taper that maybe I could have spread out my doses, but there didn't seem much point at that stage.

 

I think the majority of people though would probably dose 2-3 times a day, depending on their symptoms.

[[Ju...]]

Thanks Diaz-Pam and MountainYogi, here goes... going to try making one of these "potions" tomorrow morning.

 

I've bought a 1ml syringe and a 10ml syringe and have convinced the doctor to let me hold for one more week (at least) on 7.5mg even though I'll actually be using the next 20 days, starting tomorrow, to reduce down to 7mg ...if all goes well.

 

I'll save all tablets that are left over so that I have some to use for dissolving. I feel like I should wear a white lab coat and some scientist looking spectacles as I do this.

 

Hopefully Mum doesn't see the vodka in my room and go "Now my daughter's an alcoholic too?!" 

[[or...]]

Good work JustDo . . . you can do it!

 

I used Diaz-Pam's method and it took me all the way to zero. I am math-challenged at the best of times and during my taper I was an absolute dolt.

 

I used the "discard" method . . . i.e. I made up a new 100 ml batch every night, drew out what I didn't need and squirted it down the sink.

 

Okatz

 

[[Te...]]

 

Hopefully Mum doesn't see the vodka in my room and go "Now my daughter's an alcoholic too?!" 

 

JustDo,

It's great that you came to this thread,  I followed the liquid method at 2 mg,  is the best method, sometimes I hold,  others do a daily cut,

I have to hide my vodka too,  this thread  save my life!!!

 

Thanks BB and Diaz-Pam

 

TEx

 

:smitten:

[Guest [mo...]]

Trying to develope the best tape method and which drug to taper first. I was placed on Ativan for chemo nausea, realized I was dependent when I tried to stop Ativan and had severe symptoms. Could not cross over completely to Valium bc of severe tachycardia. So am stuck on two benzos. Just wondering how often most of you dose your Valium?

I have gotten advice on this site to break up dose and plan to do so. Just curious what the average dosing for Valium is 2x daily?

My current schedule

8am .25 Ativan

2pm .25 Ativan

10pm 5mg Valium (was .5 Ativan)

 

I only dosed once a day, but that was what I was doing before I started tapering because I only took valium for insomnia. It never occurred to me until much later in my taper that maybe I could have spread out my doses, but there didn't seem much point at that stage.

 

I think the majority of people though would probably dose 2-3 times a day, depending on their symptoms.

 

Does anyone think it would be wise for Elizabeth to updose the valium a little for a smoother crossover and transition to the valium?  I believe my intense tachycardia came from the Ativan Elizabeth.  Just my 2 cents