Valium/Diazepam Support Group

[[Ma...]]

Hi there x I did CO to vodka water mix last night. Had adrenaline surges and now feel very nauseous. Is it typical to have a reaction to CO or is this just a wave x

 

Shayna, your body may need a chance to adjust,  I wouldn't give up after 1 day, but if you aren't feeling better in a week or so, I might try something else.  Our body often needs to adjust to these changes, so giving it some time, often works better than changing a lot.  Hope it feels better soon.

Mary 🙋🏼🙋🏼😘😘

[[jo...]]

Has anyone experienced small sores on their body during their taper?

I have been getting small sores, about the size of mosquito bites, mostly on my arms. They start off as a small bump, and if scratched, they will bleed. I do not take any illegal drugs and the only Rx medication I take is Valium. After 18 months of tapering, I just started noticing these in the past month or so. Like I said, they are mostly on my arms, but there are a couple on other areas. Could these be a new wd sx that are just starting to show up?? I am down to 3.7 mg from 15 mg and have never experienced this before. Is this common with Valium wd? At 55, I would think that I'm a little too old for acne.

 

Thanks for the replies and I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving,

JoJo

 

 

[[Ta...]]

I've not had soars on my skin.  A youtube named Benzo Brains used to get boils on her face and skin during the taper. 

 

Someone asked about adjusting to D.  I came from x (only two months on) over to D.  D was VERY different.  When I first went on, it made me sleep all of the time.  But you slowly adjust to it.  I wish I could have tapered from x but the interdose WD would be horrid so I'm stuck with D. 

 

I have been doing a daily microtaper and I"m almost to 15 mg.  (4 am)  (almost to 2 afternoon)  and 9 evening.  I do feel the WD even with the microtaper.  My plan was to get rid of my afternoon dose completely.  Would this be harsh on my system?  What are your thoughts on leaving my afternoon and starting to cut down on my evening.  The only thing about evening is I sleep the entire night on 9 mg.  I'm worried about insomnia. I know you are not Doctors.  But what are your thoughts? 

[[Ma...]]

I've not had soars on my skin.  A youtube named Benzo Brains used to get boils on her face and skin during the taper. 

 

Someone asked about adjusting to D.  I came from x (only two months on) over to D.  D was VERY different.  When I first went on, it made me sleep all of the time.  But you slowly adjust to it.  I wish I could have tapered from x but the interdose WD would be horrid so I'm stuck with D. 

 

I have been doing a daily microtaper and I"m almost to 15 mg.  (4 am)  (almost to 2 afternoon)  and 9 evening.  I do feel the WD even with the microtaper.  My plan was to get rid of my afternoon dose completely.  Would this be harsh on my system?  What are your thoughts on leaving my afternoon and starting to cut down on my evening.  The only thing about evening is I sleep the entire night on 9 mg.  I'm worried about insomnia. I know you are not Doctors.  But what are your thoughts?

 

TallGolfer, just my thoughts, enjoy that good sleep while you can  . Can you move your am dose a couple hours later?  You may need to change nothing, just slowly taper the afternoon.  That's what I did.  I am down to 3 mgs a m and 4.2 pm, not sleeping that good sleep any more.  It's not awful, just toss and turn a lot .  Good luck  .  Mary 🙋🏼🙋🏼😘😘🙏😷

[[Mo...]]

Hi TG,

We are all so different huh?  I do take something to help me sleep but even w/K, I was having some insomnia and it didn't seem to matter moving from 1X at night to 3X a day.  Sleep's been up and down for me on Valium but much better.  I take 3 even doses a day (at 8AM, 3PM, and 9 PM) but I do often forget to take my afternoon dose until later.  Thank goodness for getting rid of that severe interdose w/d!!  I know many on 2 doses but I think I'm going to stay on 3 just because Valium has some shorter metabolites....in the end, not sure if it matters.  If you think it helps you sleep and you aren't feeling any i/d withdrawal, you could keep the bigger dose at night.  I know some were fine just taking it 1X a day.   

[[Ta...]]

Thanks Mary and mom of 7 babes.  I think I'll get rid of afternoon dose and move my morning dose from 8:00 am to 10:00 am or something.  Thanaks! 

 

[[Ma...]]

Wondering if anyone takes Teva diazepam in the US (I mention the US because I think Teva sources differently depending on which country you are in) and has any issue when getting new fills?

 

I have noticed variations before, but this most recent time I have felt like I am in a cold turkey withdrawal. I was holding steady and was fine 10 days ago and now I have my jaw almost permanently clenched, and I am lying in a dark room fidgeting nearly constantly, and I started taking Seroquel again which I had been off for a year. The Seroquel isn't helping.

 

I unfortunately got a 90 day fill. My psychiatrist was empathetic but didn't seem to know of any options for replacing it. She is relatively new (she's a psych NP but I call her a psychiatrist to keep it simpler). I think I was one of her first patients.

[[Ni...]]

Could someone please inform me if after stabilizing on 14 mg of valium in the morning and 14 mg of valium in the evening it is okay to decrease the dose to 12 mg of valium in the morning and 12 mg of valium in the evening after 10 days?

 

Thank you

[[ki...]]

Could someone please inform me if after stabilizing on 14 mg of valium in the morning and 14 mg of valium in the evening it is okay to decrease the dose to 12 mg of valium in the morning and 12 mg of valium in the evening after 10 days?

 

Thank you

 

That’s a 15% drop and higher than the recommended decrease. I would just drop 2 mg off one and keep the other at 14 mg until you adjust to the first drop.

[[Ma...]]

Could someone please inform me if after stabilizing on 14 mg of valium in the morning and 14 mg of valium in the evening it is okay to decrease the dose to 12 mg of valium in the morning and 12 mg of valium in the evening after 10 days?

 

Thank you

 

That’s a 15% drop and higher than the recommended decrease. I would just drop 2 mg off one and keep the other at 14 mg until you adjust to the first drop.

 

I agree with Kit, 4 mgs was a bit much, the 2 mgs sounds very reasonable.    :thumbsup:

[[Mo...]]

Hi Nikitas,

So are you saying you were only on this higher dose for 10 days?  How much were you on before that?  If only 10 days, you may be able to get by with it as your body might not be used to that much. 

[[Ni...]]

Hi Nikitas,

So are you saying you were only on this higher dose for 10 days?  How much were you on before that?  If only 10 days, you may be able to get by with it as your body might not be used to that much.

Yes I've only been on it for 10 days upcoming Saturday but I had severe physical anxiety before it on the 12 in the morning and 12 in the evening.

Could someone please inform me if after stabilizing on 14 mg of valium in the morning and 14 mg of valium in the evening it is okay to decrease the dose to 12 mg of valium in the morning and 12 mg of valium in the evening after 10 days?

 

Thank you

 

That’s a 15% drop and higher than the recommended decrease. I would just drop 2 mg off one and keep the other at 14 mg until you adjust to the first drop.

Alright thank you for the advice.

 

Could someone please inform me if after stabilizing on 14 mg of valium in the morning and 14 mg of valium in the evening it is okay to decrease the dose to 12 mg of valium in the morning and 12 mg of valium in the evening after 10 days?

 

Thank you

 

That’s a 15% drop and higher than the recommended decrease. I would just drop 2 mg off one and keep the other at 14 mg until you adjust to the first drop.

 

I agree with Kit, 4 mgs was a bit much, the 2 mgs sounds very reasonable.    :thumbsup:

Thank you!

[[Ta...]]

why don't you try cutting 1 mg.  See how you feel and then cut another 1 mg.  Why take the risk. Going up and down is not good on the system.  Plus, I D. you may not feel the cut until several days later.  What is the rush to get off so fast.  It looks like you had two bad setbacks and had to updose. This is a signal that your body is very sensitive. 

[[Mi...]]

Hi Marcus24,

 

I’m the US and had trouble with a refill of generic Xanax before and replaced it successfully. I believe the process would be the same for replacing your medicine. What I did was to go back to the prescribing pharmacy and let them know that the medicine is causing me severe symptoms and wasn't working. There they guided me on how to get the correct/replace the medication. The process involved returning the medicine I didn’t use and talking with my doctor to prescribe it again. Also, I called different pharmacies asking what manufacturer of Xanax they each carried and chose a batch with good reviews. I hope this helps you.

 

[[Ma...]]

Thank you @Millet135

 

Yes, I am seeing my doctor via telehealth and she gave me the option to dump the pills down the toilet on video (a bit weird for psychiatrist to see my bathroom but that's OK), and then will call in a new script.

 

I have to find a good one. It is SO confusing to research the brands.

 

It seems like every company has bought every other company and there are formulas that switched companies. It's not simple like the old days.

 

There is the brand name, but the way I take (three 2 mg tablets) came out to over $1,000 for a 3 month supply.

 

I always thought of Teva as a good brand, but I've had this weird experience twice now where the new lot seems to have nothing in it. I'm having trouble finding reviews of the other ones partially because it seems like many I find reviews for are discontinued or sold or....just very confusing.

 

Is there any sort of consensus in this group on which brand is good?

[[Ma...]]

Thank you @Millet135

 

Yes, I am seeing my doctor via telehealth and she gave me the option to dump the pills down the toilet on video (a bit weird for psychiatrist to see my bathroom but that's OK), and then will call in a new script.

 

I have to find a good one. It is SO confusing to research the brands.

 

It seems like every company has bought every other company and there are formulas that switched companies. It's not simple like the old days.

 

There is the brand name, but the way I take (three 2 mg tablets) came out to over $1,000 for a 3 month supply.

 

I always thought of Teva as a good brand, but I've had this weird experience twice now where the new lot seems to have nothing in it. I'm having trouble finding reviews of the other ones partially because it seems like many I find reviews for are discontinued or sold or....just very confusing.

 

Is there any sort of consensus in this group on which brand is good?

 

Marcus, there are people on here that really understand the teva issue and the different brands.  If you post on the Withdrawal Support thread , you might catch their attention.  There is also another thread......alter I find the name I will come back and post it too 

 

Klonipin Club # 2 and Teva Clonizapam Discontinued thread.  A lot of the people on these threads have been through what you are going through now.  Post there too  .  I am sure you will get some good support . 

[[Mo...]]

Marcus,

Glad you have an understanding doctor. Have you considered going to the liquid prescription?  I had no issues whatsoever switching.  It's a little more pricey but still very cheap.  You may just need to shop around cause they have to order.  It comes in either a 5mg/5ML or 1mg/1ML (depending on the way that it's marketed).  It's called Westward (previously Roxane).  Many of us use this to liquid microtaper.  Just a thought if you have to make a switch anyways.  I definitely understand the generic switch as I've had issues myself, both when I was on Klonopin, and on other meds too.  It's a real thing and even though some argue it's not, even my own doctor says it is b/c of the % allowance and the fillers.  Best wishes to you.

[[...]]

Hi Nikitas,

So are you saying you were only on this higher dose for 10 days?  How much were you on before that?  If only 10 days, you may be able to get by with it as your body might not be used to that much.

Yes I've only been on it for 10 days upcoming Saturday but I had severe physical anxiety before it on the 12 in the morning and 12 in the evening.

Could someone please inform me if after stabilizing on 14 mg of valium in the morning and 14 mg of valium in the evening it is okay to decrease the dose to 12 mg of valium in the morning and 12 mg of valium in the evening after 10 days?

 

Thank you

 

That’s a 15% drop and higher than the recommended decrease. I would just drop 2 mg off one and keep the other at 14 mg until you adjust to the first drop.

Alright thank you for the advice.

 

Could someone please inform me if after stabilizing on 14 mg of valium in the morning and 14 mg of valium in the evening it is okay to decrease the dose to 12 mg of valium in the morning and 12 mg of valium in the evening after 10 days?

 

Thank you

 

That’s a 15% drop and higher than the recommended decrease. I would just drop 2 mg off one and keep the other at 14 mg until you adjust to the first drop.

 

I agree with Kit, 4 mgs was a bit much, the 2 mgs sounds very reasonable.    :thumbsup:

Thank you!

 

Nikitus, you just recently updosed from 10 mgs to 14. I would wait until you've stabilized until you even think about tapering. Please be patient and avoid the panic of trying to get off ASAP. I agree with others, that cut is way to big. 10% every 2 weeks or every month depending on your symptoms.

[Guest [pa...]]

Dr. Reg Peart recommends cutting 2.5% off of total dose per week. I can attest to the fact that wishing to come off too fast is counterproductive with these drugs. Patience is the key.

[[Ta...]]

Has anyone heard from Jazmine?  Are you ok Jazmine?  Last you said, you were in a psych ward. 

[[Sc...]]

Hello everyone! I need to know what I’m doing wrong! Sept 11 2020 I started taking 10 mgs of diazepam. It took about 10 days for me to feel better. I started reducing the amounts and now I’m at 7.5mgs last month I took amoxicillin for 3 days and had major withdrawals. So I stopped them and it took me about a week to feel better. But in the the last 3 weeks I’ve had nightmares, broken sleep, anxiety and other withdrawal sx. I only take the diazepam at night because it made me too drowsy during the day. Now I feel like I’m having a paradoxical reaction to it. I take it 4 hours before bedtime. When I lie down I start burning, have inner body tremors, teeth hurt and get too hot or too cold! What could this be? I want to cut but I’m so scared!

[[Tr...]]

Hi Scorpio,

 

Since you're only taking Diazepam once a day, maybe you could try taking it just before bedtime, say 20 minutes or so. Might be you fall asleep sooner and sleep better. I hope others are going to chip in.

 

Good luck!

 

Trochsetter

[[Mo...]]

Hi Scorpian,

You are not the only one I've heard of to have a bad reaction to antibiotics, including amox, while on benzos (causing w/d feelings)....it seems drug interactions are completely underappreciated!  I'm so sorry for your suffering.  I just read through your med history and you were on Ativan 1.5mg a day for 19 months and now you are at 10mg of Valium and maybe you tapered too quickly to 7.5mgs?  Please know that what you are experiencing is not unusual at all in this, unfortunately.  I don't know the answers or what's best for you as so much can be trial and error - I still take 3 times a day even though it originally made me drowsy.  I also have skin burning almost constantly now and I know many through their tapers have the inner tremors (very common) even while "stable".  For a while, I also had all of what you are saying (plus lots more) so I can completely empathize.  Have you looked up Baylissa Frederick?  She has a lot of great resources on her website.  Have you watched the Lisa Ling CNN special on benzodiazepines?  Looked up Benzo Information Coalition?  Some of these resources might help you to "normalize" and understand what is going on, (though there is absolutely nothing normal about it!).  It may also help your family understand what you are dealing with. Every person is so different and that's part of what makes this all maddening.  If nothing else, whatever dose you stay at, it might be wise to hang there for a couple of weeks before trying to come back down.  I would also consider looking at a slow microtaper to ease into the lower doses.  Everyone is different but it's going to take me 2-3 years to get off of the 6.5mg that I crossed over to - I'm not symptom free but functional and trying to stay that way.  I hope things settle for you.....

[[Sc...]]

Thank you both. I know about the benzodiazepines coalition but I’ll check out Baylessa. My psychiatrist wants me off these in a year. That’s the only reason I’ve gone fast. He also told me to just switch to diazepam, no cross over. He’s the only one willing to taper me and has access to all my other Drs and blood tests. I hate it! All last year my other psychiatrist drugged me and nothing worked. I’ve been driven crazy by those meds! If I stabilize a little, I may look into another psychiatrist. Right now I’m limited. I’m just trying to stay sane. Right now I have my 9 year old to home school and my adult daughter is here with her 5 year old and 3 year old twin boys. I’m not doing well with them! If I was alone, maybe I’d do better? And since they know something is wrong they have to be with me and follow me everywhere. I used to love that. So much guilt! Thank you.

[[Mo...]]

I'm so sorry and understand.  Trying to care for others is SO hard in this. And the guilt!  Any chance your doctor would be willing to look at a new website, benzoreform.org?  It's for practitioners specifically.  I've been listening to the podcasts by Geraldine Burns.  She is also on Youtube.  She has interviewed several experts in addiction medicine, specifically benzos.  Dr. Steven Wright is a good one to reference, who advocates for a patient-led taper and helped put the practitioner website together.  Hope I'm not going to get in trouble posting these links but I think they can be helpful.  Hang in there!

 

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/benzodiazepine-awareness-with-geraldine-burns/id1358022441