Valium/Diazepam Support Group

[[Pa...]]

What you're feeling is common, I'd try to avoid updosing because of it and don't feel a pain pill is an effective tool because this pain could be around for awhile and I'd hate to see you develop a dependence on pain killers. 

 

This is what Professor Ashton had to say:

 

Muscle symptoms. Benzodiazepines are efficient muscle relaxants and are used clinically for spastic conditions ranging from spinal cord disease or injury to the excruciating muscle spasms of tetanus or rabies. It is therefore not surprising that their discontinuation after long-term use is associated with a rebound increase in muscle tension. This rebound accounts for many of the symptoms observed in benzodiazepine withdrawal. Muscle stiffness affecting the limbs, back, neck and jaw are commonly reported, and the constant muscle tension probably accounts for the muscle pains which have a similar distribution. Headaches are usually of the "tension headache" type, due to contraction of muscles at the back of the neck, scalp and forehead - often described as a "tight band around the head". Pain in the jaw and teeth is probably due to involuntary jaw clenching, which often occurs unconsciously during sleep.

 

At the same time, the nerves to the muscles are hyperexcitable, leading to tremor, tics, jerks, spasm and twitching, and jumping at the smallest stimulus. All this constant activity contributes to a feeling of fatigue and weakness ("jelly-legs"). In addition, the muscles, especially the small muscles of the eye, are not well co-ordinated, which may lead to blurred or double vision or even eyelid spasms (blepharospasm).

 

None of these symptoms is harmful, and they need not be a cause of worry once they are understood. The muscle pain and stiffness is actually little different from what is regarded as normal after an unaccustomed bout of exercise, and would be positively expected, even by a well-trained athlete, after running a marathon.

 

There are many measures that will alleviate these symptoms, such as muscle stretching exercises as taught in most gyms, moderate exercise, hot baths, massage and general relaxation exercises. Such measures may give only temporary relief at first, but if practised regularly can speed the recovery of normal muscle tone - which will eventually occur spontaneously.

 

 

The Ashton Manual

[[Be...]]

Back making my usually monthly visit. I held over the holidays, about a month, but now I'm back in it, and finding my taper much more tolerable. I started the month at 7 mg, and am getting close to 5 (in two weeks!). I'm hoping I can continue at this rate until I hit 3 mg. I'll probably hold again. If it starts getting too much, I know to slow down. But I'm hoping I won't have to. I seem to taper better in the cold months, last winter I was doing well too. 

 

I haven't been around much because I just felt I needed to step away from here. For me, it was the right decision. Lot's of reasons led to my decision, I won't elaborate on them all. I have my state provided Peer Support and have one Peer who visits, and one who is telehealth. Normally you only get one Peer. The telehealth one lives in another county, and she was assigned to me as an extra layer of support because she is the only one who's been through benzo W/D. She has been a great help to me, and she has education in the mental health field. 

 

My autism has been an issue, I'm perseverating too much, my telehealth Peer has knowledge about that too. Stepping away from here has lessened the perseveration. And I'm not needing Risperidone .5 mg as a rescue med when I'm on the verge of an autism meltdown. I've barely used it. Don't want to rely on antipsychotics, they can cause more problems then they fix. My Psych NP only wants me to use as a last resort. 

 

Hope everyone is doing well. I will take a look around, and maybe post somewhere. Then I'll be logging out for another month probably. I updated my ticker in my signature, it made me feel good to see it change from 7 mg owed, to 5.5 mgs owed. Feeling not too terrible, just willing myself through the symptoms one day at a time. Take care everyone!. 

 

 

[Guest [bl...]]

Hi everyone - coming back to this thread as I am now back to 15mgs of Valium

And need tapering pals!! BenzoLottie - how do you do your taper? Is it cut and hold? Last time I did this but maybe I’ll try DLMT. Not sure yet. Hi to everyone

[[mr...]]

Blessthismess how are you feeling now

[Guest [bl...]]

Much better - my doctor told me it takes about 5 half life’s for Valium to build back up, and it has. I’m just tinkering with my doses to see how I can not be so sedated during the during the day.

[[mr...]]

Just take it at night.

[[Su...]]

I had been taking Diazepam 10 mg since 1997. I never had any problems until 2015. They stopped prescribing me, so I decided to quit on my own. Big mistake. I spent a year with all the symptoms without knowing why until I found this blog. It didn't encourage me to sign up. In 2017 I started cutting the pill every two weeks, but I used the 10 mg. It was a terrible year, I had all the symptoms, but in Dec 2018, I started taking only 2mg. And in January 2018, I started the gym, I continued taking diazepam and suffered tolerance, I went to 4 mg. I recovered and after a while, I began a new taper; it didn't go as well as the first time. I had tremors, so I saw a neurologist. He prescribed Sinemet after a month; I continued with the tremors, he added lexapro 10 and cut down the diazepam by half; I didn't like it at all, I started having convulsions, and I had to taper all those drugs.

 

I slowly recovered after taking  6 mg of diazepam 3 times a day. and started my taper again with difficulty but manageable. When I was on 3mg of diazepam, I went to a new Doctor, and he prescribed me BUSPAR, it made me very anxious, so I stopped. He tried Zoloft and 6mg diazepam. I was very nervous, he lowered the Zoloft from 50 to 25, but it didn't work for me. I had to taper Zoloft and then diazepam because it seemed that 6 mg was too much.

Long story short, I went to a new doctor, and he gave me 3mg of diazepam; ( 1 x 2mg a day I don't know if it's not a good dose because I started shaking like I was going to have a seizure. So I decided to switch to 2 mg in the morning and 1 mg at night; I was sleeping much better, but it didn't help me either, so I shaved the 1 mg pill to 0.85 for three days and then 0.75. However, I started having panic attacks. So last Sunday, it was terrible, so I decided to add 1 mg more of diazepam; I slept all Monday but took the pills 4 mg (2x2). This morning I was full of anxiety shaking and going down to the floor with seizures.

 

When I saw the Doc last time, he said he doesn't do miracles.

 

So I guess I should keep taking the 4 mg until stabilize.

 

I took the 4 mg yesterday but I could sleep so this morning I was going down to the floor again  :'(. So I take 2 mg in the morning and 1 at noon. It seems that when I take 2 mg at night I got worse.

 

So Im falling a sleep now and I hard to write.... 

 

I am wondering if my body needs to get use to 4 mg of diazepam and is why Im getting all this side effect....anybody there can tell if this is normal.

 

Also my prescription for Remeron is at home but I'm afraid to take it  :'( 

 

 

 

[[Su...]]

Hi everyone - coming back to this thread as I am now back to 15mgs of Valium

And need tapering pals!! BenzoLottie - how do you do your taper? Is it cut and hold? Last time I did this but maybe I’ll try DLMT. Not sure yet. Hi to everyone

 

 

 

Hello, I was reading your post and I hope you feel much better now. I saw you have been prescribe Mirtazapine 7.5, how did you feel the next day, did you sleep a lot? any anxiety?, My Pdoc presscribed me Mirtazapine 15 mg, and I am a little afraid... :'(

 

Happy Friday

[Guest [bl...]]

I only took the mirt 7.5 a few days, then 3 weeks at 3.75mgs. I am tapering it now. I like to just have one drug to deal with it so I’m going to taper quickly then be done. It’s good for sleep but I just don’t want something else to deal with at this point!

[[Be...]]

Hi everyone - coming back to this thread as I am now back to 15mgs of Valium

And need tapering pals!! BenzoLottie - how do you do your taper? Is it cut and hold? Last time I did this but maybe I’ll try DLMT. Not sure yet. Hi to everyone

 

Cutting and holding all the way, .5 mg at a time. Right now it seems easier, not sure why. Biggest symptoms are stomach issues from acid reflux and the zappies mostly on my face. Haven't had the killer headaches return. No updosing for me, if symptoms start peaking, it's time to slow down or hold longer. As long as I can push myself through it, I'm going to. Want to be off before Summer. I'm gonna try.   

[[...]]

Hi everyone - coming back to this thread as I am now back to 15mgs of Valium

And need tapering pals!! BenzoLottie - how do you do your taper? Is it cut and hold? Last time I did this but maybe I’ll try DLMT. Not sure yet. Hi to everyone

Hi BTM, I started cutting .25 every 2 weeks, then went to every week these past few cuts

So far so good but going to slow down a bit on this one, been getting more anxiety. I tried the pharma liquid for a week back in December but it made me nauseous. Good to see more people posting on this thread, been slow lately, can definitely use the support.

Joeb

[[...]]

[quote author=BenzoLottie link=top

 

Cutting and holding all the way, .5 mg at a time. Right now it seems easier, not sure why. Biggest symptoms are stomach issues from acid reflux and the zappies mostly on my face. Haven't had the killer headaches return. No updosing for me, if symptoms start peaking, it's time to slow down or hold longer. As long as I can push myself through it, I'm going to. Want to be off before Summer. I'm gonna try. 

Hi Benzolottie, glad your here too. It definitely gets harder at the lower doses from what I read and from my Ativan experience. The cuts on Valium can catch up with you due to the long half life. I’m going to hold this cut longer to be safe since I’ve cut every week these last 3. Feeling more anxiety in the morning so being careful.

Hope we can keep this string going and support each other. Were you always on Valium?

Joeb

Joeb

[[Be...]]

 

 

When I saw the Doc last time, he said he doesn't do miracles.

 

So I guess I should keep taking the 4 mg until stabilize.

 

I took the 4 mg yesterday but I could sleep so this morning I was going down to the floor again  :'(. So I take 2 mg in the morning and 1 at noon. It seems that when I take 2 mg at night I got worse.

 

So Im falling a sleep now and I hard to write.... 

 

I am wondering if my body needs to get use to 4 mg of diazepam and is why Im getting all this side effect....anybody there can tell if this is normal.

 

Also my prescription for Remeron is at home but I'm afraid to take it  :'( 

 

Your doctor's comment reminds me of how lucky I am to have my Psych NP.

 

It can take some time for your body to adjust to diazepam, it is a slower acting benzo, so it takes time to build up in your system. Holding at 4 mg until you feel more stable might be needed. Only you can determine what stability is. Your body will tell you.

 

Ahhhhh... Remeron. Tried it once, okay. Second night, not so okay. Stopped. You'll get all sorts of opinions on that one, some call it a "dirty drug" because it hits various receptors. You can try it, if you feel worse after your first or second dose, you'll know to stop.

 

I take my Valium only at night. When I started my taper, I took 5 mg am and the rest at night, and whittled away on the am dose first. There are some BB members who do better splitting their dose up to 3 or 4 times a day, spreading them out throughout the day. You could try that, and see how that works out.

 

As for your doctor, keep getting the 4 mg scripts filled, and put a stash aside "just in case" once you are tapering. Piece of advice I learned from others, it's a safety net in case your doctor cuts you off (It happens) or you can't fill yours on time due to some unforeseen circumstance. I have some ahead, just in case. I may never need them, but I feel safer having them.

[[...]]

At this point it’s .005 mg every 4-5 days!  I told you I’m slow, lol!  And the past couple weeks I have been holding bc I’m fighting off some kid germ.

 

Hey all!

 

Joeb invited me over, so I thought I’d join in to offer support!  I’m at the “end” of my taper, and I use the term “end” loosely because it literally feels like it’s going to take forever to get this last mg out. I make a .005 mg dose reduction and I feel it!  So taking things verrrrryyy slowly right now and avoiding another crash like I had last year. I’m honestly not keeping track of the percentage I’m clearing each month or the pace I’m on, I’m completely letting my body lead. I figure I’ll get to zero when in get there. In the meantime I’ve been stable enough to restart my career (albeit working from home but it’s a huge step for me). My nervous system is so easily dysregulated… I’ve had periods where I felt it had improved so much and lately the last couple weeks have been rough again. Anyways, I’m here and would love to be of support. Reading y’all’s experiences is helpful for me too. This experience can be isolating, and while I know I’m not the only one going through this, it helps to connect with others too. I do however feel like I’m the only one needing to go THIS slow 

I Candace are you reducing .005 per day? How much per week?

Hey Candace how’s your taper going haven’t heard from you in a while hope your doing well

I also pm’d you. Hope everything is ok

Hope to hear from you

Joeb

[[Su...]]

 

 

Hello BenzoLottie

 

 

 

Thank you for reply back, I fell asleep before to take the last 1mg  to make the 4 mg. Believe or not a woke much better than the day before.

 

I still going down when I go to the bathroom, I guess that is Jelly legs...YES, that what my idea have some extra pills, then I dont have to dry myself more crazy trying to get those.  so now I have to dress myself with patience. I still debating with the Remeron maybe I can try with 7.5 my prescription is 15.

 

 

 

 

Your doctor's comment reminds me of how lucky I am to have my Psych NP.

 

It can take some time for your body to adjust to diazepam, it is a slower acting benzo, so it takes time to build up in your system. Holding at 4 mg until you feel more stable might be needed.

 

 

 

 

Only you can determine what stability is. Your body will tell you.

 

Ahhhhh... Remeron. Tried it once, okay. Second night, not so okay. Stopped. You'll get all sorts of opinions on that one, some call it a "dirty drug" because it hits various receptors. You can try it, if you feel worse after your first or second dose, you'll know to stop.

 

I take my Valium only at night. When I started my taper, I took 5 mg am and the rest at night, and whittled away on the am dose first. There are some BB members who do better splitting their dose up to 3 or 4 times a day, spreading them out throughout the day. You could try that, and see how that works out.

 

As for your doctor, keep getting the 4 mg scripts filled, and put a stash aside "just in case" once you are tapering. Piece of advice I learned from others, it's a safety net in case your doctor cuts you off (It happens) or you can't fill yours on time due to some unforeseen circumstance. I have some ahead, just in case. I may never need them, but I feel safer having them.

[Guest [bl...]]

Hi everyone - coming back to this thread as I am now back to 15mgs of Valium

And need tapering pals!! BenzoLottie - how do you do your taper? Is it cut and hold? Last time I did this but maybe I’ll try DLMT. Not sure yet. Hi to everyone

 

Cutting and holding all the way, .5 mg at a time. Right now it seems easier, not sure why. Biggest symptoms are stomach issues from acid reflux and the zappies mostly on my face. Haven't had the killer headaches return. No updosing for me, if symptoms start peaking, it's time to slow down or hold longer. As long as I can push myself through it, I'm going to. Want to be off before Summer. I'm gonna try. 

 

Thanks! Yes I did cut and hold last time and it worked a charm! I hate to even say I’m doing this a second time but here I am. I didn’t address any issues during my last taper, and low and behold tapering does not cure CPTSD!!! Hahahaha so this is on me

[[Be...]]

Hi Benzolottie, glad your here too. It definitely gets harder at the lower doses from what I read and from my Ativan experience. The cuts on Valium can catch up with you due to the long half life. I’m going to hold this cut longer to be safe since I’ve cut every week these last 3. Feeling more anxiety in the morning so being careful.

Hope we can keep this string going and support each other. Were you always on Valium?

Joeb

Joeb

 

I crossed over to Valium from Klonopin. Unlike most, I had a very easy, and quick, crossover. I felt so much better off the Klonopin and on the Valium. I held for a month in August, and another month in December. I'm hoping to make it to 3 mg and hold again. It seems the pattern for me is to hold longer after I've gone down 4 mg. Previously, I held for 3 weeks. Anxiety has rarely been an issue for me, unless I'm stressed over something, because I wasn't put on this poison for anxiety to begin with. I never had an anxiety problem prior to tapering off this stuff. I have had a prior history of panic attacks, and they eventually went away. I was decades free of them, when I had them again, they were very sporadic and I took Ativan maybe two or 3 x's a month for less than a year, and stopped when I no longer needed it with zero issues. Was four years no benzo's after that. When put on the Klonopin, it was the first time I was prescribed a benzo on a regular basis. Wished I never took them, didn't work anyway because my symptoms were hypomagnesemia-related, as my Endocrinologist pointed out. She was flabbergasted a Psychiatrist put me on a benzo. Never thought I'd be living in benzo W/D hell after getting an Orphan Drug with FDA approval from the facility developing it in the UK to free me of the hypomagnesemia.

[[Be...]]

 

Hello BenzoLottie

 

 

 

Thank you for reply back, I fell asleep before to take the last 1mg  to make the 4 mg. Believe or not a woke much better than the day before.

 

I still going down when I go to the bathroom, I guess that is Jelly legs...YES, that what my idea have some extra pills, then I dont have to dry myself more crazy trying to get those.  so now I have to dress myself with patience. I still debating with the Remeron maybe I can try with 7.5 my prescription is 15.

 

 

Yeah, the jelly legs, get them in the am when I get up. Within an hour, they go away. Takes me some time to dress too. I feel weak and fatigued a lot, I lie down and rest during the day (cats love this, they climb on me). I wish I had energy, I push myself to do the minimum.

[[Be...]]

Hi everyone - coming back to this thread as I am now back to 15mgs of Valium

And need tapering pals!! BenzoLottie - how do you do your taper? Is it cut and hold? Last time I did this but maybe I’ll try DLMT. Not sure yet. Hi to everyone

 

Cutting and holding all the way, .5 mg at a time. Right now it seems easier, not sure why. Biggest symptoms are stomach issues from acid reflux and the zappies mostly on my face. Haven't had the killer headaches return. No updosing for me, if symptoms start peaking, it's time to slow down or hold longer. As long as I can push myself through it, I'm going to. Want to be off before Summer. I'm gonna try. 

 

Thanks! Yes I did cut and hold last time and it worked a charm! I hate to even say I’m doing this a second time but here I am. I didn’t address any issues during my last taper, and low and behold tapering does not cure CPTSD!!! Hahahaha so this is on me

 

I hope you succeed this time. Some people have had to go up and work their way down more slowly. Deadmanwalking comes to mind, though he was in a situation where he jumped at I think 8 mg. Was down to 3 mg, went up to 15 mg; he had been doing this for so long. I don't cut mine evenly, I break them ahead and put them in an empty pill bottle. I use the largest piece(s) first, and work my way down to the smallest, until the next cut. So, it's like I'm gradually reducing my daily dose by small increments. It's been working for me.

[[mr...]]

Benzolottie,

 

Do you remember how you crossed over exactly from K to V ?

[[Be...]]

Benzolottie,

 

Do you remember how you crossed over exactly from K to V ?

 

 

Faster than Ashton recommends, but this doesn't work for most people, and was a disaster for another BB member, who returned to their original benzo, stabilized, then did a much slower crossover. I just knew I felt better on V, and just wanted to get over getting off the K. For me, it was the right decision. I think I did it in about half the time it should have been done. It was pretty rapid.

[[Tr...]]

Joeb you are trucking right along!

Amazing work.

 

I’m trying to figure out how to move forward. 0.5 in one month was too fast.

Thinking of trying a daily micro taper approach this month.

 

My most troubling symptom is my eye focus.

My eyes fall out of focus so easily, and it takes incredible energy to bring them back into focus.

I feel brain zappy or dizzy every time I bring them back.

I have some random anxiety and heart palps, but I’ve learned to accept most of that.

 

It’s all worse with female cycles, so I’m hoping it eases up soon.

I guess 16% in one month is too fast for me.

 

I just want to be done!

But I also want to be more functional than I’ve been the past few weeks.

 

Tree

[[...]]

Hey Tree, sorry to hear it’s been getting, I’m very frustrated also. Doing this for so long it’s getting very tiring. I’m getting the anxiety also and having g to force eating really sucks

I want this to be over so bad.

If I knew I’d heal I’d ct in a heartbeat but hearing the horror stories on here keeps me grounded.

I had an ok day today but it’s getting harder as I go down. Seems like such a long way to go

I hate these doctors that keep telling me I’m on a low dose and can just quit. The false hope makes it worse.

Anyway thanks for letting me vent

Glad your posting and you can pm me anytime

We all need support to get thru this

Joeb

[[Ni...]]

Im on 2 mg daily currently, all going well just feeling odd but stable.

[[Pa...]]

Im on 2 mg daily currently, all going well just feeling odd but stable.

 

You've made wonderful progress Nikitis!