ASHTON TAPER / CUT & HOLD SUPPORT

[[Sh...]]

Hey Big,

 

It is amazing how the fog lifts and everything gets brighter as you get the poison out of your system.  I remember thinking that even the colors looked more colorfull.  It kind of reminded me of the part in the book "interview with a vampire" when Louie woke up and saw things for the first time with his vampire eyes.

 

Yea for UNmedicated!! 

Am I correct in reading that you cut by 50% all the way down?

I'm tapering fairly rapid and just found this thread.

I'm cutting today 1.5 and I'm planning to hold for a week. This is like a breath of fresh air I believe in everything I'm reading here. I'm feeling lost today and I posted on another board and I do get support but always have the if you go too fast you will end up too deep in withdrawal and can't correct it.

Also if you're in withdrawal all the way down you're doing it all wrong you won't heal that way. I feel the opposite the sooner I get this poison out the better.

I've been cutting 2.5 and holding 2 weeks. Except in the beginning when I did a 50% cut from 40 to 20 mg and then down I've been going. I feel the sxs in 2 to 3 days after a cut not 12 days later.

So here I am any support would be greatly appreciated.

Peace and healing Sharon

[Guest [in...]]

Oh good. Then we can hold hands. 

 

Oh dear, Im not a touchy, feely kinda gal 

[Guest [in...]]

Am I correct in reading that you cut by 50% all the way down?

I'm tapering fairly rapid and just found this thread.

I'm cutting today 1.5 and I'm planning to hold for a week. This is like a breath of fresh air I believe in everything I'm reading here. I'm feeling lost today and I posted on another board and I do get support but always have the if you go too fast you will end up too deep in withdrawal and can't correct it.

Also if you're in withdrawal all the way down you're doing it all wrong you won't heal that way. I feel the opposite the sooner I get this poison out the better.

I've been cutting 2.5 and holding 2 weeks. Except in the beginning when I did a 50% cut from 40 to 20 mg and then down I've been going. I feel the sxs in 2 to 3 days after a cut not 12 days later.

So here I am any support would be greatly appreciated.

Peace and healing Sharon

 

Im also beginning to think of speeding things up and just going for it. My pdoc said I was going very slowly. I have had no w/drawal sxs except intense dreams now. I just did a 10 day hold instead of 14, but cut .5mg as usual. Im not sure, just yet, what I'll come up with. And yes, I feel the sooner I get the poison out, the better 

[[Sh...]]

I am very interested in the experience being shared here. I think my taper could be considered fast. I'm determined to get this poison out of my system as fast as possible. I have to work during my taper but I've been ok so far. I've made substation cuts and I'm functioning some days are better than others.

Any advise would be helpful from those that went fairly aggressive and didn't hold for more than a week.

Thank you Sharon

[[bo...]]

I've just cut another 0.5 to 5mg, after a 14 day hold. That's been my "minimum hold length" since starting down from 10mg.

It's working well for me so far - sx are threre, but are low level and manageable.

 

I am also tempted to be more aggressive in reducing, but previous failed tapers have shown me clearly the price paid for going too fast and digging a big hole - it was really ugly and I want at all costs to avoid that again. So I'll err on the more gentle side. I think 14 days is a good minimum length to be pretty sure that the cut has "washed it's way" through my system and that I can be confident to lower again.

 

Keep plodding on together!

 

[[Bi...]]

Hi Sharon, I cut my dose in half initially. Stopped taking the nighttime 5mg tablet. Felt the effect but wasn't working then so stayed in bed for a few weeks. Then tried to cut to 2, no way was this possible, very sick. By then started a new job. Went back to 4 and then have been cutting 0.5mg every 2 weeks. I am OK. I get this awful morning feeling but it goes away by 8am. I think I will suffer when I come off valium. Maybe, who knows. I know others say slow down, it terrifies me as know how bad it can get. But i feel as if my life is on hold while taking valium. I have switched to a low paid job. Low stress. Can't afford this for years. Single income etc

Ingrid, knife to the heart. Just meant I could relate to you if also cutting .5.

 

[Guest [in...]]

 

Ingrid, knife to the heart. Just meant I could relate to you if also cutting .5.

 

Bigmistake My lame attempt at a joke was meant to be light hearted and certainly not a knife in the heart. Please accept my apologies. Very insensitive of me. Do not want to make anyone on here feel worse, deeply sorry.  :'(

[[Bi...]]

Oh thank goodness. Valium has stolen my sense of humour! Grr

[Guest [in...]]

Oh thank goodness. Valium has stolen my sense of humour! Grr

 

I think its wonderful that ur at 1.5mg! I don't think I will have a sense of humor once Im down under 5mg. That number 5 scares me for some reason.   But we will all do this together! 

[Guest [in...]]

My doc told me about this, she said to stand on one leg with my arms out and my eyes closed to help my vestibular system (balance) as I go down in my valium. Well, I can do it fine with eyes open, however, when I close my eyes, it gets very difficult! I hold each side about 20 seconds. At first, I couldn't do the eyes closed for more than 2 sec, but Im getting better 

[Guest [in...]]

I've just cut another 0.5 to 5mg, after a 14 day hold. That's been my "minimum hold length" since starting down from 10mg.

It's working well for me so far - sx are threre, but are low level and manageable.

 

I am also tempted to be more aggressive in reducing, but previous failed tapers have shown me clearly the price paid for going too fast and digging a big hole - it was really ugly and I want at all costs to avoid that again. So I'll err on the more gentle side. I think 14 days is a good minimum length to be pretty sure that the cut has "washed it's way" through my system and that I can be confident to lower again.

 

Keep plodding on together!

 

I do think 14 days is a good, not too long, hold. Im just gonna go back to that. It's worked so far. 

[[Sh...]]

Hi all I've posted here a couple times and am hopeful that I will get some replies and start to feel a part of this thread. I know it's tough to to get noticed when you first find a thread.

So I cut yesterday I had planned 1.25 but I had 2.5 extra at bedtime so I cut it.

It's all in my sig. I'm determined to push through and from what I'm reading here I may find support.

Koko I've read your blog and it's almost exactly what I did before this relapse.

I got bit by benzos after my chemo AGAIN so here I am.

I'm a bit nervous that's an understatement about this cut but I'm willing to try.

I post on the working while tapering thread because I'm working in a stressful job during this taper.

So far I've been able to push through and I believe in getting on the other side safely but as quickly as possible. I know I'm going to feel the sxs no matter what and it helps mentally to know I'm moving forward and not slowing down to suffer longer.

Hope I can become a part of this thread thanks Sharon

[[Ju...]]

Hi Sharon.  Welcome to the Ashton thread. 

 

Even though I did a dry cut, cut and hold style taper, and my taper by many of the folks on BB standards was fast, I did not and still don't believe in 'pushing through' unmanageable symptoms.  Rather, I believe in allowing our bodies to guide us all of the way off of our benzo.

 

I tapered the equivalent of 60mg of Valium, (3mgs of Xanax), in 9-months. 

 

My benzo, Xanax had an extremely short half life.  What I did to make my taper tolerable was I'd cut a reasonable amount.  Then I'd wait to feel an uptick in symptoms.  This usually occurred for me on the 4th or 5th day after I made the cut.  Then I'd wait to feel the uptick in symptoms settle back down again.  After the uptick sxs settled back down, I cut again and continued to repeat this process until I was free.

 

What I did, is a 'listening to my body' taper.

 

Since you're tapering Valium, what I'd do if I were in your shoes to determine how long I held my cuts, (rather than holding for say, a week), is I'd wait to feel the uptick in symptoms, (also called lag time), and also wait for that uptick to settle back down, prior to making another cut.

 

Another thing I want you to know is I had to force myself to not over taper, (cut too fast), the entire time I was tapering.  It was a battle within myself.  But my listening to my body paid off and I was able to jump off Xanax with no acute withdrawal post taper. 

 

My acute withdrawal, (most severe phase of wd), occurred during the top end of my taper when I was tapering too fast.

 

If you decide to listen to your body, your body will guide you off of the Valium.  I wish you well with your taper. 

[[Sh...]]

Thank you Julia I try to listen to my body but it's tough with my benzo brain. I agree with you and so far I've been able to handle the sxs and work. But I need to fix my sig because it's wrong. From 20 mg I've cut 2.5 and held 2 weeks. The one time I tried to cut at one week I did listen to my body as you said and held the 2 weeks.

This cut was supposed to be 1.25 which is 10% as Ashton recommends but I was only planning to hold one week.

Yesterday was a great day very low sxs so at the end of the day I had an extra 2.5 plus my bedtime dose so I cut it. Today I'm ok but I know I will feel it in 2 to 3 days I will see how I am then.

Thank you for responding.

Sharon

[[Ju...]]

This cut was supposed to be 1.25 which is 10% as Ashton recommends but I was only planning to hold one week.

 

Ashton did not go by percentages.  She went by Mgs.  The Mg reduction changed at various benchmarks in the Ashton Manual.  The 5-10% reduction is just a generally accepted psych drug withdrawal suggestion.

 

Well, Valium has a much longer half life than Xanax.  I very rarely was able to cut on the same day each week, even with Xanax that is quite short acting.  Bottom line is that I would not predetermine when I was going to cut.  I'd let my body guide me off.

 

I pretty much always had a few symptoms, so I was never totally stable.  But for me, that uptick in symptoms from a cut was pretty unmistakable.  I always waited for it to die back down prior to cutting again. 

 

From 10mg of Valium down to zero, Ashton took people off in 1mg tapers.  In a footnote at the bottom of her Valium withdrawal schedule, she said some people might wish to reduce the last 5mg in .50mg chunks and jump at .50.  So Ashton pretty much reduced people off of the med in a linear, ever increasing percentage fashion.

 

Are you at 10mg V now, Sharon?  I saw a 10 in your signature and wasn't certain if this was where you were Mg wise or if you were stating you were staying within 10% reductions.

[[Sh...]]

I'm at 10 mg as of yesterday. I've cut the same all the way till now 2.5 and hold for 2 weeks. My sxs click up as you state at 3 to 4 days after a cut and by the end of the 2 weeks I have felt good and able to make the cut. Except the one time I tried one week at a lower cut didn't work out well reinstated and held another week only went two days and I knew it was too much.

Well I'm glad I found this thread everyone here seems to accept that they're going to have sxs all the way down.

Sharon

[[Sm...]]

Welcome to the thread Sharon.

 

I started with 1,25 mill cuts then went to .5 every 2 weeks then .5 every month.

 

Im now down to 10 mill and cut every 28 days.

 

One thing i've learned is that sometimes you have to change.

 

I'm feeling ok and im 4 days into the last cut.

 

I'm not symptom free and just push on through as its mangable at the moment.

 

I'll rethink my plan when I get down to 5 mill.

 

small

[[Sh...]]

Well I was up very early and wide awake felt good. Hoping I have an ok day days 3&4 are usually rough after I cut but I'm trying to stay positive.

Please send healing vibes I will try and check back later. Thanks for all your support.

Sharon

[[bo...]]

Helpful stuff here fellow taperers.

Juliea - agree totally, the "plan" takes second place to how my body responds to cuts. Now I'm at 5mg I'm on alert for the need to slow further, by taking longer holds if necessary.

Smallred - you're on a gentler paths than I took when at 10mg, but it seems to be working out for you. That's encouraging - stick at it!

SharonIf - we're all learning from each other, and we're all different. My "non-negotiable" is not going so quick that I end up very ill for a very long time, which is certainly possible if I'm not careful.

 

I only cut to 5mg a couple of days ago. I expect a mini-spike is sxs over the next few days, and then things will probably settle down over the next week. I don't really care if I'm ready to cut again in 2 weeks, 3 or 4. Well, I do because I'd like to get to zero, but it's self-defeating to push too hard. So it's better to just relax about it, and say to myself that I'll cut when my body says I'm ready.

 

And yes, I have continual low level sx the whole time - disturbed sleep, higher anxiety etc and I won't really know what is "just me" until I've been fully off for some time. That's just the way it is. The main thing is, today I'm taking half the dose I took back at the start of the year, and that's much much better for me. And down the track I'll be taking a fraction of the dose, and then none, and that's waaaaay better for me.

[[Bi...]]

Hi Sharon (cos you asked and others who are interested) I am going to drop to 1mg tomorrow. That's another .5mg cut. I was going to delay it. Was taking 1mg and a 'crumb' (leftovers from the cuts when trying to turn 2s into 1.5mgs. But I'm well and I have no reason to fear the rate (.5 cut every second Monday) that has been working for me up to this date. I am not scared, I'm excited. The number 1 is very cool. Because it's closer to 0. My sx are minimal.

Love and healing to you all.

[Guest [in...]]

Hi all! My last cut was at 10 day hold instead of 14, still no withdrawal sxs at day 7 since cut. Im confused at to whether I should try another cut at 10 days or go back to my 14 days hold  ? I was thinkin I could do this until I get to 5mg and then slow back down? What do u guys think? 

[Guest [in...]]

Hi Sharon (cos you asked and others who are interested) I am going to drop to 1mg tomorrow. That's another .5mg cut. I was going to delay it. Was taking 1mg and a 'crumb' (leftovers from the cuts when trying to turn 2s into 1.5mgs. But I'm well and I have no reason to fear the rate (.5 cut every second Monday) that has been working for me up to this date. I am not scared, I'm excited. The number 1 is very cool. Because it's closer to 0. My sx are minimal.

Love and healing to you all.

 

Yes, Bigmistake 1mg is very  ! And minimal sxs! Wow, really gives me hope that I can get there!! 

[[Ju...]]

Hi all! My last cut was at 10 day hold instead of 14, still no withdrawal sxs at day 7 since cut. Im confused at to whether I should try another cut at 10 days or go back to my 14 days hold  ? I was thinkin I could do this until I get to 5mg and then slow back down? What do u guys think? 

 

Ingrid, good going on your taper.  Here is a Valium dry cut taper that was done really carefully: Jackie Brown's Progress Log

 

This might give you some ideas in how one buddie was successful tapering off and their various hold times at different parts of their taper. 

[Guest [in...]]

Juliea Thanks, Im bookmarking that one! I will def refer to her schedule. Sou

[[Ju...]]

Juliea Thanks, Im bookmarking that one! I will def refer to her schedule. Sou

 

Jackie also has a blog that she checks in on from time to time.  She's one of the sweetest people you could ever meet.  If you'd like, you might drop a note by her blog if you have any questions and I'm sure she'd be glad to help.  Her blog is an inspiring place.

 

Jackies's Blog