tail end of valium taper

[Guest [Ro...]]

I wonder if anyone has any experience with the end portion of the Valium taper.

 

I had switched from Klonopin to Librium and then to Valium and have gotten all the way down to 1.5 mg/day, which I think is a very low dose -- I had started at 2.0 mg Klonopin, which would be something like 20mg of Valium.

 

When I went to move from 1.5 to 1.0 mg of Valium I started to have symptoms.  Some I had had before such as a panic attack and others were new, flu like symptoms, headache and insomnia.  Interestingly, I also found that I was more sensative to the relaxation and sleep effects of valium soon after I took a pill -- at higher doses I rairly notice the effect of any one pill.

 

My doctors plan is that we go back to 1.5 mg of Valium until things are manageable and then switch to the liquid valium and taper in smaller steps, such as .1 mg steps.  Does anyone have any experience with this approach?

[[Th...]]

My doctors plan is that we go back to 1.5 mg of Valium until things are manageable and then switch to the liquid valium and taper in smaller steps, such as .1 mg steps.  Does anyone have any experience with this approach?

 

Hi Robert,

 

You've done a fabulous job tapering!! 

 

There are several here that use the liquid Valium. I just posted to Marina who is going to use compounded capsules of .25mg along with titrating the liquid. Vertigo and Meljo I believe use liquid Valium. You could do a forum search by clicking on the word "forum" at the top of the page under BenzoBuddies.org and then type "liquid valium" in the search box located at the right.

 

Let us know if you have more questions. 

 

T2

[Guest [Ro...]]

Thanks.  I did the search you suggested and found some good stuff.

 

Has any had the experience toward the end of the taper of Valium (say below 2 or 3 mg) that they both feel better and worse than they did before.  Right now I am finding that at times I feel lousy, but that when I take even .5 mg of Valium and it kicks in I feel better than I had in a long time; when that starts to wear off, I feel worse.  I also find that I can feel the difference in the level of the drug at different times of the day, whereas at higher doses, it seemed like things were pretty constant.

 

The only thing I can think is that I am at such a low dose now that my body reacts more strongly to the Valium and that at such a low dose, my body's GABA function is functioning much more closely to how it did prior to taking benzos, so that the effect of valium is much more potent, almost like someone who had not taken the drugs.

 

Any thoughts on this would be helpful.

[[ly...]]

Hi Robert,

 

I dry cut valium all the way and found i had no symptoms till i got under 2mg then i cut .25  a time and symptoms hit quite hard and more so when i jumped off!

 

Going back to 1.5mg sounds like a good plan for now and then liquid titration, you mat well find this way alot easier on yourself!

 

love lynn xx  

[Guest [Ro...]]

What type of symptoms did you have and how long did they last after you cut down to 0?

[[ly...]]

Hi robert,

 

I had bad panics a few days after i cut anxiety was bad, but if im honest symptoms hit me hard when i finally jumped off, my advice is to take it slow now!

 

love lynn xx 

[[mo...]]

Thanks for these postings and addressing this issue. I now am down to 1.75mg Diaz (approx. as this is "dry" titrated!) 2 x per day and since changing from Loraz to Diaz for a substitution taper, I have just felt really good with very few symptoms, but I have heard this tail end of the taper can be the hardest so am wondering at what point do you suggest going to liquid Diaz? Only if having symptoms with dry cuts or when reaching a specific dose?