advice for roommate

I did a cold turkey off clonazepam 4 mg and my roommate witnessed first hand what a nightmare this has been for me.

 

He was on 2 mg clonazepam and has tapered to 1.5 mg so far.  He has been at this dose for over a month and each time he tries to taper it hasn't gone well.  His doctor is willing to put him on liquid valium.  He isn't familiar with the Ashton method but looking for suggestions.

 

Could someone advise what strength and dosage he should ask for?  And a taper plan that I can print out.  He needs to be clear headed for work so he is willing to take his time.

 

Thanks in advance.

Hi Kenneth

 

The equivalent of 1.5mgK would be 30mg valium.

 

I would recommend a titration taper of 1%/day to 10mg valium and then go to .5%/day to .5mg valium or lower to jump.

 

The small daily titration cuts are well worth the effort of titration so you can avoid the BODY SHOCKS of larger weekly or biweekly dry cuts.

 

Check out the titration section for good instructions on how to titrate.

 

Hope this helps, if you have any more questions just ask.

 

Teakettle

Thanks Teakettle

 

Can you or someone advise about the liquid valium.  I know it comes in two strengths. Not sure which one he needs. 

I looked up liquid Valium and saw only one strength, 5 mg/5 ml.  However there were two kinds, one was concentrated.

Thanks Pam.  Do you know a taper plan using the 5 mg?  My benzo brain is useless and I want to make sure we have one fully functional under this roof.

We have a member who is currently withdrawing using liquid Valium, I'll send her a PM and ask her to drop by.  I'm taper stupid or I'd help you, but not having done it, I can't seem to wrap my mind around it. 

Kenneth buy or print out the ashton manual

I bought a copy , it wasn't cheap but it's worth it to have.

 

 

 

Hi Kenneth,

I am tapering off of 15mg.  I started used pills and liquid V and am now on all liquid and at 1.1mg.  It has worked great for me.  Sounds a bit complicated initially but easy once you get it down and all the equipment for measuring.

 

Have your Dr prescribe the Liquid Valium (diazepam) Solution by Roxane Lab.  All pharmacies don’t stock it but can order this for you.  Mine ordered it for me and had it available overnight.  It comes in 2 strengths but you want the 5ml-5mg solution.  This makes calculating your dosage easy as it is a 1ml-1mg dilution.

 

Basic method/math

 

A 1ml syringe has 10 large lines with 9 small lines between each.  Each large line is equal to 1/10 of an ml OR  .10ml  Therefore each small line is .01mg.  A total of 100 lines (or.01mg) in a 1ml syringe. Make sense??

 

So let’s say you start your taper using 5mg and 2mg Valium pills and the Liquid Valium Solution

 

You want to split your dose into 2 even doses.  I take mine at 11 am and 11pm.  The purpose of dosing twice a day is to keep your blood levels stable.

 

Taper from 30mg

 

Day 1 AM dose 

2    5mg pills  =  10mg

2    2mg pills  =    4mg

Liquid V  .95ml  -.  95mg  (You would pull out the liquid V halfway between the 9th and 10th larger lines on the syringe for a total of .95ml/mg)

Total Am Dose  14.95mg

 

Day 1 PM dose 

2    5mg pills  =  10mg

2    2mg pills  =    4mg

Liquid V  .95ml  -. 95mg 

Total PM Dose  14.95mg

 

 

Total daily dose  29.90

 

Day 2 AM dose 

2    5mg pills  =  10mg

2    2mg pills  =    4mg

Liquid V  .95ml  -. 90mg 

Total PM Dose  14.90mg (You would pull the liquid to the 9th line which is .90ml/mg)

 

Day 2 PM dose 

2    5mg pills  =  10mg

2    2mg pills  =    4mg

Liquid V  .95ml  -. 90mg 

Total PM Dose  14.90mg

 

Total daily dose  29.80

 

At this rate you would be reducing 1mg every 10 days.

 

As you can see this process makes taking small daily cuts very easy.  Since your friend is having a rough time getting down further this might work for him.

 

If you decide you want to go with this process I can send you more details on what exact syringes I use and an excel sheet I use for tracking my cuts and how I determine what tapering rate is within my body’s ability to tolerate.

 

Let me know if this makes sense to you!!  I do have a bit of a benzo brain myself so not sure if I am making this sound too confusing!

Send me any questions you might have!!

 

All my best!

Mimi