colin need advice on taper

i have been splitting at a fast pace - has been difficult but manageable - however - i have seen evidence of how damaging this can be - i can draw out this .25 mg for a while longer - i do not want protracted withdrawal - i am not all that stable on a good day and don't want to rock this boat.

 

each cut i have taken i have saved the remainder for the next cut - which has helped to protect my supply.

 

ok now to avoid protracted withdrawals - how long should i hold this .25 taper?  i don't like this 2 wk thing too much instability for me - so i have held a cut for 1 month - seems easier for me.

 

would you suggest i continue with taper or hold longer for gaba rays to catch up?

 

i do not at this point see myself jumping off at .25 - i will mash and split with a credit card.

 

i think i have enough to go months if need be.

Silver, just to throw my 3 cents in, If holding a month feels better for you, then do that.

I too have thought about smashing and splitting with a credit card. (now where did you learn THAT, lol) 

Hi Silver,

 

There are no real rules. If you need more time between cuts, then take more time. A taper plan is nothing more than something to aim for, and like all good plans, it allows for alterations according the prevailing circumstances. You need no one's permission to make changes - least of all mine.

eljay i got that idea here cause i am so freaked on the titration thing.

 

colin - i guess i should rephrase my question - am i out of the woods for protracted withdrawal due to my large cuts?

I meant to say 2 cents

oh well 2 cents 3 cents - its all pennies - its ok - i knew you just had a penny more to say then just 2 cents is all.

eljay i got that idea here cause i am so freaked on the titration thing.

 

colin - i guess i should rephrase my question - am i out of the woods for protracted withdrawal due to my large cuts?

 

Let me explain it like this. The rate at which our GABA system recovers is an individual thing, and also depends upon how long we have been on benzos and at what dose. We each seem to have a maximum rate of GABA repair and recovery (or this appears to be the case for most of us), so if we taper more quickly than our GABA system is capable of recovery, we will experience more pronounced withdrawal symptoms. At any stage, if we race ahead of where our GABA system is at in its recovery, we will experience withdrawal symptoms. It we race very much ahead, it will take more time for our GABA system to reach some kind of equilibrium with the dose of benzodiazepine we are taking at the time. If we continue to race ahead, our GABA system is always catching up, so we will continue to experience withdrawal symptoms throughout. So, after your last pill, the length of time for your withdrawal symptoms to abate will depend upon how far ahead you are of your GABA system being in equilibrium and how fast it can repair itself. This is why following a taper rate that adjusts itself to your rate of recovery is so important.

 

I hope you now understand that protracted withdrawl symptoms can occur at any time when your taper is far ahead of where your GABA system is in its state of repair. If you have allowed your GABA system to catch up with earlier ill-advised and overzealous cuts, and you continue to the end of your taper at a more sensible taper rate, then you are in same postion as you would have been if you had tapered more slowly all along. You have to pay for cutting too quickly at some stage, and if you have already paid, and are feeling better, then there is no reason for you to fear the end of the taper so long as you have learned from your experience and taper according to how you feel. I hope that reassures you.

colin ok - this is what i got - if i slow down now i will be ok - i did not know how long my drugs would last so i was scart - looks like they can hold out for a slower taper.

 

so come dec i will have to know how to divide up my .25 mg - i will be using a mash pill technique with a credit card for separating into piles - i do not want to waste any in a titration and because i am such a hands on organic person it will be more comfortable to actually separate with my credit card instead of mixing with water.

 

so do i separate .25 mg into 10 lines?  not sure about this.  it seems like a chinese water torture to me to go that low - would it be just as effect to make four piles from .25 mg?  and hold for one month?  or is that too fast?

 

would it be too wild to cut .25 mg into fours and then jump off in one month from that cut?

 

how do i feel - well bearable - but we don't want any surprises down the line - not after last winter when i was just awful to say the least.

ok colin you made me do math.

 

i guess when i am good and ready but w/in the next two months - i will grind 1/2 mg into 8 parts and hope i don't sneeze.  then take 7 of the 8 piles - still hoping i don't sneeze and leave the last pile for the next cut.

 

or i can grind .25 into four parts and continue hoping i will not sneeze - then - drum roll - take three of those four piles - for a while leaving the 4th pile for the next cut and continue hoping i will not sneeze

 

i am beginning to see how important not sneezing is when doing a cut.

Silver,

why don't you take half of the .25mg, and stay on that for a month, then either jump off then, or step down to a quarter of the .25mg for another month. Or would that be too much of a cut for you? 

Silver,

How would you ingest the ground up piles? I wonder myself how I can cut my 1mg pills smaller then .25mg. I don't know how small Antivan is but Xanax are very little pills. I guess I will eventually have to ask my doctor for .25 pills and then try to jump off using 1/4’s of them. Unless there is an easier way. Titration seems complicated to me and with such a small amount it seems residue would alter the intended dose.

 

Dave.

 

You could grind up your benzo pill into a very fine powder and 'cut' it with something like lactose. It would be far esaier to make these small divisions of a pill with the greater volume of the 'cut' benzo.

eljay - i will reduce the .25 - i freaks me out to think of what i whent thru last winter - never never never want to lose my mind to that extent again.

 

dave - i got a pill masher from the drug store - i would mash the pill and divide it up into equal parts.  my pills are pretty small to - but am unable to get a smaller dose - sometimes doctors not only get you hooked on drugs but refuse to help get you unhooked - but that is another book.

 

dave if you doctor will work with you that is great - request a pill at a smaller dose - that would be much easier to deal with.

Dave,

 

You can always consider getting your medication compounded.  That's what I did.  It takes a lot of stress off of you.

 

Sandy

sandy i have the actual drug - can i go to my pharmacy and have it compounded w/o a rx?

sandy i have the actual drug - can i go to my pharmacy and have it compounded w/o a Rx?

 

No, you'll need a prescription and you'll have to go to a compounding pharmacy.  Nothing can be that easy when it comes to Benzo's.   If you are interested, I can send you the link.  Let me know.

 

Sandy

dave i was just going to lick my finger and dap it in the line until the line was gone.

 

sandy i may be able to get a doc. to write directions on compounding - i may just split dose - i will see when i am there.

 

just trying to open as many options as possible.

crush 1/4 divide into 4 lines get dollar bill out roll tightly and snort 

 

It's good to see that you can crack yourself up Silver.  You are a riot!

 

Sandy

yea i do have my moments don't i .

 

i guess i am feeling a bit like a junkie trying to figure this stuff out - no help from the doctors on this one - they think i am nuts for treating this withdrawal so seriously - they think i am nuts for not taking bigger and stronger and more drugs.

 

so i guess i do feel like a junkie that they just don't understand.

 

 

crush 1/4 divide into 4 lines get dollar bill out roll tightly and snort  (please don't try this at home or anywhere else)

 

 

LOL, this is the first thing I thought of when you first mentioned crushing and splitting with a credit card. Linda

I still can't figure out how to do the quotes with just one line out of the message!

linda i don't even attempt to do quotes.

 

and yes it was the first thing i thought of to when i mentioned smashing my dose and making lines - i just had to let it out eventually.

Eventually I will need to get smaller dose pills from my doctor. I’m taking alprozalam the generic for Xanax that is scored in the center. So breaking it into .5mg is easy but when I try to break it into.25mg it’s never even. I thought about seeing if my doctor would change my script to non-generic, I seen non generic Xanax are scored three times and would sure make a .25 cut easier and more accurate. If I don't get the smaller dose pills I will have to titrate. When I cut a 1mg pill to .25mg it is so small I couldn't see being able to cut it any smaller and it being anywhere close to accurate. If I do titrate say 1 mg then divide it to the needed amount can I pour that amount say into a small glass of milk or water? It seems that if I tried to drink the small titrated amount there would not be enough to make it to my stomach. Is that needed or can it all be absorbed in the mouth, esophagus etc.?

 

Thanks

Dave

 

i just deal with the 1/4 split and cut enough for a couple of weeks - i figure some nights i may get a little more then other nights.

 

i get really screwed up tho cause my lorazapam is mixed in the same container as ativan - they are suppose to be the same but they are not.

Dave,I don,t see why drinking the titrated amount ,than washing it down with a small glass of water or milk,should get all of it ...mike