Valium liquid taper -- microtaper questions

Hello,

I am hoping to get some feedback on my plan.

 

I am at 2.3 mg V liquid (1mg/1mL). I have been cutting 0.02 for 5 days in a row then holding for a week or two and repeating trying to cut 5-10 percent per month. I have gotten me down from 3.7 to where I am today but microtapering sounds like it may help me. I have a lot of side effects lately, mainly, lately, waking up super early for no reason. Earlier this spring I had profound memory problems and was totally off kilter.

 

My plan is to get to 2.2 mg and then when I am ready take 2 mg liquid valium per the bottle and then mix 0.2 mg valium with 29.8 ml water to get 30 mL. I will take away one ML per day from the side dose as my microtaper reduction. Next month will be 1.8 mg liquid from the bottle, and mix 0.2 mg valium with 29.8 ml water to get 30 mL and repeat to get to 1.8 mg in 30 days. And on and on holding if there are bumps in the road. As I go on, the amount I drop per 30 days will decrease to be about 10 percent of the dose.

 

I'd like to stick with liquid since I may be doing some time zone traveling (which incidentally I think may have been harder on me than in the past) and may just need to hang out at a particular dose for a while if I get a lot of WD Sx.

 

Are there any problems with mixing liquid valium 1mg/1ml (US formulation off the pharmacists shelf) with water to make this happen?

 

Any other feedback on my plan?

Am I understanding correctly that you plan to prepare your diluted ‘side dose’ on a daily basis?  If so, your plan looks fine to me (actually, it’s quite clever).  My only suggestion is to be sure to shake the diluted liquid well before you quickly measure your reduction.

Yes I plan to decrease the side dose every day.

I started today on the first of the month withdrawing 1 ml from the 30 mL solution.

I did this intentionally on the first day of the month so I can remember how much to take out each day

Valium is already diluted in some kind of mixture (tastes like cough syrup) and seend to mix fine with water.

I figure if 10 percent per month is too much for me, I can try 5 percent drop next month and control how much gets reduced each month.

And thank you for the feedback Libertas!!

You’re most welcome, SleeperHasAwakened.  Tip of the hat for another clever idea — starting your reduction on the first of the month so the date will serve as a reminder of the reduction amount.  I’m also glad to see you recognize the importance of monitoring your taper rate and adjusting it if needed. Regrettably, some individuals who use the daily microtapering method do not.

 

I hope you’ll keep us posted on your progress. I’m sending all best wishes your way for a successful taper.

 

For anyone following this, month one was a success. I dropped from 2.24 to 2.0 mg valium liquid by the method I described above. I mix with water and have no issues.

 

I did however feel a little uneasy and had some withdrawal symptoms (constipation and very poor sleep and hyperarousable from sleep). This months taper rate was 12% per month a bit higher than the Ashton method. I am a bit concerned that it was too fast, and so next month (on Sept 1st) I am debating on dropping to 10%, 7.5%, or 5%. I have to travel a bunch of time zones so I may chicken out and go slower (5%) for a couple months to maintain sanity and go back up to my goal of 10% later in the winter.

 

I very much like the idea you setting your taper rate according to your needs, this is what a taper is for, to live your life while ridding yourself of the drug, good job!