21 days off my Valium (7 day year taper). Am i in the clear?

Very slow process and painful it is unbelievable to me I am 21 days sober from Benzos. And the wild thing is this time I made a cut and I barley feel it. Yes my depression is worse. Yes I’m having brain zaps and dizziness. But apart from that I feel totally calm. Not much anxiety and no restlessness I am accustomed to.

 

I started at 60 MG and went cutting 5 MG at a time. This went okay until I hit 20 and I’ve been going in 5mg incriminates and sometimes 2.5. It took me forever to stabilize at 20MG. I basically jumped from 5MG although I did take 2.5 for like a week or 2 before I jumped off.

 

My question is am I free? Is the end the part I feared most really going to be this easy? Or should I expect some severe WD to set in over time?

how long was your taper and how long did you take the valium for?

did you ever get severe withdrawal?

did you ever get severe withdrawal?

 

Yes I would always feel pretty bad from 3 weeks to 3 months making a cut

how long was your taper and how long did you take the valium for?

 

I took Benzos for around 9 years. The taper was 7.

the taper was 7 years?

Yes. It started in 2016

Very slow process and painful it is unbelievable to me I am 21 days sober from Benzos. And the wild thing is this time I made a cut and I barley feel it. Yes my depression is worse. Yes I’m having brain zaps and dizziness. But apart from that I feel totally calm. Not much anxiety and no restlessness I am accustomed to.

 

I started at 60 MG and went cutting 5 MG at a time. This went okay until I hit 20 and I’ve been going in 5mg incriminates and sometimes 2.5. It took me forever to stabilize at 20MG. I basically jumped from 5MG although I did take 2.5 for like a week or 2 before I jumped off.

 

My question is am I free? Is the end the part I feared most really going to be this easy? Or should I expect some severe WD to set in over time?

 

Hi Fishels, First I just want to say congratulations on your 21 days being off of benzos. Seriously amazing accomplishment. You're inspiring to others! I have a feeling I might receive a comment about how I'm 'too new' to reply to this thread, but I would like to share with you what I can, based on my personal experience from jumping off benzos in the past. Your last dose was 21 days ago - roughly three weeks.

 

Here's what we know about Diazepam/Valium Half-life (I think this is accurate but please verify): "Valium at half-life rate of 200 hours, then: 144 hours in six days, divide by 200 hours (144/200=0.72)."

 

200 hours/24 hours in a day is 8.3 days (I imagine someone will correct me on this, but for simplicity sake, I'm going to start here). I would *think* most of the medication should be out of your system at this point indicating that you would have already incurred some of the WD symptoms. However, given that you were on the Diazepam north of 7 years (9), your body might still be slowly releasing it. I would like to hear what others have to say.. but based on the half-life and your experience the last 21 says, it *appears* you're mostly clear? But it's important to note that even after jumping, many individuals also feel 'delayed' onset of WDs that come in intermittent waves. This varies from individual to individual.

 

Can you share more about how you have felt from your last jump? What have you WD symptoms been the last 21 days? How is your sleeping? Do you have numbness or tingling in extremeties? Other symptoms? Wishing you well - thank you for sharing.

Wow, you are a warrior. You are fighting for your freedom. Congrats to you. It sounds like you healed on the way down.

 

Nobody can predict this process. Withdrawal defies logic. Everyone is different.

 

Enjoy the process after such a long journey and stay in the day. It is all that you can do. I am sure that you are exhausted.

 

If you have a delayed withdrawal symptom, tell yourself you will handle it then.

 

One day at a time. Go enjoy your life in real-time and off of benzo forums!!

Yes. It started in 2016

You and me.... I hope to be off in 7 

Congrats 

what an accomplishment!!! :thumbsup:

Yes. It started in 2016

You and me.... I hope to be off in 7 

Congrats 

what an accomplishment!!! :thumbsup:

 

Thank you so much! It is so incredibly worth it and I’m not even at the healing stage yet. I remember starting it way back then and it felt like one small pitiful step and that I’d never get here. What good is 55mg of Valium I thought. Might as well still be on 60.

 

Can I ask what the doses are at the bottom of your page? Xanax that’s a tough one

Very slow process and painful it is unbelievable to me I am 21 days sober from Benzos. And the wild thing is this time I made a cut and I barley feel it. Yes my depression is worse. Yes I’m having brain zaps and dizziness. But apart from that I feel totally calm. Not much anxiety and no restlessness I am accustomed to.

 

I started at 60 MG and went cutting 5 MG at a time. This went okay until I hit 20 and I’ve been going in 5mg incriminates and sometimes 2.5. It took me forever to stabilize at 20MG. I basically jumped from 5MG although I did take 2.5 for like a week or 2 before I jumped off.

 

My question is am I free? Is the end the part I feared most really going to be this easy? Or should I expect some severe WD to set in over time?

 

Hi Fishels, First I just want to say congratulations on your 21 days being off of benzos. Seriously amazing accomplishment. You're inspiring to others! I have a feeling I might receive a comment about how I'm 'too new' to reply to this thread, but I would like to share with you what I can, based on my personal experience from jumping off benzos in the past. Your last dose was 21 days ago - roughly three weeks.

 

Here's what we know about Diazepam/Valium Half-life (I think this is accurate but please verify): "Valium at half-life rate of 200 hours, then: 144 hours in six days, divide by 200 hours (144/200=0.72)."

 

200 hours/24 hours in a day is 8.3 days (I imagine someone will correct me on this, but for simplicity sake, I'm going to start here). I would *think* most of the medication should be out of your system at this point indicating that you would have already incurred some of the WD symptoms. However, given that you were on the Diazepam north of 7 years (9), your body might still be slowly releasing it. I would like to hear what others have to say.. but based on the half-life and your experience the last 21 says, it *appears* you're mostly clear? But it's important to note that even after jumping, many individuals also feel 'delayed' onset of WDs that come in intermittent waves. This varies from individual to individual.

 

Can you share more about how you have felt from your last jump? What have you WD symptoms been the last 21 days? How is your sleeping? Do you have numbness or tingling in extremeties? Other symptoms? Wishing you well - thank you for sharing.

 

Wow what a great comment thank you! I think you raise a very valid point that even if the medicine is out of my blood it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s worked it’s way out of my entire body. And even if it has the body had been changed and won’t just immediately be used to the absence of Benzodiazepines.

 

The last few months were rough as hell and I doomed a lot. When I got down to to 2.5 one time my legs literally jumped in place for a week. Even after reinstating back up to 5 or even 10 MG my legs jerked upwards completely independently of my will. It was like restless leg syndrome only I didn’t feel restless, my legs had a mind of their own!  I went and saw my general doctor and he said since Valium is a muscle relaxer that the only thing to do is wait, or go back up. I ended up using a heating pad for my legs and I went back up to 5MG and stayed there for longer. That stopped it(or perhaps I’m body was just finished).

 

My last jump has been hilariously simple compared to the other ones. I looked back at my calendar and I did one week of 1MG before completely stopping. I expected all these symptoms to come very harsh as I was frustrated and wanting to move faster.  Sleep was nonexistent for the first week. Took meds geared towards making me tired but honestly I love sitting with my iPad and just reading. So basically I told myself to not force sleep. Tons of Brain zaps everytime I move my eyes. Oh and 14 days of maybe some of the worst depression I have experienced. I went from not sleeping to wanting to sleep every hour and some of that is still with me.

 

But the thing is I do not have extreme restlessness. I have none. I barley have any anxiety and I’ve been going out as if I’m on lots of Benzos. My family doesn’t know I’m off yet and can’t tell because I’m not ready to announce.   

 

Also a substance called Kratom. Controversial substance as it is addictive but it has been a lifesaver. 

Wow, you are a warrior. You are fighting for your freedom. Congrats to you. It sounds like you healed on the way down.

 

Nobody can predict this process. Withdrawal defies logic. Everyone is different.

 

Enjoy the process after such a long journey and stay in the day. It is all that you can do. I am sure that you are exhausted.

 

If you have a delayed withdrawal symptom, tell yourself you will handle it then.

 

One day at a time. Go enjoy your life in real-time and off of benzo forums!!

 

Thank you! It feels a bit surreal and I’m so encouraged to see all the people around me who are having the same battle past and present.

 

I am definitely getting out more but I do want to keep this thread going just to chronicle how things go. Hopefully there won’t be any major developments but if so I’ll be a case of delayed WD. And hopefully the info can help someone else.

 

Yes. It started in 2016

You and me.... I hope to be off in 7 

Congrats 

what an accomplishment!!! :thumbsup:

 

Thank you so much! It is so incredibly worth it and I’m not even at the healing stage yet. I remember starting it way back then and it felt like one small pitiful step and that I’d never get here. What good is 55mg of Valium I thought. Might as well still be on 60.

 

Can I ask what the doses are at the bottom of your page? Xanax that’s a tough one

 

The bottom doses are the valium I added so that I could taper Xanax at all -- now I'm tapering that.... about 2.85 right now.

Here's what we know about Diazepam/Valium Half-life (I think this is accurate but please verify): "Valium at half-life rate of 200 hours, then: 144 hours in six days, divide by 200 hours (144/200=0.72)."

 

200 hours/24 hours in a day is 8.3 days (I imagine someone will correct me on this, but for simplicity sake, I'm going to start here). I would *think* most of the medication should be out of your system at this point indicating that you would have already incurred some of the WD symptoms.

 

First and foremost, thank you for offering support to fishels, iamtheoriginalaudigirl.

 

Given your statement above, I thought you might like to learn a bit more about half-life.

 

The elimination half-life of a drug is an estimate of the time it takes for a single dose of a drug to be reduced by one-half (50%).

 

The rule of thumb is that it takes about five half-lives for this to occur.

 

For example, given a drug with a half-life of 200 hours, it will take about 1000 hours (or 42 days) for a single dose to be eliminated from the body. If the drug has been taken on a chronic basis over days/months/years, the elimination period will be longer.

 

To learn more:

 

Drug Half-life Explained: Calculator, Variables & Examples

https://www.drugs.com/article/drug-half-life.html

Very slow process and painful it is unbelievable to me I am 21 days sober from Benzos. And the wild thing is this time I made a cut and I barley feel it. Yes my depression is worse. Yes I’m having brain zaps and dizziness. But apart from that I feel totally calm. Not much anxiety and no restlessness I am accustomed to.

 

I started at 60 MG and went cutting 5 MG at a time. This went okay until I hit 20 and I’ve been going in 5mg incriminates and sometimes 2.5. It took me forever to stabilize at 20MG. I basically jumped from 5MG although I did take 2.5 for like a week or 2 before I jumped off.

 

My question is am I free? Is the end the part I feared most really going to be this easy? Or should I expect some severe WD to set in over time?

 

Hi Fishels, First I just want to say congratulations on your 21 days being off of benzos. Seriously amazing accomplishment. You're inspiring to others! I have a feeling I might receive a comment about how I'm 'too new' to reply to this thread, but I would like to share with you what I can, based on my personal experience from jumping off benzos in the past. Your last dose was 21 days ago - roughly three weeks.

 

Here's what we know about Diazepam/Valium Half-life (I think this is accurate but please verify): "Valium at half-life rate of 200 hours, then: 144 hours in six days, divide by 200 hours (144/200=0.72)."

 

200 hours/24 hours in a day is 8.3 days (I imagine someone will correct me on this, but for simplicity sake, I'm going to start here). I would *think* most of the medication should be out of your system at this point indicating that you would have already incurred some of the WD symptoms. However, given that you were on the Diazepam north of 7 years (9), your body might still be slowly releasing it. I would like to hear what others have to say.. but based on the half-life and your experience the last 21 says, it *appears* you're mostly clear? But it's important to note that even after jumping, many individuals also feel 'delayed' onset of WDs that come in intermittent waves. This varies from individual to individual.

 

Can you share more about how you have felt from your last jump? What have you WD symptoms been the last 21 days? How is your sleeping? Do you have numbness or tingling in extremeties? Other symptoms? Wishing you well - thank you for sharing.

 

Wow what a great comment thank you! I think you raise a very valid point that even if the medicine is out of my blood it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s worked it’s way out of my entire body. And even if it has the body had been changed and won’t just immediately be used to the absence of Benzodiazepines.

 

The last few months were rough as hell and I doomed a lot. When I got down to to 2.5 one time my legs literally jumped in place for a week. Even after reinstating back up to 5 or even 10 MG my legs jerked upwards completely independently of my will. It was like restless leg syndrome only I didn’t feel restless, my legs had a mind of their own!  I went and saw my general doctor and he said since Valium is a muscle relaxer that the only thing to do is wait, or go back up. I ended up using a heating pad for my legs and I went back up to 5MG and stayed there for longer. That stopped it(or perhaps I’m body was just finished).

 

My last jump has been hilariously simple compared to the other ones. I looked back at my calendar and I did one week of 1MG before completely stopping. I expected all these symptoms to come very harsh as I was frustrated and wanting to move faster.  Sleep was nonexistent for the first week. Took meds geared towards making me tired but honestly I love sitting with my iPad and just reading. So basically I told myself to not force sleep. Tons of Brain zaps everytime I move my eyes. Oh and 14 days of maybe some of the worst depression I have experienced. I went from not sleeping to wanting to sleep every hour and some of that is still with me.

 

But the thing is I do not have extreme restlessness. I have none. I barley have any anxiety and I’ve been going out as if I’m on lots of Benzos. My family doesn’t know I’m off yet and can’t tell because I’m not ready to announce.   

 

Also a substance called Kratom. Controversial substance as it is addictive but it has been a lifesaver.

 

How did you use the Kratom? Are you still using it?

Very slow process and painful it is unbelievable to me I am 21 days sober from Benzos. And the wild thing is this time I made a cut and I barley feel it. Yes my depression is worse. Yes I’m having brain zaps and dizziness. But apart from that I feel totally calm. Not much anxiety and no restlessness I am accustomed to.

 

I started at 60 MG and went cutting 5 MG at a time. This went okay until I hit 20 and I’ve been going in 5mg incriminates and sometimes 2.5. It took me forever to stabilize at 20MG. I basically jumped from 5MG although I did take 2.5 for like a week or 2 before I jumped off.

 

My question is am I free? Is the end the part I feared most really going to be this easy? Or should I expect some severe WD to set in over time?

 

Hi Fishels, First I just want to say congratulations on your 21 days being off of benzos. Seriously amazing accomplishment. You're inspiring to others! I have a feeling I might receive a comment about how I'm 'too new' to reply to this thread, but I would like to share with you what I can, based on my personal experience from jumping off benzos in the past. Your last dose was 21 days ago - roughly three weeks.

 

Here's what we know about Diazepam/Valium Half-life (I think this is accurate but please verify): "Valium at half-life rate of 200 hours, then: 144 hours in six days, divide by 200 hours (144/200=0.72)."

 

200 hours/24 hours in a day is 8.3 days (I imagine someone will correct me on this, but for simplicity sake, I'm going to start here). I would *think* most of the medication should be out of your system at this point indicating that you would have already incurred some of the WD symptoms. However, given that you were on the Diazepam north of 7 years (9), your body might still be slowly releasing it. I would like to hear what others have to say.. but based on the half-life and your experience the last 21 says, it *appears* you're mostly clear? But it's important to note that even after jumping, many individuals also feel 'delayed' onset of WDs that come in intermittent waves. This varies from individual to individual.

 

Can you share more about how you have felt from your last jump? What have you WD symptoms been the last 21 days? How is your sleeping? Do you have numbness or tingling in extremeties? Other symptoms? Wishing you well - thank you for sharing.

 

Wow what a great comment thank you! I think you raise a very valid point that even if the medicine is out of my blood it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s worked it’s way out of my entire body. And even if it has the body had been changed and won’t just immediately be used to the absence of Benzodiazepines.

 

The last few months were rough as hell and I doomed a lot. When I got down to to 2.5 one time my legs literally jumped in place for a week. Even after reinstating back up to 5 or even 10 MG my legs jerked upwards completely independently of my will. It was like restless leg syndrome only I didn’t feel restless, my legs had a mind of their own!  I went and saw my general doctor and he said since Valium is a muscle relaxer that the only thing to do is wait, or go back up. I ended up using a heating pad for my legs and I went back up to 5MG and stayed there for longer. That stopped it(or perhaps I’m body was just finished).

 

My last jump has been hilariously simple compared to the other ones. I looked back at my calendar and I did one week of 1MG before completely stopping. I expected all these symptoms to come very harsh as I was frustrated and wanting to move faster.  Sleep was nonexistent for the first week. Took meds geared towards making me tired but honestly I love sitting with my iPad and just reading. So basically I told myself to not force sleep. Tons of Brain zaps everytime I move my eyes. Oh and 14 days of maybe some of the worst depression I have experienced. I went from not sleeping to wanting to sleep every hour and some of that is still with me.

 

But the thing is I do not have extreme restlessness. I have none. I barley have any anxiety and I’ve been going out as if I’m on lots of Benzos. My family doesn’t know I’m off yet and can’t tell because I’m not ready to announce.   

 

Also a substance called Kratom. Controversial substance as it is addictive but it has been a lifesaver.

 

How did you use the Kratom? Are you still using it?

 

Yes I take it as needed. About 4-6 grams at a time in capsule form. A few times I have taken 20-30 grams which I don’t recommend for safety but it helped tremendously.

 

I am going to share something rather embarrassing I used a Benzo on Day 24 guys

 

Had severe  panic attack while out and used some. Hopefully just a minor bump in the road

Very slow process and painful it is unbelievable to me I am 21 days sober from Benzos. And the wild thing is this time I made a cut and I barley feel it. Yes my depression is worse. Yes I’m having brain zaps and dizziness. But apart from that I feel totally calm. Not much anxiety and no restlessness I am accustomed to.

 

I started at 60 MG and went cutting 5 MG at a time. This went okay until I hit 20 and I’ve been going in 5mg incriminates and sometimes 2.5. It took me forever to stabilize at 20MG. I basically jumped from 5MG although I did take 2.5 for like a week or 2 before I jumped off.

 

My question is am I free? Is the end the part I feared most really going to be this easy? Or should I expect some severe WD to set in over time?

 

Hi Fishels, First I just want to say congratulations on your 21 days being off of benzos. Seriously amazing accomplishment. You're inspiring to others! I have a feeling I might receive a comment about how I'm 'too new' to reply to this thread, but I would like to share with you what I can, based on my personal experience from jumping off benzos in the past. Your last dose was 21 days ago - roughly three weeks.

 

Here's what we know about Diazepam/Valium Half-life (I think this is accurate but please verify): "Valium at half-life rate of 200 hours, then: 144 hours in six days, divide by 200 hours (144/200=0.72)."

 

200 hours/24 hours in a day is 8.3 days (I imagine someone will correct me on this, but for simplicity sake, I'm going to start here). I would *think* most of the medication should be out of your system at this point indicating that you would have already incurred some of the WD symptoms. However, given that you were on the Diazepam north of 7 years (9), your body might still be slowly releasing it. I would like to hear what others have to say.. but based on the half-life and your experience the last 21 says, it *appears* you're mostly clear? But it's important to note that even after jumping, many individuals also feel 'delayed' onset of WDs that come in intermittent waves. This varies from individual to individual.

 

Can you share more about how you have felt from your last jump? What have you WD symptoms been the last 21 days? How is your sleeping? Do you have numbness or tingling in extremeties? Other symptoms? Wishing you well - thank you for sharing.

Double post because I wanted to tag you.

 

 

Due to some unforeseen circumstances I did have a few slips. I’m now on approximately 18th day of being completely off it again. I had some mild restlessness in my leg today cleared up by gabapentin. Also keep having brain zaps and this weird blood rushing to my head feeling.

 

 

*20th day being off actually

I will continue to update and hopefully I’m at the worst of it. Thanks for all the support

45 days now. Very tired. I’d love if someone would reply. I’m hoping I am through with it

Great to hear that you've come so far. I have heard that it can take up to one year for things to "normalize" after jumping off. Maybe even longer than one year, but definitely things would not be 100% normal a couple months out. Maybe you just had a window of your future you.

 

Do you see any barriers to you not staying off at this point?

Great to hear that you've come so far. I have heard that it can take up to one year for things to "normalize" after jumping off. Maybe even longer than one year, but definitely things would not be 100% normal a couple months out. Maybe you just had a window of your future you.

 

Do you see any barriers to you not staying off at this point?

Hey there thank you for the reply.

 

I honestly feel almost completely normal and if I have any symptoms they don’t linger more than a few hours at this point. Some days I forget I am even off of them.

 

Last question there is a good one. Yes there’s a major barrier coming up and I know you guys can’t encourage this but I have to do me. I’m going on a trip soon and will probably take a short acting benzo (I was on Valium) for anxiety. The people I’m going with are getting older and I did consider canceling the trip because of my Benzo usage but there may not be another time.

 

My goal is probably something you don’t see much of in this forum. And that is I want to get back to baseline with Benzodiazepine tolerance and such. I used them for 10 years with absolutely no problems because I took them like twice a month at most. I only got sucked into taking them everyday because I had a manic breakdown and it was my only option. I want to go back to being able to have it there once a month and actually WORK

 

Sorry if too much information but yes I am a little worried it could reignite WD symptoms. But I feel I have no choice. Last year when I went on a trip I had to take extra (while tapering). So yeah I’m just gonna see how it goes. The ideal scenario would be no drugs needed for the trip. We will see I suppose

I am miserable and having heart racing and nervous energy tonight! Good Gosh this sucks I felt a little panicky earlier but that was solved with Propranolol. But now is back I hope I have the strength to stay off. Gonna try gabapentin

Is it the upcoming trip that’s causing your symptoms?

Is it the upcoming trip that’s causing your symptoms?

it definitely could be! Great insight. But I’m worried some of it is this blasted withdrawal. My sleep schedule is messed up and the past 3-4 nights I have had tremendous sleep troubles. Last night I went to be at midnight and didn’t sleep until 8am

 

Tonight I have went to bed at 10 pm and I got off all my electronics. It’s now 1:16 and I’m going crazy sitting here tossing and turning. That’s why I’m back on my devices just a few minutes to break up the monotony. Even taking a big Phengran dosage isn’t making me tired

Also a new symptom I may make a new topic about. Today and yesterday I have had a weird feeling in my stomach like when you drop on a rollercoaster. I can feel my stomach drop and exactly at that moment I feel this deep sense of doom and fear. It is so deep seated and scary feeling.

 

It’s very similar to the fear of an outright panic attack but only lasts a few seconds. Today is 51 days off Valium for reference. This sucks but it could be worse I suppose :/