Want to start a Valium Taper- Already experiencing WD symptoms at steady dose

Hello Everyone,

 

I’m really wanting to start to taper Valium. I’m currently taking 7.5mg twice daily. The complicating factor is that my doc has also prescribed me Klonopin to use for emergencies , and I have used it off and on, sometimes in large doses (up to 2.5mg) to deal with panic attacks. The last couple of days I had .25 mg of K on top of my Valium and still experiencing symptoms. I’m trying to find a plan that will work, and would prefer to not updose or add more Klonopin, but feeling a bit lost.

When did you start using the Klonopin and do you have an idea of your average usage?

About a year ago. My doctor switched me between Klonopin and Valium multiple times for some reason. Lately I’ve been using it mainly as a rescue pill, only once every few week, however recently (and proceeding this wave of way more intense WD synptoms) I used K four days in a row 2.5mg, 1mg 1mg and .5 if memory serves. Ideally I’d love to stabilize before starting a taper, and I’m wondering if I need to reintroduce K to do that.

When you say your doctor switched between Valium and Klonopin, did you start one and stop the other? If so, what was the doses and did you experience withdrawal symptoms going back and forth between them? When did you start using it as a rescue pill only?

I didn’t experience WD symptoms at the time switching back and forth- and I’m not really sure what the reasoning was there. I was using them equally more as a rescue from panic at the time- didn’t become a daily use necessity until around 5 months ago or so. I went down from taking like 15mg V to 7.5 a day. This was way too fast a cut, but my doc didn’t seem concerned. When I started experiencing more intense side effects I was told it was due to Trazadone withdrawal. I got back up to 15 a day of V Then the V just stopped working and side effects started appearing- hence the K becoming more commonly used to escape those symptoms.

 

I hope this clarifies things some- I’m not super clear about a lot of the exact dates etc.

I'm so sorry about all the questions but it's really important so we can give you the best advice as possible.

 

So 5 months ago you went down to 7.5mg Valium? Before you reduced did you feel stable? And can you tell me how long after this reduction did you updose to 15mg again?

Yes, before the reduction I was stable in terms of Benzo withdrawal symptoms, but I was still struggling with long covid issues (the reason I was prescribed the benzos again in the first place.) The updosing happened gradually over the course of those next 5 months, I was stable at 10 for a long time, started feeling symptoms, and then ended up eventually at the 15 V I’m at now, with occasional use of K.

 

 

I also have LC. Can you distinguish between withdrawal and LC symptoms? In the beginning of my LC I knew it was Covid, now that I have recovered from the acute LC, I don't know the difference anymore.

My LC symptoms were basically chronic fatigue combined with an increase in anxiety and depressive symptoms.

 

I can distinguish between that and WD because WD is more like being emotionally strangled and much more difficult to bare. Also there’s a since with the WD of never being able to rest.

Thanks for bearing with me and my questions. I think there might be a couple of things at play:

 

1) I think kindling might make this taper more difficult since it's the third time you're coming off.

 

2) I'm wondering if you're in tolerance as it seems you're stabilizing but then it wears off at different doses.

 

I don't think being on two benzo's would be the best option. It would make it difficult to determine which one is causing what. Since you were able to stabilize on the Valium at different points, how do you feel about only tapering Valium, even if it means a slight updose again?

I feel like I’m definitely in tolerance, as I feel no relief from the amount of Valium

I’m taking. .25 K gave me like 30 minutes of a break then I ricocheted back.

 

The question I suppose is if there is any risk in updosing vs just beating this and holding at the 15 V, or if it would be wise to increase the dose in hopes of more stability then coming down.

That totally depends on you and whether you feel can tolerate/manage your current symptoms. The thing though is you won't really be able to hold at this dose to stabilize from the Klonopin use because you seem to be in tolerance already? Therefore it seems as if you need to decide whether this is stable enough for you to start tapering or whether you need to updose.

 

Any time we make a change (either updosing or tapering) or don't make a change we take a risk unfortunately.

Thank you so much for the input. I’ve definitely decided that adding Klonopin to stabilize is not something I want to do. I think I will begin an extremely slow taper from this dose of Valium and see how it goes. I’ve got a good scale ready to go.

It sounds like you're on the track and you feel comfortable with this approach.  I do agree with the slow taper too, especially with the LC. I had to slow my taper down as well with the LC. Let's see how this goes. The good news is, I have read of people in tolerance who said they started feeling better when their dose got lower. So it is possible.