From duneman1 weaning. Off valium question

Was prescribed 5 mg. Valium 3 times a day AS needed. Took 3 a day for 4 years. Went into deep depression few months ago and realized it was from valium. Want to stop . so break yellow pill in half and take 2.5 mg 3 times a day for 14 days now. After 4 days at 50%. Depression stopped !! Now after 14 days feel some of taper side effects a little discomfort. Planning on this amount for two or 3 more weeks and then one month at 1.75 mg. This sound okay. Did not tell doctor yet. Am 73 year old male. Any advice or suggestions appreciated. I know should have started with 25 % taper .

Very determined to quit. No other drugs. Except small blood pressure med.

Thank you for any help . nobody else to talk to !!

Duneman1

 

Hi duneman, so good to hear that the depression has gone, yeah!

You’ve gone pretty quickly with your taper. Honestly, I would stick with your current dose for a few weeks at least and then maybe drop to 2mg x3 per day. Most people do best on a slow taper. Sometimes the withdrawal symptoms come later but then again, you might be one of the blessed few who can withdraw fairly easily. I hope so but it’s not a race.

All the best. Hardy.

How long stay on 2 mg. X 3 times a day.

After 14 days now feel a little weird in afternoons .must be withdrawal?? Hope I did not go too fast going from 5mg. To 2.5 I.e. 50 % taper. Does that work for some people.

Thanks for support.

Duneman1

I didn’t taper from Valium so I can’t answer that although a 50% cut is massive and most people go slower. But you’re 2 weeks out now so maybe wait and see if you can tolerate the weird feelings.

The idea of a slow taper is so that your body can recover as you reduce. If you go too quickly, your body won’t keep up.

Suggest you keep a journal of your symptoms, then you will have record of your symptoms. When you feel the symptoms have levelled out and you feel a bit more stable, then it’s time to make a further small reduction.

The timings will vary from person to person. It really doesn’t matter how long the taper takes.

Keep us posted.

Hardy.

I think i heard somewhere that valium has a very slow half life especially as we age past 60. I would think to go down very cautiously. I think aston manual says 5-10 percent per month. Also maybe tell your doctor about it in case you have other medical things come up and they will know you are tapering (assuming you have good rapport). Say you come to the doctor confused and they put you in the hospital and put you back on 5 mg valium three times a day ( as if they did not know you were tapering) that would not be good for you or the taper.