Tapering too fast ?

I am tapering valium from 12.5mg to 11.25 mg to 10 mg to 8.75 mg. once a month. Is this too fast or do any of you manage these cuts ?

How do you feel?  The rate you go at depends on your healing rate, but generally speaking 1.25mg V per month is not an unreasonable pace at your dose.

 

I'd urge you though to break that cut up into smaller more frequent cuts.  It won't be faster or slower, but will keep drug in your body until your body is ready to deal with the shortage, resulting in greater comfort.

 

For example, instead of 1.25mg every 30 days you could cut .625mg every 15 days.  Or even better you could cut .3125mg every 7-8 days.  Even better than that you could cut .156mg every 4 days.  The extreme of this is daily taper where you would cut .042mg every day.  Daily reduction will give you the most comfort and is what I would suggest, but cutting smaller and more frequently generally will improve matters.

Is the daily/micro taper really that much more comfortable in terms of withdrawal symptoms? This is probably something I could do on Klonopin, right?

Is the daily/micro taper really that much more comfortable in terms of withdrawal symptoms? This is probably something I could do on Klonopin, right?

 

Yes, you could do it on K.  Absolutely.  If you taper at a rate that is below your healing rate symptoms will be kept at bay.  You can follow your healing down and feel relatively well.

Is the daily/micro taper really that much more comfortable in terms of withdrawal symptoms? This is probably something I could do on Klonopin, right?

 

It definitely has been for me!

 

In Norway we only have 5 mg. tablets,  so I can only cut these in four.  :'(

In Norway we only have 5 mg. tablets,  so I can only cut these in four.  :'(

 

Liquify it!  Then you will be able to dose any way you wish with ease!

I will try and see if I can tolerate a drop of 1.25

Sorry to take over the thread a little bit, but I was hoping SG57 and Builder could double-check my work for me.

 

I'm at 1.25mg of K per day, at the moment. I was planning on jumping the week before Thanksgiving, which would be 112 days away from next Friday.

 

So, to reduce 1.25mg of K to 0mg of K, over 112 days, I'd reduce the daily dose by .01 (rounded up). At a .01mg reduction per day, I'd actually reach 0mg at 125 days, but I don't think that's terrible. If I did jump at 112 days, I'd be at .13mg.

 

I'd use a scale that can measure out to .01 grams and razor blades to cut the larger doses down to the correct dose, then store a week's worth ahead of time in a pill planner.

 

Does this sound about right?

Sorry to take over the thread a little bit, but I was hoping SG57 and Builder could double-check my work for me.

 

I'm at 1.25mg of K per day, at the moment. I was planning on jumping the week before Thanksgiving, which would be 112 days away from next Friday.

 

So, to reduce 1.25mg of K to 0mg of K, over 112 days, I'd reduce the daily dose by .01 (rounded up). At a .01mg reduction per day, I'd actually jump at 100 days, but I don't think that's terrible.

 

I'd use a scale that can measure out to .01 grams and razor blades to cut the larger doses down to the correct dose, then store a week's worth ahead of time in a pill planner.

 

Does this sound about right?

 

I'd urge you not to go about your taper this way.  Trying to maintain a scheduled reduction rate is a recipe for disaster IMO.  And your proposed timeline is extremely ambitious.  Everyone is different, but for 1.25mg K I'd be thinking more in terms of a year or two.  If you go too fast and push through symptoms you will get to zero faster, but you will just add the time to the other side of zero.  And suffering will be greatly increased.  I know this is not what you want to hear, but you need to hear the truth.

Sorry to take over the thread a little bit, but I was hoping SG57 and Builder could double-check my work for me.

 

I'm at 1.25mg of K per day, at the moment. I was planning on jumping the week before Thanksgiving, which would be 112 days away from next Friday.

 

So, to reduce 1.25mg of K to 0mg of K, over 112 days, I'd reduce the daily dose by .01 (rounded up). At a .01mg reduction per day, I'd actually jump at 100 days, but I don't think that's terrible.

 

I'd use a scale that can measure out to .01 grams and razor blades to cut the larger doses down to the correct dose, then store a week's worth ahead of time in a pill planner.

 

Does this sound about right?

 

I'd urge you not to go about your taper this way.  Trying to maintain a scheduled reduction rate is a recipe for disaster IMO.  And your proposed timeline is extremely ambitious.  Everyone is different, but for 1.25mg K I'd be thinking more in terms of a year or two.  If you go too fast and push through symptoms you will get to zero faster, but you will just add the time to the other side of zero.  And suffering will be greatly increased.  I know this is not what you want to hear, but you need to hear the truth.

 

I totally agree with SG. That's a really steep timeframe to reduce that amount of klonopin. Do you really need to taper that quickly? Slow and steady is the tried and true way of doing a benzo taper. The aim shouldn't be to get to zero as fast as you can, because that will usually end up being very painful. Take your time. There is no rush.

Is the daily/micro taper really that much more comfortable in terms of withdrawal symptoms? This is probably something I could do on Klonopin, right?

 

It definitely has been for me!

 

 

Ditto !!

But a .01mg reduction per day is a very small amount. How could I taper any slower?

It's not small for a daily reduction.  It is huge.  There is no cheating time with this process.  The receptor upregulation process is very slow.

To put this into a bit of perspective (for my own benefit) your dose of K (1.25mg) is equivalent to 25mg of valium (I think my calculation is correct). That's quite a large dose, and anyone tapering from 25mg V would probably need to take AT LEAST a year to do it, probably more like 2.

 

To give you some comparison, I started from a dose of just 5mg of valium, and I have only just finished my taper and it took about 21 months. Admittedly I took the slow route for the last 6 months or so, but at the beginning I was cutting at a reasonable rate, and a lot of people really have to slow things down towards the end anyway. You might be able to taper faster than me, but I think that setting a specific timeframe, and a short one at that, could get you into trouble.

 

I'm sorry, I know that's not what you want to hear. If someone told me how long my taper was going to take when I started it woud have depressed me too, but it is what it is. Please don't rush this. It honestly won't end well. I would suggest you consider doing a liquid taper. It makes it much easier to do small daily cuts. The main goal is to try to taper as painlessly as possible. That's far more important that how long you have to taper for.

 

Oh, one other thing. Most people can't continue to cut at the same rate all the way through a taper. You might be able to start out okay with your plan, but I doubt that you will be able to cut that same amount right through to the end. You need to listen to your body and alter the size of the cuts you are making. That's when the timeframe will probably have to go out the window.

But a .01mg reduction per day is a very small amount. How could I taper any slower?

 

instead of a .01 reduction every day, you could make it every other day. that would double your taper time.

Thanks for all the input.

 

I just really hate Klonopin. I hate the way it makes me feel. Tired, sluggish, foggy, and it makes it difficult to remember things. I just want off.

 

I'm also counting on my spring/summer seasonal affective disorder to give out sometime during September. I usually feel miles better once the weather cools off and I'm hoping this will give me the energy I need to finish this taper around Thanksgiving.

 

My biggest concern is that the longer this takes, longer I'm going to feel terrible. I don't want to spend a whole year feeling like this every day.