Thoughts on liquid Valium

As opposed to messing with scales, milk and other science lab equipment I am thinking of asking my Dr for the liquid version of Valium once I get to 5 and under.  Any drawbacks to this?  Ive heard some people cant tolerate this but was wondering what the issues are?

It's mainly the solvents used to dissolve the V, I think.  They give some people stomach issues.  But it is a good product that is easy to work with.  It can be diluted with water which is great.

 

My question is, why are you waiting until 5mg?

LV is a good product and can make doing a liquid taper very easy. However, you need to be fully aware of the storage and deterioration aspects of the particular LV you are using. For example, the LV used in Australia must be stored in a cool dark place (not in the fridge) and an open bottle needs to be discarded after 90 days, regardless of the use by date.  If your pharmacist doesn't provide you with these details you can easily google it.

 

Some people do complain about it causing stomach problems, but I suspect that some of those people could be using it undiluted and are using far more than just making a 1ml (1mg) solution, and taking the rest of the dose as dry tablets.

Hi Need2Heal,

 

I've been reading this gigantic but really helpful thread on valium. It's a support group but it still has a plethora of tips. I was looking for info on switching to liquid valium for tapering and saw some people use it dluted in almond oil. Apparently it's better than diluting with water, but I'm still learning about that myself so I could be way off.

 

I'm thinking of cutting this way because I know a couple of chemists (who are an actual couple too) who tell me that unless I spent several thousand bucks on a professioal lab scale, then they'll be innacurate even if they claim to measure micrograms, so it's not worth using jewellers scales. That's where it's easier to measure the liquid apparently. Must be easier than crushing pills at least.

 

Here's a link to that thread if you haven't seen it yet

 

http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?topic=96753.msg1238323#msg1238323

 

mal

My goal is to be able to simply reduce my dosage in .1mg increments as I'm not planning on making smaller reductions than that.  For example, I would like to be able to go from 6 to 5.9, 5.9, 5.8...holding as necessary.  I assume I could get a small graduated  1 ml syringe from a pharmacist which would make this easy?

 

What I don't want to do is throw my body into shock for 5 weeks adjusting to "new" form of Valium that is less potent and delaying the taper even longer.  I would rather just keep dry cutting if that is the case.  I will discuss with my Dr as I have an appt coming up next week and know he will work with me.

 

I guess I'm surprised more people aren't doing this given all the posting on milk, vodka, water, scales, etc.

I am surprised too, that more don't do this, given what is at stake.  I think it's a mindset thing.  People seem to be very drawn to dry cutting and assume liquid dosing is too complicated and too involved, which I found not to be true.  And the advantages are huge.

 

Yes, most pharmacies will give away syringes, but you can also buy them easily.

 

I'd encourage you to cut as small as required so you can cut every day, but you are on the right track here by cutting .1mg at a time.  Daily cutting is just the extreme of your idea.  It's even MORE optimal.  Of coarse, we hold as needed no matter what.

 

A way to avoid possible issues with the switch is to updose to give yourself a little more to correct for the loss due to switching.

My goal is to be able to simply reduce my dosage in .1mg increments as I'm not planning on making smaller reductions than that.  For example, I would like to be able to go from 6 to 5.9, 5.9, 5.8...holding as necessary.  I assume I could get a small graduated  1 ml syringe from a pharmacist which would make this easy?

 

What I don't want to do is throw my body into shock for 5 weeks adjusting to "new" form of Valium that is less potent and delaying the taper even longer.  I would rather just keep dry cutting if that is the case.  I will discuss with my Dr as I have an appt coming up next week and know he will work with me.

 

I guess I'm surprised more people aren't doing this given all the posting on milk, vodka, water, scales, etc.

 

Once you make the switch to LV (if that's what you decide to do) I think you will see the advantages of doing those much smaller daily reductions than making the 0.1mg reduction in one go. You're already going to be making the liquid solution, so it's a very small second step to make tiny daily reductions, and it makes adapting to the lowering of your dose much smoother.

 

However, that's a really minor issue. You should taper the way you feel is best for yourself, and if that's making 0.1mg reductions then that's the way you should do it.

 

Some people do notice a difference when they first make the switch, but frankly I think sometimes we can talk ourselves into having issues simply because we expect to have them. When I made the switch from a milk titration to an LV titration I didn't really know that there could be an effect, and I didn't get one. Maybe I was just lucky or maybe ignorance was bliss..lol...

 

You can lessen the possibility of having any issues by doing a small updose and then hold for maybe a week while your body gets used to the new method. Just remember that you will be titrating a small portion of your overall dose. In your case you would still take 5mg in dry tablet form and then you would just use the LV for the other 1mg.

 

Like you, I don't understand why more people don't follow this route. There is a lot of misunderstanding about titration, and so many people poo poo it, or say it won't work, when they've never even tried it. Many people also think it's "too hard", or "unnecessary", and sadly there is still a tendancy on BB to only highlight the Ashton Method. If the AM works for you that's great, but I do see so many people for whom it's not working, but they refuse to consider trying something different.