Modifying my Valium Taper...couple questions

I plan to ask for Liquid Valium this week.  My plan is to keep taking the 2mg pills and only use the liquid to taper.  For example I'm at 5.75 so I would take 2 1/2 pills and use a graduated 1ml syringe to taper the other .75.  Once down to 5, then its the same drill.  4 mg of pills and the liquid to titrate, etc.

 

I also plan to give in and try "ramping."  So instead of doing a .25mg cut and getting slammed hard for a couple days I will try dropping .05 each day with a couple holds.  Net effect is the same, .25mg gets cut every week but spread out over the 7 days.

 

Questions:

1.  Is combining the liquid with the pills a good idea, i.e., mixing the two types of Valium?

2.  Thoughts on ramping...I want to stay at .25mg per week and not hold up unless I run into real trouble.

I pan to ask for Liquid Valium this week.  My plan is to keep taking the 2mg pills and only use the liquid to taper.  For example I'm at 5.75 so I would take 2 1/2 pills and use a graduated 1ml syringe to taper the .75.  Once down to 5, then its the same drill.  4 mg of pills and the liquid to titrate, etc.

 

I also plan to give in and try "ramping."  So instead of doing a .25mg cut and getting slammed hard for a couple days I will try dropping .05 each day with couple holds.  Net effect is the same, .25mg gets cut every week but spread out over the 7 days.

 

Questions:

1.  Is combing the liquid with the pills a good idea, i.e., mixing the two types of Valium.

2.  Thoughts on ramping...I want to stay at .25mg per week and not hold up unless I run into real trouble.

 

 

1) Using liquid only for the "cut" portion of your dose is the most common way of doing a liquid taper.  Take most of your dose with tablets, and just use the liquid for the cut.

 

2)  That's the theory behind daily tapering...that small daily cuts are more tolerable than bigger periodic cuts.

 

See my siggy.

I agree with Builder and I think you are on the right track.  .25mg a week is a reasonable rate at your dose.

 

Always hold as needed.  If you find you have to hold often then consider taking the total reduced and divide it by the total days, and cut at that rate instead.  For example, if you reduce by .05mg a day for five days, but then needed to hold for two, you reduced .25mg in seven days:  .25mg divided by 7 = .036g per day.  This is probably close to your actual daily cut that will keep you feeling good without holding.

How do I taper less than .05?  Even that might be tough to do.

How do I taper less than .05?  Even that might be tough to do.

 

Not at all.  Just as almost all liquid taperers use a combo of tablets and lliquid, almost all liquid taperers dilute their liquid V.  Very rarely does anyone use their liquid V full strength.

 

I usually diluted my 1:1 liquid V my liquid V 9:1, so I had a solution that was .1mg per ml.  Many do a 99:1 dilution, so they have  .01 mg per ml.

 

Near the end of my taper, I was cutting .01 mg/day.  So .99 mg was 9.9 ml, .98 mg was 9.8 ml, .97 mg was 9.7 ml, etc.  No problem.

I agree with my learned friends above. Just be careful trying to stick to a set reduction though (ie 0.25mg every week). Just let your body tell you how much to cut. If you are cutting too much and needing to hold too often, you would be much better off reducing your daily cut so you don't have to hold as much.

Dilute with water?

 

If you are using the 1:1 (or 10:10) liquid valium, it’s advisable to dilute it with water. This is completely different to using water with tablets. The LV is already in a solution form, so you don't have to worry about dissolving the valium. That's already done for you.

 

People use various ratios - builder prefers the 1:10 ratio (1ml of LV with 9ml of water - equals 10ml) and I prefer the 1:100 ratio (1ml LV with 99ml - equals 100ml). There is no right or wrong, just whatever you prefer, but when you are working with a larger volume of liquid it is much easier to do smaller cuts. Have a look at the link I have in my signature below. That will explain everything.

 

OK, I think I got it.  Hopefully the program starts Tuesday.  Will start with 5.7 and start the daily drops.  Getting under 5.0 is a huge milestone for me.  Gotta get there and have a window then there is hope.  If I could just manage the physical pain this would be so much easier. 

 

The physical pain is agonizing.  All other causes have been ruled out...has to be the poison.

Dilute with water?

 

Yes.

My Dr was very supportive and liquid val started today.  He has never seen anyone having this much trouble and has never Rx'd the liquid.  He is very concerned that I am suffering from major depression and that is adding to the trouble.  He wants me to consider starting an antidepressant and wants me back in a couple weeks to discuss it some more.  He thinks it would aid my sleep and get me through this.  Something I need to consider.

 

In any event I have the liquid now to augment titration. 

That's good to hear. If he's a bit confused why you're having so many problems, just point him in the direction of BB, and he'll soon see you are not that unusual.

 

Regarding the AD, I would hold off on that for a little while. See how you go starting a slow titration because that might actually solve some of your problems, without having to resort to another med. However, I did find a very low dose of an amitriptyline AD helped me a lot with sleep. When I was having trouble sleeping I would take between 10-25mg and that usually helped me a lot. I also used to alternate it with doxylamine which is an OTT antihistamine found in meds like Unisom, Sleep Aid, Restivit and Dozile.

 

Just a tip about the LV, when you start using it just hold your dose for a little while, or even do a small updose, before you start reducing because some people find there is a settling in period when they switch to the liquid. I'm not sure why this happens. Perhaps it's just the different delivery method, but it's well worth being cautious initially.

Actually he isn't all that confused.  In fact he is well aware of the internet "support sites."  His comment to me was to surf one of them for an hour and send him a text if my depression and anxiety symptoms went down as a result of reading horror stories.  Just sayin. 

 

He is willing to support a micro-taper but is concerned I'm a) in tolerance and have been for many months and b) possibly having a paradoxical reaction given the physiology.  As result he wants to see me every other week and called to refer me to a neurologist to get another opinion on some of the neuro deficits.  There are circumstances when a 10% redux every 1-2 weeks may be appropriate.  I hope not but that is the Ashton rate and if an emergency descent is needed that is the plan.