Need some help desperately with Valium titration

I have been trying to use liquid Valium to taper .25mg increments for my last couple of reductions.  I'm really getting severe side effects and am wondering if the liquid isn't working and what I'm doing is essentially dropping an entire .25 mg without knowing it?

 

I reached 2.0mg last week and on Monday went to 1.75 tablets using a scale to measure the .25 redux and then substituted liquid V and started cutting .02 ml per day.  Very strong sx's began yesterday.  I can't see to drive, am dysphoric, weak, nauseous, loud tinnitus, extreme muscle and ear pain.  Basically bedridden today.  It has been one of the worse days of my taper.  I cannot cut .25 mg at once since about 5.0 and below.

 

Perhaps it's just because I'm below 2.0 and need a break?  I reached 1.9 today and will hold.  Should I just give up on liquid and dry cut?  I need to get one plan and stick with it.  Even with a nice scale it is very difficult to cut .02 per day and there is no way the medication can be distributed that evenly even if I could shave it that accurately.  I really need the ability at this point to make minute cuts.

 

I guess I could try and hold to stabilize and then use the liquid to finish getting to 1.75, hold again, and then replace the next .25 increment with liquid and hold without cutting to see if I get hit hard.

 

Need help please thanks.  Perhaps some tips from dry cutters might help. Trying to combine tablets and liquid is turning into too much of a science project.

Well, .25 is a pretty big cut from a 2mg dose...12.5%!

 

Since you have liquid, why not just do .025 per day cuts!   Should be much more tolerable.

 

Almost everyone doing liquid V is doing daily microcuts.

Your WD symptoms are becoming intolerable because of the fact your reductions/cuts are the same. Thus, the percentage of your cuts are increasing the lower the dose becomes.

I see no holds in your signature either. It may be a good idea to take an extended hold to give your body time to play some catch up. 

Well, .25 is a pretty big cut from a 2mg dose...12.5%!

 

Since you have liquid, why not just do .025 per day cuts!   Should be much more tolerable.

 

Almost everyone doing liquid V is doing daily microcuts.

That is what I was trying to do.  1.75mg tablets with .25 mg as liquid trying to cut .02 per day.  Crashed.  Will hold until I feel better and then dry cut the bitchs all the way to the finish line.

Your WD symptoms are becoming intolerable because of the fact your reductions/cuts are the same. Thus, the percentage of your cuts are increasing the lower the dose becomes.

I see no holds in your signature either. It may be a good idea to take an extended hold to give your body time to play some catch up.

 

Hi Navita, I did have numerous holds just not in my sig.  I held at 4 for almost a month and actually got worse.  I have been tapering and suffering for over a year after being put on benzos for 3 mos.  I have little quality of life and have developed myofascial pain syndrome as a result of benzo tapering.  I just need this to be over as I'm wasting away.  Will hold this time and regroup.  I cannot believe how difficult this is.

 

That is what I was trying to do. 1.75mg tablets with .25 mg as liquid trying to cut .02 per day.  Crashed.  Will hold until I feel better and then dry cut the bitchs all the way to the finish line.

  1.75 tablets??? How are you cutting .25 mg off of a 2mg tablet?

 

I suspect that  may be a big part of your problem.

Builder

 

I'm using a Gemini 20 scale.  My 2mg pill weighs 170mg.  1/8 th of that is about 21mg.  I use a razor to shave the pill down to 149mg.  170-21=149.  That should be 1.75 mg of dry tablet.  Then, in addition to that, I use a small graduated 1 ml syringe to draw out .25 ml of Roxane Valium.  So, that would be a total of 2 mg. then I started drawing out .02 ml less of Roxane each day..  .23, .21, .19 ...etc.  keeping the pill size at 149 each day.  The Roxane is 1 mg per 1 ml.

 

Let me know what I'm missing...my goal was to only use the liquid to taper the .25mg increment I was tapering keeping the dry pill weight the same.  Once the Roxane got to zero...with holds as needed, then the plan was going to be to reduce the pill total to 1.5 mg and add another .25 ml liquid and continue cutting the liquid dose.

 

Does that make sense?

Your procedure sounds pretty solid.  So it doesn't sound like dosing errors are the problem.

It could just be going to fast.  I whacked .35mg in 17 days.  Maybe I can't do that.  Or, with all my gut issues maybe the liquid just isn't absorbing properly.  I should be OK just dry cutting and slowing down, keeping things as consistent as possible and holding more often.

That's too bad your getting slammed like that........I have read some folks don't do too well on the liquid, so maybe just shaving the pills will work better for you.. All the best and hang in there you'll do it 

TBH I've never liked the weighing method, because I don't think anyone has ever confirmed one way or the other that the valium is evenly distributed in the tablet.

 

If you are already doing a liquid titration I would do away with the weighing part of the process and just either titrate the full 2mg or cut the 2mg in half, take 1mg as a dry tablet and titrate the other 1mg as your liquid valium. You can read about that process here.... http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?topic=97511.msg1248599#msg1248599

 

There is also the possibility that you do just need an extended hold. Many people tapering valium find that sooner or later they just can't get any lower and they need to hold until their body catches up to the dose they are taking. It happened to me, and it's happened to a lot of other people as well. The long half-life of valium can have a way of biting you in the arse sometimes.

Yes indeed. I can't cut anymore right now.  Period.  If I'm able to keep going I think I'll continue with dry cutting.  It seems to work for many.  In playing with my scale I've now gotten where I can measure pretty accurately.  I just continue in way right now.