Trouble with Diazepam Taper

I started off at 40mgs of Diazepam after a crossover from Ativan.  Trying to taper the Diazepam.  I'm down to 27.5mgs from 40mgs.

 

My last 2 cuts have been really problematic.  I seem to feel worse the longer I wait to cut. 

 

This last cut was 2.5 mgs and it's been over 3 weeks and I feel worse now than my initial sxs.

 

I never have been able to settle down any between cuts.  I just kinda get to where I'm functional and ready to cut again.  I've been cutting the Diazepam at 2.5mgs each cut.

 

Should I wait longer to before my next cut?  Or should I just cut a smaller amount.    Been having horrible anxiety and stomach pains and they seem to be getting worse.

 

Please respond with any suggestions.

Linear tapers can be like that.  Initially, you were cutting 2.5mg from 40mg which is only around 6% of your dose.  Now you're cuts are nearly 10%.  You might want to do smaller cuts like 1.25 mg.

JMO,

But you've cut over 16% in the last month...........so I believe your going too fast. Doing heavy cuts like that you'll never feel stable again IMO.

 

Personally, I'd seriously look into doing a DLMT. This has been a godsend compared to the old 'cut and hurt' method for my wife. Not that is been all roses but much easier on her sxs wise. And I thank Builder for his guidance and advise on that.  :thumbsup:

JMO,

But you've cut over 16% in the last month...........so I believe your going too fast. Doing heavy cuts like that you'll never feel stable again IMO.

 

Personally, I'd seriously look into doing a DLMT. This has been a godsend compared to the old 'cut and hurt' method for my wife. Not that is been all roses but much easier on her sxs wise. And I thank Builder for his guidance and advise on that.  :thumbsup:

 

What is DLMT?

Daily Liquid Micro Taper

Linear tapers can be like that.  Initially, you were cutting 2.5mg from 40mg which is only around 6% of your dose.  Now you're cuts are nearly 10%.  You might want to do smaller cuts like 1.25 mg.

 

Should I hold a little longer before making a cut?

Daily Liquid Micro Taper

 

Can you even get Diazepam in liquid form for 27.5mgs a day?

Daily Liquid Micro Taper

 

How much are you reducing daily?

Linear tapers can be like that.  Initially, you were cutting 2.5mg from 40mg which is only around 6% of your dose.  Now you're cuts are nearly 10%.  You might want to do smaller cuts like 1.25 mg.

 

Should I hold a little longer before making a cut?

 

It might help.

Daily Liquid Micro Taper

 

Can you even get Diazepam in liquid form for 27.5mgs a day?

 

It takes a little doing to get it into solution.  A lot of people dissolve a pill into a small amount of alcohol or propylene glycol, then dilute with water and mix really well.  It seems to make a fairly stable suspension.  Then you remove a tiny bit from that solution each day and drink the rest.

 

You can also do a daily micro taper using solid pills.  You reduce your dose by a tiny bit each day (0.5% or less).  You'd need a milligram balance (~$20).  Either way - solid or liquid - works fine.  If you decide to do a daily micro-taper, I don't advise going back and forth between solid and liquid as there seems to be some small difference in absorption efficiency.  So it's best to pick one method (solid or liquid) and stick with it.

Daily Liquid Micro Taper

 

Can you even get Diazepam in liquid form for 27.5mgs a day?

 

It takes a little doing to get it into solution.  A lot of people dissolve a pill into a small amount of alcohol or propylene glycol, then dilute with water and mix really well.  It seems to make a fairly stable suspension.  Then you remove a tiny bit from that solution each day and drink the rest.

 

You can also do a daily micro taper using solid pills.  You reduce your dose by a tiny bit each day (0.5% or less).  You'd need a milligram balance (~$20).  Either way - solid or liquid - works fine.  If you decide to do a daily micro-taper, I don't advise going back and forth between solid and liquid as there seems to be some small difference in absorption efficiency.  So it's best to pick one method (solid or liquid) and stick with it.

 

Thanks for your responses.  Do you have a suggestion for a milligram balance?

A lot of people get a Gemini-20 from Amazon.  Works well for the price.

JMO,

But you've cut over 16% in the last month...........so I believe your going too fast. Doing heavy cuts like that you'll never feel stable again IMO.

 

Personally, I'd seriously look into doing a DLMT. This has been a godsend compared to the old 'cut and hurt' method for my wife. Not that is been all roses but much easier on her sxs wise. And I thank Builder for his guidance and advise on that.  :thumbsup:

 

It's been almost a month since my last cut and I'm having horrible stomach pain followed by anxiety.  I am asking should I just keep holding?  When should this ease up a bit?

No real concrete answer to what your asking. You may hold for another two weeks and feel somewhat better or you may hold two months and still feel the same as now.........the joys of non linear healing.

 

Try to get to a place where you feel somewhat stable, you may always have sxs. IMO I would hold for some serious time. You've been cutting pretty quick an it's all coming to a head now. Maybe just pull back and let your body do some catching up and adjusting. THEN look into a DLMT. No race here is there? Or is you Dr pushing you? 

No real concrete answer to what your asking. You may hold for another two weeks and feel somewhat better or you may hold two months and still feel the same as now.........the joys of non linear healing.

 

Try to get to a place where you feel somewhat stable, you may always have sxs. IMO I would hold for some serious time. You've been cutting pretty quick an it's all coming to a head now. Maybe just pull back and let your body do some catching up and adjusting. THEN look into a DLMT. No race here is there? Or is you Dr pushing you?

 

Dr. is not pushing me.  I think I'll just wait longer and see what happens.  I realize now that these cuts were catching up to me.  I was taking the Docs advice and cutting.  He actually to cut more at a time when I first started.

 

Looking back it seems that after each cut I felt worse.  This last one really it me hard.  I'm going to give it some more time.

 

Thanks so much for your response.

Maybe time to reduce those cuts too.  Each one is now approaching 10%.  That's pretty big.

Maybe time to reduce those cuts too.  Each one is now approaching 10%.  That's pretty big.

 

That's the plan.  I'm going to hold off on cutting for a little while and let my body catch up some.  My next cut will probably be 1.5mgs.  Half of what I've been cutting.

 

thank for the advice.  I appreciate the response.  So glad I've found this site and members willing to help!

 

 

 

 

You might want to stop in at The Long Hold Support Group.  It's a very nice group and much support there.  It's also very active and you'll get many responses.

 

 

You might want to stop in at The Long Hold Support Group.  It's a very nice group and much support there.  It's also very active and you'll get many responses.

 

Thanks for the info.  It's been 4 weeks since my last cut and I feel worse now than I did 2 weeks ago.  I guess the cuts have caught up to me.

No real concrete answer to what your asking. You may hold for another two weeks and feel somewhat better or you may hold two months and still feel the same as now.........the joys of non linear healing.

 

Try to get to a place where you feel somewhat stable, you may always have sxs. IMO I would hold for some serious time. You've been cutting pretty quick an it's all coming to a head now. Maybe just pull back and let your body do some catching up and adjusting. THEN look into a DLMT. No race here is there? Or is you Dr pushing you?

 

It's almost been 5 weeks now and I still feel terrible.  I'm able to eat a little but no appetite.  One day I'll just feel sick to my stomach and next very anxious.

 

Do you think I should just hold and see if I stabilize any?  Could the D be causing the problem or did I just go too fast?