Jump to content

I'm on 5mg Valium at night and5 mg at night - anyone have a taper pla for that?


[za...]

Recommended Posts

I'm in a very bad way, and I can't find in the Ashton Manual how to taper from 5 mg at night and 5 mg in the morning. Does anyone have a taper plan for that please. I'm desperate.

 

Tony

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You don't need to take 5 mg of Valium in the morning and 5 mg at night because the half-life of Valium is usually several days.  Take 10 mg once a day - before you go to bed would probably make the most sense - and then start tapering from there.

 

The tapering schedule I used successfully is on page 11 of this brochure:

 

http://www.criugm.qc.ca/fichier/pdf/BENZOeng.pdf

 

It's a 16-week plan.

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What kind of pills are these? 2mg of Valium, 5mg of Valium, or what?

 

Thanks.

 

Tony

 

I was able to get stabilized on 5 mg of Valium per day, so I used 5 mg pills.  In your case, you'd want to base your tapering schedule on the 10 mg that your body is used to getting every day.

 

Also, I saw that you're on Wellbutrin.  I was too.  Are you having problems with anxiety?  If so, Wellbutrin is not your friend.  And are you taking the 150 XL or the 150 SR?  If you're taking 150 SR once per day, you could probably just stop taking it and you'd be fine since it's basically a 12-hour pill.  If you're on the XL, that's a 24-hour pill, so you'd want to taper off of that before starting the Valium taper.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As others mentioned, it doesn't really matter from a physical perspective, because the half-life of Valium is so long that it will cover the entire day if you want to concentrate your dose in either morning or night.  From a psychological perspective, I suppose it depends on

when you feel most anxious.  In my case, I tapered down the morning dose first, and then the evening dose to ensure I didn't have any sleep problems (this seemed to work fine).  Also agree with others that Wellbutrin is NOT helpful for anxiety; it's a very good anti-depressant (I was on it for years), but the point of Wellbutrin is to "rev you up."  You will have to taper that as well if you want to come off of it. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was wondering how to taper off of 150mg Wellbutrin XL.

 

Thanks.

 

The fact that the 150mg you're taking is the lowest dose of Wellbutrin XL available can be seen as a good thing.  Relatively speaking, it should be easier to taper off of the 150mg as opposed to the 300mg or 450mg pills that are on the market.  The other good news is that Wellbutrin is generally not considered to be one of the more difficult drugs to stop.  There's an adjustment period, but it's usually nowhere near as long and difficult as more typical antidepressants like SSRIs.

 

Do you have a doctor that can help you with this?  It's always better if you have some local support.  But if not, I would start by taking 3/4 of a pill for one week, 1/2 pill the second week, and then 1/4 pill for the third week.  If you're wanting to be more aggressive, you could start with 1/2 pill and see how it goes, but in my experience with tapering Wellbutrin, a 50% cut caused a significant decrease in my energy level that I would prefer to not repeat.

 

You will likely feel less energetic, but remember that it's not forever.  When I tapered, my doctor had me do a 50% cut for one week, and then he had me stop taking it altogether.  When I made the 50% cut, my energy level dropped noticeably - sort of like I was sick.  But when I made the full cut and stopped taking it altogether, I had essentially no energy for about a week.  I don't think I even left my house for 7 days.  But my energy did come back, and yours will too.  Also, I was in benzo withdrawal at the time (unknowingly), so you need to keep that in mind as a possibility for yourself as well.  If you're in benzo withdrawal as well, cutting the Wellbutrin won't make you feel great, but it should decrease your anxiety.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've been on 3/4 of a 150mg of wellbutrin this week, and I don't feel either less or more anxious.

 

I'd say give it some more time, and continue tapering the Wellbutrin next week.  I'd also try to find a psychiatrist or at least a primary care doctor to help you with this.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've been on half a Wellbutrin this week, and I'm in a terrible state.

 

Tony

 

Tapering off of Welbutrin or any anti-depressant can be rough in the beginning.  It may be time for you to see a doctor for better guidance than we can provide here.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

×
×
  • Create New...