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The daily micro taper Worked


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I almost didn't come back to write this because I have been so busy living my life.  I think this happens ALL THE TIME which is why there are so few success stories.

 

I never really posted a lot on here but I was always reading and learning in the beginning.  It is where I learned about the micro taper.  I will be forever grateful.

 

Ill try to be brief in telling my story and I will use a lot of spacing because I remember how hard it was to read big continuous paragraphs.  I couldn't read and process information when things were at their worst.

 

Im a mom of 2.  Im in my 40s.  I was prescribed 1mg klonopin and took it daily as prescribed for about 5 years.  I told my dr I wanted off because I wanted to be med free.  I had no idea at the time my insomnia and digestive issues were tolerance.  My dr said I could safely taper in 4 weeks.  I did what he said and felt fine until I was 1 week off.  I went from feeling normal to having my life fall apart in a matter of days.

 

My ears suddenly started ringing.

My stomach distended painfully to the size of a 6 month pregnancy

I couldn't walk because of a boaty floaty sensation

everything was blurry and light hurt my eyes

fabric and air hurt my skin

sounds hurt my ears

I became detached from my own body...I didnt recognize my face in the mirror.

I felt detached from my kids.  I knew I was supposed to love them but felt no connection.

everything looked fake and plastic

I had an intense vibrating inside of me.  my hands shook and my limbs would suddenly jerk out.

And then the really bad stuff started...

An intense chemical anxiety I had never experienced before.  I thought I was dying.  My heart was pounding so intensely I was afraid to move.

I had a feeling of wanting to rip my skin off.  I wanted to run from my own body.  I couldn't be still.  It was absolute mental and physical torture.

I had this internal desire to end my life but I didnt want to die but something was pushing me to do it.  It was the scariest feeling in the world.  I was just a normal mom a few weeks earlier!

 

I lasted 4 weeks like this and then reinstated on 5mg of liquid valium and stabilized. (.25mf klonopin equivalent) After taking that first dose of valium all my symptoms stopped.  By this time I had found benzo buddies and knew what was happening to me.  I began a slower taper with the liquid but still had no idea what I was doing.

 

After 1 month I made a cut that was too big I think.  Everything fell apart.  ALL the symptoms came back along with new ones and nothing I did stabilized me.  I updosed back to 5mg and held for 3 months.  It did not help.  During this time I learned about the micro taper.  It was so hard trying to figure out the math.  Builder and Diaz-Pams old posts helped me figure out a plan.  Along with angels I met on FB groups I figured it out.

 

Within 11 days of starting to take out a tiny amount daily I noticed relief!  Very slowly I began to feel better.  3 months in to my micro taper I was able to take my son to a rock concert.  It was HARD but I still did it.  I didnt drive yet and the chemical anxiety feeling was still there but not as strong. 

 

All symptoms slowly faded as I tapered.  It took me 2 YEARS to taper 5mg of valium.  It sounds ridiculous but by the 2nd year I was living my life while tapering.  I had minor symptoms and had to be extremely careful not to overdo it physically but the terror was gone.

 

I finished my taper by taking the last possible drop and nothing bad happened after that last dose.  I am now almost 4 months off and it feels like a bad dream.  The only remaining symptom is the ringing ears and occasional brain fog and my hormones still seem messed up.

 

This is what I did:

I was using the liquid valium 1mg/1ml (or it sometimes say 5mg/5ml) just make sure its not the 5mg/1ml.

I would dilute 1ml of valium with 99mls of water.

I cut .01mg a day. (it took me 100 days to reduce 1mg of valium so 500 days to reduce 5mg valium)

Stir gently and cut 1ml out of the new mix on the first day.

Then the next day mix a new batch and cut 2ml

Then the next day mix a new batch and cut 3ml and so on.

I was only cutting 1mg at a time.  I would take the rest of my dose without diluting it.  It just made more sense to my brain at the time. 

I also switched to to dosing 3 and then eventually 4 times a day.  This was super important to keep the levels even in my blood.

I dosed the same time everyday.

I made sure I dosed on an empty stomach.  30 minutes before and after food.

I avoided all MSG and all cruciferous vegetables ( those veggies can make the valium detox out of your body faster)

I avoided all alcohol but continued to drink my one cup of coffee a day.

I held often in the beginning.  Small 2-4 day holds.  I had many setbacks but never returned to the completely horrific place I was in before starting the micro taper.

The one thing I needed above all else was PATIENCE.  I had to resist the urge to go faster.  I HAD to accept that this was going to take an ungodly long ass time.  That was really hard to do but once I accepted it things got easier.

 

Please know that where you are now will not be forever.  I have helped others start a micro taper and watched as their symptoms improved.  It is the only way off that is the least torturous way.  And if you go slow enough and your careful when you finish  there will be no symptoms that hit you.

 

Please look up the daily micro taper thread on here and learn.  Look up Diaz-pams old posts.  Look up Crash Bandicoots success story.  Valley Um was another one that made it using the micro taper.

 

IT WORKS

 

I made it.  Im done and Im OK.

 

 

 

 

 

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Pook,

Allow me to congratulate you on the long successful taper !!  The story is inspirational and right about now I needed it.  Next I'm going to read those prior posts for the progression towards today's amazing result.

 

You've got a lot to be proud of and thank you so much for sharing your success story !

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What a great story! I'm glad you came back and shared. I've also found that DLMT makes a huge difference.
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Very inspirational story! I’m confused though because your symptoms reduced as you you started cutting the medication. Don’t symptoms become worse usually?
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No if you go extremely slow your symptoms get better.  You have to reduce at a small enough rate that your brain or gaba receptors can up regulate too.  Just by taking tiny amounts its doable and your brain can heal itself on the way down.  Take out too big of an amount (even if you think its small) and your brain freaks out.  In the beginning of my micro taper if I cut just a fraction too much I would have an increase in symptoms. 

 

I tried cutting .015mg a day and had an increase in sxs but when I switched to cutting .01mg a day my sxs improved.  Such an incredibly small amount made the difference in my success.

 

This isn't just me.  Ive met and also read about so many people who were able to LOSE symptoms as they tapered down by doing it this way.

 

I wish everyone knew about this method.  You do not have to suffer. If you search on here you can find others that say the same thing happened :)

 

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Thank you for the info! I see in your signature that you took this med for anxiety. What happened to the original anxiety once you were off the med?
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Its incredible but its gone.  I think after having gone through the horrors of benzo withdrawal my body and mind just don't react the way they used to.  Before I took klonopin I would always have that tight anxiety feeling in my chest.  The benzo helped that in the beginning but it came back as I stayed on it.  When I was in withdrawal that tight chest feeling was magnified to such an extreme degree I did not think I was going to survive it.  And when it went away it just stayed away. 

I definitely have life stressors now that I'm off.  My daughter is dealing with an illness.  But Im just able to deal with things better now.

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What a great post!  Congratulations!!!

 

I too tapered using a daily liquid micro-taper.  Mine took about 18 months, and while it was not symptom free, I was able to smoothly walk off and am living my life without being benzo dependent.

 

I've found that I still get very anxious at times - but during my taper, I spent a good amount of time exploring alternative coping techniques and am finding that I am able to manage those episodes (when they occur) long enough to ride through them.

 

I also found that overall, I am less anxious.  I've lost most of my social anxiety, (which was very isolating & somewhat crippling), and generally feel more calm without benzos than I did while taking them. 

 

I wish doctors were more proactive with recommending these long micro-tapers - mine allowed me the freedom to taper on my own terms, (so for that I am grateful), but she has not changed her recommendations to others.  More people would try them (and some would find success) if they were presented as an option by caregivers.

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Congrats to you!!

 

I'm also doing the DLMT at a super slow rate of .01mg/day and have had great success with this method. It really CAN be done - I've still got a little bit left to go (am at 0.6mg now of Valium and getting closer and closer to walking off), but I too have felt better the lower I have gotten. I wish more doctors knew about this method as well - would save the world a LOT of suffering as opposed to forced tapers with massive cuts, which I have seen WAY too much of...

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I’m both excited and apprehensive about what you’re saying. Are you trying to tell me that many people have successfully gotten off this medication and not only didn’t go through acute withdrawal but also came out feeling better than they originally did?? So basically I can be off my .821 mg K theoretically in 3 months??
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... Are you trying to tell me that many people have successfully gotten off this medication and not only didn’t go through acute withdrawal but also came out feeling better than they originally did?? So basically I can be off my .821 mg K theoretically in 3 months??

 

for me:

- yes to first question!

- re K: I tapered from X, so I can't speak to K ... but 3 months would have been way too fast for me...

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... Are you trying to tell me that many people have successfully gotten off this medication and not only didn’t go through acute withdrawal but also came out feeling better than they originally did?? So basically I can be off my .821 mg K theoretically in 3 months??

 

for me:

- yes to first question!

- re K: I tapered from X, so I can't speak to K ... but 3 months would have been way too fast for me...

 

Hey Jana Bean!,  So glad to hear you are well :D. Jim Hawks favorite taperer  :laugh: :laugh:

Love you, Mary ♥️♥️♥️

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Greek

Yes absolutely you can taper down and be off with no acute.  It happened for me. 

 

I think you would definitely need to find others daily micro tapering klonopin to figure out how to measure cuts and find a rate.  No... 3 months would be WAY too fast for where you are at.  When I say I cut .01mg that is from valium. Klonopin is much stronger.

 

You would probably have to make .001mg cuts or something close to it...but I would talk to someone who micro tapered klonopin.

 

I can tell you this...I started my micro taper at 5mg valium which is equivalent to .25mg klonopin.  It took me 2 years to get off that small amount.  But I was pretty severe and sensitive to everything at that point.  Ive known others that were able to go a little faster than me.  It really depends on what your body allows. 

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Greek

Yes absolutely you can taper down and be off with no acute.  It happened for me. 

 

I think you would definitely need to find others daily micro tapering klonopin to figure out how to measure cuts and find a rate.  No... 3 months would be WAY too fast for where you are at.  When I say I cut .01mg that is from valium. Klonopin is much stronger.

 

You would probably have to make .001mg cuts or something close to it...but I would talk to someone who micro tapered klonopin.

 

I can tell you this...I started my micro taper at 5mg valium which is equivalent to .25mg klonopin.  It took me 2 years to get off that small amount.  But I was pretty severe and sensitive to everything at that point.  Ive known others that were able to go a little faster than me.  It really depends on what your body allows.

 

I am curious about that everbody says "I am cutting X drug .005 mg daily or I am cutting Y drug .01 mg in ten week." How can you divide a 5mg drug into these very small pieces when I can't divide 30 mg Remeron in 3 mg with knife or any other thing? They do also not have homogeneous shape like square? If a drug isn't in a form of liquid how can you arrange the dose of it? In fact it seems impossible even if it is liquid because the doses in spoons aren't applicable for such little doses.please answer...

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Thank you so much for your post Pooky...needed that today! Biggest hurtle for me is to accept the time frame it will take me to get off this medication but now accept it will most likely take a few years. I am becoming more focused on dropping at a rate that does not drive me crazy rather than setting a schedule and driving madly over the edge of a cliff trying to meet it.

 

And to all the others on this thread...keep on keeping on!! Hope your all having a window of a day.

MW.

 

 

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Juneight

 

It is possible.  Go to the Daily Micro taper thread on here.  They explain how to do it.  I was tapering Valium and I took the liquid form.  I diluted it in a 1:99ml ratio with water and was able to make accurate cuts using a very small syringe.

 

I have a few friends that dissolve their pills in 1ml of alcohol (very small amount)  then dilute that with water and make the same cuts I did.

 

I also know a few people that invested in a really good scale and SHAVED their pill to make the tiny cuts.

 

Its insane that we have to become chemists while we are trying to save ourselves.  There aren't many doctors out there that will know how to do it this way but this is the way to do it if you don't want to suffer severely.  I was taught by people who did it this way. It's a much gentler way down.

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Yes.  Going slow was the only way I could still be a functioning mother to my kids.  They were 8 and 10 when this happened to me.  Going too fast only increases the damage that is already done to our brains.  People think that getting off asap is the best answer but you will only do more damage. 

 

I actually HEALED as I tapered and because of that when I took my last drop at the end of my 2 year long taper nothing bad happened after.  No Acute. 

 

Someone else on this thread mentioned something...I just want to clarify...I did not have a symptom free taper.  However my symptoms were very mild for the most part.  I was able to live my life and take care of my kids while tapering.  I did have some crappy days but I never felt like I did when I was in acute or when I made my mistake cut.  It was the only way off for me.

 

I believe what happens to us is brain damage from coming of the benzo too fast.  We absolutely can heal from it BUT it is brain damage.  Everyone heals differently from something like that.  Thinking that you won't heal until you are free from the benzo is only partly true.  It all depends on how slow and careful you go.

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I don’t know whats going on any more. Is the medication making me worse ? Is it my anxiety? Is it my breakdown? I’ve lost interest in everything. I’m already having withdrawals? Is my anxiety physiological? Psychological? So many therapies, supplements. Lady ate fruit and cured bipolar.... lady quit eating fruit and cured bipolar...... who to trust with your health???
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Sorry for the rant but I just realized that I’ve only felt like myself for a total of 8 hours in the past 15 years.
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Sorry for the rant but I just realized that I’ve only felt like myself for a total of 8 hours in the past 15 years.

 

That wasn't much of a rant Greek  :D. This is so hard, everyone is effected differently by everything, being so sick was unexpected and no real answers but slow and patience can seem pretty lacking and just unbelievable.  Hold on, you will make it through.  Mary 🍀🍀

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Thank you Mary. You’re always there for everyone.... I just realized how I’ve been going through symptoms of withdrawal for years without withdrawal from anything. God help me what’s in store for me next. Again I’m so sorry, everyone here on this thread is so kind and supportive and here I am being so negative.
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Thank you Mary. You’re always there for everyone.... I just realized how I’ve been going through symptoms of withdrawal for years without withdrawal from anything. God help me what’s in store for me next. Again I’m so sorry, everyone here on this thread is so kind and supportive and here I am being so negative.

 

You are searching Greek, it's normal and being negative sometimes is very normal too.  It's hard to post about our horrible symptoms without being negative.

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