Anyone who c/o to valium feel the need to keep dosing 3 x daily instead of 2?

When I c/o to Valium from Ativan I stabilized on 15 mg Valium for 3 weeks and felt better than I had in years on Ativan.  After two of those weeks I switched from dosing 3 TID to 2 TID with no real problems considering the half life of Valium compared to Ativan.

I use a combination of pills and liquid for my taper at a taper rate of .03 mg per day.  This takes 33 days to reduce .99 mg, which I believe is fairly slow and safe.  From 15 mg to around 12 mg, I felt good and thought this taper would go easier than I thought.  I am at 11.5 mg now and some wd sx are starting to show up.  They kind of feel like the inter-dose sx I use to have with the Ativan.  I may have 3-4 good days and then 1-2 not so good days, where I have to take it easy inside in the AC.  I am not bedridden those days, but I don't want to wait too long and get to that point.  If this is possibly window and waves, I did not think those would start so early in my taper. (I could be wrong about that).

I know that staying with the same reduction rate each month my % cut rises as my mgs go down.

My question to you is do you think it would be better to slow down the taper %, hold for a while, or go back to 3 x daily dosing?

Any thoughts or experience is greatly appreciated,

JoJo

When I c/o to Valium from Ativan I stabilized on 15 mg Valium for 3 weeks and felt better than I had in years on Ativan.  After two of those weeks I switched from dosing 3 TID to 2 TID with no real problems considering the half life of Valium compared to Ativan.

 

I use a combination of pills and liquid for my taper at a taper rate of .03 mg per day.  This takes 33 days to reduce .99 mg, which I believe is fairly slow and safe.  From 15 mg to around 12 mg, I felt good and thought this taper would go easier than I thought.  I am at 11.5 mg now and some wd sx are starting to show up.  They kind of feel like the inter-dose sx I use to have with the Ativan.  I may have 3-4 good days and then 1-2 not so good days, where I have to take it easy inside in the AC.  I am not bedridden those days, but I don't want to wait too long and get to that point.  If this is possibly window and waves, I did not think those would start so early in my taper. (I could be wrong about that).

 

I know that staying with the same reduction rate each month my % cut rises as my mgs go down.

My question to you is do you think it would be better to slow down the taper %, hold for a while, or go back to 3 x daily dosing?

 

Any thoughts or experience is greatly appreciated,

JoJo

You will experience good and bad days for the most part with tapering. Could very well be that. I don't believe you should need to dose 3x with valium due to its longer lasting effects (but I could be wrong). If I were you I would reduce to cut for a few days and see if you feel better. Even if you do.001 a day, at least you're moving forward.

I haven't been tapering long, or at a high dose, but I do feel waves and days still. I also think that reducing for a few days may help that. You can always go by your symptoms and reduce less on some days and more on others if they arise. Or a complete hold if you feel necessary.

Maybe someone with more experience with valium could chime in, but sticking to 2 doses I imagine would be easier as you continue to drop. Rest assured, what you are feeling is normal though. And many, even with a slower safer taper can still experience days like these.

Thanks for the reply Wowzers.

I think everything you said is correct.  I also may have been putting a little too much physical exertion on my body this summer.  I work in education, so the summer months is when I get outside and get busy with the usual property maintenance.  It gets pretty hot and humid here in the med-west, and there were days I probably should have stayed inside and relaxed in the AC.  I know light exercise is suppose to help with w/d, but I also think one can also over do it sometimes and have the reverse effect.

Thanks again for replying. 

JoJo