Tapering down from 40mg Diazapam a day

Hi Everyone,

 

I have been on Diazapam for about 4 years now and have levelled out at 40mg for quite a while. I also take two anti-depressants and have a codeine addiction which is what I believe is causing me to get anxiety as every time I come off the codeine for a week, I have no anxiety at all.

 

I decided to start tapering last week and have started reducing the diazapam 3mg a day. Right now I am starting to feel like a zombie and have no energy. I am having horrible dreams too and they feel so real.

 

I want to come off this stuff quick but I know that is not possible. How does everyone else feel whilst coming off diazapam?

 

Thanks

 

Sean

Hello bigshow, Welcome to BenzoBuddies!

 

I understand you want to rid yourself of the Diazapam quickly, but glad you understand this needs to be done slowly, slower in fact that you've reduced so far.  By going slowly we hope to minimize symptoms allowing you to be functional, typically 5-10% of your dose every week or two.

 

I'd like to suggest you take a look at our  Planning Your Withdrawal (Taper Plans) board to see the methods we support and to get some suggestions on a proper taper.

 

You can also ask members about your symptoms by posting on the Withdrawal Support (during your taper) board, there you'll find many who understand what you're going though.

 

We're glad you found us, please let us know how we can help.

 

Pamster

Hi Pamster,

 

Thank you for your reply. I was getting confused as some sites say to go up to 25% of your weekly of daily dose so I wanted to see how I faired doing the 3mg and then if its too much, I can always change it. So far its been 6 days on the reduced dose and the main effects I am getting is weird dreams, bad anxiety and feeling a bit spaced out. I can handle feeling like this but I am curious to know how long I will feel like this for in case I wish to take a break from tapering if you know what I mean.

 

Thanks loads

 

Sean

I understand your confusion, there is a lot of information out there, but we pretty much stick to the guidelines established by Professor Ashton in her manual.  The Ashton Manual

 

Diazepam has a long half life, so I'm afraid the symptoms you're yet to feel haven't manifested yet.  By tapering slowly and holding after each reduction, you allow your body to realize the full impact of each reduction, rather than getting slammed with incapacitating symptoms.  If you begin to suffer too much, please consider slowing this down, its very difficult to get stabilized once you hit that wall, and oftentimes updosing is the only solution.

 

It's important for you to understand that this drug has made changes to the way your brain functions, and just getting the drug out of your system isn't the only challenge. Your brain has to repair the damage and this takes time, weeks, months and even years. 

 

Please read this, it may help you understand what has happened.  What is happening in your brain

Thank you so much.... I feared as much. Today is a week to the day since the dose change and  feeling sick and getting headaches. Its still bearable though and as long as its bearable... I'm going to stick with it. I will definitely have a read of that material in the link.

 

Thank you so much for providing me with this information.

 

Kind regards

 

Sean

Hi,

 

good luck with your taper.i just wanted to know how you are going with your codeine addiction . have you got that sorted already.

 

I had built up a tolerance to opioid pain killers as I have had a few surgery this year. I did a quick taper ,detoxed then approximately 2 weeks later started my benzo detox.

 

all the best

I would slow way down on the taper. Get it right the first time. I would provision a minimum of 6 months, but probably closer to a year

maybe use your symptoms as a guide to your taper. to fast and withdrawal will hit hard and fast and to slow you will be dragging out an unpleasant process.

 

my anxiety was worse during taper for some reason. everyone's journey is different I guess

Hey I'm so sorry for late reply. I didn't get a notification for some reason. About the codeine... I take around 8 a day and I'm addicted to them quite bad.... I really struggle with keeping them at 8 a day sometimes too. Weird thing is it i stop codeine for a week... My anxiety goes away completely.... I just can't seem to stop them anymore.

 

It's been 13 days since reducing diazapam from 40mg to 37mg and I'm feeling the rebound anxiety alot in last two days. Thought I was handling it too well lol

 

Not sure if I will do another reduction this week but if I do, it will only be 2mg

how are you traveling. hopefully it's been bearable.  I'm not sure I understood you correctly. you say you are addicted to the pain killers but where able to stop for a week. how did you manage the break.

 

it is quite interesting you got a reduction in anxiety when stopping pain killers. I actually got less anxiety when I stopped the Xanax .

 

allthe best

 

Andrew

Hey Andrew,

 

I know it's so weird but honestly every single time I have stopped the codeine for over a week, my anxiety is pretty much none existent. I can't work out why this happens as there doesn't seem to be any medical reason for this but it definitely happens. Trouble is I am addicted to codeine but dependant on diazapam... I find it very hard to stop codeine because I crave it but I don't crave diazapam if that makes sense.

 

I'm down to 35mg a day of diazapam and had one of the best weeks I have had in a very long time last week... This week not so good as I think the first week after reduction is prob the worst for me anyway.

stay strong. reducing anything is never going to be comfortable. I find it strange you say you have an addiction to codeine but have stopped taking it for a week at a time more than once. you would be in the peak of withdrawal after a week. if you can have week of you may not be as addicted as you think.

 

hope I understood it well

Hey yeah I know its strange. I do have a bad addiction to codeine but there was times when I recognised how bad it was making me feel and it was making me feel detached from reality so when that happened, I had to just go cold turkey and I used to have the strengh to do it for about a week. The worst withdrawels was usually day 5 and 6 for me and then it would get so much easier. I just always ended up taking it again. Since my dad passed away... I feel I don't have the strengh to stop it even though I know it's making me feel worse. I have tried many times but can't even get through two days.

 

This is why I decided to try take the diazapam out of the mix just in case that was not helping either. Day 9 since I dropped down by another 2mg and I'm feeling the effects now... Bad dreams, more anxiety... Spaced out. I hope it passes like last time and I have a good week next week like I did last week. Hope everyone is okay and thanks loads for your support.

thats good you could go a week without it. you may handle codeine addiction better than you think. after a week you should be over the worst of it and improvements wil be close. unfortunatly with benzos withdrawal is not as predictable.

 

I jumped off opioid painkillers not long before I jumped of Xanax. I was sick for a few days but bounced back quite quick.

 

at least you know the cause of your negative feelings so I guess as soon as your able to kick the codeine.

 

sorry about your dad . opioid and benzos is not a great mix. glad your willing to take one out. 

 

all the best

Andrew