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Day 9 holding and still another panic attack at night and dizzy - Need Help!


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Hi All,

 

I held for a week from my daily micro taper because I had an anxiety attack in the middle of the night and felt my body was telling me to hold. I had one again last night, called the ambulance, and when they got here felt more clam, just residual anxiety and told them to leave. I then  went ahead and took a hot bath and fell back asleep. When will this end? I am considering just going back to my original 4mg dose and not weaning off. However, I see the writing on the wall and hate the fact of losing progress. Have you all seen this before? Does it really take more than 9 days to stabilize from a daily micro taper? I feel like maybe it caught up to me, and the hard part is that I can pinpoint the dose where it did, since I was removing small amounts daily. I am now on 3.5 mg for 9 days so far. Down from 4 mg. It took me 35 days to get to 3.5 from 4, so I know I didn’t it pretty slow. I need encouragement!!!

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Hey  :)

 

really sorry you are having a tough time at the moment.  :(

 

Sounds like you are really sensitive to lowering, just do what you are doing and if needed take your time. You are doing really well just stay at it. I know its hard. I am currently on 2mg on diazepam and trying hard not to lose my shit in life, its tough. But I know if I stay at it things will improve and I can get off this horrendous drug. Atleast you are trying and haven't given up, just think of how you will be of the drug  :)

 

I haven't started my micro taper yet I have been dropping 0.5mg every 3 weeks from 20mg of diazepam so can't comment of slow tapering yet sorry. How are you micro tapering? Dry or wet and are you sticking to a routine?

 

Just stick at it and I know its tough and scary but there will be light at the end of the tunnel.  :)

 

Hope things improve for you soon  :)

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Hi,

 

Thank you for the kind words. I am using a scale and taking of .001 daily. As I mentioned, Inam currently on day 9 of holding, so I am at about 3.49 my daily, give it take .001. I Dont know what stable is anymore and that is the hard part. At the end of it all, what scares me more than this taper, is going back to my starting dose of 4mg.

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Hello, Bella1218.

 

I’m sorry you’ve hit a rough patch.  Good for you for recognizing one of the potential downsides of daily micro-tapering (i.e. it’s difficult to establish which reduction - or set of reductions - is responsible when a “tipping point” is reached and withdrawal symptoms shift from tolerable to intolerable).  Have you considered mini-tapering?

 

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Hi,

 

Yes, that is my plan now. I am going to wait a couple days and then go down to 3.4 from 3.5. See if that helps, I think it will definitely help me. The biggest issue I am having now is that it has been 9 days and I have not stabalized atn3.5 from my microtpaer. How long does it normally take to stabilize.

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Good for you!  Given the relatively long half-life of clonazepam diazepam, it may take a bit longer for your symptoms to stabilize (i.e. stop changing/become tolerable).  One the advantages of mini-tapering is that it will allow you to get a sense of your unique “withdrawal pattern” (i.e. how long it takes for withdrawal symptoms to fully emerge and then stabilize) given your unique physiology and the pharmacokinetic properties of the benzodiazepine you take.
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Ah ha. My apologies for missing that. imho even more reason to give your symptoms a tad longer to stabilize and to consider mini-tapering.
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Thank you :). Yes, I feel like crap, like very anxious, but I am just going to stay the course and hold on my dose of 3.5mg until I stabilize. I will then try mini-tapering and make sure that I can see what dose is right for me from a cutting perspective. The hardest part for me is that up and down of felling tolerable, and then a huge setback, and then the same thing. It really is one if the hardest things I have even done. What scares me is that I am so far off from zero, but it's a marathon and not a sprint. I'm just learning how to come with it.
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I’m sorry you feel like crap, but you have a good attitude and the right goal — find the right-sized reduction in dose for you!

 

I’ve included a link below to an online calculator I’ve found helpful for finding right-sized reductions while mini-tapering.  For example, a reduction in dose from 3.5 to 3.4mg would be a 2.86% decrease.

 

Percentage Change Calculator

https://www.calculatorsoup.com/calculators/algebra/percent-change-calculator.php

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Thank you. In your experience, how long does it normally take to stabilize on a dose. I know the micro taper probably led to a cascade of symptoms once my brain realized what I was doing, but I have been on 3.5 mg for 9 days. Is it unreasonable for me to expect to be stabilized given the micro taper prior?
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You’re welcome.  I wish I could give you an answer but you are the only one who can determine this.  It depends on the individual, the properties of the benzodiazepine, how the individual processes that benzodiazepine ... as well as other factors. 

 

I have zippo experience with diazepam but have read it takes about 2 weeks for this particular benzodiazepine to reach steady state.  This suggests to me (and let me remind you that, like all BenzoBuddies, I am peer and a layperson, not an expert) that you might want to wait at least two weeks before doing a “symptom check” (i.e., have your symptoms stabilized/become tolerable enough for you to consider making another reduction?).

 

If you have not already done so, might I encourage you to visit the Valium/Diazepam Support Group?  Reading through past posts to that thread might be helpful plus you can ask your “time to stabilize” question there.

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I clearly remember this time last year wondering if I’d ever get to the finish line as far as tapering. It was far from an easy road but I kept telling myself I would get there.  21 days off and I’m far from out of the woods, but it is so freeing to know I’m no longer prisoner to another pill. Granted, I have two AD’s to taper, but I’m giving myself a long break and the difference now, is that I’m always one day closer to healing.

You’ll get there!  Be well!

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Keep moving forward, thank you for the kind words. Congratulations on being Benzo free. How long did it take you to stabilize between cuts?
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