advice needed about halazepam titration taper-pls Colin

Hi Colin would you be able to advise me on how to do the tritation? And what size cuts to make each time(if you think this is the better option than switching to valium? What do you think would be my better option?) I did read the description but am a little unsure on how to apply it to my tablets, as I mentioned in Spain these tablets are only available in 40mg (although elsewhere I believe in 20mg) As I said I am now taking approx 15mg by cutting the tablet in half then cutting a quater off that. Im not 100% on that dose yet and its been a month so I dont when I should cut again and if so how much, is the cuts of 5mg too much?, if you or someone else could please help me plan a taper that would be great. Thanks VLP   

 

Hi,

 

Halazepam has a long half-life, so titration of Halazepam (allowing you to make small cuts to your dose) should give you all the advantages that you would gain by switching to Valium. The only downside is that it binds you to your kitchen - Valium pills, of course, can be taken anywhere. So, let me know if you would like to titrate, and I will make up a schedule for you. You will need to determin a taper rate based upon your past tapering experiences (if you have any), or you will have to plumb for an average range taper rate. We can always change the the rate later if you feel that you must slow down, or indeed, would like to speed it up.

So glad you're having all the options presented to you. That way you are armed with knowledge and can make the decision that is right for you. I don't think Colin is advising you one way or another. This is your choice and none of us will try to influence you to choose one method over another.  :thumbsup:

 

Tony

Thanks all for your advice everyone, I think I would like to try the titration taper first if you dont mind helping me Colin? I am only taking one dose a day so being tied to the kitchen shouldnt be a problem. The first taper I tried was as advised by my Dr a 10mg cut every 10 days, its was awful I thought i was going to end up in hospital and i felt like I was going mad. I reinstated at the half tablet (20mg) and stabilized for a mth, I was fine and then cut by 5mg 5 weeks ago (to 15mg), after 2 weeks was suffering WD and although am much better now I will maybe have 1-2 bad days each week still so dont know if I need to wait a bit longer before my next cut?

So 5mg cuts I think are too much for me, Im only small and my body is hypersensative to change. Obviously I would like to be off these asap but appreciate that the more gradual approach will hopefully have less wd problems. If you could please prepare me an "idiots guide" titration taper I would be most grateful. Thanks VLP

I hope Colin will be along soon to help.  :thumbsup: So glad you found us.

Hi,

 

I need to know your present dose, and if it is OK that you use whole pill to make up your liquid? Using a whole pill is far more accurate than splitting a pill before titration. If you are worried about the waste, then perhaps using half a pill for titration would the way to go (I think you are on less than half a pill).

 

Anyway, I will need a start date, your dose, whether you will use a whole pill or half pill, a taper rate, and the size of your cylinder and the size of the increments marked on it.

 

To put this in perspective, titration will allow you to make 0.4mg reductions to a 40mg pill if you use a 100ml cylinder marked with 1ml increments. The difference is that you will be making tiny reductions to your dose every day or tow or three (depending upon your taper rate).

 

If you are unsure of who much to taper, 10% cut over 7-14 days would be about average. You might plumb to make a 1% reduction of your dose each day. The choice of taper rate must be yours though. You can change it later if it proves to be unsuitable.

Hi Colin, feeling really bad as you may have seen from my post on the general support forum, do you think maybe Ive been on this plateau for too long? Ok Ive just been everywhere to find a suitable measuring cylynder and have one pot with 10 ml markings up to 100ml and a plastic syringe with 1ml markings up to 25 mls so I thought maybe I will need to improvise by making 100 ml solution up then measuring required amount into the syringe. If this is workable is it possible to keep the remaining solution and take daily dose from it each day so as not to waste tablets?

 

Just to summerize I am currently taking 15mg halazepam (well approx as I am estimating the cut I am making off a half tablet)

I would like to titrate using half tablets (20mg) and would like to taper daily.

As I have been feeling bad the last few days is it advisble to start now or wait?

 

Thanks again for your help VLP

Hi,

 

The combination of the cylinder and syringe is fine.

 

You certainly can keep the solution for two or three days so that you can extract two or three daily doses.

 

If it is OK, I will make up a schedule using a whole 40ml tablet, and you can then take two or three daily doses from the liquid. It is just more accurate to use a whole pill.

 

Also, you can then, if you wish, split your daily dose in two. This might help, as although Halazepam has a long half-life compared to the majority of benzos, it is not as long as Valium.

yes thats sounds fine  Thanks 

 

Hi Colin, were you going to send schedual to my email? as I just realized it was incorrect in my profile and have corrected it, thx

Hi,

 

No, a link to your schedule will be posted in this thread. I will look at this later today for you. I need to know the start date; the taper rate; the size and increments of the cylinder; the size (dose) of your tablets, and how many you take per day; and your present dose. I think you have supplied most if not all of this information already, but it is probably spread over many posts.

Hi Colin, to make things easier here is all the info in one post;

 

-measuring cylinder -I have one pot with 10 ml markings up to 100ml and a plastic syringe with 1ml markings up to 25 mls

 

-my halazepam tablets are 40mg whole

 

- I am currently taking 15mg halazepam (well approx as I am estimating the cut I am making off a half tablet)

 

- I am happy to titrate using whole tablets and would like to taper daily 1%

 

- starting from 18mg (to allow for any inaccuaracy I have made in cutting the tablets from 20mg to 15mg)

 

-I would like to start monday if possible

 

- if you think it is better I can split my daily dose into 2 doses?

 

Please let me know if you need any further info and thank you so much for your help VLP 

 

 

 

Hi,

 

Here you go: http://www.benzobuddies.org/spreadsheets/tt-vlp-2008-05-10.html

 

Please add the following to your signature in you profile:

 

[url=http://www.benzobuddies.org/spreadsheets/tt-vlp-2008-05-10.html][u]My Titration Schedule[/u][/url].

 

Your start dose of 45mi from the 100ml of liquid is equivalent to 18mg from your 40mg pill.

Thanks Colin for kindly preparing that for me. I have wimped out of starting today as planned as I have had flu since Friday and thought I would be better to start when I am over the flu. But I have it printed out and ready to go.

 

Once last question before I start that maybe you or someone else can help me with, as I have been struuggling since I reduced from 20mg to 15mg is it advisable to reinstate at 20mg for a few days to stabalise and then start the taper from there or is that just going backwards?? I just dont want to start from a bad place, if you know what I mean? VLP

If you have been taking 15mg for some time, then stick to this dose. It is reasonable to reverse (or partially reverse) a recent overzealous cut - this is more of a correction in nature. However, if you have already largely adapted to a cut that was too aggressive, 'updosing' is just a backward step. Although I don't wish to be too prescriptive about this, so long as the overzealous cut(s) was not very large, then reversing a cut more than a week or so after the cut was made is probably a bad idea. You might consider a reversal of a cut later than this is the cut was very large. There is judgement call to be made in such situations.

 

Sometimes we have members that suggest 'updosing' to first 'stabilise', but not as a reversal of a recent overoptimistic cut. Their thinking is that they should find a 'sweet spot' before starting a taper. However, if they are not faring well on their present dose, upping their dose will still entail them tapering down (and past) this dose to which they are already tolerant. You cannot escape withdrawal and tolerance symptoms by updosing. Updosing must only be treated as a 'correction', not as an aid to tapering off. Updosing, in the 'sweet spot' sense, is diametrically opposite to what our members are trying to achieve - to be benzo-free.