0.5mg valium twice a day, 14th day. Jump?

I am down to 0.5mg valium twice a day.  I am feeling the withdrawals a bit but i'm going to the gym a lot, even started a boxing class for mental health.  I'm eating super healthy, lost 50 pounds this year, i'm in super good shape.  I've been really going out of my comfort zone and I'm more social than I ever was.  Switching to valium put my mood way down (was feeling GREAT) but I'm fighting it and I'm feeling good.  I haven't really had that much social anxiety, I find i'll just smile and socialize with everyone to help if i'm feeling anxiety.  The withdrawals are definitely giving me feelings of anxiety but I feel like I'm fighting it pretty good with a healthy lifestyle.  I joined like 7 clubs at University to make sure I didn't isolate myself and develop anxiety.  I have lemon balm also which seems to help if I feel I need something.

 

So i'm feeling pretty good.  I feel like a new person with my lifestyle change and I'm thinking of either (1) going to 0.5mg valium once a day (2nd half of the day) OR (2) jumping.  What do you guys think?  I really want to stop this valium as it just kicks your ass and makes you lose all your energy and tries to make you depressed.

 

1 or 2?

According to Ashton either or. If it were me, I would drop down to that last 0.5mg, but you have to decide how YOU feel and do what is right for you.

 

Good on you for all the healthy activity and maintaining a social life. That's absolutely amazing.

 

Best wishes whatever you decide.

This isn't a race. For me, 1 mg of Valium simply had no effect. However, if you feel the effect of .5 mg. and are taking it twice a day, then my recommendation would be to go down from twice a day to once a day, stabilize on that, and then to jump from that. Why risk having major w/d symptoms if you can go off a bit slower. Seriously, what's another 3 weeks or so on .5 mg once daily? The lower you can go, the easier it should be for you to jump off.

 

I took 30 mg. of Valium daily for some 15 years and tapered down to 5 mg. in five months. I simply couldn't deal with the symptoms at 5 mg., so I just jumped from that level. It was pretty rough for about 6-7 weeks, and then it began to slowly get better. I'm almost to six months now. I think if I'd been able to go down lower, my symptoms would not have been as severe. So, if you can do it, go as low as you are able. If you get to .5 daily and can then cut to .25 daily before a jump, you might try. Anything you can do to get as low as possible will pay off when you finally jump.

 

Best wishes! You're doing great!

My vote is for #1. 

I think .5 mg is too high to jump from. If it were me, I would try to get lower -- perhaps by a slow daily microtaper off the last .5 mg. Shouldn't take you too long. That should make things much more comfortable.

 

You might look at Diaz-Pam's microtapering method. Look for her in Members, bring up one of her old posts, and click on the link for her example of how to do a daily reduction.

 

Good luck,

 

Okatz

I would personally go to a much lower dose before getting off the drug. If you are able to do all that activity I suspect you will do well with whatever you decide