Hi
Long story short .
I’m tapering off Diazipam which I’ve been on for 10 months , original dose 15mg , 3x mg each day .
I am now on 1.5mg morning and 2my evening, I was on 2mg in the morning but dropped 0.5mg on Monday , really feeling it today , shaky , dizzy, eyes a bit blurry, sleep is very disturbed.
I know some people can taper quicker but I’m very sensitive to meds , cane off Sertraline and Mirtazapine this year, the Mirtazapine was really tough.
Should I go down another 0.5mg in a weeks time or leave it for a couple of weeks and should I do it by dropping the night time dose then going back and dropping the day time dose to keep them equal ?
So I’ve only got to get off 3.5mg but I didn’t realise how hard it would be😩
Any advice would be appreciated and any success stories would inspire me to just get on with it and put up with the withdrawals, I had no idea how hard this would be.
Will this latest drop level out or will it keep going on , I’m struggling.
Thank you for reading this and I hope any of you can help me.
Matt
Hi there Matt
Can I say well done for getting off the tablets you have.
Its hard as you've said to get off these medicines and everyones different on how they affects us
This is just my thought s.. I'm no Dr
Its seems that maybe you need to put the brakes on for a week or so.
You realise you are not feeling too great and that's why I suggest you stop for a while. Then when you are ready carry on.
I've been coming off a different med but same thing.The thing I've found is I know my limits.
So I really would talk to your Dr express how you feel.
You've come a long long way and well done for that.
Make sure you are comfortable and only you know that.
Realise how far you've come so far and think there's no rush.
Take your time and be kind to yourself
Take care
Vicky
Hello matt, i started taking 10mg of diazapam 5 months ago, 4 x 2.5mg per day. After my new anti depressant started working, dropped 2.5mg with no issues, a month later dropped another 2.5mg with no issues. Taking 2.5mg in morning and at night now. Tried dropping to 1.25mg on a morning, recently, got really tense, so went back to 2.5mg morning and night. I dont fancy dropping for now, so given up for a month or so. Think getting off the lower dose is going to be really hard. If you can, stick on your recent reduced dose for at least a month, so you can settle down properly before trying again. Doesnt matter how long it takes, and you dont want to undo any of the good work youve done. When i try again, am going to try to reduce evening one first. Think it will be more difficult doing morning one, as you probably need it more during the day, when you are awake and are more aware of how you feel. Not much help, but stay on the dose you are for a month at least, as you are finding your recent reduction hard going. You need to get over recent reduction, before trying again.
Hi there. Good work so far. I would stay at that dose a bit longer. It is often the awareness of having tapered down that makes us anxious. We freak out because of that. If you decide to stay there for a while you can relax and feel fine. After som time you will make a new decision and feel a bit shaky for a couple of days. And then fine again. It’s not always the lower dose that makes us feel rotten. Often it is the negatively loaded expectations. Good luck! You will be fine!
The Ashton Manual is the international gold standard for withdrawing from benzodiazepines; benzo.org.uk. The Benzodiazepine Information Coalition is also an excellent resource. Stay the course, and stay strong. And go as slow as YOU feel you need to. My best to you.
Hi Vicky
Thanks for the reply .
I’ve had a terrible nights sleep, feeling really anxious and awful, I suppose it’s a good idea to give myself a break and stay on this dose a bit longer until I get used to it and then drop again.
It’s bloody horrible! Even if I could get a decent sleep it would help but I’m having really disrupted sleep so feel so exhausted to and no fight in me.
Thanks for your reply
Good luck with your med taper
Hi Nigel
Thank you for replying.
I dropped the morning dose on Monday , decided to do the morning one first as my sleep is so bad at the moment that I didn’t want to make it any worse.
I’m feeling really anxious and so exhausted, I don’t think I’ll do another drop for a while don’t think I could handle it yet.
Great drug when you first start taking it and you get that relief but I would never have imagined how hard it would be to get off !
Hi Conta
I am trying to stay positive but the withdrawal is so real , I’ve tried to suggest to myself that it’s more in my head but my physical symptoms are horrible, shaky , raised anxiety, bad sleep , dizzy spells etc , I just want some peace !
I won’t drop again until this settles. My GP isn’t very clued up on med withdrawal, I might call a helpline for benzo withdrawal for some advice.
I wanted to come on here and was hoping to hear some success stories to push me along , I’m sure lots of people get through it .
Benzodiazepine Information Coalition. benzo.org.uk. W-bad. benzo buddies. Education is key. And yes, we DO heal. Stay strong.
Hi there, I understand that the withdrawal is bad. I’m not a doctor but I know from experience that anxiety can cause horrible physical symptoms. I personally never had any problems with tapering down Valium after 20 years of use. I can still have a couple of pills and come totally off without any problems so that’s my success story. But we are all different. In your case you just have to take one day at a time and stay probably weeks on the lowest bearable dose. I really understand it is hard. But you will success, I’m very sure.
I have been on 5mg at night for sleep for four years after spinal surgery, also depression afterwards. I cannot tolerate antidepressants so am left with diazepam which i started using in day, now i find i am needing 6mg to get through the day and i am waking desperately anxious, taking 2mg just to get breakfast. I am very concerned i am starting to NEED this and would appreciate experience of how to stop this happening - i would like to be lowering my intake if possible and am finding it hard to hear how people have managed it. My worst nightmare is going up instead of down the scale, your views would be appreciated
were yountaking valium daily over the years? You are a success story and i would like to,know how you managed to taper.
Hi Conta
You have done amazing after 20 years !
I just don’t know how to help myself, I’ve been for a walk , put the radio on and gonna try and stay busy but it’s just horrible and I want it to end 😩
I will stay on this dose for awhile then think about the next drop.
It would be so easy to just up the dose again but I know that’s not a good idea so I’ll just have to bear this and hopefully feel a bit more stable in a couple of days , I hope anyway
Thank you for replying
Hi Ann
I can’t tolerate AD’s either , I tried three but they made me worse two gave me seizures!
I started the Diazipam taper whilst on 15mg of Mirtazapine as this drug made me sleep a lot but had to come off that too as I wasn’t making and mental improvement on it .
It’s nice you say I’m a success story but believe me if you could see me at the moment I’m a mess , feel like a drug addict needing a fix !
Some people can taper without to much problem but I’m really struggling. I stayed on 5mg for a couple of months after stopping the Mirtazapine, 2.5 at night and 2.5 in the morning, I got a pill cutter and started taking bits off then got 2mg tablets from my GP and stayed on 4mg for a few weeks, dropped 0.5 on Monday morning and the horrible withdrawals started yesterday, today I’m I mess just don’t know what to do with myself to get some peace , sleep is bad also which doesn’t help.
I can’t advice you what to do as I’m in a bad place today, I’m hoping it will settle down over the next couple of days when my body/brain gets used to the drop .
Sorry I can’t be any more helpful but I will let you know if it does settle then at least you’ll know what to expect or in your case it might be easier as everyone is different.
Hi jean
I’m gonna call a benzo help line , I’m really really feeling terrible, I can’t believe that dropping just 0.5 mg is having this effect on me , it’s awful.
Did you get off it ? How did you do it and how long do you think each drop takes to stabilise?
Thanks Matt, your story is so similar to mine inasmuch as they did try me with the mirtazapine and it wasnt successful. Never got to the highest level and it was decided to drop it. It wasnt easy to come off either after months of trying it. Yes it gave me sleep but nothing else.
i can understand you struggling with diaz taper and how bad you must feel. I have read about it and it is so bad we have to go through this.
you were fortunate your levels were lower than mine, i have to try to get off this 5 at night and then the daytime 4 at least. I was planning on cutting 10% off at night at first, stabilising then doing same again but whilst i am feeling so bad i just dont know if its possible.
i appreciate your experience and hope you will feel better as time moves on and i also appreciate you offering to keep me up to speed as i feel i need help from somewhere, the dr is not really expert in this field.
Which antidepressant have you managed to get onto which has helped you drop down the dazepam? I am finding it hard to get a suitable one
I would also be grateful if you can give me the benzo helpline you find is most useful and i will use it. Be sure i know how youre feeling, its the worst but everyone says you can get over it so keep,the faith
Please let me know. If you get in touch with the benzo org as i think it might also help me. Im only through today with 3mg.
Matt Re you alright, havent heard from you as you were not feeling good yesterday and wonder if you got helpline