what is a safe level of valium to stop at?

[andrew519]

what would you consider a safe amount of valium to taper down to and quit? i was prescribed xanax and took it for 3 months, .25 mgs at first and then was up to 2 mg a day by the last month. Been tapering down from 15mgs of valium to 7 currently.

[avisg]

you need to be doing this with your doctor i would go as low as you can you can go lower 5mg .talk to you doctor it can be done.

[andrew519]

thank you everyone for your concern and comments

Brian

[gnarly_1]

HI I tapered off xanex b/4 and I was on 4mg and it took a good 5mo to get off it you need to taper benzo slowly follow your doctors instructions to the T if not your in for some very uncomfortable withdrawals if done recklessly you can risk seizures this is nothing to mess with and is beyond the scope of a home detox follow dr orders........Gnarly    

[my_mayberry]

there comes a point where the seizure risk becomes very low, and yet it may be important to continue to taper simply because of how you respond mentally to the withdrawal.

some people taper waaaay down to a very low dose before jumping...mainly because of how bad the anxiety is for them if they don't. others don't need to. once you are at the dose where your doc says you can jump, then you can...but it doesn't always mean its the best idea. if you find yourself going nuts or having bad twitches or pains or muscles spasms, then continue with your taper. theres no reason to suffer it. there is a liquid form of diazepam, so you pretty much could go as low as you need to go before jumping off.

[sudie58]

that could be true, its good your going to get checked out at cardiologist, hope all is ok, let us know how you get on, best wishes,  sudie

[andrew519]

thanks for getting back so fast.  well up until this benzo taper i was in great shape.  i worked out 5 times a week at least but if i work out now i get a headache and body feels like the flu hit me so i went to the GP and she was concerned about the headaches - she thnks those are coming from my pulse going way up right after i do even just a little bit of a work out. i can do 25 minutes on the bike and now after the endorphin kick is gone i get those headaches. so now i am going to a cardiologist this wednesday and if everything comes back ok then i will probably go for it.  the pdoc (pychiatrist) thought the headaches were thyroid related but they were fine 6 months ago.  in the end i think it is all benzo related.

[sudie58]

its true withdrawals vary from one person to another, if your pain doctor said to stop now, what would you like to know? she has told you it would be painful, does she really want you to go a bit lower, how is your health otherwise? has she told you you are healthy enough to stop , (given you a good check up etc) it can be done cold turkey but other factors need to be taking into account.

[andrew519]

I am working with a pdoc and she already said it was ok to jump off now but she said it would be painful and from what i've read on other sites that i've been on you should go very low, around .5 to jump off from but my issue is i dont have a job, only have so much money in the bank and would like to jump off at 5mgs of valium which is again below what the dr said would be safe for me.  i did a CT from 2mgs of xanax for over a week before i reinstated and never had a seizure and now that i am much lower than that i am thinking it would be bad but not as bad as before.  what kills me is how some people can get off of benzos and feel next to nothing and others can suffer so much.  so that is my issue, jump early, hope to heal quick and be able to get a job.  right now it is very tough for me to find work in my field without it adding alot of stress and i'm seemingly way over qualified for the easy jobs in life...ugh...thanks for the replies so far everyone

brian

[sudie58]

hi, i am also a benzo addict, my doctor prescribed valium to taper,can you ask your doctor to give you a withdrawal schedule, i was started at 20mg per day and had to taper to 2 mg, before stopping, you need your dr. to work out how many he/she wants to drop at a time,  let us know how you get on , we are here for you, god bless, sudie

[IBKleen]

Hi & Welcome,

Tapering from Valium should be done only under a doctor's care as there are risks involved. You need to speak with your prescribing physician and ask him/her the safest way to jump off. I wish you the best. Let us know how you are doing.