Hi Guys..

[Darqness]

Hi all

Found the site the other day as I was searching for something, this place and specifically a thread in it helped immensely so I figured I'd join up and see how I slot into the community, hopefully I can return the favour.

Been on a benzo taper for around the last 8 months following 5 yrs use, cycled through a few types over the years but I've got down from 40mg Diaz a day to 2.5mg, going to be a few months now until I cut it again. It's been a learning curve for me but I've learned a lot and it's not been too bad in terms of ill effects, I'm guessing the hard part starts next drop. 

Nice to meet you all 

[D-izzy]

Good Morning, and welcome to our wonderful family Darqness!

Wow, thats quite a drop! Great news, and well done!

Glad you've already learned some useful info, theres lots and lots of great information here...

Taper down slowly would be my advice, as it will give your body time to get used to each drop...

[Darqness]

Hi Izzy

Thanks for the welcome, yeah I've had some fairly brutal cuts in dosage, mainly those were done at the start, it was Etizolam that started the problem off in the first place and I ended up on 4mg a day (equivalent of 40mg Diaz) last year I dropped from 3mg at night and 1 during the day to 2mg at night and 1mg during the day. 

Next was to cut out the day dose altogether, this was rough because Etizolam is so short acting but I adjusted to it and then moved onto Diazepam for the longer duration to make the taper smoother and easier.

Since then I've been slowly cutting down the Diaz dose until I got to my current 2.5mg nightly, i've been at this for around two weeks now and it's going to be another two months before I cut the dose again. The plan is to take it very slowly now until I'm off entirely, maybe moving to Zopiclone to sleep if I need it at the end of the taper.

[IceWizard]

Welcome Darqness ...

Please take the time to go over our rules here, it's for everyones safety... We treat each other as family here and with respect... I think you'll fit in just fine...

We also have a "lounge" where folks go just to... "shoot the... breeze" Stop in anytime...

Ice

[nickolyko]

Welcome Darq I hope you will find here what you are looking for and also you may find many friends here as well. Read a lot and the most difficult step when you taper is the final one. Even from 0.5 mg to zero is far more distance than from 40 to 2,5. Everything is on the mind . SO enjoy the information here and take care.

[Charon]

Welcome aboard. May u find all u need herein.

Glad u found us.

I am impressed by ur tapering. Am a firm believer in less is more when it comes to medicines. Whenever possible.

We shall be here to support u on ur continuing journey.

But, so far, well done.

Methinks you found the rules, but, here ya go: http://ioplist.org/showthread.php?tid=1

Keep up the good work.

Looking forward to your posts.

[Darqness]

Thanks guys..

Yeah I found the rules, all seem sensible so no worries there.

I agree with you Charon on the "less is more" philosophy, the etizolam snuck up on me though. We all lead stressful lives but some (inescapable) parts of mine were getting to me in a big way and these little things were so seductive in this regard. Before I knew it I was on the equivalent of 40mg Diaz and I didn't see it happening as it was a slow increase over 4-5 years and those blinkers are so damn comfortable.

The 40mg Diaz equivalent rang a big bell in my head though and that prompted the tapering.

I had a bit of a supply panic this week but all is sorted now pretty much entirely thanks to this forum, so yeah I'll be sticking around, hopefully at some point I'll be able to return the favour.

[willie33]

Hello and Welcome Darqness,

Great progress on your tapering...

[Darqness]

Thanks willie

Honestly I'm hoping I might be one of the irritating ones as considering the number of years I have been on these? I'm finding tapering down to be relatively painless. I was scared to death by some of the stories I had read and heard but my experience has been different, I guess physiology plays a part to some degree? Gabapentin is something I have access to in bucketloads and I found out that at least in small bursts and even in small doses it almost completely negates symptoms for me. Not a crutch I want to rely on regularly as it is addictive itself but good in an emergency.

Either that or I have one hell of a wake-up call ahead of me in the not so distant future, probably this in all honesty, luck isn't something I'm usually blessed with but I'm thankful to have been able to get this low without major problems. I have certainly been luckier than most thus far as I appear to be one of the symptom light people Dr Ashton alludes to in her manual. I have committed all the cardinal sins all the way along like drinking on them relatively regularly and taking painkillers etc we'll see what the future holds..

Hell, most likely 

[caramel_barbi]

Hi all

Found the site the other day as I was searching for something, this place and specifically a thread in it helped immensely so I figured I'd join up and see how I slot into the community, hopefully I can return the favour.

Been on a benzo taper for around the last 8 months following 5 yrs use, cycled through a few types over the years but I've got down from 40mg Diaz a day to 2.5mg, going to be a few months now until I cut it again. It's been a learning curve for me but I've learned a lot and it's not been too bad in terms of ill effects, I'm guessing the hard part starts next drop. 

Nice to meet you all 

Hi there, Darqness,

Welcome, and it's a pleasure to meet you, too. I wish you all the best as you continue to taper off of the meds. I know that it can be challenging, especially in the beginning. I've never taken benzos, but I know others that have. I'm new here also, and I look forward to interacting with you on this forum. You can do this!!!