Tapering off Valium

Every person who uses Valium has their rationale for wanting to give the drug up. Likewise, their physician has a reason of their own as to why they would choose a Valium taper over another method. Tapering allows the body to self-correct and get accustomed to what it was like for the user months or years before they used Valium at all. On top of this, tapers are the opposite of withdrawals — meaning going through a taper regimen allows a patient to experience little to no withdrawal symptoms. This has a huge appeal, especially when considering that only alcohol withdrawals are more dangerous than benzodiazepine withdrawals.

There is another motive for choosing a Valium taper. “Going cold turkey” has become a ubiquitous term used in all circles of discussion on the subject matter of drugs. Despite its notoriety, this approach lacks medical backing. Choosing to follow a Valium taper schedule makes a statement. It says that a person who uses Valium is willing and dedicated to achieving their drug cessation goals. This isn’t to say that someone who goes cold turkey is not. Many individuals simply do not know that this method is rife with cons. Cold turkey detoxes remove safeguards and support structures that are inherent to taper inside a rehabilitation center or under a doctor’s care. Quitting Valium outright may be dangerous, but it isn’t impossible. In would be incorrect to say going about a detox in this manner is doomed from the start — people can and have done it, by the thousands — but it certainly pales in comparison to tapers and other clinical methods which are in a realm of success all their own.

Additionally, going cold turkey leaves a user predisposed to each and every benzo withdrawal symptom, such as:

• Irritability
• Trembling or spasms
• Reduced motor functions
• Chronic headaches
• Nausea
• Insomnia
• Psychosis
• Anxiety
• Depression
• Seizures

Valium can be used to lessen the effects of some withdrawals. To put this more accurately, it is used as a substitute drug for someone looking to overcome use disorders od addictions to other benzos. Valium is a long-acting benzodiazepine. Drugs like Xanax and Ativan, on the other hand, are short acting. The difference here is the amount of time the drug spends in the system. Xanax and Ativan are purged quickly, meaning a person may need another dose within hours after the last one or withdrawal symptoms could onset. This isn’t as often the case for Valium. This benzo can be in the body for dozens of hours after being ingested — allowing doses to come less frequently and withdrawals to be suppressed because of it. Thus, Valium is the go-to taper benzo. Physicians will quite often transition their patients to it for the remainder of their detox.

A Valium taper by itself requires dose reductions of 5 percent, 10 percent, or 25 percent every week of a patient’s scheduled rehabilitation. A 25 percent taper example can be found below.

Week 1: The patient enters clinical care and prepares for their treatment. They are provided with their typical daily dose of Valium. No reductions take place at this time.

Week 2: Valium dose taken down by 25 percent.

Week 3: Valium dose taken down by another 25 percent.

Week 4: 50 percent is sustained.

Week 5 – 8: 50 percent of initial dose kept the same for four weeks.

Week 9 and Beyond: Dose taken down by subsequent 25 percent intervals until withdrawals no longer arise in the absence of the drug.

Following their taper, a user can then progress through the rest of their inpatient and outpatient treatment programs on their path towards full recovery.