How to taper of Benzodiazepines, anti-anxiety and sleep medications.

Chapter Eleven

How to Taper Off Benzodiazepines, Anti-anxiety,
Anticonvulsant, and Sleep Medication

(The Slow and Gradual Taper)

Now that you have completed your pre-taper program, you are ready to start the reduction of your medication.

Though not knowing what you may have experienced personally, the vast majority of people who are ready for this step tell me that they have some trepidation starting the taper, due to terrible side effects when they have tried to quit before.

As incredible as it might seem, this step should be the easy part of The Road Back Program.

This tapering method is the Slow and Gradual Taper. It takes more time but the chance is extremely low of withdrawal side effects.

You may wish to use this method the first 3 reductions, see you can successfully lower the medication this time and then move to the Fast and Gradual Taper.

The Taper

The safest method to reduce medication:

If you have tried to taper off these medications before and suffered withdrawal side effects, start the taper slowly. Successfully lower the medication by 2% every 14 days for three reductions, then move on to the next method for reducing the medication.

Some people have said that the 2% reduction every 14 days takes too long. My response, “How long have you been trying to get off the medication?” The answer was usually a few years without success. Tapering is where slow, and steady wins the race every time.

Again, if you had a problem in the past with tapering off medication, definitely use the 2% reduction schedule. Successfully reduce the medication at least 3 times. See for yourself that you can, and still feel well. Then you and your physician should decide if you should reduce the medication more quickly.

Make sure you work with the prescribing physician before changing the dosage of your medication.

Ask your physician to write a prescription to accommodate a 2% reduction. Use a compounding pharmacy to fill this prescription. Compounding pharmacies exist all over the country. You can look in your local phone book to search for a compounding pharmacy near you or use the Internet.

Important Points for Tapering

It is important that the compounded drug be identical to the drug you are currently taking.

Changing to a generic drug may not act the same, and withdrawal side effects can begin.

Switching from one drug to another because it has a longer half-life will create withdrawal side effects caused by the other drug abruptly stopped. Avoid this altogether.

Unless the pharmacist can assure you that the medication is exactly the same, avoid this method of compounding.

Only reduce the medication 2% every fourteen days. The 2% reduction is based on the original dosage of the medication. The 2% reduction is based on milligrams.

Never skip any days of taking medication.

Always take your medication at the same time each day.

If you take your medication more than once each day, make sure the total reduction of the medication is no more than 2%. It would NOT be a reduction of 2% of each dosage taken during the day.

Take each supplement at least half an hour apart from the drug, but ideally, 1 hour apart. It is much better to take the supplements 1 hour after taking the drug, instead of before the drug.

Continue with your supplements and “super foods” at the same times and amounts established during the pre-taper.

Continue taking your “super foods” and supplements at least 45 days after you take the last dosage of your medication.

Remember fill out your Daily Journal daily and keep taking all the supplements exactly as you did at the end of the pre-taper.

After 3 full reductions at the 2% reduction rate you can increase the taper to a 5% percent reduction of the medication every fourteen days.

Taper Procedure:

1. Keep taking all supplements exactly as you did at the end of the pre-taper throughout the taper process.

2. Keep your Daily Journal up to date each day.

3. Compound medication for a 2% reduction or as close to 2% as possible.

4. Reduce medication by 2%, at least during the first 3 reductions. After 3 full reductions you can increase the reduction to 5%.

5. If needed, reduce the medication to the lowest possible amount, using the drug manufacturer’s available tablet or capsule. If the only way to reduce the medication is by 10% or more, use the taper procedure found in the Fast and Gradual chapter.

6. Make sure you have at least 7 consecutive days of feeling very well before reducing the medication again. If this requires you to reduce the medication every 21 days, do that.

7. Never skip any days of taking medication

Tapering can be this simple.

What to Do if Side Effects Begin

Withdrawal side effects can happen, but addressing them early and knowing what to do will usually make them short-lived and keep them mild as well.

“With little, to no side effects,” is mentioned several times in this book, but a $250,000 automobile still comes with a spare tire, just in case.

If a Withdrawal Side Effect Turns On During the Taper:

Do not reduce the medication again until the symptom goes away. This usually takes a only few days or less, and then you can resume the taper.

Do not start making wholesale changes to your daily routine.

Proceed with the following steps, in the order presented. Once the withdrawal side effect is eliminated give yourself 7 days, and then continue with the taper.

1. Review your Daily Journal and look for changes you might have made to your routine. If you located a change, go back to exactly what you were doing before the change and all should soon be well. Give the withdrawal side effect 7 days to go away. If nothing is found, move to number 2.

2. Usually the withdrawal side effect will be a side effect you had before doing the pre-taper. Review the Daily Journal and locate the exact step of the pre-taper that eliminated the side effect.

Increase that supplement slightly when taken during the daytime or at bedtime and this should handle the side effect quickly.

Once the side effect is gone, wait 7 days before reducing the medication again.

If the side effect is not eliminated, this needs to be looked at a few different ways before taking any new action.Do you still rate yourself at a 7 or higher on the 1-10 scale for anxiety, sleep and other feelings?

If so, keep taking the slight increase of the supplement that handled the side effect previously for the next 7 days and then continue with the taper as long as you remain at a 7 or higher rating.

Note: Each supplement used with The Road Back Program has a specific purpose.

Below gives each supplement and how they can be used for different symptoms.

Body Calm Supreme (anxiety and insomnia) – If you feel the Body Calm Supreme was the supplement that handled the daytime anxiety or insomnia you can increase the Body Calm Supreme to once every 2 hours during the daytime and up to 3 capsules at bedtime for sleep.

Body Calm (anxiety and insomnia) – If the Body Calm helped you the most with the daytime anxiety or insomnia or was used with Body Calm Supreme you can increase this every too every 2 hours.

Essential Protein Formula (anxiety and insomnia) – This nutritional supplement can be increased to 8 tablespoons per serving.

RenewPro (anxiety, energy and brightness) – You can increase the RenewPro to 1 full scoop 3 times a day.

Nature’s Vitamin C (anxiety) – You can increase this vitamin C to 6 capsules a day. (Avoid vitamin C and other fruit if taking ADHD medication to avoid vitamin/drug interactions. This includes fruit as well as natural fruit drink.)

Probiotic Supreme (anxiety, fatigue and depression) – Do not increase beyond recommendation on the bottle.

Ultimate Omega 3 (fatigue, brain zaps, depression and head feelings) – You can increase up to 5 softgels in the morning and 5 softgels at noon. (Make sure you are taking 400 i.u. vitamin E daily if taking Omega 3.)

Vitamin E – Do not increase beyond the 400 i.u. a day.

CLA (anxiety and depression) – You can increase to 1 softgel in the morning, 1 at noon and 1 additional before 4 pm. (Make sure you are taking at least three Omega 3 and 400 i.u. vitamin E daily if you are going to use the CLA.)

Calsorption (brain zaps) – You can take 5 grams each day. There is no benefit taking more. Calsorption increases the absorption of calcium and can be helpful with side effects in the gut. CalesiumD is the only recommended calcium supplement.

CalesiumD (brain zaps) – CalesiumD and Calsorption work together as a team. To achieve the highest potential calcium absorption Calsorption is needed. Take 800 mg of CalesiumD daily or the amount recommended by your physician.

Biotin – Biotin may very well be the answer for depression or tingling or numbness of the extremities. Start with 5,000 mcg in the morning and give the biotin 3 days to be effective. If no change you can increase to as much as 10,000 mcg in the morning and 10,000 mcg in the afternoon. If these symptoms continue to persist, keep taking the biotin daily. Several clinical trials confirm benzodiazepines deplete biotin from the body and depression and the numbness of an extremity are symptoms of biotin deficiency.

Once the side effect is eliminated or reduced to the point of rating yourself at a 7 or higher again, wait 3 days and then reduce the Body Calm Supreme back to the amount you were taking.

Make sure you keep taking all other supplements exactly as established during the pre-taper.

If you have fallen below a 7 rating, proceed to number 3.

3. If you found that number 2 handled the side effect and the same side effect begins again with the next reduction, 1 day before you reduce the medication increase that supplement slightly and stay on the increased amount for 4 days after you lowered the dosage.

This approach should help prevent the side effect from ever being present with future reductions.

4. If number 2 did not fully eliminate the side effect, give yourself a little additional time. Stay at the increased amount of the supplement that you increased doing number 2 and relief should come within 7 days.

5. Sometimes there is a bump in the road as you taper off a medication. Withdrawal side effects begin with no rhyme or reason. You might have decreased the medication 6 times with ease, and after the seventh reduction a withdrawal side effect begins.

This usually goes away using the steps above, but sometimes persists.

There are two solutions: Reducing the medication once again or increasing the medication back up to the last dosage where you were doing well. Increasing the medication back to the last dosage should be the first option.

If you are going to increase the medication, give yourself at least 14 days before doing so. Give your body a chance to adjust. However, if the withdrawal side effect is unbearable, do not wait the 14 days, instead complete steps 1-4 above and then proceed with this option.

There are times when reducing the dosage handles the withdrawal side effect. For whatever reason, your body is reacting to that certain amount of medication, and nothing you do will get rid of the side effect except to go onto a different dosage, whether higher or lower.

If you went back up on the dosage of the medication to get relief, and withdrawal side effects did not stop or increased when you returned to the higher dosage, the answer is usually to reduce the medication again rather quickly and get to a new lower level. This new level would be just under the dosage where you were when withdrawal side effects started with the taper.

Consult your physician and keep him or her well informed as to how you are doing and what you are doing.

Once off the medication, make sure you keep taking the supplements for 45 days.

Read the chapter, “Once Off All Medication” and follow the ending program completely.