Chapter Eleven

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

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

Not knowing what each of you may have experienced personally, I do know that the vast majority of people who are ready for this step tell me that they have some trepidation starting the taper, as they have had terrible side effects when they have tried to quit before.

Now, as incredible as this might seem, this step should be the easy part of The Road Back Program!

The Taper

The safest method to reduce medication:

If you have tried to taper off these medications before and suffered withdrawal side effects, I suggest that you at least start the taper slowly. Reduce the medication by 2% every 14-days for three reductions and have success, and then move on to the next method for reducing the medication.

I have been told by some people that the 2% reduction every 14-days is far too long. When I asked them, “How long have you been trying to get off the medication?” the answer was usually a few years without success. This 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. Have success reducing the medication at least 3 times, see for yourself that you can do this and still feel well, and then you and your physician should decide if you should reduce the medication.

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. You will need to use a compounding pharmacy to fill this prescription.

* 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 from the 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%.

* Take each supplement at least ˝ 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.

* Take each supplement at the same time each day.

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

* Remember to keep your Daily Journal filled out each day and keep taking all the supplements exactly as you did at the end of the pre-taper.

The next method to reduce medication:

Until now, the problems encountered by most people attempting to get off any of the medications have been withdrawal side effects and the availability of the medication in a dosage that would allow a gradual reduction.

Several of the drug inserts will suggest reducing the medication every 3-days. With that rapid reduction suggested, and large drops in the medication, only one result would happen - suffering.

To survive in this world, sometimes we need to change the environment or change ourselves to live in the environment.

The environment we have been dealt regarding available dosages has been a constant problem with tapering.

Either the drug manufacturers needed to make their medication in dosages that would accommodate a gradual reduction or a solution needed to be found that would allow for the large reduction while averting withdrawal side effects.

With these medications, it is not always possible to compound them to exact dosages without altering the drug structure, and with some of the medications being prescribed as a time release, large reductions are the only option.

Therefore, for survival, we need to change the environment and change ourselves, as well. In this case, it was improve The Road Back Program to accommodate medications that could not be gradually reduced by a small percentage.

The Road Back Program has and always will be a work in progress. However, at the writing of this book, the program has made a giant stride in handling the environment or better stated; the problem of available dosages supplied by the drug manufacturer.

This breakthrough includes benzodiazepines, antidepressants, antipsychotics, sleep medications, ADHD medications, and even medications prescribed in a time release form.

With your pre-taper complete and the Daily Journal kept up-to-date throughout, you will know which supplement caused each positive change and handled which side effect.

You will be using that information during the taper phase of the program to handle any withdrawal side effect, if one begins.

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.
  4. Reduce medication by 2% every 14-days, at least during the first 3 reductions.
  5. Reduce the medication at the lowest possible amount, using the drug manufacturer’s available tablet or capsule.
  6. Reduce the medication every 14-days.
  7. 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.
  8. Never skip any days of  taking medication

Tapering can be this simple.

What to Do if Side Effects Begin

It is important to know what to do if side effects begin while tapering off the medication. 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.

In this book, mentioned several times is: “With little, to no side effects,” but if you were to purchase a $250,000 automobile, it would still come 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 only takes a 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 be well shortly. 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 you take it 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.
  1. 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 all future reductions.

  2. If number 2 did not fully eliminate the side effect, you will need to 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.

  3. Sometimes there is just a bump in the road as you taper off a medication. There is no rhyme or reason for withdrawal side effects to begin. 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 it just persists.

    There are two solutions. Reducing the medication once again or increasing the medication back up to the last dosage you were doing well with, are the two options.

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

    Increasing the medication back to the last dosage should be the first choice from the two options.

    There are times when reducing the dosage does handle 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 be on a different dosage, whether a higher or a lower dosage.

    If you went back up on the dosage of the medication to get relief, and withdrawal side effects started when you returned to the previous level, 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 you were at when withdrawal side effects started with the taper.

    Make sure you consult your physician about this and keep him or her well informed as to how you are doing and what you are doing.

Once you are 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.