Author: autononymous
Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2011 4:54 pm
You know, for many people every year the holidays end up causing some things to be put on hold. The truth is that January isn’t that far off. Since you seem awfully nervous about the possibility of having your discontinuation of sub interfere with your ability to take care of things between now and January, including your vacation and then the holidays, it sounds to me like a reasonable plan would be to continue your taper as slow as is comfortable for now and then make your plan for the final jump at the beginning of the new year. From all the posts I’ve read on this forum it seems like most people prefer a long slow taper and it also seems like people who get down to a dose of .25 or even less (and often dosing at that minimal dose LESS than once a day at the very end) find that they experience minimal or even unnoticeable WD symptoms when they make the final jump off sub. Also, it often seems like expectations can make a difference–that is, obsessing on the symptoms and worrying about the WD getting worse seems like it can actually make the symptoms worse sometimes. And the best thing is to stay busy and distracted from the WD as much as possible–and everyone swears by exercise as being the biggest help. However, all that is easy to say and not always so easy to do. I wish I knew why WD can sometimes have the effect of making it so difficult to muster the motivation to do the things that will help us.But that (problems getting motivated) seems to be a common issue that occurs with WD and with PAWS too. I guess it really may be partly because WD can cause fatigue and depression…and the way out of that often is to try to stay as active as possible–but like I said, that’s easier said than done when one is in the throes of it!
I’ve been thinking about heading towards discontinuing sub myself. Now, in your case…3 mgs is already a pretty low dose. Personally I have found that I don’t experience any noticeable physical WD symptoms at all even at as low a dose as 1 mg. Lately I usually take between 1 and 2 mgs. I DO have mental symptoms though–depression, lethargy, and great difficulty with motivation (just want to lie around all day, even though it feels terrible). And also, obsessing on WD, even though my symptoms are not very physical. When I’m like that, having dosed at less than 1 mg, I usually find that if I take a little more sub, bringing my dose for the day up to around 2 mgs total for that day, then, inexplicably, I find myself able to get up and get around, take care of some things, and quit obsessing. Now, many people do say that it’s below 2 mgs when the noticeable symptoms start. I’m thinking about trying to taper down to 1 mg (consistently) and below as much as I can between now and the end of the year, and then in January setting a more certain goal for the final tapering down to nothing, just like I’m suggesting might be good for you too.
Anyway, I guess I should probably start my own thread to talk about my own issues, but as far as your situation, like I said, remember that January is really not that far off, and between now and then you can very likely decrease your dose gradually but significantly without having it interfere with your ability to take care of everything you have on your agenda. If it goes well, you can always decide to taper a little more (faster). Or, depending on how you feel, you can slow your taper down for the time being (or level it off for a while) and start it up again after the holidays. Meanwhile you could post here on the forum about your progress, as many others do. I think people often find that sharing their experiences with the taper helps them, and it usually ends up helping other people too. I really think you can take the pressure off yourself since long slow tapers are what many people find works best in the long run and there’s no real urgency to stop taking the sub is there? In any case I wish you luck, and I really think you sound like you are in a good starting place to do well.
