I’ve been taking valium since August. Normally I take half of a 5mg in the morning and then if it’s a bad day I take another half around 5:00. First, I’d like to know if that’s too much. I don’t want to get addicted. Second, I read that taking benzo’s can actually hinder MAV. That they can suppress our vestibular system. So sometimes I wonder if I should just stop the valium for a week or so and see how I do. On the other hand that scares me bc valium helps me so much.
I take 1/2 of 5 mg Clonazopan once a day most days as needed for anxiety and a few days I will take that 2 times a day…my doc says that small amout should be easy to quite when I want, which I hope is soon when Celexa kicks in…been on it for 2 weeks.
I take .5 mg of Klonopin 3 times a day. I know it really helps me, but I also know that it will be a long journey when I am ready to stop using it. I have been on it for ~3 1/2 years.
Claudia
I take 2.5 mg at a time and may add another 2.5 if I’m still in the shit hours later. Valium for me. S
I was just given Xanax. I have .25 tablets. I take HALF 3x a day. I find that it has helped with the dizziness. Not a cure, but helped a little.
I have been on it for 3 days. I actually sleep now.
I gave myself a limit. No more than 4 weeks. As I have read to, that it hinders your vestibular, and your ability to get better.
I also read that if you take it for a long time that it can damage some ear nerve. Not sure if that is true, as most of the internet stuff you read is not.
K
Kristina
The better benzo for any long term use is either Valium or klonopin, due to the long half life. You don’t need to keep dosing and riding the wave of a short term benzo like Xanax. I take 1/4 of a .5 mg klonopin tablet in the morning. It helps with my visual stuff and doesn’t make me tired. If I have big ans at night, I’ll take another quarter.
Kelley
I have zanex…i take one at bedtime sometimes. .5mg for anxiety attacks i take half a pill…depending on the severity of the anxiety. :?
i do worry about becoming addicted so i try not to take them every day…also my dr is retiring in march & im not sure when I will be able to find another dr.
:roll:
Kelley,
Thanks, but Klonipin causes vertigo for me. I know alot of people will disagree, but it stated in the phamplet that not normally, but it can cause vertigo when taken for panic attacks. and my 2 new docs confirm it, and wont prescribe it. Which is fine, because I hated it.
Wierd how everyone is so different. Valium doesn’t really do anything for me. I used it everyday for almost 2 yrs when I was 18months old.
I had hip surgery then and they needed me to be calm while healing. So maybe that is why I can take it with no effect.
Glad to see it helps some people on here.
K
2mg of a valium works for me. Right now I’m only taking it for flights (or a very very bad day). Doc suggested trying klonopin for long-term when I stop nursing (don’t know dose though).
Yes, benzos are vestibular suppressants, which is why they can help so many of us when we are in an acute dizzy phase. But my thought is this–unless you have vestibular loss and you need your brain to compensate, it’s not going to hurt to take a benzo, so take them and don’t suffer!
Now this isn’t to say take them with abandon and become addicted, but as MAV sufferers, we don’t have to worry about our brains compensating for anything, because they’re not going to–they just need to calm down enough to break the migraine activity for all this dizzy crap to stop. That may take a med combination that includes the use of a benzo, as some people on this board have found.
I take xanax because klonopin and valium knock the crap out of me, even at the lowest dose. I have .25 mg tabs and I take one before leaving for work and I usually need another after lunch but I only take half of the .25 tab. It helps with the anxiety I seem to always have and the dizziness. Neither my neuro nor my cardio docs seem think I am overdoing it with the xanax and tell me not to be afraid to take it. I trust them both and since they have been helping me and listening to me I will continue to take the xanax. Of course I am only functioning at about 70% most days. Still waiting for that magic pill! Take care,
Karen
I hope their right Karen. Cause everything I have read says different. 
The xanax a little. Enough to not want to stop.
K
I am now down to 1/4th of a 5mg valium pill, i.e. 1.25mg, only take it right before I go to bed. I wonder if it really helps or is just a superstition to ward off my biggest fear which is waking up with vertigo.
Thank you everyone, at least now I don’t feel like I take too much.
I also take Xanax… typically either .25 mg or .5 mg at bedtime or when I get home from work. Sleep is a big trigger for me, and it seems to help with sleep, plus it kills some of my anxiety, and overall I just feel better the next day after I’ve taken one, whether it be a half pill or a whole pill. I try to only take them a few nights a week, as I do worry about addiction and long term use, but if the dizziness is bad or the anxiety has spiked I don’t hesitate to take one. I haven’t tried them at work yet… my job requires me to be at my very best, and I can’t afford to be any more brain-foggy than I already am. The Xanax doesn’t seem to make me any foggier, I’m just worried about taking the chance.
I use 5 mg. of Valium only as needed, which lately is maybe 1 dose every month or two. Sometimes in a bad spell it’s more than that and sometimes I can go a couple of months with none. I feel ill on a daily basis and just suffer usually but if it’s truly awful, and I’m sure you know what I mean, then I use the Valium.
My neurologist told me that it should be okay to use approximately 1 dose per week of the Valium without having an addiction/dependency issue. Any more than that and you have to wean off if you want to stop taking it. I’m sure other doctors might have a different idea of what is a safe dose to take but just wanted to share what she told me.
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My neurologist told me that it should be okay to use approximately 1 dose per week of the Valium without having an addiction/dependency issue. Any more than that and you have to wean off if you want to stop taking it. I’m sure other doctors might have a different idea of what is a safe dose to take but just wanted to share what she told me.
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If someone gets dependent/accustomised/addicted to a benzo then periods of withdrawal can cause the original symptoms the benzo was taken for to reappear but in a more severe form.
Several guidelines I have seen suggest that a benzo should not be taken regularly for more than 2 to 4 weeks. I don’t know if this suggestion is excessively cautious but it’s one which seems to reappear often.
On a personal note, I will soon start to detox from excessive benzos taken intermittently over the years and I imagine I will feel even more dizzy than usual during the detox period. I’m not looking forward to it!
-Wexan
Wexan, that’s why I only use it when I absolutely have no other choice but to take it or go to the ER and they’ll probably give it to me there. I suffer through most days with nothing.
How much were you taking over what period of time if you don’t mind me asking? I get nervous taking 1 Valium a month even though the doctor says it’s fine…
Good luck withdrawing.
— Begin quote from “shelly3257”
Wexan, …How much were you taking over what period of time if you don’t mind me asking? I get nervous taking 1 Valium a month even though the doctor says it’s fine…Good luck withdrawing.
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I’ve been prescribed benzos for 10 to 15 years. In that period I tried to take as few as possible, so I was on and off them intermittently. I don’t recall the details clearly but I suppose I was off benzos for months at a time and then on them for months at a time. Even when I was on benzos I would try not to take one every night. I generally took the shorter acting benzos (usually prescribed for sleep) but I tried many different types of benzo.
I didn’t realise I was getting benzo withdrawal symptoms (including dizziness & imbalance) during the daytime until the symptoms got so severe that I was going into states of confusion. When you go into states of confusion it is, almost by definition, very hard to observe what is happening to you and what difficulties you are having.
As for yourself, I’m sure the occasional valium you describe is perfectly fine and will avoid my experience.
-Wexan
I wish you the best of luck coming off them.
From everything I read, this is the Dr./manual you want to read. It explains how to withdraw with the most comfort. I bookmarked it in case I ever needed it.