That's really tough to say. I think it would be worth trying. You could go back to the full dose tonight and see how things are tomorrow.
Yes, tough indeed, TuneOut, mainly because my doctors haven't much knowledge about the benzos complexity. At the moment, my only side effect is a louder tinnitus and a bit of headache. It's already my sixth day of tapering off, so it's probably too late to go back to the full dose and get a lower tinnitus. I almost did last night, but for a few hours my tinnitus got better, that made me doubt, and also after reading Glynis' helpful post, so I decided to go on with the tapering hoping that the now exacerbated tinnitus will subside soon. I had never used benzos in my life , I started taking them four months ago when my tinnitus (after a medical procedure with anaesthetic) became severe again and Lorazepam and Diazepam were of great help to cop with loud tinnitus at night. No one ever told me about they addictive potential, but I was in despair and I suppose I couldn't care less if I had been told about it. I must admit that I do not want to depend on Benzos for ever unless things don't get better. If they don't, I might consider going back to benzos but this time guided by a competent doctor, if I could find one with a good knowledge of this dangerous stuff. At the moment, I do want to get off them and see if I can function with Melatonine and Mirtazapine (5 mg) only to get a decent sleep at night. I haven't taken benzos during the day time, never, I hate to feel sleepy during the day, mainly because naps make my tinnitus insane. Things are very complex for me when it comes to cope with severe tinnitus because I can't use maskers due my left ear is deft and my right one has only 40% of hearing. The hearing ides make my tinnitus louder due it is the reactive type, so my hearing ides are sitting in a draw because they only make things worst. I sometimes believe that, at my age, may be I shouldn't give up benzos (with all its complexity of addiction, etc.) if they could really help me to cope with my affliction and give me a reasonable quality of life for the rest of my life. I'll give time to time and will see how thing turn out for me, I can always go back to benzos and stay there like many people do, just only if things don't get better in the near future. I rather like to go the natural way, but habituation doesn't come easy in complex cases like mine. It took me 3 years of my life to habituate to my first severe tinnitus on set 16 years ago. In dose days, I never took any medication except melatonin at night, those were harsh years for me, travelling to Germany twice a year to Wilden's Clinic and seeing the best ENT doctors with no help at all and spending thousands of euros. Finally my tinntius stopped being a torture, with time, it got better and stable without spikes so habituation arrived and tinnitus was not anymore a problem for me, but this time is even worst than before; I have a myriad of noises changing all the time and competing with each other for the loudness and at night screaming like a possessed making my life a hell on earth, go figure how can one habituate to that horror. Any way, your idea was good, probably I should have done it three days ago when my tinnitus spiked badly. Now, I'll try to be strong and wait. Thanks very much for providing me the "Slow Taper Program", it will be very helpful if I decide to go on with a save tapering off. I really appreciate your valuable words and your time. Thanks for reading me.
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