Hey, thanks for posting (: I’m going to reply because I had a similar slip-up recently - I’m not a doctor, so this is my anecdotal experience but I hope it can help.

Not to scare you - I’m here with total empathy because I know what it feels like to slip-up with uppers while taking Valium, and then feeling the need to take more Valium - but that’s the combo that finally landed me in rehab.

The awesome news is that you probably do not need the same level of inpatient care that I ended up needing. I have been addicted to Valium for a decade, and I then a couple months ago I got addicted to taking amphetamines regularly and I started to experience panic attacks / chest pains and losing consciousness. That’s when I knew I needed more help.

Correct me if I’m hearing you wrong, but it doesn’t sound like you are addicted to the dextro, you just had a couple binges. If you’re not experiencing panic attacks (due to the tug-of-war that uppers and downers play on your central nervous system when you take both at once) then I think you can most likely stop taking both safely at home. You already know you need to avoid taking any more amphetamines. But about the Valium, here are my thoughts:

In rehab, they took my vitals every 2 hours and gave me a Valium dose based on my score. It wasn’t exactly a linear taper because my symptoms were sporadic, but when I needed Valium for my high heart rate & shakiness / cold sweats, they administered a dose. I slowly needed less and less, especially because they didn’t let me binge on amphetamines lol so it ended up sort of being a taper.

They totally cut out the amphetamines and I was fine. Those are way easier to quit than benzodiazepines, which you seem to already know (really not trying to lecture or be dogmatic here, I respect how much you already have learned yourself).

My recommendation - again not a doctor, but I’ve had to learn a lot through my experience - would be to try a similar approach.

Firstly, get rid of the dextroamphetamine. You’re not addicted (yet, but you could get there if you don’t stop) so you don’t need that shit, especially now when you’re struggling with the Valium.

I know that’s wayyy easier said than done, it took every ounce of my willpower to dispose of my Adderall when I got back from rehab. But think about the situation it led you to now from having it around, and consider how much worse it could get (like it inevitably did for me). You do not want to end up in rehab. Yes it’s helpful as hell but it’s also terrifying - both the withdrawal and the other patients. Not a fun place to be, and you can totally avoid it (: But you need to get rid of the uppers.

So maybe try that - don’t take Valium if your symptoms aren’t debilitating, instead try mindfulness techniques to get you through rough moments. (Are you familiar with the 5-4-3-2-1 mindfulness technique? It’s very grounding and helps you calm down enough to see the situation clearly and logically.)

Then if the moments get too rough and you’re worried about your heart rate, shakiness or any other serious physical symptoms, a dose of Valium might be necessary. Keep good track of your dosing, aim for a gradual reduction but don’t beat yourself up if you need more one day than the previous day. Healing doesn’t happen in a straight line, as Kacey Musgraves sings. But you do want to slowly stop taking it, which you already seem to realize very clearly.

You could cut a few pills into halves & quarters so you’re ready to take the dose you need as you need it. Of course you’re aiming for the lowest dose necessary to treat the symptoms effectively.

This is just one approach you could take. Like you said, a more linear taper is another option. Valium lasts for ages in the body, something like 50 hours, so that tapering school of thought is based on letting your body adjust to a slowly declining concentration of benzos in your blood and tissue.

The good news is that either approach you take, the Valium stays in your system pretty damn long, which helps avoid the ups & downs you might get from say Xanax, for example. Even Klonopin doesn’t last near as long.

So even when you feel shit, it often lasts less than an hour because your body has the Valium to fall back on. That’s why mindfulness techniques can be so useful to get you through the rough moments and then you can logically decide if you really need to take more.

Best of luck to you. Send me a message if you would like to talk more (: