User Guide · Part 1: Understanding Your Taper

Small Taper Steps Need Small Tablet Pieces

What Happens When the Dose Goes Down

The lines show the daily average. A simplified example.

When your dose goes down, Lorazepam drops to the new level in about 2 days. It is like stepping off a cliff: your brain feels the whole change at once.

Diazepam slopes down gently over about 2 weeks, like walking down a ramp. The shaded area is the cushion this gives your brain, at every step of your taper.

Small Steps Need Small Physical Pieces Example: Alprazolam v. Diazepam

A slow taper means many small reductions. That only works if you can take a small enough piece of a tablet.

One 0.5 mg Alprazolam tablet is about as strong as 10 mg of Diazepam. Cutting the Alprazolam tablet in half is a 5 mg downward step all in one go, which is far too much for most people.

Diazepam spreads the same strength over many more pieces, so each downward dose step can be as small as 0.5 mg by simply breaking a 2 mg tablet into quarters.

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