Linear Actuator moves past limit switches

[Luid101]

Hey guys!
We have a setup where there is a linear actuator with two limit switches above and below. The limit switches are wired directly into our jaguar to stop the actuator from going too high or too low and destroying itself. However sometimes it just goes past the limit switches. We thought the limit switches where malfunctioning but when we took them off and clicked them by hand the actuator didn't move. Then we thought the actuator wasn't clicking the limit switches so we bent the switches and tried again, but still no luck. Now we think the actuator might be moving to fast come to a complete stop once it hits the switch.
Long story short, now I need to create a code with labview that slows down the actuator before it hits the limit switches. I am thinking of starting a timer once the driver clicks the go up or down button, then once the timer has reached a particular time (a.k.a the time it takes for the actuator to reach a limit switch) I set the motor to a slower speed. Now here is the problem, I need to create a toggle switch to start the timer only once after the up or down button has been pushed (because the buttons are held to go up and down). And I need the timer to be updated only once but i don't know how to do that since my drive program is in a loop. Honestly I am stumped on how to program this with labview without creating code that will be extremely slow and buggy.
if you guys have a better idea on why the actuator is not working or have a better way to slow down actuators or have any idea about anything that you think would be helpful we would greatly appreciate it. At this point we already have two broken limit switches and one frustrated electrical team.