Does it make sense for me to crossover?

I don't understand this.  My doc gave me liquid valium back in July when the agitation from ativan became so unbelievably unbearable (like it is today--holding off on a trip to the ER) and I took .5 mg. and the next day I was even more out of it than the brain fog I'm dealing with.  I've taken .2 and .3 at other times and can't process things at all.  I wanted to do a crossover, but I think the amounts of valium that you're supposed to do would kill me.  Would anyone recommend doing that now at .25 mg ativan vs. a titration?  Is it really true that withdrawal is easier and afterwards it's better?  I have never felt worse in my life and am housebound

Considering c/o cuz this ativan withdrawal is killing me.  I am down to .25 mg. ativan which i think i may have done too fast (from 2.75 in June, highest 4 in January).  Problem is in June when I was having horrid agitation doc gave me liquid valium and I only took .5 mg one night and I was really drowsy/dizzy the next day (dizziness not horrendous), (but I had also had 2 mg. ativan during the day on top of it).  I dose 5 times a day on the ativan cuz that's what doc recommended--spread it out so each one is .05 mg.  Can someone give me a recommended schedule for doing this?  What if you get halfway through and realize you can't manage this either?  So does schedule look like this:

 

1st-4th dose .05 each; 5th dose at night .5 mg. valium for week 1

1st-3rd dose .05 each; 4th and 5th dose .5 mg. valium for week 2

etc. until all are replaced?

 

Dosing valium 5 times a day doesn't seem right so how do you fix that?

 

Does your body have to get used to the sedation and if so how long does it usually take?

Hi,

 

Crossing over is a personal decision...but you might want to consider that Valium can bring it's own set of withdrawal symptoms and side effects.  You also normally would have a period after you crossed over in which you would stablilize and not taper for a while.  This could be just a matter of a few weeks...but I know you were concerned about being on the medicatoin any longer than neccessary.....

 

Just some things to consider....I have seen many people here do well on the crossover....and a good portion of people say they wish they would never have crossed over...it is a hard decision..I know

 

TC

TC--I was just hoping there was something that would make this more bearable so that I don't feel like I need to go to the ER all day every day.  I'm holding for a week which I haven't done since June and then will either titrate or attempt a crossover.  Thanks

If you are experiencing tolerance withdrawal (like I was when I tapered), I don't think a crossover would help.  With titration you can make infinitesimal reductions as infrequently as you want pretty much and still get off although it does drag out the process to only make reductions once a week instead of every day, for instance.  Another consideration with the valium - in addition to how it affected you before - is it adds many weeks or even months to the tapering process, depending on how long it takes to get off the valium.  Do you know about tolerance withdrawal?  There's a link at the top of the page to Benzo Facts and it includes a link to a section on tolerance.  Once you are in tolerance, the only solution for symptoms seems to be to get off the drug and begin to heal.  

I don't understand this.  My doc gave me liquid valium back in July when the agitation from ativan became so unbelievably unbearable (like it is today--holding off on a trip to the ER) and I took .5 mg. and the next day I was even more out of it than the brain fog I'm dealing with.  I've taken .2 and .3 at other times and can't process things at all.  I wanted to do a crossover, but I think the amounts of valium that you're supposed to do would kill me.  Would anyone recommend doing that now at .25 mg ativan vs. a titration?  Is it really true that withdrawal is easier and afterwards it's better?  I have never felt worse in my life and am housebound

 

Hi Memom,

 

I split your post from Jayne's thread and merged it with this thread you started.  I know it seems confusing, but since you were asking questions about your own situation, instead of commenting on Jayne's, I thought it best to move it. 

 

There are no guarantees that a crossover to Valium would relieve your suffering, I've seen misery on every benzo.  If your Dr will prescribe it, then you might want to look around the forum to see how others are doing on their Valium tapering.  If you'd like the names of some of them, I'd be happy to provide them to you.

 

Pam