Lorazapam to Valium switch

[[Buddie]]

Hi,
I am trying to taper from Lorazepam, but am considering switching over to Valium but I'm not sure how to do the math to do the switch slowly.  I know the equivalency is 1mg Lorazepam = 10mg Valium, and I've seen the Ashton Manual guide for switching but it's for 3mg.  I am currently at about 1.12mg Lorazepam (doing cut & hold) and want to make a slow switch to Valium if I can but not sure about the math.
Thanks in advance for any help you can provide,
[...]

[[Buddie]]

How many times a day are you dosing and what are you doses?

[[Buddie]]

[...]--
Here are my current doses:
2:30am:  .25mg
7:30am:  .25mg
11:30am:  .25mg
3:30pm:  .42mg (this is the dose I'm currently cutting from)
I was incorrect in my original post:  I'm at about 1.18mg total dose. 
[...]

[[Buddie]]

[...], I'm working on it - I just need to double and tripple check my numbers and logic. Which means I need time away from it and come back to it.

But I also want to check with you why do you want to cross over? I'm not saying you should not cross over, I just want to make sure it's worth it and the cross over will be beneficial for the reasons you hope it to be.

[[Buddie]]

I'm struggling with debilitating mucus & cough in which I gag on the mucus, and cough sometimes to the point of dry heaving.  While I don't have any research or other proof to back me up, I really think there's a connection between that & tolerance/withdrawal and I think I may be experiencing interdose withdrawal.  I feel this way because I do get some relief after my 3:30pm dose, in which I have the most in my system.  I, too, go back & forth over whether or not I should switch to Valium as I don't like the idea of bringing in yet another drug, but I feel like I'm desperate to try something. 
Thanks for trying to help me, [...].  I'm not even sure my doctor will agree to prescribe the Valium at this point. 

[[Buddie]]

I've read through your previous posts and I'm truly sorry you are having such a hard time with the mucus and the cough. I have something similar going on but I'm not convinced it's entirely benzo's. We might not have the same thing, but here's my situation. I don't have any mucus or runny nose or feel congested. But I'll start coughing - really badly. As I start coughing I have mucus out of nowhere. The coughing fits lasts for quite a while. Initially we thought it was my asthma because I would cough myself out of breath, but now I'm sure it's not. Mine is also worst in the morning when I first wake up - I'm suspecting it's cortisol surge. I'm waking the whole bloody household with my coughing.  Then often after I ate food/drank fluid, I'll also start coughing. I'm seeing a lung specialist and he's suspecting I'm having a narrowing somewhere in my throat/airway (I can't remember the exact explanation). I have another appointment next week as we don't know for sure. Mine is not debilitating but it's bad enough to be really annoying and seeing a specialist.

[...], I'm not sure if Valium will help with this to be honest. I have seen a lot of people crossing over and the only times it seems to be worthwhile is when people are suffering from interdose withdrawal. The other times are pretty much hit and miss and the majority of times people really struggle with the cross over. I would hate to see you do worse. You might be in tolerance (I suspect I was hitting tolerance right at the start of my taper too), but I don't think risking a cross over is worth it for tolerance. I know when we are struggling we feel we "have to do something". And since there's nothing else you can really do, this is the option you're reaching for. It might be good to read through the threads on this board to see how other have done on their cross overs? 

[[Buddie]]

Hi [...], I'm glad [...] asked you why you want to crossover, and I agree with her that the only thing I've seen a Valium crossover eliminate was interdose withdrawal.  Too many see Valium as an easier medication to taper from, its not, no benzo is easy, its only benefit is its longer half life.

I believe this crossover won't be beneficial and could be harmful by exacerbating these symptoms because of the trauma of introducing a new medication to an already sensitive situation.

I'm truly sorry you're suffering with this, it sounds horrific but maybe [...] is onto something with her condition, it could be caused by something else.

[[Buddie]]

I'm struggling with debilitating mucus & cough in which I gag on the mucus, and cough sometimes to the point of dry heaving.  While I don't have any research or other proof to back me up, I really think there's a connection between that & tolerance/withdrawal and I think I may be experiencing interdose withdrawal.  I feel this way because I do get some relief after my 3:30pm dose, in which I have the most in my system.  I, too, go back & forth over whether or not I should switch to Valium as I don't like the idea of bringing in yet another drug, but I feel like I'm desperate to try something. 
Thanks for trying to help me, [...].  I'm not even sure my doctor will agree to prescribe the Valium at this point.

Hi [...],
I’ve been experiencing mucus and cough and clearing my throat as well.   I’m down to 1.625 mg klonopin.  If you do a crossover to Valium it will take weeks if not longer to build up the Valium in your system and you might end up feeling worse or not stabilizing at all.

[[Buddie]]

[...], [...], and [...]--Thank you all for your responses.  I needed to hear your advice/experience on this, as I too had been wondering if it would be beneficial.  Like you said, [...], I feel like I just need to do _something._  I appreciate your honesty.  I think I'll hold off on switching for now.
[...]

[[Buddie]]

I think that's the better decision. Just remember sometimes doing nothing is also doing something. It's preventing yourself from potentially getting worse.

This whole thing might be withdrawal related who knows, but I don't think another benzo is going to fix it though.  Hang in there and see how things go. You can always keep this option open, .