Interesting approach on A to V sub

So i've been doing a lot of research on just what exactly the equivalency is when subbing over A to V.  Ashton recommends a 1mg A to 10mg V crossover.  But many other calculators range from 1 to 5 through 1 to 8.

 

I found this post by chessplayer here in the forum:  http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?topic=148685.msg1998206#msg1998206

 

Unfortunately, he was just a guest here, so i am finding it hard to track just how successful his sub was.  My psychiatrist is recommending me to sub over to 6mg Valium.  I think like most, he just doesn't have a lot of experience with this.  Even if he does, we are all different.  This may work for some and not others.

 

However, I think I may try to cut a little below the 10mg Ashton recommends. Aside from some insomnia from jumping off Ambien 5 nights ago, all other symptoms are very stable.  Maybe the increase in my evening dose of valium will even slightly help some with insomnia.

 

Current dose through week 1: 0.5mg A morning / 0.25mg A & 2.5mg V evening

 

Week 2: 0.25mg A & 1mg V morning / 0.25mg A &2.5mg V evening

 

Week 3: 0.25mg A & 1mg V morning / 5mg V evening

 

Week 4: 2mg V morning / 5mg evening.  Hold for a few weeks... Begin V taper.

 

This will put me a mg over what my psych wanted but i feel it's a very fair compromise.  If at any point during this i feel a hint of akathisia set in, i am going straight to what Ashton suggests.

Successful switch from 1mg Ativan daily to just 7mg Valium daily.

Did you follow the plan you listed above?

Yes.  I have felt near zero w/d symptoms through this as well.  I feel extremely lucky!  And i am tempted to cut faster but i am sticking to a cut and hold now that i am stable at 7mg.  I'll drop every 2 weeks until i hit some kind of w/d.  Then consider once a month drops.  W/d has to come at some point, I know nobody makes it out of this painless.

I’m happy to hear things are going well for you, not everyone has to suffer and I hope you won’t.

 

You mentioned near zero symptoms, have you had any and if so, when do they typically up?

I have had a few headaches.  I def had some trouble falling asleep the first week of Sub but that was because i jumped from 5mg Ambien.  I had nerve pain on left elbow for like an hour one day.  But generally brain function feels very normal.  If i did get a headache it was on the first and second day of the week 2 and week k "cuts" while subbing.

It sounds like you’ll know fairly soon if you’re cutting too much.  That’s one of the problems with Valium, its so slow to leave your system that you can make another cut and the symptoms from the last cut will show up, the reductions kind of pile up on one another, or so I’ve been told.

Good to know!  That’s why i think, even though i feel totally fine, i am just gonna chill here for at least 2 weeks. And then try for now to stick to Ashton schedule from here on. Most likely eventually going slower.

Thanks so much for sharing your experience. I was just wondering about the ratio myself since I am getting ready to cross and my GP is talking about a lower ratio than what is recommended in the Ashton Manual.