Equivalency question

Hi folks,

 

I'm in a good place now, so I am not complaining. I have an important question about Ashton's equivalency chart. Up till now I was certain that my 90 milligrams of Flurazepam was equal to 30 milligrams of Diazepam. However, in the chart Flurazepam says 15-30; these are the capsules they come by. Now am I getting it right by saying it is between 1.5 and 3 times less potent than Diazepam? If so, my 30 milligrams Diazepam could be between 60 and 30 milligrams of Diazepam. If this is true, it's even more mindblowing that I started at around 7.5 milligrams of Diazepam and am able to live to tell!

 

Naf1983

Hi Naf,

 

Check it out on this

 

Benzodiazepine Equivalents Conversion Calculator - ClinCalc.com  https://clincalc.com/benzodiazepine/?example

Thanks Winters sun!

 

I see that the variables have a broad range according to this website. As for Clonazepam. At BenzoBuddies we tend to use Ashton's chart to advise others. Do you feel we should mention there is a range when it comes to equivalencies? I can only imagine how difficult is can be when you want to do a crossover, but you never exactly know what exact dose of Diazepam one should crossover to?

 

Naf1983

 

Hi Naf,

 

Check it out on this

 

Benzodiazepine Equivalents Conversion Calculator - ClinCalc.com  https://clincalc.com/benzodiazepine/?example

Hey Naf,

 

Yes, I have predominantly use the Ashton Manual conversions to this point, however, I really like this conversion calculator because it allows a range within which to find the right conversion dose for each individual. I looked at a conversion for lorazepam to diazepam yesterday, but off the top of my head, I’m not sure what the dose of lorazepam was, however, whatever the dose of lorazepam was, it converted to a range of 22-30mg diazepam. It allows that 8mg range, and I imagine it would be best to titrate up from 22mg until the dose feels right, rather than down from 30mg. Why start at the higher end and run the risk of extending your taper unnecessarily. Because no one individual is the same as the next, having that range seems quite sensible.

 

I know Libertas and Pamster use this particular conversion calculator.

 

 

Hi Winters sun,

 

first of all I forget to thank you for being such a helpful member to this community!

 

I'm starting to understand how challenging a conversion can be, knowing there is a range one should work with. I will speak for myself how I urned for someone to have told me: Ok, you are on Benzo A, you will take X amount of A and X amount of Benzo B week 1, then you do X and then you do Y. Sadly, we all react differently and there isn't one method garanteed to give us the least amount of suffering.

 

At least I am happy that the 4 milligrams of Diazepam is but a fraction to the 90 (!) milligrams of Flurazepam I was on, even though I wish things had gone more humane for me in the beginning.

 

I do want to mention this. Apparently in my country: The Netherlands, doctors do not believe in a crossover. They just tell people to quit their original Benzo and switch to an X amount of Diazepam. If anything, I want to warn the medical community about this quack approach. When they decided that this was the way to "help" me, I almost died. I almost begged my current prescriber to read the Ashton Manual and she says that she read it. It's just mindblowing to me, that medical practioners do not read this in their training; it should be mandatory!

 

Naf1983

 

Hey Naf,

 

Yes, I have predominantly use the Ashton Manual conversions to this point, however, I really like this conversion calculator because it allows a range within which to find the right conversion dose for each individual. I looked at a conversion for lorazepam to diazepam yesterday, but off the top of my head, I’m not sure what the dose of lorazepam was, however, whatever the dose of lorazepam was, it converted to a range of 22-30mg diazepam. It allows that 8mg range, and I imagine it would be best to titrate up from 22mg until the dose feels right, rather than down from 30mg. Why start at the higher end and run the risk of extending your taper unnecessarily. Because no one individual is the same as the next, having that range seems quite sensible.

 

I know Libertas and Pamster use this particular conversion calculator.

Prescribers get more than that wrong Naf1983, not only do they force a cold turkey by dropping the current dose and substituting the Diazepam but some will cross their patients over to the full dose of Diazepam before telling them to drop any of their current benzo making them on a very high dose and heavily over-medicated.  They simply look at the first line on the chart and see the equivalent and start there.