HELP! Trying to taper Ativan - Diazepam

Hi,

 

I'm trying to finally get off benzos. My doctor is switching my 1 mg of ativan a day to 2 mg of diazepam. Is this a big jump? I was wondering how much diazepam is equal to 1 mg of ativan.

 

Thank you!

i think from what I have been told, anyone correct me if wrong.........

10 mg diazepam = 1 mg ativan

Yes, 1mg A=10mg V is what Ashton uses.  The actual amount varies from person to person, but this is a useful number.

Thanks, I'm trying to get off them in general and working at the same time. I was put on them due to depression, but I think it was a huge mistake. Think there's a noticeably different effect between the two pills?

 

Thanks again.

The V is preferred for tapering due to its long half life.  When people change benzos to taper they usually choose V.  It has practical advantages too: small pill size, low potency, easy to liquify by several methods.

The standard equivalency table says 10mg Valium is equivalent to 1mg Ativan.

Some people can get away with substituting less, e.g. some can do as little as 5mg Valium for 1mg Ativan.

However, 2mg Valium is definitely *way* too little. You will experience withdrawal if you do that substitution.

Please print out the Ashton manual and read it yourself and give a copy to your doctor.

Your doctor is grossly mis-informed.

 

Be aware that Valium has a long half-life compared to Ativan. Valium's half-life is 1 week. Therefore, it takes time for it to build up in your system. The 10-to-1 equivalency is based on a steady state assuming the Valium has built up in your system. Therefore, when doing the substitution, you should front-load the Valium to give it a chance to build up. Also it's best to do

the substitution gradually. An example crossover schedule would be:

Day 1  A1.0mg V2mg (the "front-loading" part... you're getting some Valium into your system before the first Ativan cut...)

Day 2  A0.9mg V3mg (now steadily reducing the A and increasing the V...)

Day 3 A0.8mg  V4mg

Day 4 A0.7mg  V5mg

Day 5 A 0.6mg V6mg

Day 6 A 0.5mg V7mg

Day 7 A 0.4mg V8mg

Day 8 A 0.3mg V9mg

Day 9 A 0.2mg V10mg (now the Valium is built up in your system and at your 10mg target, so you drop the Ativan the next couple days...)

Day 10 A0.1mg V10mg

Day 11 A0 V10mg

at which point you're crossed to 10mg Valium, and you can taper from there using the Ashton schedule.

 

To do the above crossover, you can measure the fractional doses of Ativan using liquid titration or a milligram scale.

 

Hope this helps,

 

Chessplayer

Thanks a lot for the info. I'm already going through a major depression, so this is going to be rough

Since 10 mg of Valium is your Ativan's equivelant, that would be a decrease of 80 percent which is a very large cut. The recommended reduction rate is more than 10 percent every two weeks. Stopping too rapidly may cause severe or prolonged symptoms. Were you having difficultly tapering directly off the Ativan?